And we are off again! Picton to Auckland.



The fog lifted around lunchtime for the new crew's arrival. Skipper, Lisa, Cam and Fritz - flying Auckland to Blenheim.

Last minute jobs onboard -

A hoist up the mast for Skipper to check a wobbly VHF aerial, quick visit to the liquor store (wine, beer and bubbles for our arrival in Auckland).

A safety briefing then to the fuel dock.  We are carrying 800 litres of diesel and 600 litres of fresh water.


 







A bird's eye view from top of the mast.










First Mate has Skipper's life hanging by a thread (or rather a halyard)!!








Testing out the new comms!



And we're off - leaving Picton on a stunning evening, heading to the Tory Channel for an overnight anchorage.








The BlueBridge ferry coming in Queen Charlotte Sounds.









A beautiful starry night in the Queen Charlotte Sounds.








The crew on our final leg Picton to Auckland minus the Commodore who is with us in spirit and following on the AIS. 9pm its bedtime, we are all patched up with our Scopoderms and ready to sail!
Anchor up 7am, cooked breakfast while in the channel and then we'll be hitting Cook Straits.


Comments

  1. FlipSide Guitar3 June 2021 at 09:42

    All the best Pirates of Picton!!! 🏴‍☠️ Safe travels 🙌🏻

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Akaroa to Port Chalmers

Image
 7.35am anchors away, blue skies and sunshine but as we motored out to the entrance of Akaroa Harbour we could see a band of dreaded sea fog approaching.  An overnight sail of 158 nm to Port Chalmers. The fog drifted in and out all day, one moment brilliant blue sunshine, the next grey, damp air surrounded us. Very light northerly breeze, genoa up and motoring. Calm seas, easy conditions for us. Plenty of albatross about. So ungainly trying to take off. The boys had no joy fishing but we did have pods of dolphin swimming with us for a while. Big chunks of kelp floating in the sea - need to watch we don't catch it in the propeller. Spot the dolphin!  5.30pm bloody miserable conditions! Fog like pea soup. Grey. Damp. Cold. Zero visibility.  It's going to be a long night. Expected dawn arrival in Port Chalmers.
Read more

Never a dull moment onboard Mimu

Image
  Oh my goodness ... hot flush ... what a rock star ... check out those abs! Ready for the tropics. The crew thought Skipper was adjusting the halyard but Commodore had other ideas! Los tres amigoes! Alan, our legendary, skilled helmsman hit the fastest speed this trip - 8.9 knots. 4pm coming into Whangaroa Harbour. New Zealand's best kept secret! Stunning, superb, amazing, fantabulous, exhilarating, other-worldly - this is a place to put on your bucket list. Waitupipi Bay, our anchorage for the night.  The scenery looks like something  straight out of Jurassic Park.   Sometimes you just have to borrow a pic from the internet to really showcase something special.  This is how Whangaroa Harbour actually looks.  The landscape is just incredible.  It's from another world. Don is in the galley cooking up a storm.  Crew lazing on deck after bubbles and nibbles.  An end to a perfect day!  But wait, there's more  ...  there's a TV on board (James Bond style - it magically rise
Read more

Overnighter to Stewart Island

Image
  Breakfast in the calm waters of Port Chalmers before we hit the big swells! 24 hours to go. Morning smoothies in a big swell! 2 hour watches through the night, 2 crew on at one time, PFD's and tethers so we don't lose anyone. 4 hours sleep. Looking for lights on the horizon in the pitch black of darkness. Stunning night sky tonight. A tricky landfall in the predawn light.  Motored into Oban but too exposed so headed off around the island to Golden Bay, anchor down at 8.20am. Breakfast then we all hit the sack for some much needed shut eye. An ominous sunrise coming into Oban. New crew Georgie and Guy joining us for a week of cruising and exploring Stewart Island. 7 of us onboard.
Read more