We decided to move Sauvage – our Jeanneau Sunkiss 49 yacht – from Auckland’s beautiful Catalina Bay (Hobsonville Point) to the slightly more accessible (for us) Whangamata at the end of winter. Whangamata is the perfect summer home – great for our teenage kids, and close to my siblings’ places.
We’d found a buoy at Whangamata for a 50-foot boat (Trademe) – located just inside the entrance to the Wentworth River. It was a pole mooring – the first time we had ever considered this style of mooring.
Anyone who knows Whangamata Harbour will be familiar with its tidal flows. At low-tide there are wide areas of generously exposed sand bars. At mid-tide these are covered with shallow water. High-tide is the ideal time to depart and arrive. Our boat’s draft (2.6m laden) meant there was little negotiation about our arrival time.
The journey from Catalina
