Searching for a guy named Mary …

Town Basin, Whangarei Marina

Several people told us we should stop in the town of Whangarei (pronouced Fangaray) on our way north as many yachties get their boats repaired there before sailing to Opua. Opua is the marina closest to the Bay of Islands many boats will be departing for the South Pacific.

While in Whangarei we got to talking to an elderly couple who told us about an American man they had recently met named Mary who plans to sail to Fiji in May. His boat had been docked nearby a few days prior but he had since left and no one knew where he was headed to next.  All the information we could gather about him was that he is in his 70’s,  his boat was older with two front masts that were the same height and the  sail is square.

There was a chance he was still in Whangarei at one of the other smaller marinas or perhaps his boat was getting repaired nearby. Thomas and I set off in search of a guy named Mary  (although we wonder if perhaps that is his boats name?) looking amongst heaps of boats for a square sail. We did not find Mary that day so it must not be the boat for us.

Our search continues …