The last evening in Russell
We went to the Russell Boat Club for the prize giving and regatta party. Dinner was a Hangi which is a traditional NZ Maori method of cooking food using heated rocks buried in a pit oven. We didn’t see the laying of the fire and food burial but we did witness the unveiling. They were feeding 900 people. Individual foil wrapped packets with meat and veggies were packed in large bins and buried. Many volunteers including fireman attending the pit to food servers made the process go smoothly. After dinner there was a band and dancing. A fun evening for all!
The prizes 
Ready for the festivities 
the crowd watching the awards 
the beginning of the unveiling, digging off the dirt 
dirt almost gone, ready to pull pack the tarp 
the next layer, looks like a burlap 
the foil packets revealed in the bins 
servers 
the organized distribution of food 
the open packet 
dancing to the band
The next morning, January 10th
We pulled up anchor at 6:15 am to head on our voyage back to Auckland. Our intention was to get back to Kawau Island about 95 miles away. We motored until noon when the wind came up. We sailed just off the wind for several hours. After reviewing the weather for the next day and our progress we decided to keep going on to Auckland. We got to Kawau about 6:00pm and then the wind started to strengthen and go on the nose. We beat upwind at 10-11 knots for another 4 1/2 hours to get to Auckland. Arrived at the dock about 10:45 pm. We traveled about 120 miles if you draw a straight line but the last bit was upwind. A good day on the water!
August 11 & 12
There was an article in the local paper about the race we did in the Bay of Islands. Here is the link:
Not sure the pictures will show up on a phone. There is one of our boat that is quite nice.
We caught up with work and on-going boat maintenance. Phil & I went out to watch some practice races in the afternoon on Tuesday the 12th with team members. We are back in preparation for the Prada Cup which starts on Friday.
Indy Yachts 