– we are now boating nomads

The aftermath of Cyclone Gabriel

Cyclone Gabrielle wreaked havoc across the North Island. Several people lost their lives and a great many were left homeless. The worst damage occurred in Tairawhiti and Hawkes Bay but Northland was not spared.

We were without power for four days and without water for much longer (in fact, there is still only a ‘temporary’ water pipe to the whole area beyond McLeod Bay). The ‘main’ road looked as it might in the aftermath of a significant earthquake. There were huge cracks, subsidence, major slips and the road and footpath had twisted, bent and buckled alarmingly in places – all causing multiple breaks in the water supply pipe. We had to rely on a water truck, parked daily by the old store, for drinking water but still had access to a local spring water supply which was good enough for showers and flushing the toilet.

The tar seal was ripped off the beach front road below us by the storm waves and the concrete power poles, which had been left lying down many years ago to form part of the sea wall, were tossed across the road. Just below us the beach road was completely washed away preventing one couple from driving to their house. The boat sheds on the opposite side of the bay had the bottom half of their doors ripped away.

Three boats in the bay broke their moorings and ended up on the beach or on the rocks. Two were salvaged but one had to be cut up and taken away in pieces. A number of the dinghies that people keep under the pohutakawa trees, well above the high tide mark, were completely trashed. We found one, several kilometres away, in Urquhart Bay where it had managed to find its way relatively unscathed.

Our boat survived unscathed. We had lashed the mainsail firmly in place and added additional ties to the genoa. The heavy steel mooring block, incredibly thick chain and stout rope all held up to the pounding that she took as the cyclone passed over us and the wind swung through 180º.

Unfortunately our house did not survive unscathed. The torrential rain that caused so much road damage all around us also caused major movement from the road above us all the way down to the beach. A few days after the cyclone we began to notice extra cracks appearing in the house, the driveway and retaining walls. The decking around the house had moved dramatically with posts moved off their foundations and fixings pulled out of the walls.

The movement has continued. The road especially, is much worse than in the photograph above and we notice new cracks in the house all the time. The house below us has fared even worse. Their whole structure is now a parallelogram rather than a rectangle.

Council inspectors and geotechnical engineers came to investigate and we were told that the house was not safe to live in. They issued a yellow sticker which means that we are allowed to enter the building to retrieve belongings etc but we cannot live there.

When we first bought the boat one of our neighbours quipped “why do you need a house?” As it turns out, we don’t. We are now full time on the boat while we wait for insurance assessors, geotechnical engineers, structural engineers, the Earthquake Commission and the Council to sort out what needs to be done next. We are not holding our breath for a rapid solution! Instead we are making the most of what remains of the summer to gain more sailing experience, complete more boat projects and further explore our coastal backyard.