CompuServe Messages

> We sailed, rail in the water…< Um.. there are _other_ ways of sailing <g>? >Sleep on the deck at night moored off of Matinicus Island and see every star like they are a foot over your head.< Now _that's_ a nice feeling. My boat, unfortunately, is not big enough to sleep on the deck, However, I can lie in my berth with the hatch open and catch the same sight. What I find with sailing is that you can sail past an area you think you know really well (from land, anyway) and discover that, actually, the coastline is completely different from the way you imagined it. Wierd feeling. We're lucky in Auckland- we have the wonderful Hauraki Gulf and Waitemata Harbour to run around in. Lots of islands and bays to explore. Four hours sailing out of Auckland to Kawau Island, and you could be anywhere. Unspoilt bush, and no one else in sight. Cruise up there at New Years Eve, and it's a different story. Hundreds of boats. The whole area is normally pretty safe, which is the great thing about it. As you're husband will tell you, though, no area is completely benign – just last Christmas, for example, I was out on a friend's boat, just me, and the ex-Commodore of Bucklands Beach Yacht Club, and the owner, who while he wasn't a Commodore, was extremely high up in the Royal NZ Yacht Squadron (he was Dock Master for the last Whitbread race). We were anchored off Waiheke, a large island very near Auckland one fine morning, decided that the forecast was a bit iffy, so we thought we'd head back home. Say, 90 minutes jaunt on a good day. Six hours later, after battle through 50 knots of headwind and the seas you would normally associate with that sort of wind (Waitemata Harbour is quite shallow [20 feet] and hence, you get a big chop) we arrived back. Not the day to take a scratch crew out. I mean, I was here with two extremely experienced yachtsmen, and we were all working real hard just to make any headway at all. As you can imagine, not a little rum was consumed (for medicinal purposes, obviously) when we got back. This boat _was_ under 110 feet (about 75 feet under, in fact!), and No, I didn't feel safe all the time. Mainly because, being the youngest on board, I got the job on the bow (Joy!). Seeing as how the Waitemata is the safest port in Polynesia, we quite often get the big boys cruising down here to hang out during hurricane season – your husband will tell you that the Pacific is not well named. So picture me in my 24 footer racing a 110 foot ketch into Waitemata Harbour! Get down here if you can. It's a lovely place to just cruise. Laurie