Hong

Departed Havelock at 1830 and arrived Raetihi 2000. Had our tea on the way. At Raetihi met up with Tom and Oriah who were honeymooning at Hopewell. Drinks on the aft deck, balmy night. Next day went on up to Take In Bay. Loafing, kayaking, fishing - fishing very flat. Strong gusty wind in the afternoon caused an unscheduled swim for someone, but it quickly died away and gave way to a beautiful evening. Sunday morning dawned overcast with light drizzle. Got underway early and went into Te Mahia to put Poppy ashore. All fast H8 by 1100.

Waitangi weekend

Unpromising start Thursday evening

Window washer system

Ryan with Gurnard, Penzance

Gurnard, keeper

Whakamawahi Point, looking into Beatrix Bay

Windy weather, bad hair

Ferndale, out of the breeze

Departed Havelock Friday for Tennyson Inlet, trolled most of the way, picked up the buoy at Penzance Friday night. Saturday morning caught up with Dion on Nightingale in Tuna Bay then fished on and around Richmond Reef. Saturday night in Waitata Bay. Sunday fished near the gannet colony at the head of Crail Bay then went up the Kenepuru to Ferndale. Caught kingfish, kahawai, gurnard,  blue cod, mackerel, perch and pipefish, also one barracuda. Saw big rays in Ferndale. Fine sunny weather, but windy. All Orion's systems worked flawlessly, including the window washer system. Great holiday weekend.

Weather bomb

Saturday January 21st

A series of three deep depressions have tracked across the country, causing a fair amount of disruption to boating. It's funny how winds of fifty knots are becoming the new norm. We wonder what our chances are for a trip to Tennyson Inlet on Waitangi weekend.

Robinson Cruise-o

Orion in Kenepuru Sound 2017

(picture Sam Robinson)

Departure from Havelock

Kenepuru Sound

Ferndale

Sam, Megan, Coen, Sue

Group on deck at Ferndale

Sam and Mark

Juvenile Kingfish around the boat

Coen, Ruby, Maddie, and Sue

Mark

Megan, Stephen, Mark, Sam
Ruby, Maddie, Poppy, Coen

Christmas 2016

Friday morning was beaut

Billy on the wheel leaving Havelock

Mike and Billy at Portage

Portage looking down the Kenepuru

Mike settled for the night

Orion from the Kenepuru Road

Mike and Poppy

Grape Escape
Christmas morning

Grape Escape comes alongside

(with whitebait patties for our breakfast)

Back in Havelock for Christmas dins

Ferndale, Portage and Te Mahia

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". 

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. 

Testing Christmas tech

Christmas tech

We believe that thorough preparation and rigorous testing lead to successful missions. So here we are testing our Christmas tech in heavy rain and failing light.

Welcome visit

Richard, Maree, and Janice Rowley

No trip out, but a night's stay on board and a chance to recover their equilibrium after a friend's funeral. Haste ye back in summer.

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.