Waitangi

'Octopus in net' by Nina

Getting underway

Poppy goes kayaking

Collab BBQ

Sailed 07:50 on Waitangi morning, Nina putting in the trip report with her shiny new VHF operator licence. Congratulations, Nina! Rendezvous with Weta in Stafford Bay, sheltering from strong gusts in the Outer Sounds. 17:00 pleasant in Stafford but with fresh SE winds forecast departed for Chance Bay, our companions in need of a good sleep. Friday departed Chance Bay for Bird Island fishing. 20:00 in Māori Bay (Port Ligar) in company with Seas the Day. Oops! Caught an octopus and quickly returned him to the sea. Next day, Saturday, fishing in Fishing Bay - go figure - then departed Māori Bay for Chance Bay and agreed meet up with Weta. Sunday in Take-In Bay and Poppy went kayaking; in the evening a most congenial collaborative bbq (pictured above). Back in Havelock 11:25 on the Monday and greeted by Janice and Norma, lunch in the Slip Inn. Steamed 114 nautical miles. 

Mid-winter cruise

Embarkation

Checking the oil

Pukatea inward

Kenepuru from Take-in Bay

Take-in Bay

Ship's Dog

Early departure

Grape Escape leaving Ferndale

QBW18

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.

Jetstream

Take-In Bay

Back in Take-In Bay. It's just 15 sea miles from Havelock, it's sheltered from most quarters, and we love the view. Neap tides this weekend and the fishing a bit slow, but even so Sue caught a very respectable Kahawai which I turned into fish curry.