To the Marlborough Sounds

Firstly my apologies to those of you who have been logging on to this blog expectantly and have taken to texting me to give me a hurry up to add more news. In my defence – we have not had an internet connection for the last four days and there always seems to be something else to do when you are out on the water. If you would like to be emailed when a new blog is posted send me an email and I will add you to the list.

The old cliché – time flies when you’re having fun is certainly apt.

We had promised to catch up with Dick and Enid who had left on New Years Day for Nelson and were now at D’Urville Island, and our plan was to meet up with them for a few days and then head to Picton.

Tuesday - 11/01/2011

We left Mana at 7am to get across the bar before the low tide at 9 and found a yacht that obviously hadn’t left early enough that was aground. After a conversation with them and an offer of a tow which they declined we headed out into Cook Strait.



Mana Island

 Conditions were pretty good with a south easterly wind which freshened to about 20 knots as we got further towards the South Island.

The crossing from Mana to Stephens Passage is about 45 nautical miles, and six hours later we passed between Cape Stephens at the top end of D’Urville Island. and Stephens Island.

Stephens Island

Another hour took us into Port Hardy on the western side of the island.

This is a large area consisting of the East Arm and South Arm with countless bays. We had earlier spoken to Dick on the radio and we motored down to the very end of the South Arm and found Antares on a mooring along with another yacht and we rafted up alongside them.

In this incredibly scenic sheltered cove surrounded by bush it was calm and hot and we had a lazy afternoon before being very spoilt by Enid and Dick with a fantastic dinner starting with Sashimi (freshly caught Kawai) followed by a huge crayfish that Dick had caught a couple of days earlier. Delicious..

Wednesday-12/01/2011
We woke around 5am to the sound of birdsong. The “dawn chorus” of Tuis and bellbirds and the occasional morepork still out is absolutely stunning in its volume and sound and as the sky lightens the bird calls quiten.

The morning consisted of doing odd jobs around the boat but mostly it was a lazy one with Enid and I chatting and reading and contemplating going for a swim. Peter and Dick were busy making some repairs to a water pipe which comes down from the hills and is attached to a buoy in the bay allowing boats to retrieve the hose and fill their watertanks. This is the only place on the island to get fresh water.

Just after lunch which consisted of left over crayfish, bread and butter, Dick went off for a ride around in his dinghy and came back an hour or so later with a big grin on his face. Give us a hand with this he says and lifts a fresh leg of venison out of the dinghy. Dick had spotted a boat in another bay that he knew so went over to say hello. The owner, a 77 year old had shot a deer the day before and gave Dick a leg. Bit fresh for eating so we put it into a cheesecloth bag and hauled it to the top of Gunners mast (to get it out of the way of flies) but then decided it would be too hot in the sun so took it ashore and the guys managed to get a rope over a high branch in a suitable tree. Apparently there are no possums on the island so hopefully nothing will eat it before we get to it. The other thing I learned was that flies will not go above a height of about 10 metres so this is the reason for hanging the meat in a high spot.

In the bush in the cove there is a beautiful stream meandering down through some huge native trees – Puriri; and Beech. The New Zealand South Island Robin is incredibly inquisitive and comes up real close to check out what you are doing. I sat down by a rotting log and two of them hopped along the log to within arms length from me.



A camp in the bush

After the leg of venison had been taken care of we headed off down the bay on Antares to get some dinner. We decided that a few buckets of mussels from the mussel farm would be a good thing for us. According to Dick, it is quite acceptable to raid a few mussels from the farms. The first few metres of the lines which hang down from rows of lines contain a mixture of black and green lip mussels and as they are only interested in harvesting the green lips the first ones would be discarded. These mussels were still quite small but were a good eating size and were delicious that night cooked two different ways by Peter and Enid.

Mussel Farm

Another bit of excitement during the day was when a helicopter came in to deliver a few supplies to a large motor yacht on the other side of South Arm. Earlier, a jetski had come across with a couple on it who were the owners of the yacht. They asked if we needed anything brought in as they had a helicopter coming in to deliver a part for an outboard engine. The helicopter came in and at first appeared to be dropping a bag to the boat but then landed on the nearby shore.


How the rich get their groceries delivered

 Thursday - 13/01/2011
Today we decided to go for a dive and we took Gunner up to an area on the western side of Cape Stephens. Dick went for a dive first as he is the expert crayfish gatherer, however due to some confusion we had put him into water that was not deep enough and he returned somewhat disgruntled and empty handed. Enid and I then decided we would go for a more leisurely scenic dive. We were enjoying the swim through rocks and kelp, spotting lots of Paua, Kinna and schools of fish when Enid spotted a crayfish. She attacked the crayfish and after a mighty struggle under a rock overhang she came out victorious with a good sized cray. We had not taken a catch bag with us so we decided to go to the surface rather than risk losing our prize. A short but very good dive and for me a good refresher after not having dived for a few years.

We headed back to our bay and once again dined on crayfish and delicious salads in the most beautiful setting.

Friday – 14/01/2011
Reluctantly we decided it was time to leave this idyllic spot and head towards Picton. We left Port Hardy in the morning after remembering to retrieve the leg of venison from the tree. Pete did a skilful skinning and butchering job, taking out the bone and cutting it up into four pieces. There were only a few maggots which got washed off!!


We stopped for some fishing around Cape Stephens and in the Passage but found that with the tide starting to turn and run fast through the area known as The Devils Cauldron it was impossible to get our lines down to the bottom. We carried on to the Rangitoto Islands where we fished on a small reef in about 5-6 metres of water.

A seal was playing in the water nearby and then clambered up on to the rocks to enjoy the sun and preen itself. It didn’t take long to catch our limit of 3 Blue Cod each and we then continued on into Port Ligar in Pelorous Sound where we once again tied up alongside Antares.


 Pelorous Sound

Dick had been diving again and so the biggest decision was whether we should have fish or crayfish for dinner. Crayfish won out with the fish being kept for breakfast.

Another magnificent anchorage, quite different from the closed in bush surrounds of Port Hardy, this bay is open to the South with a magnificent view down Pelorous Sound with layers of hills receeding into the distance.

Saturday – 15/01/2011

Today we continued on into Queen Charlotte Sound. We left Port Ligar around midday and passed through Allen Strait between Forsyth Island and the mainland and into Guards Bay.

By the time we rounded Alligator Head it was starting to blow pretty well but the sea was behind us so no problem. We headed through the passage between Cape Jackson and the lighthouse which was fairly interesting with breaking seas behind us. Plenty of room but you are never quite sure where the rock is that is under the surface. This is where the cruise ship Mikael Leumentov came to grief in 198???. The ML went into nearby Port Gore where she sank in about 30 metres.

Cape Jackson lighthouse

Once around the cape we thought it should be pretty sheltered but funny things happen with the wind in the Marlborough Sounds and with a 40knot Nor’westerly wind the gusts coming down the steep hills cause what they call “Willy-Walls”. The water smokes with spray and the wind is fierce. As we motored down the sound the boat would get hit by one of these willy walls with enough force to lean her right over.

We went down the Sound to Resolution Bay where we picked up a mooring for the night. I had prepared the venison on our way over, marinating it in oil, lots of garlic and some herbs. This went into the oven to slow roast.  Another delicious meal.