Gentle rain, dark, calm and cold when I stuck my head outside the hatch this morning. I quickly ducked back inside to put the kettle on and listened to the morning weather forecast. The S’ly storm was coming, now was the perfect time to head around, through Tory Channel and into the inner sounds. At... Continue Reading →
OYSTER BAY – WAITING ON WEATHER
Early morning the wind started to blow and the anchor snubber began to grumble. I turned out of bed in the cold and dark to hear the early morning forecast. As expected, the N’ly gale had started. Its forecast to go from twenty-five knots to gusting forty knots in the afternoon. Although its only fifteen... Continue Reading →
OYSTER BAY – REPLENISHING
This evening, at midnight, New Zealand goes to Alert level 4 and into a four-week lockdown to contain the spread of Coronavirus. The instructions are ‘where you sleep tonight you should stay’. That leaves me locked down on Truce for the next month. The guy I met ashore yesterday, his name is Graham, offered to... Continue Reading →
PORT LEVY TO PORT UNDERWOOD -RIP AUTOPILOT
Stuck in Port Levy in a N’ly gale was depressing and I was feeling a bit despondent. I have given myself a mental talking to, snap out of it and harden up. After studying the weather, it looked like I had an opportunity to head for Wellington or the Marlborough Sounds. The forecast indicated I... Continue Reading →
HUNKERED DOWN IN PORT LEVY
Trying to stay positive – not easy to take any positives from today. It has been miserable. The N’ly wind started to increase around nine this morning and has blown hard all day, a gale warning is in force. Truce and I are in our own little orbit, swinging in circles around a 45-pound CQR... Continue Reading →
AKAROA TO PORT LEVY
The 05:33 morning forecast predicted the 25 knot S’ly breeze would die out in the morning leaving variable 10 knots behind in the afternoon. I wanted to pick up the diminishing S’ly breeze (not the 25 knots that can mean 30 knot gusts) to take me around the south and east of Banks Peninsular. I... Continue Reading →
AKAROA – VISIT TO THE GIANT HOUSE
By Tuesday afternoon the southerly blow has run its course and I picked up the anchor from Takamatua Bay and headed back around to Pine Tree Bay. The anchor was well stuck into the mud and took a bit of soaking out, comforting to know there is good holding in this bay. Back at Pine... Continue Reading →
AKAROA – SAILING AROUND
Last night I moved to Pine Tree Bay, just on the North end of French bay. The wind was blowing from the NE this anchorage proved to be just perfect. This morning I was woken by natures alarm clock again, the little birds had returned in droves, or maybe it’s a flock. Judging by the... Continue Reading →
AKAROA -OH LA LA SHORE LEAVE
A beautiful clear night and a billion stars last night. Nice and calm this morning and I was woken by the sound of birdsong, at first I thought I was dreaming, but no, definitely birds cheeping away above me on deck. I opened the hatch and there they were, all lined up, perched on the... Continue Reading →
AKAROA – LAZY DAY AT ANCHOR
I had a lay in this morning, the sunrise is almost seven thirty so there’s no light shining through the hatch to wake me up. The morning was cold, overcast and didn’t inspire me to action. Instead I pottered around the boat and made pancakes and real coffee for breakfast. Comfort food on an overcast... Continue Reading →
The Adventures of Captain Ray Penson 