ABEL TASMAN TO NELSON

27^th March and my Birthday.  Not the best of weather today, a bit damp outside, perfect for fitting the new toilet.  In short time the old toilet was removed and placed in the cockpit, I will decide what to do with it later.  I assembled the new toilet, an easy job, I didn’t think the quality was as good as the old Lavac unit.  The stud centres are the same so the new toilet just dropped into the old space.  By morning smoko the job was done, pipework connected and tested OK.

After lunch we took the dinghy for a ride around Adele Island, the seas were calm and the weather beautiful.  We did a bit of fishing, nothing was throwing itself on the hook, we were not too interested in fishing anyway.  We spent time watching the young seals from the nursery playing in the shallows.  Very entertaining.   The late afternoon was taken up just chilling out, eating and drinking, enjoying the surroundings and birdsong.

Early Sunday morning I was awoken with the wind howling in the rigging.  As usual, when I checked the time it was two in the morning.  Whenever the wind blows it always seems to be two in the morning.  I went up on deck and let out more chain, it was raining and blowing but not too hard.  Satisfied we were all secure I went down below and spent the rest of the night sleeping on the salon settee.

The rain and drizzle continued all through Sunday, we stayed on board and watched as other boats came and went from the anchorage.  I feel a bit let down as I had been telling Ngozi what a wonderful place Abel Tasman was and how its always nice weather in summer.

Luckily on Monday the good weather returned for a while, we had a nice sunny day and warm day.  The birdsong and seals provided music and entertainment.  In the afternoon I went fishing in the dinghy but only caught small snapper. I let them all go to grow bigger.  Very disappointing as I had failed to provide food for my woman, apart from the fact I really fancied some fresh snapper.

On Tuesday the rain returned, a nice persistent rain coming from an overcast sky that showed no sign of change.  Hoping for a break in the weather we moved across to Stilwell Bay where there are good walking tracks.  We anchored and waited for the rain to break.  It didn’t.  A few times we egged ourselves on to get ready and go ashore in the dinghy.  But there was no real enthusiasm and in the afternoon we returned to Adele Island and anchored again.

Wednesday the 31^st and it was still bloody raining.  I had had enough, we decided to head down to Kaiteriteri, anchor in the Bay and take the dinghy ashore for exploration and pick up some fresh meats and fruit from the local store.  When I went to start the engine it was reluctant to get going.  Eventually it started after much effort and smoke and settled down to a regular beat.  I decided that we should head direct to Nelson where I could hopefully get the engine sorted out properly.  Having an unreliable engine is getting too stressful and I try and live in a stress-free environment.

The trip down to Nelson was all under motor in calm conditions with persistent rain.  Mr. Yanmar didn’t miss a beat and I wondered what could be going on inside that metal box.  Sometimes it performs flawlessly and others it’s a lottery.

In the late afternoon with the rain finally ending we picked up a mooring behind the Boulder Bank close by the old lighthouse.  A lovely sheltered position, very close in with only a light wind to disturb us.

Tomorrow morning I will take the dinghy ashore and visit Marine and General, a company that has been recommended to me.  I am hoping they will be able to diagnose the problem with Mr. Yanmar and provide a solution.  In the meantime we will enjoy the lights of Nelson and the peaceful mooring under the old lighthouse.