Graciela and I had been looking forward to visiting Pelorus Sound for a long time. We planned a leisurely cruise to explore the sounds before crossing French Pass then down Tasman Bay in time for the Nelson Regatta.
On Friday 3rd January we took the afternoon Aratere from Wellington to rejoin Halo at the Waikawa Marina where she had been berthed over Christmas.
Saturday 4 Jan – Waikawa – Picton – Governors Bay
Beautiful clear Marlborough skies this morning. We secured the liferaft and danbuoy on deck then motored the short trip from Waikawa round The Snout to the Picton visitors jetty. After coffees at Le Cafe we did our food shopping at the Fresh Choice supermarket.
Gale force southerlies were forecast in Cook Strait so we decided to shelter in nearby Governors Bay overnight before heading north.
Bye bye Picton
We arrived at Governors Bay to find we weren’t the only ones to have the same idea.
One of the club moorings was occupied by Suhani, a Bavaria 41. The skipper, Stefano Shultz, a retired music teacher, was very happy for us to raft up with them. He was cruising with his wife and son. We enjoyed some interesting conversations about boats and life.
While we were relaxing in the bay a dinghy from one of the other boats rowed over. “Hi Geoff“, he called out. It was Scott Sutherland from Christchurch who was cruising on his Whiting 29, Band Wagon. It was great to catch up with him again and hear about his adventures since we met during our sailing trip to Lyttelton for the SailGP in 2023.
Waikawa to Picton to Governors Bay – 9 Nautical miles
Sunday 5 Jan – Governors Bay to Punt Rails
After a restful night on the mooring we set off early for the long trip up Tōtaranui / Queen Charlotte Sound, around Cape Jackson and Cape Lambert to Alligator Head.
We popped in to Picton on the way to buy a few things we’d forgotten yesterday and then we were off.
Dodging the Interislander ferry and a large bulk carrier ship we motored up the Sound in a very light breeze.
Passing Dieffenbach Point we finally got a decent wind on our starboard quarter and hoisted the no. 3 jib together with a reef in the mainsail. We enjoyed a lovely broad reach the rest of the way. The southerly freshened to 20 kts as we neared Cape Jackson.
The wind dropped off once we rounded the cape and we engaged the ‘iron sail’ to our destination, Alligator Head.
We arrived at Punt Rails at 1800 hrs. There was a boat on the club mooring, Spindrift, a Warwick Cardinal 46 with two couples on board. Sean, the friendly skipper, was happy for us to raft up.
Governors Bay to Punt Rails – 37 Nautical Miles
Monday 6 Jan – Punt Rails to Lucerne Bay
After a very calm night in the sheltered mooring we got up early and rowed the dinghy over to the beach for a hike up the hills. We worked up a sweat climbing up the sheep tracks to the ridge-line.
On the way back we took a different route and did some bush bashing to get back to the beach.We then rowed back to Halo for a refreshing swim.
I did a route plan for our next destination, Lucerne Bay in Pelorus Sound.
We cast off after lunch and sailed across Guards Bay and through the narrow pass into Forsyth Bay. Then round Post Office Point (no sign of a post office), Ketu Bay, and then down the Waitata Reach past Maud Island. Graciela had contacted DOC to see if we could visit the island to see the famous frogs but was told no visitors allowed.
At the top of Tennyson Inlet we turned right into Lucerne Bay. The mooring had been recommended to us by Murray as one of Warren and Lyn Rankin’s favorite spots. We found a small fishing boat tied up to the buoy with one man on board. We approached him and asked politely for permission to raft up. He didn’t seem too happy but said, “OK, I’ll pass the mooring to you“, which he did and then buzzed off never to be seen again!
We had a beautiful evening in this cute little bay and enjoyed dinner at our cockpit table as we watched the sunset.
Punt Rails to Lucerne Bay – 19 Nautical Miles
Tuesday 7 Jan – Lucerne Bay to Jacobs Bay
Great start to the day with delicious pancakes for breakfast!
After a relaxing morning we cast off and motored across to Elaine Bay. This is a well populated settlement of holiday houses. They had a NPD fuel depot there where we topped up with diesel.
We then continued across Tawhitinui Reach and around Tawero Point into Popoure Reach where we found Jacobs Bay.
According to the cruising guide it would be a nice sheltered place to park up as well as having a DOC camping ground and some walking tracks. There was a trailer yacht anchored at the beach but they left eventually. We had the club mooring to ourselves.
The only problem with the Jacobs Bay mooring was the occasional wake of vessels coming through the channel which caused us to roll heavily at times. Luckily it quietened down during the night and we slept well.
Lucerne Bay to Jacobs Bay – 13 Nautical Miles
Wednesday 8 Jan – Jacobs Bay to Havelock
After breakfast we went ashore on the dinghy and explored the bay and small DOC campsite. The track south to Dillon Bay was closed but we went as far as the slip in the lush native bush. We then explored another track north for views across Popoura Reach from the lookout.
It was an overcast day as we cast off at 1200 hrs heading south towards the bottom of Pelorus Sound.
I was cautious about entering Havelock. The Marlborough District Council advises, “Strong tides, cross winds and variable depths can make the Havelock Channel challenging to navigate and groundings are common“. I had two copies of the Havelock harbour navigation markers chart printed out.
I timed our route so we would arrive at high tide.
We rounded Black Point at 1347 hrs and turned right towards Havelock. With chart in hand we started ticking off the markers.
After passing mark no. 4 off Shag Point we headed towards what appeared to be the next mark. I noticed the depth sounder had suddenly dropped to 2 mts. Oops, I’d missed a mark to our left! We quickly changed course and got back into the channel. Disaster averted.
After successfully negotiating the rest of the markers we entered the marina and tied up at our allocated berth.
Jacobs Bay to Havelock – 14 Nautical Miles
Havelock is a nice little village on the main road between Blenheim and Nelson. We spent two restful nights at the marina and enjoyed the hot showers, did our laundry, topped up with water, LPG and diesel and did general boat housekeeping. We splashed out on a restaurant dinner at the Slip Inn overlooking the marina.
Fishing seems to be the main activity in Havelock. There is a huge Sanford fish processing factory next to the marina. When we went to buy some fresh fish at the local Four Square there was none for sale. The Tui Coffee Cart served excellent coffees though!
Friday 10 Jan – Havelock to Te Rawa
We needed to start heading back up Pelorus Sound to continue our trip towards Nelson. Casting off from our marina berth 0925 hrs we headed back up up the Hikapu Reach and Popora Reach arriving at Wilson Bay at 1215 hrs. The Te Rawa Lodge was recommended to us by Murray and we tied up at one of their guest moorings.
After lunch we took the dinghy ashore and went for a hike around the the farm track to the lookout.
After a refreshing beer back at the lodge we returned to Halo and were treated to a glorious sunset after dinner.
Friday 11 Jan – Te Rawa to Homestead Bay
For our last night in Pelorus we decided to visit Homestead Bay in Port Ligar. The guide described the mooring as ‘sheltered from all winds‘. Perfect.
With ‘Ernesto‘ our autotiller helping out with the helming, we motor-sailed in very light winds up the Waitata Reach.
We arrived at the Homestead Bay club mooring which was unoccupied. Later in the afternoon another yacht arrived. Haven, a Farr 1104 crewed by a friendly young couple, Chris and Aimee from Mana with their two dogs. They were new to cruising and it was their first time rafting up. Haven was a heavier boat than Halo and we passed the mooring ball over to them after we’d secured our lines.
Te Rawa to Homestead Bay – 11 Nautical Miles
Saturday 12 Jan – Homestead Bay – French Pass – Croisilles Harbour
Our last day in Pelorus Sound and time to transit French Pass! We needed to be there in time to catch the tide which would start flowing SW at 1247 hrs.
We left Chris and Aimee at 0815 hrs and headed out of the bay, around Clay Point and into Admiralty Bay.
As we were early for the tide we motored into French Pass village and tied up at the wharf. We went for a wander round the village and up the hill to Collinet Point lookout. The signage told about the history of Pelorus Jack, a Risso’s dolphin that was famous for meeting and escorting ships through Admiralty Bay from 1888 until 1912.
A solid brass plaque also read, ‘In 1827 the corvette Astrolabe commanded by Dumont D’Urville discovered, and after great danger, sailed through French Pass‘.
We had a good view of the current flowing through French Pass, still flowing strongly towards the NE.
Back at the boat I had a refreshing swim at the beach before we slipped our lines and cast off.
We cautiously motored round the point to the entrance of the pass. We made our ‘All ships’ call on ch 16 announcing our intention to transit the pass southbound in ten minutes then we were off. We crossed the mid point at 1245 hrs without any problems.
As it would be too late to sail all the way to Nelson we decided to go into Croisilles Harbour (named by D’Urville after his mother’s home village). There are a couple of Tasman Bay Cruising Club moorings there. Although we’re not members of the club I thought there wouldn’t be any complaints as we were en route to their Nelson Regatta.
Approaching Croisilles Harbour
We entered the harbour through the main entrance, avoiding the temptation to go between the islands, and eventually located the mooring in Whangarae Bay at 1532 hrs. Nobody else there so we had the place to ourselves. A nice bay with big sandy beaches surrounded by native bush.
Homestead Bay – French Pass – Croisilles Harbour – 31 Nautical Miles
Sunday 13 Jan – Croisilles Harbour to Nelson
We cast off at 1000 hrs for the final push to Nelson. As we passed Delaware Bay at about 1200 hrs the northerly came up and were were able to sail at good speed the rest of the trip down to Nelson.
Approaching Pepin Island
As we neared the North Cardinal light marking the entrance to The Cut, the sea was getting pretty rough. We dropped the sails and then bounced our way into The Cut in 2 mt plus waves. It was a relief to finally enter the calm waters of the harbour at 1500 hrs.
We arrived into Nelson Marina welcomed by Wellingtonians Bob and Margaret McVeigh who were waiting on the jetty to help us with our lines. Their boat L’Attitude Adjustment was berthed next to their son Simon’s 46 foot yacht Tawaki which he bought in Panama and recently sailed across the Pacific to New Zealand.
We then left Halo at the marina to stay with our lovely friends Jim and Lindie at their place in Nelson. On terra firma at last – although we did find their solid house a bit wobbly after 10 days living aboard Halo 😀
Croisilles Harbour to Nelson – 27 Nautical Miles
Total trip – 182.65 NMi
Halo Log Book 