A pre-Christmas family holiday in the beautiful Marlborough Sounds with Jenny, Jono and our wonderful grandchildren Isabelle (9) and Max (7).
Halo is too small for all of us to sleep on, so we used the boat as a water taxi and stayed in land-based accommodation at each location.
Sunday 15th December – Picton to Lochmara
Crew: Geoff, Graciela, Jono, Jenny, Isabelle, Max.
After an early morning crossing of Cook Strait on the Kaitaki ferry from Wellington, we arrived in Picton to a warm 25 degrees. We wheeled our bags over to the visitors jetty. The family waited while I motored Halo from her berth in the marina to the jetty.
Jono helped me secure the life raft on the forward deck. After loading all the luggage and getting life jackets fitted we cast off at 1520 hrs. We motored past Kaipupu Point, Mabel Island and Wedge Point and then across Totaranui Queen Charlotte Sound to Lochmara Bay. Max kept a lookout for dolphins 🙂
We arrived at Lochmara at 1608 hrs and tied up at the jetty to unload the baggage. We then moored Halo on one of the lodge’s moorings.
We had three nights accommodation at the lodge. Lots of fun things for the family to explore including the underwater observatory, kayaking and a day hike up to the Queen Charlotte Track and back.
Wednesday 18th December – Lochmara to Furneaux Lodge
The forecast was for 15-20 kts southerly which would give us a nice tail wind for sailing up the Sound to Endeavour Inlet. First we motored over to Picton to tie up at the visitors jetty while we had lunch at ‘Lord of the Toastie’ and stocked up on groceries.
I called Marlborough-Nelson Radio on ch 63 to log our trip report and then cast off at 1412 hrs. It was a beautiful day with a light breeze as we left Picton. To be on the safe side we hoisted the small no. 3 jib, put one reef in the mainsail and rigged the gybe preventer.
Jono did a great job on helm for the trip while I was kept busy on the mainsheet with the gusty conditions giving squeals of delight from Isabelle and Max as we heeled over in the gusts.
We arrived at Furneaux Lodge at 1700 hrs. The strong southerly coming up the bay gave us a bit of excitement as we dropped our sails and tied up at the jetty. The lodge staff were there on the jetty to greet us and help us unload our luggage.
Jono and I then tied Halo up to one of the guest moorings and were ferried back ashore by Patrick on the RIB (rigid inflatable boat).
Friday 20th December – Furneaux to Meretoto Ship Cove
We stayed at Furneaux Lodge for three nights. The kids enjoyed kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding, fishing, bush walks and playing pool. They had plenty of other children there to play with too.
On the second day we took Halo for a short trip (1.5 hrs) round to Ship Cove. Max practiced his helming skills under Jono’s watchful eye and Isabelle practiced her knots.
After securing Halo at the Ship Cove wharf we went ashore to explore the Captain Cook Memorial.
We then had a nice walk up the Waterfall Track.
Sailing Halo back to Endeavour Inlet, Jenny and Isabelle took over the helming while Max and I put out the fishing line. No bites though 🙂
Saturday 21st December – Furneaux to Picton
After loading all our bags onto Halo we cast off from Furneaux at 1200 hrs for the final passage back to Picton. The wind had now turned to a northerly giving us a light tail wind to sail all the way back. We hoisted the no. 3 jib and left the first reef in the main.
We finally spotted a pod of dolphins. Yay!
Isabelle is getting really good at helming now.
We arrived at Picton at 1500 hrs and closed our final trip report with Marlborough-Nelson Radio
Sunday 22nd December – Picton to Waikawa
The conditions were not optimal for sailing Halo back to Wellington before Christmas so we took the Aratere Interislander ferry. I booked Halo into Waikawa Marina (Picton was full).
We packed up the jib. Jono helped me stow the life raft in the vee berth then we topped up the diesel. Graciela and I then motored Halo round The Snout into Waikawa Bay and secured her in pier 16W berth 10 and walked the track back to Picton.
We’ll rejoin the boat in the new year to embark on our next adventure to Pelorus Sound and over to Nelson.
Seasons Greetings!
To our lovely friends who follow this blog, Graciela and I send you our very best wishes for the holiday season and a wonderful New Year!
Halo Log Book 