Crew: Geoff and Tunch.
Day 1 – Wednesday 24th
Abel Coastal Forecast: SW easing to 10 kts becoming SW 20 in the evening.
After the excitement of the Nelson Regatta we now needed to sail Halo back to Wellington. After verifying the forecast and tides I did a route plan on OpenCPN. I logged our trip report with Maritime Radio for an ETA at Catherine Cove at 2100 hrs and we cast off from our berth at Nelson Marina at 1200 hrs.
Before leaving the harbour we stopped at the NPD fuel dock to top up our diesel tank (28 lts since we left Wellington) then we were off!
We had mostly great sailing up the coast close-hauled at around 6.5 kts putting a reef in when the wind got over 15 kts. Before transiting French Pass we stopped at picturesque Ponganui Bay to have dinner and wait for the tide to turn. We were tied up on the TBCC club mooring and Tunch thought he could see some fish in the water. He got out the rod and pretty soon he was pulling some beautiful cod. Well done mate!
At 1953 hrs we cast off from the mooring, did our “All ships” call on ch. 16 and proceeded through French Pass. The tide had just turned towards NE and we had an easy transit through the narrows.
With no wind to speak of we continued under engine power arriving at Catherine Cove picking up a mooring at 2100 hrs. We noticed Gucci had also arrived and were on a neighbouring mooring.
We enjoyed a beautiful sunset while Tunch gutted the fish ready for tomorrow’s dinner.
Day 2 – Thursday 25th
Early start today for our passage to Ship Cove in Queen Charlotte Sound. After logging a trip report with Marlborough-Nelson Radio we left Catherine Cove at 0745 hrs following closely behind Gucci who were heading to Punga Cove.
With full main and no. 3 jib hoisted we were cruising along nicely with ‘Ernesto’ on helm. Tunch was soon in the galley rustling up a scrumptious Full English (Turkish?) breakfast!
A large pod of dolphins swam past us but didn’t stay to play. They were on a mission and we didn’t get a chance to photograph them.
As we passed Alligator Head the wind was now pretty much on the nose so we dropped the jib and motor sailed.
As we approached Cape Jackson at about 1130 hrs we could see a worrying line of white water stretching from Walker Rock to the headland. We had the tide with us but the wind was against us resulting in disturbed seas.
We then sailed south down Queen Charlotte Sound. Fairly slow progress motoring into the southerly.
At 1300 hrs we arrived into the calm of Meretoto / Ship Cove. We tied up at the wharf initially and enjoyed a swim followed by a walk around the cove.
It was Tunch’s first time here and we had a good look around the Cook Monument and information displays. Captain Cook visited Ship Cove five times over his two visits to New Zealand staying a total of 100 days here replenishing ship and crew.
We then took Halo over to the Ship Cove East club mooring. Tunch went ashore in the dinghy and foraged for mussels and kina. We had the mussels for dinner together with the delicious cod we caught yesterday. There’s nothing like eating food you’ve caught yourself!
Day 3 – Friday 26th
The forecast for our Cook Strait crossing today was looking good with 10 kts northerly rising to 15 in the afternoon and 25 in the evening. Using the Maritime NZ guidelines and the tide tables, I plotted a course to have us sailing with the current from Cape Koamaru to Karori Rock arriving at the rip around slack water. Wellington high tide would be at 1846 hrs.
I logged a trip report with Maritime Radio for an ETA in Wellington of 1800 hrs. We cast off from our mooring at 1015 hrs heading across the top of Queen Charlotte Sound taking care to avoid the White Rocks and Stella Rock before rounding Cape Koamaru at 1125 hrs.
After passing south of The Brothers islands we enjoyed a lovely tailwind for the diagonal run across the strait. The northerly wind was now blowing 23 kts true and we put a reef in the mainsail which made for more relaxed sailing. We spotted Gucci coming out of Tory Channel south of us.
The tide was running pretty fast giving us boat speed of up to 10 kts as we neared Cape Terawhiti at 1345 hrs. By the time we cleared Karori Rip at Sinclair Head at 1445 hrs we were moving at a more normal speed of 5-6 kts indicating we were now in slack tide.
As we started turning north towards the Wellington Heads we dropped the jib and motor sailed past Island Bay and Lyall Bay into Chaffers Passage.
We entered Wellington Harbour with the wind now on the nose and fairly rough seas, rounding Steeple Rock light at 1600 hrs.
Once we passed Point Halswell we hoisted the jib for one last time and turned off the engine to sail triumphantly back in to our home port.
We docked Halo in her berth at 1715 hrs with a great welcome from Graciela, Jenny, Isabelle, Max and Murray. Home at last – tired but happy with our successful crossing.
Halo Log Book 