On the way from Auckland, the rain started pounding against the windscreen. ‘Welcome back to Whangarei,’ I thought while driving on familiar roads again. The weather hasn’t really been great the last couple days but nevertheless I’m really happy to be on Guppy again. I wanted to make it good with her and take her out immediately but changed my mind after seeing the weather forecast. A strong gale! Ok, so maybe not such a good idea to go sailing right now… Leatitia is still with me, and we drove up to Cape Reinga instead. The wind was blowing in our faces and soon the rain followed, but the view was definitely worth it. The Pacific and the Tasman Sea coming together, creating 10-meter-high wild crossing waves. We stood there on the top of Cape Reinga for a while and looked out at the sea, me wishing I was out there again and Leatitia happy to be safe on land… After two days the wind settled down and we decided to take Guppy out for a sail after checking and maintaining her. The sun was shining in our faces and a fresh breeze came to say hello once out of Tutukaka harbor. As soon as we were sailing, the engine did not want to switch off! The whole electric panel was dead… including the RPM meter. I checked the connections but nothing seemed wrong with that so I emergency stopped the engine by hand. After all, Guppy is a sailboat and I don’t really need an engine. On sea I checked the connections to the batteries and soon found the problem. Something had bumped into one of the power switches. So that was too easy. Guppy wasn’t finished with me yet though. I think after such a long time away from her, Guppy was a little grumpy and she just wanted to make sure I was still capable. So a few hours later the chart plotter decided to give up his duty now. By dark we arrived in the Bay of Islands where we wanted to anchor for the night. Arriving there Guppy’s spotlight didn’t want to work anymore either, but with the good old paper maps and an old GPS I managed to miss all the rocks and anchored in a beautiful quiet bay, where we stayed for the rest off the night. On the way back the next day we had plenty of wind and rain as well, giving Leatitia (who hadn’t sailed much before) a good view of how sailing can also be. I don’t think she enjoyed that trip as much though as she was seasick most of the way. But Guppy was doing almost 8 knots and happy as in old days. Now she is moored on her berth in Tutukaka Marina again. She is happy to be out with me again and so am I. She has a big smile now, even the rain is gently ticking on deck and the fresh wind telling me that the winter is coming…

Laura