As the wave broke over my mother, I knew we had to turn back and that I’d probably never hear the end of our latest adventure. Here’s how we got to this point…

Since our arrival at Sauvage’s new home, a buoy lying 500m off Hobsonville Point towards Auckland City, the city and environs has suffered from the winter blues. Wind, rain, thunderstorms have plagued the outlook and kept us from heading out for our next sailing adventure.

Luckily our buoy is reasonably sheltered from high winds and getting out to Sauvage is mostly doable.

We’re still getting the hang of changing from being parked at a marina with its significant advantage of simply being able to walk up to our yacht, gear in hand, and hopping on. Now to get to Sauvage, we must take a 500m-plus ride on our tender from the nearest jetty. At low tide the jetty is slippery – whenever we’ve moved without the required delicate and deliberate steps we’ve experienced near-knees-on-concrete moments. (I think gumboots might be our next boating investment.)

At the marina, if we had left something behind in the car, it was an easy walk to the car to fetch it, and then back to our berth again. We’re not afforded so much tolerance when our yacht is a 500m dinghy journey from the nearest jetty. Now if we forget something, it stays forgotten.

For all its drawbacks, we’re still loving swinging on a buoy. Kirsten enjoys being up on deck to watch the night sky with the reflection from the city lights across the water and the fresh air as it breezes across Sauvage. It’s my home-away-from-home – the idea of sitting out on deck with a cup of tea in hand lends itself well to thoughts of relaxation and contemplation.

So, I was delighted when my parents (who admittedly live around the corner from us in Cambridge) rang to tell me that they were visiting my aunt in Massey (Auckland) for the night and that they’d love to come and see where Sauvage was moored.

Well, you don’t have to ask me twice! The plans were made immediately. Kirsten and I would travel up to Auckland for a mid-afternoon get-together with Mum, Dad and Aunty Francie. We’d not only show them Sauvage’s mooring but, as my travel adventures have always involved a picnic, what a fine time to take them out to Sauvage on the tender to enjoy said picnic! Weather-dependent, of course.

By mid-afternoon Wednesday, Kirsten and I had arrived at Hobsonville Point. The weather was okay. The sun kept peeking from behind the clouds but once the cloud cover came across and the wind blew, which it did quite a bit, it was cooler than I wanted. “Still,” I thought to myself, “this trip is doable”.

Then Kirsten said, “I don’t think the weather is good around the corner from us in Cambridge) rang to tell me that they were visiting my aunt in Massey (Auckland) for the night and that they’d love to come and see where Sauvage was moored.

Well, you don’t have to ask me twice! The plans were made immediately. Kirsten and I would travel up to Auckland for a mid-afternoon get-together with Mum, Dad and Aunty Francie. We’d not only show them Sauvage’s mooring but, as my travel adventures have always involved a picnic, what a fine time to take them out to Sauvage on the tender to enjoy said picnic! Weather-dependent, of course.

By mid-afternoon Wednesday, Kirsten and I had arrived at Hobsonville Point. The weather was okay. The sun kept peeking from behind the clouds but once the cloud cover came across and the wind blew, which it did quite a bit, it was cooler than I wanted. “Still,” I thought to myself, “this trip is doable”.

Then Kirsten said, “I don’t think the weather is good enough, it’s too windy and cold.” Of course, as all good married couples do, we had a ‘conversation,’ but I reasoned (to myself, mostly, because Kirsten didn’t believe me) that this trip was absolutely possible.

When my parents and Aunty Francie arrived, we pointed out Sauvage so they had a clear idea of the distance to be travelled and the route we would take. Anyone who has been to this part of the harbour knows that at high tide the riverbanks are submerged and, if you’re not careful, you can accidentally find yourself beached. (The first time Chris Jnr and I took the tender to pick up Kirsten from the jetty at night we had to row ourselves off the sandbank.) The route to get to Sauvage involves firstly heading out to the middle of the river and then travelling this course.

Another discussion ensued. Kirsten was quite sure the trip would be “insane,” but I am far more positive than she is, and finally it was agreed that we would take two trips out to the yachte, the first with Mum and Aunty Francie and the second with Dad and Kirsten. We put on our lifejackets and as any good captain would, I explained how to use the inflation cord. We delicately handed Mum and Aunty Francie into the tender which was already in the water. I asked Dad to hold our line so we wouldn’t drift too far off while I started our outboard.

We’re still considering what to do with the outboard when we’re not aboard Sauvage. Ideally, we’d like to leave it somewhere at Hobsonville without worrying whether it will be there or not when we return! Currently, it lives in the boot of our car and suffers a little from a case of lying-down-itis – it can take longer than expected to start.

Anyway, Dad didn’t hold onto the line as I had instructed, and we found ourselves drifting off towards the middle of the river. For me, this wasn’t the least bit stressful, as I knew the outboard would start after a couple of pulls (or more) and various levels of choke. But for my guests – until the outboard finally started – it was a slightly more stressful start.

And then we were off. Woohoo! Mum and Aunty Francie gave me strict instructions not to go too fast, and being a good son and nephew, I obeyed. Which was okay until we found ourselves in the middle of the river where the wind was strong enough to whip up spray and splash it into the tender. The lack of speed meant we travelled level rather than with our bow sitting up out of the water and sheltering us from oncoming waves and spray.

By now I knew deep down it was highly unlikely that we’d reach Sauvage, but – as an adventurer at heart – I live by the rule “never turn back”.

That was until the wave came. The slightly rogue wave that came up and over the front of the tender, leaving my Mum, Aunty Francie and I very wet. Read totally wet. The very specific instruction at that point was to go back to where we had come from. And so, with regret, I turned the tender around and headed back to the jetty.

Practically speaking, I accepted we were unlikely to get out to Sauvage today, and even if we did, not even I really and truly felt good about making another trip back to the jetty for Kirsten and Dad, and then, after our picnic aboard Sauvage, getting everyone back to shore.

Mum and Aunty Francie giggled all the way back to the jetty. This is one of those great memories I’m keen to keep as we continue our adventures with our yacht. (Aunty Francie knows us very well – she knows to always expect the unexpected with us!)

The trip to Auckland gave me the opportunity to check out Sauvage, even if only from land, and I could see that the sail cover had partly come away from the mainsail in Auckland’s recent high winds. Ironically, the next day when I returned to the boat to fix the sail cover, the weather was virtually windless. I got out on the water with no issues at all!

Which brings me to our next point for discussion: what to do about our current sail cover? It needs replacing and we’d like to up our sail cover game… now to work out how. BNZ