First day of spring

Leaving Richmond

Friday evening the tide didn't serve until well after dark. Big spring tides usually mean driftwood, detritus from the forestry, so it's not so good steaming after dark. Leaving in the morning at this time of year can mean fog, so these are risks one has to manage. 

We elected to sail on the Saturday morning and as it happened there was fog, but by the time we were ready to sail around 9am it had already cleared. We steamed to Richmond and it was all very pleasant, we saw dolphins about a half mile to the west of our track, but we didn't give chase. We saw shearwaters further south than usual. We saw penguins at Tawero which is not unusual. Next day, Sunday, we steamed to Ferndale. 

The Monday was beautiful and we idled in the middle of a flat calm Kenepuru talking on the phone with Nina before heading in on the top of a big tide. Barometer 1025 mb or better the whole time. 60 nm in all.

Sue's birthday cruise

Windy sky in the Kenepuru

Bex and Ryan were going to come, but the earthquake closed the road through Kaikoura. It would have been a long drive via Nelson. The isobars were a tad close together for a serious fishing trip, so we spent a windy afternoon at Raetihi and then woke to an idyllic Sunday morning, the day of Sue's birthday. Pottered back late morning and into the early afternoon. The first hot day in a long while. We were warned of driftwood everywhere after the flood, and while there was some it was not so much. There is a very large piece lodged on the bank east of the Johnson transit marks.

Very HW Havelock

Pat Copp took this picture. The super moon created king tides, plus floodwater after an extraordinary weather event brought the water level up to within an inch of the top. See the colour of the water too. At the bridge over the Wairau the river was bank to bank and flowing strongly. Crystal was on board Lucy on the night of the quake and said it felt as if a giant was shaking the boat.

Havelock Channel

The blue pin marks the position of a large tree with several big branches that has grounded on the bank. It maybe this tree is stuck forever until it eventually rots. If it's ever missing then it has floated off somewhere and could be a real hazard to navigation. We were keeping a very good lookout for timber as we transited the channel on the weekend. Bob tells us it takes four days for the driftwood to clear after a big event. We saw some, but it was mostly small debris floating in long ribbons along lines of tide.