The Adventures of Captain Ray Penson
Sailing Yacht Truce
13 October 2022 The anchor winch on Truce is a Maxwell 1200 model. It has performed thousands of anchoring cycles without complaint and is a simple solid piece of kit. I have two ways to control the winch, firstly by foot switches on the deck forward and secondly by a remote switch in the cockpit.... Continue Reading →
For a couple of years now I have been observing the rust accumulation on the engine mounts. Looks nasty and it’s a pain to keep cleaning up. But on closer inspection I could not see any structural failure and the rubber inserts appeared to be OK. So I just convinced myself that it was a... Continue Reading →
A bit blustery last night but nothing special and didn’t live up to the doom and gloom hype from the weather forecast. The morning was wet, cold and overcast with a light wind from the south. As the wind was forecast to increase to twenty knots it seemed ideal to sail across the Firth of... Continue Reading →
At seven in the morning the sky was getting light and we weighed anchor, saying goodbye to Smokehouse Bay. One of the other yachts at the anchorage departed just before us and looks like they are headed back to Auckland. The weather is grey and overcast with a lot of moisture in the air. The... Continue Reading →
The anchorage at Smokehouse Bay provided another perfectly calm night. We arose later than usual and with no place to go and no hurry to get there we pottered around all morning doing odd jobs and relaxing. The afternoon came and went and we had no inclination to do anything energetic. The weather was unseasonably... Continue Reading →
The day opens fine, clear and glassy calm sea. The wind died down early evening and calm prevailed all night, had a fantastic sleep. After a bit of a lazy morning, we weighed anchor and headed around to Port Fitzroy where we picked up a convenient mooring just off the jetty. The mooring belongings to... Continue Reading →
Two nights and a day of nasty weather is behind us. Very strong southerly winds made for an uncomfortable couple of nights, particularly around two in the morning. Once again, I wonder what makes the wind strongest at two in the morning. It was gusting at fifty knots plus in the Colville Channel just to... Continue Reading →
Another peaceful night at anchor and a good sleep again. This morning I set about freeing up the propeller. First I unwound the propeller shaft from inside the boat three turns, hoping the rope would unwrap a bit. Then I tried teasing the rope out of the propeller from the dinghy, it didn’t work. I... Continue Reading →
Another peaceful night at anchor and a wonderful sleep, hard to believe its mid-winter. We got up later this morning, starting to get into relaxed mode, no rush to get anywhere and plenty of time to get there. There are now two other boats in the anchorage, another one came in last night. Today we... Continue Reading →
Last night was very peaceful at Kiwiriki anchorage, hardly any wind to ripple the water. The sunset seemed to last a long time and so did our sundowners. This morning we awoke refreshed, I had one of the best sleeps ever at anchor, a perfectly still night. Yesterday was the first time I had... Continue Reading →
The Adventures of Captain Ray Penson 