A Week Aboard S/V Sabado: 6/7/26 - 6/14/26
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After last week’s storm, with what felt like endless clouds, rain, and strong winds, we were thrilled to wake up to sunshine and a glassy calm anchorage on Sunday morning. We lowered the dinghy to take advantage of the extra solar gain created by sunlight reflecting off the water and onto our new bifacial solar panels. This is becoming a new part of our on anchor routine.
A couple of locals stopped by in their fishing boat to say hello and share a few tips for catching snapper in the area. I have to admit, I felt a little nervous when I first saw them speeding toward us. Memories of being chased out of perfectly legal anchorages in French Polynesia came flooding back. Instead, it was a genuinely warm and welcoming encounter.
In fact, the people here in New Zealand have been some of the friendliest we’ve ever met. I still remember our first night in the country. We went to a restaurant near the marina for dinner, and a large group of locals invited us to join them. We pulled up a couple of chairs, shared a meal and some wine, and spent the evening swapping stories. By the end of the night, we had their phone numbers, invitations to stay at their homes, and even offers to borrow their cars.
At first, we thought it might be a prank. We kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, because surely people can’t be this nice. But if it is a prank, it seems to be country wide, because we’ve continued to have people bend over backwards for us moments after meeting. Our running joke has become, “what’s next, do you think they’ve got candy and puppies in their van too?” Haha.
In all seriousness, Kiwi Kindness is an endearing quality that has made our time here exponentially better, and it’s inspired us to go out of our way more to help others.
Wednesday night the sky was clear enough to reveal the stars. We noticed two particularly bright ones, and pulled out our constellation app to identify them, it was Venus and Jupiter!
Thursday morning, we pulled the anchor with the intention of motoring up to the Bay of Islands and anchoring there ahead of our marina reservation, which began on Friday. As we exited the harbor, we were delighted to find just enough wind to justify hoisting the sails. We raised the main and unfurled the jib. With just 9 knots of wind, we were making 5 knots SOG.
We felt like kids in a candy shop. Our heads were constantly swiveling as we took in the incredible scenery, enjoyed the perfect sea state, checked over the new rigging, and marveled at the rudder angle, which sat between 0° and -4° and felt wonderfully balanced.
We tacked back and forth a few times, getting a feel for the new setup before reluctantly dropping the sails and firing up the engines so we could alter course and reach our destination before dark. Two dolphins came by to visit as we entered the Bay of Islands. I was cracking up listening to how excited I sound in the video footage.
We swung by the fuel dock and topped up the tanks, filling in $199 NZD increments because, for whatever reason, that’s the only way our U.S. credit cards will work here. From there, we made our way into Opua Marina and, by pure coincidence, were assigned the exact same slip we had when we first arrived back in September: H06. Ray maneuvered us into position. With no one around to lend a hand, I stepped off the sugar scoop and secured the dock lines. Before long, we were safely tied up and settled back into marina life.
We had heard from our weather router that next week might be a good window to depart to Fiji. We booked our customs and immigration appointment and began tackling our passage prep to do list: laundry, check the weather forecast, meal prep, check the weather forecast, test safety equipment, check the weather forecast… You know the drill.
We'll be the first to admit that marinas aren't usually our happy place. One undeniable perk, though, is how easy they make it to meet interesting people. During our time on the dock, I had the chance to interview three different couples. They all live aboard in their own way, on different boats, with different philosophies, experiences, and stories. I asked each of them the same four questions:
- Are you full-time liveaboards? If so, what did your life look like before?
- Tell me about a time on the boat when you were genuinely scared or seriously challenged. What happened, and how did you handle it?
- What has been your favorite memory since moving aboard?
- What's one piece of advice you'd give to someone dreaming about this lifestyle?
If you've been following us for a while, you might remember that I did a similar video a few years ago. We had so much fun making it that I knew I wanted to do it again.
So grab a cup of coffee, or a glass of wine, we won't judge, and tune in here. We hope you enjoy hearing these stories as much as we enjoyed collecting them. And let us know in the comments: what questions should I ask the next group? Thanks for following along. :)