Sailing in the Bay of Islands

At first I was a little worried about sea sickness, but twenty minutes out of the harbour I knew there wouldn't be any trouble. In fact, I was really looking forward to spending a day on the water and on a sail boat no less. I had chartered a spot the Paihia based boat called "She's a Lady", skippered by a man who introduced himself as Glenn. I was a little worried at first when I saw the other passengers that day: three couples two of them retired and well into their sixties. The ladies looked a little out of their element and not entirely fit for the day. The other couple were in their early thirties and had the look of seasoned travellers. At first I thought this was a recipe for a boring day spent rolling over waves in the harbour. Glenn, however, had nothing of the sort in mind.
We had a good 15 knot wind blowing from the south east when we headed out and immediately after setting and trimming the sails the prow dipped down and the boat heeled over sharply to the left. I crawled up to the starboard rail with the boat at a good 30 degree angle underneath me and felt pure exhilaration pass over me. It was by far the most fun I have had so far. I wanted to go sailing in Auckland harbour, but I thought it was too expensive. However, those trips were on America's cup catamarans with sleek hulls and a full crew. I didn't want to be a spectator, I wanted to get wet!
We had a great run out to one of the islands with a little harbour on the lee side where we anchored for some exploration and lunch. After a cup of tea on board I paddle a kayak to shore and did some hiking up to a great view point. From there I could see out into the Pacific and the other Islands that stood in the way. There were some great tidal pools around the beach and the water was cool. There were intermittent showers all afternoon, so we ate lunch on the boat where we could duck into the cabin if we wanted to.
On the way back Glenn asked if I wanted to take the helm for a little while and I wasn't about to turn him down. We didn't much wind on the way back which made for some lazy sailing, but that was just because we were still on the leeward side of the island. Shortly after rounding the end and pointing the bow back towards Paihia, a small squally passed over us and thats when I really started having fun. I had put on my rain coat which was being blown sideways and the wheel needed constant movement up and over each wave. It was fun trying to chase the wind and see how fast you could push our little boat.
All in all it was great day of sailing for my first time and I am really looking forward to trying it again, sometime when there is some real wind!