COLD START TO WARM DAY IN THE SOUNDS

Wow it was cold this morning.  I awoke around four shivering, for the first time this year I put on a second blanket .  I was up again at six for an early start.  By six thirty we were clear of Cherry Tree bay, in morning twilight, motoring towards Clay Point.  The tide was against us until midday, speed was down around 4.5 knots.

The sun came up at seven, very welcome as everything on deck and in the cockpit was wet from a heavy dew.  Visibility is excellent and I could see Cape Terawhiti on the North Island 45 miles away.

This trip is a return of the outward trip a week ago, around Cape Lambert and Cape Jackson into Queen Charlotte Sound.  We passed the entrance to Pelorus Sound with tide rips, whirlpools and eddies.  The seals were frolicking in the disturbed water.  I tried to capture them on camera, but they refused to pose.

As we came down Queen Charlotte Sound I decided to stop off at Ship Cove as I had gone past on the outward trip.  This is a place where Cook is reported to have spent over 100 days on various trip repairing and restocking his ships.  It’s not the most sheltered of places but does offer a couple of decent places to get a ship close to the shore and there is a stream for fresh water with a clear flat area for a camp.  Probably just as important it offers a clear exit to sea should the need arise to clear out in a hurry.

I had planned to go ashore.  But the water is deep close in to shore and I could not be bothered to anchor in shallower water further away.  I took truce close into shore for a couple of photos of the Cook Monument and departed.

After departing Ship Cove the wind filled in from the north, I tried sailing, full main and yankee had us up to 3 knots, five minutes later it was back to calm and motoring again.  It was a beautiful sunny afternoon; visibility was exceptional and the scenery stunning.

In early afternoon we turned off into Tory Channel and headed to the overnight anchorage at Jacksons Bay.  By 16:30 we were anchored and I cracked the first beer.  The anchorage is shallow, we only have one meter under the keel at low water, its protected enough in this weather.  The only disturbance I am feeling is the gentle rocking as the Interisland ferries occasionally go past.  From the anchorage I can see out through Tory Channel into Cook Strait, I can even see the wind turbines at Cape Terawhiti on the North Island in the distance.

Tomorrow morning I will check the weather forecast.  If all is good will head out of Tory Channel on the first of the outgoing tide around midday.  I should then be able to ride the tide down Cook Strait to Cape Campbell.  Once around Cape Campbell I have a straight run of around 140 miles to Akoroa on the Banks Peninsular.