Zero2Sixty

Anchorage at Smokehouse Bay, Great Barrier Island

by Art on

Information

Rating
Bottom
sand
Depth
15.2 meters
Latitude
36°11.857′S
Longitude
175°19.985′E
-36.1976167175.3330833

We had to pass through 'Man of War Passage', a narrow (30m gap, the narrowest we've ever gone through!) with 14m of depth to get into this bay but it was worth it. You do have to plan to do this in slack tide and with little wind to make sure you can get through easily.

The entire Port Fitzroy area of Great Barrier island in New Zealand is totally protected from any wind direction (yes, it's really true!). You can find a place to hide no matter where the wind comes from or its intensity. Aside from this unique fact, it's incredibly beautiful too! The town of Port Fitzroy is nothing to shake a stick at however. It just has a store for basic groceries, a dive shop to get your bottles refilled and a dock for the daily ferry to Auckland. Not much but that's OK as the 3G signal for internet is strong, the fishing is great and tomorrow Andrea and friends will try their hand at snaring some gigantic lobsters.

Narrow passage to Smokehouse Bay We are still battling issues from a recent electronics installation and have a part coming in by ferry so tomorrow we'll be doing some testing to see if we can get rid of the 'gremlins' in the system. Tracy and I will go onshore to sample the local 'cuisine' of a burger bar and that's about as exciting as it gets up here. Tonight, we have fresh snapper to put on the BBQ grill accompanied by a nice NZ Sauvignon Blanc from the Marlborough region (south island). With the typical NZ 'summer' weather we started the day in clouds and rain but broke out to crystal-clear skies and sunshine. Four seasons in one day is the norm for here...

The views, however, are worth the lack of infrastructure. Don't pass this place by. We have a month allocated to exploring all the bays and anchorages of Great Barrier Island and wish we had more time. February/March is an ideal time to be here!

The lead-in photo for this article is of the lovely 'Tea', our hostess from Huahini, French Polynesia. While Giamma and Carmen are on vacation back in Italy, she has come onboard to help out and has quickly fit in with our program. In no time at all she has become a valued member of the Feelin' Good crew and we are so pleased she is with us.

Welcome Tea!!

Anchorage Position

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