Category Archives: New Zealand

Catana Mafia at Tauranga Marina

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After we left Slipper Island we headed for Tauranga Marina just off Sulphur Point in Tauranga.  Greg Prescott, the marina manager is a fellow Catana owner.  We learned that there was an unplanned gathering of Catana owners that we simply had to meet.

We had not been this far south on the north island so it was a great time to see new places.  Tauranga is about half way down the east side of the north island.

Sugar Shack pulled into this beautiful marina with the help of the marina crew.  It was a great place to hide from a forecasted storm.

We enjoyed some stunning sunsets from the boat and the Tauranga Sport Fishing Club.

We walked 20-25 minutes to downtown Tauranga several times for lunch and a great looksy.

Tauranga is famous for its beautiful Mt. Manganui.  A great place to hike and explore.

Who wore it best? 

Reunion of Old Friends

Our friends Wendy and Peryn live in Tauranga so we enjoyed a fabulous afternoon with them at their house.

In addition, our friends Tony and Jaqui came down for a visit.  Tony is launching a new product called Vortex Marine and is having us test drive it for him.  A huge honor and a great opportunity to try the product out first hand.

Vortex Marine is a tablet that takes your every day chart plotter to a whole new level!  Check it out.

Top photo is Charlie and Sue on “Purr” and Greg is the marina manager on “Seuss” both Catana owners.

Greg organized a dinner with the Catana group.  A few other marina guests joined in as well, but most were Catana owners.

  • Sugar Shack
  • Roam: Jim and Pam
  • Purr: Charlie and Sue
  • Machiavel: Grant
  • Seuss: Greg and Sharron
  • Blue: owners were out of town but we admired their boat

Some of these folks we had been talking to online for years and this was the first time we met them!

Some of the other folks had been following along our blog for years and it was the first time they met us.  Always super fun to meet people who enjoy the work we do.

Here is the big group!

It was such an incredible pleasure meeting up with these amazing people with such diverse cruising stories.  

I was humbled and honored to meet the folks on Hapai and Gerdy who had been following Sugar Shack for a few years.  It warms my heart to know we’ve paid it forward for all the good will other folks have given us.

Just another reminder of how truly blessed we are!

Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual events.  We were in Tauranga around mid-March 2026.

Pure Comfort at Slipper Island

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Slipper Island is conveniently located half way between Mercury Island and Tauranga.  It was a quick stop in a beautiful bay. 

This island includes rocky reefs, sheltered bays and large fields of seagrass.  It is also a marine protected area that is home to 13 different habitats.

Seagrass meadows support a diverse range of species including juvenile snapper. Other species include horse mussels, scallops, rock lobster as well as sponges and soft corals.

The island is an important breeding site for a range of seabirds.

Slipper Island Anchorages

There are three bays on the east side of the Island. 

The first bay has a small resort called Slipper Island Resort. Guests from the resort can enjoy a private beach, beautiful nature walks and the marine reserve bay.

This bay is about 2nm from South Bay where we anchored.  We skipped this bay as it was pretty exposed to the wind.

The next bay was too small.

The third bay was perfect and aptly called “South Bay.  It is a large protected bay from the north and south winds.  

There is a beautiful sandy beach and with crystal clear waters lapping up the shore.

Ashore is privately owned so we can only walk the beach.  But the beach is enjoyed by lots of locals.

Slipper Island’s History

Approximately 18,000 years ago, when sea levels were over 100 metres lower than present day levels, Slipper Island was connected to the Coromandel by a vast coastal plain.

Sea levels began to rise 7,000 years ago, after which the island was separated from the rest of New Zealand.

During his second voyage to New Zealand in 1728, Captain Cook sailed this coast and renamed Whakahau Slipper Island. Neighbouring Motuhoa was called Shoe Island, because Cook thought they resembled a slipper and a shoe.

Our blog posts run 4-6 weeks behind actual live events.

Find South Bay at Slipper Island on No Foreign Land.

You really don’t want to miss the beautiful photos in our last blog post, “A Hidden Bay at Mercury island.”

We visited this island in early March 2026.

A Hidden Bay at Mercury Island

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We had a beautiful day on our trip from Great Barrier Island to Mercury Island.  We had hoped to sail, but alas Mother Nature had other plans.  With less than 5kts of wind we could not fill the sails so we ended up motoring.

But the day was so pretty, the waters calm, and the skies clear. Nothing else mattered.

A Hidden Bay 

A few years ago our friend Leigh took us on a helicopter ride over Mercury Island (read blog post).  Matt spotted this gorgeous bay that could fit 1-2 boats.  We marked the location of the bay and told ourselves that we would come anchor there someday.  

Fast forward to today!  We happened to pull up to the very same anchorage  with no boats. 

This is a shallow bay so we cautiously nosed our boat into the bay using our forward sonar, Project X, and satellite charts.

Absolutely as stunning from the water as it was from the sky!

We had this beautiful bay all to ourselves for a few days.  It was so beautiful that we decided to stay longer.

What did we do?

However, when Saturday arrived so did the Auckland launches.  The day trippers arrived in full force to enjoy the beautiful weather and pretty sandy beaches.

Then our friends on Moon Shadow, Leigh and Linda Hopper, came in their 70′ Maritimo. 

Leigh expertly maneuvered his yacht next to us.  And to our surprise he wanted to raft up.  His magnificent Maritimo 70′ yacht to our 47′ catamaran.  

Ok…we dug out the fenders and tied up.

Not 30 minutes later their friends on a 60′ Maritimo arrived and rafted up next to them. 

So, we now have a 70′ Martimo and a 60′ Maritimo rafted up to Sugar Shack.  

All I can say is our 30kg Spade anchor is AMAZING!  Granted we had little wind, but still we had two gigantic boats rafted up to us!

Yes, the smallest boat, Sugar Shack is holding the two larger boats 🙂

While we were here we had our friend John stopped by with some snapper on Friday.

Then Leigh and Linda served up some delicious pack horse lobster on Saturday.

Yes, we are living like royalty.

After our early lobster dinner both Maritimos left to a larger anchorage where they could drop the hook safely.

A Return to Mercury Island

We left Tauranga with two buddy boats: Purr and Go Baby Go.  John on Go Baby Go captured a few shots of Sugar Shack as we were underway.

And then John took a drone shot of all three of us at South Bay on Slipper Island.

We left Slipper Island and headed to Mercury Island again.  While our friends headed to Great Barrier Island. 

We wanted to go back to Little Bay but \a launch anchored right in the middle of the bay preventing us from anchoring  So we went next door to Mamona Bay which was almost as beautiful!

Sugar Shack had this beautiful spot all to ourselves.

Matt got the drone out and captured the beauty from the sky.  Check out the gorgeous waters!

Our blog posts run 4-5 weeks behind actual live events. 

We were at the Mercury Island in early March 2026 and returned mid-March 2026.

Find this bay on No Foreign Land.