Bay of Islands Sailing?

We are thinking of doing a private sail in the Bay of Islands.

Wondering whether to do a small private sailing or a Tall ship.

Not sure which would be best.

Can you please share you experiences with me and your recommendations? What was good about it and what was not so good?

We are still looking into what to do in Bay of Islands. We love the idea of doing a day sail but they appear to start too early for us to get to Russell in time to get onboard.

Has anyone managed to do this when tendering starts at 10.00am?

Just an observation...

Dependant on which ship you are on, most tender ashore to Waitangi, from there you would have to take the shuttle along to Paihia and then from there take the ferry to Russell. While each trip is short the waiting time between each could take up valuable time.

I've been in contact with this operator of the Vigilant: http://www.sailing-bay-of-islands.co.nz/

While we will not be booking it, friends on the sailing after ours have reserved seats.

Thank you both for your replies :)

I think that as our ship doesn't start to tender ashore until 10.00am, we are going to find it difficult to find a day sail that will wait until we can get off the ship and make our way to Russell.

We have decided to book the ship's tour on the R Tucker Thompson Tall Ship day sail. Has anyone else done this tour? It sounds wonderful. :)

We are thinking of doing a private sail in the Bay of Islands. Wondering whether to do a small private sailing or a Tall ship.

Not sure which would be best. Can you please share you experiences with me and your recommendations? What was good about it and what was not so good?

We did a sailing in the wonderful and scenic Bay of Islands. As I responded on your other thread, it was not, however, on this larger R Tucker Thompson Tall Ship. We did a smaller, faster sailing ship. My thoughts, questions and reactions?

As a few of my pictures below, I am sure glad we were on a smaller, more custom tour. Why? The Thompson ship had sails, but seemed somewhat slow and crowded. From a distance, this ship does look "interesting", but I am not sure how much "fun" it was to be standing on the deck with the large group of other people. Maybe that is good enough for your interests and needs. We, however, got to be "more personal" in sharing our sailing experience, interacting with the skilled crew, having our food and drinks as we sailed, going ashore on an interesting smaller island, seeing dolphins up close and personal, exploring these fascinating areas, etc.

Much depends on what you have done in the past, seek, like, need, etc. From your picture, both of you seem younger and more active. Tell us more for what you seek, have done in the past, etc. See much more on my full live/blog for our various Bay of Islands experiences, etc. Added questions?

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 125,105 views for this posting.

Here is one of my pictures of this ship, the R Tucker Thompson Tall Ship, as it was sailing around the exciting Bay of Islands area. Nice looking ship from a distance, but with the numbers of people on this slower ship, I am not sure how well the "experience" works and matches your expectations/needs.:

From our group's Bay of Islands water fun in New Zealand, we got to do real sailing, including going out into the nearby Pacific Ocean! See the proof and success below. It was both a perfect weather day and such fun sampling this great region of northern NZ. One of the options for those in our Central Ohio group on this custom, private sailing was to help to do as much (or as little as desired) in helping make this sail experience happen. In the first picture, Captain Murray is guiding the ship from this great vantage point on the back of the Zindabar. Was this exciting and scenic?:

How does shore time on an outlying island in the Bay of Islands sound? Seems like fun!! First, here is our group's Sharon, who was fearless, going out on the kayak to explore these waters and this island, doing snorkeling, etc. And who goes out in the dinghy? It's John, Mike and me who are preparing to go ashore to explore and climb to the top of the "mountain" that is there on this island!:

At Bay of Islands during our private sailing adventure, we went ashore and walked past this scenic cove with a mother and daughter enjoying this great setting. Then, we had to climb up the Motuarohia Trail to the TOP!! How tall was this challenge? Officially, it is 450 meters or 1476 feet. BUT, by the time we got back on the boat, with bragging skills learned in Australia, that "mountain" we conquered had grown greatly up to 2414' in height. Inflation? Sure! Just makes the stories better to those who stayed on the sailing craft. And the views from up, UP there? See this one example below to prove our great achievement.:

They said we might get lucky and be able to see some dolphins. Did we? Seeing is believing!! They knew these waters and how to draw these dolphins closer to our boat. We loved the results (and good luck), especially seeing multiple dolphins jumping and flipping. Plus, these cute creatures coming so close to our sailing craft. Great fun!! Our Captain Sharon was a sailor for New Zealand at both the 1996 Atlanta Olympics (where she sailed off of Savannah) and the 2004 Athens Olympics.:

Hi Terry, We are interested in doing the smaller boat sailing adventure in Bay of Islands. If you would be so kind as to post the contact information for the company from which you chartered, we would greatly appreciate it. Many thanks, Meryle

Hi Terry, We are interested in doing the smaller boat sailing adventure in Bay of Islands. If you would be so kind as to post the contact information for the company from which you chartered, we would greatly appreciate it. Many thanks, Meryle

Hi, Meryle! Not sure if the boat we used and/or its owner is going to be operating in the Bay of Islands area during the upcoming season. He was considering to be shifting his area of focus and operations.

The website is:

http://www.zindabar.co.nz

Contact them through that channel. The website seems active and working well currently. Also, I would do a Google search for Bay of Island and sailing charter to see what other options and potentials pop up to consider.

Any other questions and/or info needs for this area, other Australia/New Zealand ports/locations?

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

From our Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean combo sailing over 26 days that started in Barbados, here is the link below to that live/blog. Lots of great visuals from this amazing Brazil river and these various Caribbean Islands (Dutch ABC's, St. Barts, Dominica, Grenada, etc.) that we experienced. Check it out at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2157696

Now at 31,775 views for these postings.

Not sure if you have sailed yet but here is another yacht charter you could consider. If you have I hope you enjoyed your visit and whatever you ended up doing! This info may be useful for others that find this thread!

We sailed on 'She's A Lady' during our stop on Celebrity Solstice back in Oct '13. Was a lovely day out and as we had a full charter of 10 persons (via our roll call!) they were happy to customise the day to suit our needs.

The Skipper was experienced and super friendly, he also became head chef as he prepared our lunch and afternoon tea!

Here is link to travel advisor- you can also access their direct website from here to make contact!

Check out She's a Lady on TripAdvisor

http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Attraction_Review-g580533-d1891031-Reviews-She_s_a_Lady-Bay_of_Islands_Northland_Region_North_Island.html?m=19904

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Thank you both for your lovely photos of your days in Bay of Islands. I did contact several people about this. We would have loved to do a day sail on one of these private boats, but none of their day sails fitted in with our docking time. We would not have been able to get to them in time for their sailing.

We have managed to book on the R Thompson Tucker tall sail ship and are now looking forward to that. :)

Thanks for you input though.

Thank you both for your lovely photos of your days in Bay of Islands. I did contact several people about this. We would have loved to do a day sail on one of these private boats, but none of their day sails fitted in with our docking time. We would not have been able to get to them in time for their sailing.

 

We have managed to book on the R Thompson Tucker tall sail ship and are now looking forward to that. :)

 

Thanks for you input though.

We looked at that too but it was not operating on the day of our visit. It looks like a fun day out in the bay! Enjoy your 'sail' and your cruise!

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