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Orion entering Havelock

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The Kenepuru at sunset

Despite an unpromising forecast we decided to go out anyway, at 10 am on the Saturday. It turned into quite a nice day. We steamed as far north as Yncyca Bay on a recce. At this time of year, and in the SE'ly weather, it was a bit bleak. We approached the PMW buoy and recorded a waypoint for our return some summer evening. Then we beat a retreat to Take-In Bay. The picture shows how the weather dominated the weekend, but we had a nice time regardless. Sue caught a 26cm Spotty. 

We did a Man Overboard exercise and managed to get our bucket-and-fender casualty back aboard in quick time. We did a Williamson turn and that worked well, bringing us right back onto our reciprocal course and on track. The MOB feature on the Raymarine is not that good. I'm not sure, even after reading the manual, that it is working the way it should. Quite the worst feature is the way it automatically changes the range such that you can't see any land. I found it disorientating, and retaining your orientation and a heightened situational awareness is what a good MOB is all about. Our procedure now is simply to always start a track which means we can at any time exactly retrace our steps. 

Passing traffic in the Havelock Channel

We did some handle-down running to test the gearbox repairs and it passed with flying colours. The hottest part of the casing after an hour of full power was 70°C. The shifts to ahead and astern were instantaneous and smooth.

We came in near the top of the tide on the Monday around lunchtime. All in all, a satisfying long weekend.

Nightingale

Nightingale departing Havelock

Very exciting! Dion has bought Nightingale after a long period of negotiation, and with friend Sarah is taking her to Tuna Bay, Tennyson Inlet. This is a new lease on life for this grand old boat, so full of character. We shall enjoy to visit them there some time over the summer.

Sticky moment

It doesn't look it in this photograph, but the wind was NW 25 knots with frequent gusts of 35 knots. Nightingale stuck on soft mud on the eastern side of the entrance but was towed off by Pelorus Image, seen here standing by as Nightingale gets lined up for the channel. 

They spent the night in Maori Bay. It was a wild night with strong gusts and that strange swirling thing it does. We were relieved when next morning Dion texted us "Just coming into Tennyson, sun's out for arrival". 

Holiday traffic

Cullen Point inward

Sometimes boats are just like cars. We're stuck behind the slow moving cruiser, three fizz boats shot past us, one got ahead of the cruiser and two got stuck behind. Labour Day mayhem in the Havelock Channel.

Long Bay, Kenepuru

On a more tranquil note, here we are in Long Bay. We spent Labour Weekend loafing about, very busy doing nothing. On the Monday we went exploring up the top of the Kenepuru on the other side of Portage. It's very pretty up there, and less visited. But then Long Bay is nice, too. Note the boom, we now have a derrick for launching and recovering the dinghy.

Moutapu Bay

Passing Grape Escape in the Havelock Channel

We pinched the one nice night, the Friday, of an otherwise wet weekend. Here we are on the Saturday morning, passing No. 1 buoy inward and Grape Escape is outward on a short cruise with a shipload of friends. The sun doesn't always have to be shining, who would miss these softer tones in light rain?