Waikawa – Kaipakirikiri Bay – 30 Dec 2021

Crew: Geoff, Malcolm, Phil.

After a great night’s sleep following our Cook Strait Crossing yesterday we were greeted to a beautiful day in Waikawa Marina. Summer at last! Phil put on breakfast while we listened to the Marlborough Radio forecast on channel 63.

We slipped our lines from the berth at 0930 hrs and motored round to the fuel jetty to top up the diesel tank. Mark had invited us to join them on Miri VI for some Tahitian coffee so we motored over to their mooring in nearby Wharetukura Bay and tied up to the stern of their 42′ catamaran. Kaye put on the coffee and biscuits while Mark gave us a tour of the boat. They bought it recently in Tahiti, an ex charter boat, and sailed it to New Zealand.

At 1130 hrs we cast off and motored the four miles across Queen Charlotte Sound in flat calm seas to Kaipakirikiri Bay. Geoff was keen to try anchoring overnight and we chose this bay as the Cruising Guide indicated that it had good anchorages plus there are two club moorings we could use if it all turned to custard!

On arrival at the bay we tied up at the mooring and surveyed the scene to decide where best to drop the anchor. We would try out our new 100 mt yellow polypropylene floating stern line so we needed a location where we could easily land with the dinghy to secure the line to a tree. The reason for needing a stern line is because of the steep drop-off of the sea bed in the fiords of the Marlborough Sounds. The wind was a light 5 kts onshore breeze although it was forecast to turn round to the north during the night.

Our first attempt seemed to go well. We dropped the anchor and Geoff rowed out in the dinghy to secure the stern line. All seemed OK but after a while we noticed the stern line we becoming increasingly slack so we came to the conclusion the anchor must be dragging. Right, let’s try again. The second attempt once again had the same problem. A motor launch came up and tied up at the club mooring close to us as we were pondering what to do next. The skipper of the launch helpfully suggested we go further up the bay near the beach and try anchoring there, so off we went. Third time lucky hopefully.

This time we were more careful about dropping the hook further out and ‘laying it’ as we motored slowing backward towards the beach. We then secured the stern line to a tree on the beach and waited to see how it worked. Success at last! We were in 6 mts of water and the anchor was holding well. It had certainly been a useful learning experience.

Meanwhile MIRI IV had joined us in the bay and anchored next to us with their stern line as well. Mark invited us over for lunch. Malcolm was on lunch duties so we took our food over there and shared an enjoyable lunch with our hosts on the cat.

We had a lazy afternoon resting and enjoying swims. Malcolm went off in the dingy exploring the bay. Geoff snorkelled under the hull of Halo to do an inspection and a bit of cleaning of the prop and the through-hull speed sensor.

In the evening we enjoyed a wonderful beef curry and rice, pre-cooked by Graciela, accompanied by a bottle of nice cabernet sauvignon from Valdivieso Chile. We later popped back over to MIRI IV for coffees and conversation. Mark had lots of entertaining stories to tell about his recent sailing delivery trip from Tahiti to NZ.

Back on Halo we settled in for the night. The anchor was still holding well and we set the depth sounder alarm to come on if it went below 4 mts. We slept soundly, happy that we were secure on our anchorage and ready for our return Cook Strait Crossing.