Pelorus Sound

Wonderful news that Orion is laying to a combined clubs buoy in Mahau Sound tonight. We'll learn the details of the passage tomorrow, but it seems she made good time. John says in a text, "Got virtual diesel heater glowing nicely below decks with ducted air through forecabin and wheelhouse". What he means is that the big Gardner is something of a night storage heater, and he's left the engine room doors open to warm the cabins. The days have been nice, but the evenings are still chilly.

South side of Putanui Point

Castle Point

With Castle Point abaft the beam, John and Peter captured a stunning sunset and the perigee moon. Tonight, September 28th, the full moon is the closest super moon of the year.

Sunset (pic John)

Big moon (pic Peter)

Cape Turnagain

We woke this morning to a text to say Orion had departed Napier. The weather is set fair for the next few days. On board are John Skipper Burns and Peter Browne. Early afternoon, John sent two photographs.

Cape Turnagain

Peter Browne on watch

Tsunami alert

A magnitude-8.3 earthquake off the coast of Chile has sparked a tsunami alert along the east coast of New Zealand, including Napier. It's good to know that John Burns is there keeping a watchful eye on Orion, and of course his own Panther. John emailed last night to reassure us that Orion had plenty of water under her, and plenty of mooring lines out. Even so neither of us slept very well, and we suspect John was up half the night too. I watched breakfast TV and they showed pictures from Gisborne marina, and things looked pretty quiet there with a rise of about 30 cms. The alert has not been lifted yet as waves reflected off the Pacific Islands are expected to arrive later in the day. The follow-up is that it turned into not much over here, but we all feel for those Chileans who died, and for those now faced with cleaning up the mess. We were spared, but these events always serve as a reminder to make preparations and have disaster plans in place.