We left the very beautiful Mercury Island on an interesting weather window. Our plan was to head to the top of Coromandel and around to the west side for better protection. The winds were predicted to be light and slightly on our nose, but we can “pinch” (point into the wind) pretty well at 35 degrees. So, we set out only to have 1-3kts of wind on the nose. Way too light and in the wrong direction for a sail so we motored the first few hours.
Then we cleared the top of Coromandel and we found the wind. We enjoyed beautiful sailing with full sails up, 17-19kts of wind on the beam. It was gorgeous!
We dropped the hook at Squadron Bay along with several other boats. But it is a big bay with plenty of room. Super pretty green rolling hills dotted with cows!
We had beautiful sunsets and decided to stay for a few days.
The next day we were down to 1 other boat, but it filled up at night with more fishing boats. It is a super calm, quiet bay giving us a truly peaceful anchorage.
Coromandel Harbour
We picked up the hook and moved to the Coromandel harbour, Papakarahi Bay because we heard there was a market within a few miles of the bay. Lots more cows and goats in this bay that we had all to ourselves!
There was a regatta going on in the next bay over. In the bottom left photo you will see black things in the water – that is a clam or mussel farm!
Ponui Island
We cross the Firth of Thames which was a truly unusual trip as the steady 17-18kts of wind turned int 33-35kt guests. Sugar Shack had a double reefed main and genoa for a short while before we decided to drop all canvas and motor that last 8nm.
Ponui Island (red arrow) is just off the coast of the North Island of New Zealand and right next to Waiheke.
We ended up at Chamberlaine’s Bay on the north side of Ponui island which is right next to Waiheke. Lots of boats hiding out here. Ponui island is owned by 3 very wealthy families that farm the land. They don’t live there and the don’t allow visitors onshore which is a disappointment as there were lots of hillsides begging to be explored.
There are 2 really cool things here though!
The Ponui Rare Feral Donkey
The first and by far the best is the rare, white, short (3′ tall) feral donkeys. These donkeys are the descendants of 3 animals imported from Australia in the 1800’s. They were left to roam free and eventually bred down to these white / light gray little donkeys with round bellies.
They were technically on a farm that we were not supposed to visit. But I could not resist, so please forgive me land owner for saying hello, for 5 minutes, to your adorable donkeys. See the funny video I posted on Instagram on 12 February 2024 for more donkey antics!
They were super friendly, not feral at all and just walked right up to us. There were also lots of cows, sheep and goats.
The Pupuke Shipwreck
This was super sad to see. The Pupuke was a ferry that grounded at Ponui island. It was left to rote until the late 1960’s when a man purchased her with the hopes of reclaiming her heritage. However, she was too far gone so they blew her up! All that remains is her steel frame and her enormous prop.
We circled around her by dinghy at first to ensure there were no metal shards in the water.
Then we headed to the shore which had half of the ship buried in sand.
Totally cool little island. I would certainly come back to Chamberlaine’s Bay to see the donkeys and enjoy the beautiful sunrise!
Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind live events. This blog post occurred in early February 2024. Don’t miss our blog on Mercury Island as it is a true gem!