Clouds sent an email and he says leaving as scheduled is a risk. We trust our forecaster so we will wait and see. As a child I struggled with that phrase, “we’ll see”. It always struck me as evasive and somewhat lazy. How could my childhood world with so many rules not provide me with something a little more certain? At that early time in my life when most things were beyond my control I didn’t yet understand that with the mastery of the world that adults develop also comes the revelation of just how much is beyond our control. This year has taught Dolphin and Squid that often adults don’t have definite answers but there is no need to associate uncertainty with insecurity.
So, we fill in time. Yesterday was a whirl of activity and today stands in stark contrast as we sail in relaxed conditions north. We are heading for The Bay of Islands to cut half a day off our passage. Every little bit counts. We use the time to settle the crew into the boat, talking them through such things as the rigging and navigation setup, how much toilet paper the loo can handle without blocking, what to do if the boat is sinking, where all the snack food is stored and which first aid box to grab if someone jams their hand in a winch. It is a cacophony of information for them to digest. Some of it slides down easily however the more weighty topics cause pause for thought as each one of us silently considers a situation in which we would have to call into action some of this knowledge. Individual minds conjure their own scenario but we all arrive at the same end point – I’m sure nothing that bad will happen.
The day rolls on and as we enter the Bay of Islands for the evening we still await a certain departure date. Another night in a beautiful anchorage is ahead of us. After success last night with the spear gun (red moki for dinner) our crew member, One Shot, swims off in search of dinner. I should be there in support on the SUP but get caught up chatting to other cruisers at anchor; there is always a neighbour ready to chat. I paddle over as One Shot is returning to QuickStar with a writhing octopus on the end of the spear. Thankfully we are in internet range to Google an answer to this dinner dilemma. The answer is onions, red wine, tomato and balsamic vinegar. The answer smells good. We drift off to sleep that night wondering if tomorrow the forecast will change.
The next day dawns wet and misty. Visibility is so appalling we have our radar on as we head to Opua for what we hope will be our last night in NZ. I am ready for this state of meteorological limbo to end, not so much for the sake of leaving but to start the journey back to Squid and Dolphin. The rate of checking our emails is higher than usual during the morning until we receive our daily update from Clouds. His emails are direct and to the point, delivering a summary of the conditions in the Tasman and how they will evolve over the next week. Clouds concludes that tomorrow we can leave. And with that, the waiting is over.