Its been a while but we are back on the waves again and after a month in Wellington it certainly is great to be moving again although I wasn’t saying that when we were bouncing across Palliser Bay and feeling decidedly queasy, but once we were around the Cape the seas were behind us and all was well again.
We have had a great time at Mana, a very social time catching up with lots of old friends and family. It took quite a bit of getting used to the pace of city life again and the noise of trains, cars and sirens is rather disturbing after the peace and stillness of Fiordland. Another down side to being in town and around people again was that we were also exposed to all the nasty winter bugs and as a large number of people we met had colds it didn’t take too long before we too were sneezing and coughing and feeling thoroughly miserable and sorry for ourselves. Our planned departure a couple of weeks ago when there was a perfect few days of calm weather was delayed because I was feeling so bad. (Yes, that’s me that had been boasting about never getting colds – hadn’t had one for years!). We then waited for the next weather window and a week ago it was looking like we could make the break but in the end the forecast deteriorated and we were still feeling pretty grotty – the prospect of 36-40 hours at sea when you are feeling bad is not very exciting.
| Leaving Mana Marina |
Yesterday we left Mana just after midday in perfect calm conditions. Leaving on the high tide gives a good run with the tide all the way down the coast and across Palliser Bay. At times we were doing 10 knots so it was a quick trip past the wind turbines on the barren hills of the south west coast to Cape Terawhiti and round past Karori Rock. The Karori Rip was in fine form and full flow with the nearly flat sea suddenly standing up in big waves forcing us to slow right down and pick our way through the jumble of white water. Luckily it is only a small patch like this and with no wind it is no problem however it would not be a good place if a serious southerly wind was blowing.
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| Karori Rock off Wellingtons south coast |
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By 8pm we had rounded Cape Palliser and with a more comfortable motion we heated up some soup and toasted rolls. We caught up once more with Meri on Bluff Fishermans Radio as we had not been able to hear her when we were in the marina.
Today has been uneventful – sea pretty flat with a bit of a south easterly swell and about 15 knots of North westerly wind. The sun has been shining but its still pretty cold out and last night was really cold. Around midday we stopped to top up the engine oil and while we were stationary I got the chance to see about 8 or 10 Royal Albatross landing on the water nearby. They are huge birds and look pretty impressive on the wing.
Our biggest dilemma today has been the decision about whether we would go to Napier or carry on to Gisborne. With a front approaching the country that will bring strong northerly and then westerly winds we have opted for Napier where we should arrive around 7.30 this evening. The disadvantage of Napier is that it adds extra miles onto the journey but as we may be in port for quite a few days we decided that Napier is more interesting place to be stuck than Gisborne.
| Pinnacle off Cape Kidnappers |
We rounded Cape Kidnappers with a stunning sunset outlining the sculptured hills at the Cape with the distinctive pinnacle off the end and a couple of hours later tied up at the visitors berth at Napier Sailing Club.
