The Adventures of Captain Ray Penson
Sailing Yacht Truce
After the brief appearance of the sun yesterday I was hopeful for the same today. However, its back to the same old. After a good nights sleep I awoke to an overcast sky and low cloud, cold with rain and drizzle. The day didn’t improve, it blew hard and rained hard from midday and a... Continue Reading →
Sunday 7th March and the forecast is good for sailing up the coast, a good S,Wly breeze of thirty knots and easing to fifteen later. At six in the evening I let go the mooring and departed the anchorage in Precipice Cove. This is an excellent anchorage with a good strong permanent line rigged to... Continue Reading →
For three days I have been hunkered down in Precipice Sound, behind Macdonell Island. It has rained continuously since I arrived. According to the boats up in Blanket Bay it is raining there as well. This cove is very well sheltered from both wind and sea, hardly a ripple on the water, its hard to... Continue Reading →
Monday morning and Ngozi caught the bus out of Deep Cove to Te Anau. Well actually it’s a bus to Lake Manapouri and then a ferry across the lake to Manapouri Town. I was sorry to see her go. We have had quite an adventure this past two months. Having another pair of hands on... Continue Reading →
Saturday morning opened with low cloud and rain, but it was nice and calm. At seven the anchor was up and we were on the way, heading down Breaksea Sound towards the ocean. The sea was a bit lumpy and no wind, we motored on and hoped the wind didn’t come from the north and... Continue Reading →
Moving day arrived, Thursday the 25th of February, the forecast is for S’ly winds, eager to get moving we let go the sternline and were motoring out of North Port before breakfast. As we motored out of Chalky Inlet the weather was brooding and overcast, everything on board still wet from the overnight rain. The... Continue Reading →
For five days we have been in Chalky inlet waiting on weather. Our next destination is Dusky Sound and that requires a just a short hop to the north, offshore around West Cape. The recent winds have been strong N’ly and not favourable for us. While waiting for the weather to turn favourable we have... Continue Reading →
Early Friday morning in Lake Cove was calm and tranquil. The anchorage is very scenic, surrounded by hills and higher mountains beyond. Lake Cove is supposed to be an all weather anchorage but I suspect there could be some fierce winds generated from the surrounding high ground that would not be too pleasant. This morning... Continue Reading →
On Wednesday Morning we met up with another couple cruising on their yacht as they dropped anchor in Cuttle Cove. We swapped information for a while, they are going south to Stewart Island. They had come from isthmus Sound anchorage and declared it to be excellent and sheltered. We decided to try it ourselves as... Continue Reading →
Monday and moving day. The weather forecast looks favourable for a move north across the Foveaux Strait to Fiordland. The weather models all agree and the Met Service backs it up, although they do have a gale forecast for the northern sea area Foveaux. After a final visit to the pub in Oban and a... Continue Reading →
The Adventures of Captain Ray Penson 