PARAGON YACHT

MARCH 2019

SEA TRIPS (PART 2 – FINAL)

One of our last trips on Paragon was middle March over a weekend – winter was approaching and it was getting colder.

We left on a Friday afternoon and sailed to a nearby island just around the corner from Auckland harbour. Although Werner checked the weather forecast and conditions looked good, there were some clouds in the sky …

Clouds in the sky … hope the rain stays away

Berto and Werner decided that you cannot go sailing without having a bottle of rum … like real sailors 😜 … so we bought a bottle of El Dorado Rum and the men tested it on Friday night.

Real sailors drink real rum …

Pearl also came prepared … she already made a big bowl of butter chicken and rice at their home earlier and was now just heating it up on the yacht.

Pearl serving butter chicken and rice on their yacht – nice!

We watched the sunset while eating dinner on the deck of Paragon. The weather is now much colder than earlier in the month and there was a chill in the air.

The sun is setting in our little bay

The next morning started with a little bit of a drizzle and as we started to sail out to Waiheke Island, the wind also picked up … I was no not so comfortable anymore …

Close to Waiheke Island, one of the sails came loose from the pole mast and for a moment the yacht moved just a little bit more than usual to the side … and that’s when I became seasick! Maybe I should drink more from that rum to become a real sailor 😆.

Not really stormy weather, but cold and wet at Waiheke Island

In the bay of Waiheke Island, we moved quickly to the beach (it was great to get my feet on dry ground again)! It was now raining quite hard and we had to run to find cover!

Berto and Werner watching the rain clouds moving over Waiheke Island

The bay of Waiheke Island

Although it was raining on Waiheke Island, there were still many tourists visiting the restaurants.

Not perfect sunny weather, but tourists did not stay away from Waiheke Island

We were not really dressed for the cold weather (or a visit to a restaurant) – our rain jackets were quite wet and we were dressed in shorts and flip flops … we eventually found a restaurant that had a few chairs under a small roof where we could sit. I think the restaurant owner felt a bit sorry for us and later invited us to sit inside … we had something warm to eat and then, after a couple of beers, we were ready to go back to the yacht.

The rain clouds are moving away … great!

Sunday turned out to be a sunny day. There was a light wind that gave Werner the opportunity to hoist the sails of Paragon to sail without switching the engine on.

Leaving Waiheke Island in bright sunshine

We are holding on with Paragon’s sails open to move with the assistance of a light wind

And then … out of nowhere … Paragon hit a rock … with a BANG! Fortunately, Werner is a good skipper and with some skill, he carefully moved the yacht back and we could continue to Auckland Harbour.

We arrived safe back in the harbour … what an eventful weekend on the sea!

The next weekend, we returned to Paragon and Berto got into his scuba gear to inspect the yacht under the water to see if there were any damage … fortunately all seemed fine.

Berto in his scuba gear to do a quick inspection on the yacht … and fortunately, no damage … phew!

I would not say that I’m a fully licensed sailor now 🤪 … but I’m glad I could experience these trips on the yacht. It was great to see all the small islands from another angle as what I’m used to when driving in a car along the coast …

… However, I don’t think we will buy a yacht soon 😅