Crew: Geoff and Peter
Forecast: Light and variable winds.
Route Plan: Departure set for 0600 hrs to enable us to arrive at Sinclair Head one hour before high water at Wellington. The tide will then be favourable for the passage across Cook Strait and through Tory Channel’s eastern entrance. HW Wellington is 0900 hrs.
Peter joined me on Halo at 0530 hrs. We packed the boat, did the safety briefing, logged our trip report with Maritime Radio on ch 16 and also advised Beacon Hill on ch 14 of our intentions as it was still night-time in the harbour. We cast off at 0600 hrs with the No. 2 jib rigged. We hoisted the mainsail but with no significant wind there was no point deploying the jib.
We motored out into the harbour with the city lights behind us and enjoyed the magnificent sunrise.
After exiting Chaffers Passage and avoiding the cray pots we settled into a westerly course. Time for our first cuppa! We reached Sinclair Head at on schedule at 0800 hrs and our speed over ground (SOG) increased to 7.5 – 8 kts with speed thru the water (STW) at 5.5 kts. In spite of the lack of wind the sea state presented its infamous ‘washing machine’.
The sea eventually settled down as we neared Karori Rock but then ahead we could see a dark line in the sea ahead where two currents were meeting. More turbulence!
The sea eventually calmed as we continued our course across the strait. There was a strong current flowing from the south so to maintain our track of 174 degrees magnetic towards the Tory Channel entrance we were having to point about 20 degrees to port to counter our leeway. Time for another cuppa!
We reached our waypoint at the Tory Channel Reporting Arc and with Peter doing a great job on helm we followed the transit line towards the entrance. I did the ‘All Ships’ calls on ch 18 and ch 16 and with no ships responding we passed East Head at 1115 hrs. Our SOG increased to 7.5 kts at the centre of the channel.
Beautiful flat calm once we were in Tory Channel and then Queen Charlotte Sound. Time to let Ernesto our trusty tiller pilot take over as we had lunch and another cuppa 🙂
We arrived at Waikawa Marina at 1415 hrs and docked in Pier 1E berth number 6 – just under the nose of Anne in the marina office.
After tidying up the boat we relaxed with a celebratory cold beer. Later Anne very kindly gave us a lift into Picton where we had a look around, a coffee at Le Cafe and then finished the day with a nice pizza at Cortado Cafe.
Halo Log Book 