Look what I found in New Zealand!!

[Gary M]

I just got home from my 10th trip to New Zealand where we always get in some fishing and boating. My wife is originally from there......

We are fortunate to have a one-week timeshare in the beautiful "Bay of Islands" at the small village of Paihia. We always drive a few miles away to the little village of Opua to look at their nice Marina and lovely anchorage.

As we pass the Marina and look out at the anchorage there, we spot an all-too-familar site and I just had to get the new Sony camera out!!

It looks to me to be a mid-late 90s Islander that obviously has been repowered with 4-strokes. The owner would row out to this boat in a "ducky" as they call it, tie the ducky off to the mooring and then take the Grady out. Kind of a pain, but they do not have many Marinas there and the ones that they do have are very expensive.

There is also another Grady up there that is used daily for charter work. This is about the 4-5th Grady that we have seen down there.

As a comparison, here's the 36 footer that we went out on two days later. All aluminum, with a single diesel inboard cruising at about 12 knots.....

And here's the first boat that we ever fished aboard in the Bay of Islands, the "Skipper Jim"! The Skipper is another "tinnie" that is amazingly only 20 feet in length with a 15 foot beam! Yup, that's right! She's a Cat hull with twin small diesels!

We sure wish that we could fold up our Marlin and take her with us down there!!

 

[catch22]

Nice....

 

[BirdRock]

Nice. When I was in Ireland they had similar set ups along the Ring of Kerry. Not many true marinas but boats tied off to moorings in the harbor, accessable by dingy.

I guess they don't flush engines down under? That would worry me.

 

[Frank]

A mooring is a fairly common way of keeping your boat in the Mass area. I share your concern about a boat whose engine is never flushed. I guess if you can't flush, you just view corrosion as an additional cost of operation (or sell the boat before it gets too bad and make it someone else's problem).

 

[oceanfun]

It is so nice to hear someone talking about the virtues of New Zealand, my second home. I worked there as a Captain for ten years and lived and fished the Bay of Islands and northern waters every summer season. I recognise the Grady in the photo you took. It was brought in by a local Kiwi who got it from California I believe. I also know of a couple of others owned by friends of mine. They are well suited for their waters that as you probably experienced can be very crappy on the best of days. I remember stretches of days on end with 25+knot winds and 10 foot seas, and these guys would be out in their Gradys. Mind you they are pretty mad fishos down there.
When we would fish the Three Kings off the northern tip we would use our boat Bwana, a 65' cat sportfisher as a mother ship for these guys, stowing their gear and fuel for them. And I tell you they could sure raise the strippies with their Gradys, and get to the grounds at least an hour before us. I'd love to take mine down there and do the same thing.

Steve

 

[Gary M]

It is so nice to hear someone talking about the virtues of New Zealand, my second home......Steve

Here you go Steve...........

http://outdoorsbest.zeroforum.com/zerothread?id=728246

I'll be posting another report about a more serious "kingie" trip out to Cape Brett with Capt Steve Butler soon........

And yes, there is another guy in the BOI that's running a Grady as a charter boat and I think that it's moored right next to the wharf in Opua. We had lunch there one day and I looked out at the bay to see if that Grady was moored out there but I could not find it. We found the one that I posted above, just beyond the new Marina at Opua......

 

[oceanfun]

Hi Gary,

Thanks for the link, sounds like you have a blast when you are down there. Kingies, now that is a different beast!! Those buggers can put up a battle and are the dirtiest fighters I have met. Anything over 25lbs, well your arms will tell you the story. I've seen 30 pounders smack marlin lures and smoke the line off 50lb gear. When we would fish the Middlesex Bank out off the Three Kings, sometimes we would have to move on because they would be so thick that the marlin didn't have a chance to get to the lures. Awesome fish.

My friends with the Grady's there both live in Whangarei but when we fish up north they trailer them to Houhora and launch there. I know of a couple more down in Auckland and also saw one at the wharf in Warkworth so there is a few around. If you ever go back down there PM me and I can give you some more fishing suggestions.

Steve

 

[Gary M]

Whangarei Houhora Warkworth

Haha........ Some very familiar names and places to me! I have been up to the BOI about 6-7 times now over the last 15 years. We always stop for lunch in Whangarei right there at the main Marina. I always hit a local used bookshop there as well.....

I launched out of Leigh once with my bro-in-law and we fished Little Barrier.....

PM me your email address and I'll send you an email that I sent out to everyone with about a dozen photos in it......