The Adventures of Captain Ray Penson
Sailing Yacht Truce
I had a wonderful sleep last night and had a late start and leisurely breakfast. The day is sunny and warm and all’s well in my little world. Well, almost, as I have an engine that needs some maintenance. Truce has come through our battering yesterday without any damage apart from a few sail slugs... Continue Reading →
At 03:30 this morning we were only eight miles from Wellington Harbour entrance, the light S’ly wind died and a vigorous N’ly wind set in. Without motor it was impossible to make Wellington. The forecast was for 25 knot N’ly winds in Cook Strait gusting to 30 knots. My options were to run down to... Continue Reading →
At 04:00 we passed Castlepoint, still motoring without wind. It must be quite unusual not to have wind at Castlepoint. The engine stopped at 09:15. The same problem as before, air in the fuel system. I thought my fix of drilling holes in the filter had fixed the problem, not so, only a very temporary... Continue Reading →
At midnight I started the engine, we had no wind and there seemed no prospect of wind as a thick wet mist had descended on us. Unfortunately, at 02:00 the engine spluttered and then stopped, the silence was deafening. I tracked the problem to air in the fuel system and once it was bled, we... Continue Reading →
My logbook records that at 01:00 we had 35 knot gusts from the NW. With hindsight the wind may have been closer to 30 knots, but in the dark with the short breaking seas it felt like 35 knots and was not comfortable. I spent the rest of the night and early morning dodging to... Continue Reading →
Just before midnight last night a thick wet mist descended upon us. It was a fog but the water droplets were like miniature rain, everywhere quickly became wet and visibility was very poor. By 05:00 the mist had gone and it felt very wet and cold. The weather remained calm until midday when a light... Continue Reading →
I lingered another day in Gisborne. It’s a nice place and I wanted to have a look around. There was no point in sailing earlier as the weather to the south at Castlepoint and Cook Strait is diabolical. I didn’t expect so much bad weather at this time of year. At 10:00 we let go... Continue Reading →
I awoke this morning completely rested. The trip down from Mangonui had been quite tiring and a good sleep has put my mojo back. Gisborne marina is well situated close to the town, with local 4 square and laundry close by. This morning I fresh water washed down the boat, it was absolutely caked with... Continue Reading →
All night the wind remained fickle as we slowly headed south towards Portland. By 05:00 the wind started to pick up and an hour later was gusting 25 knots, the top end of the forecast range. As we approached Portland the wind seemed to have increased more and the note in my log estimates it... Continue Reading →
The anchorage at Waima Cove turned out to be quite good, just a little chop coming in over the reef, but I had a good night’s rest. Today I want to head south but the forecast further south is not nice, particularly around Castlepoint where gale force winds are happening. I have it in my... Continue Reading →
The Adventures of Captain Ray Penson 