The Devil Wears Foul Weather Gear

 So Don D'Rio - you have laid down the gauntlet and we have risen to the challenge!  Although the pirates agreed to a morning splash after consuming a couple of bottles of red the night before!  Anchored in Sandy Bay, Abel Tasman, gorgeous aqua-marine seas, water temperature 15.2, flat calm, no alcohol required!  (But a vodka schnapps would have been nice). The 3 bonny pirates after their dip. Great photography Commodore.  John rivalled Don D'Rio in time spent in the water. Looking pretty hot Mermaid No. 2  Skipper - where's the hot water? A musical send off for John - we will miss your smiley face! And then there were four!!

We did it!  Circumnavigated the South Island with Stewart Island also for good measure.  What an amazing experience.  Anything that could have happened, did happen from gale force winds, to heavy seas, torrential rain, freezing cold temperatures, Gen Set on the blink so no heating, wet feet, wet bottoms, a wee bump in the night, lost and found (paddle boards), torn bimini, ... and we are still smiling and planning the next adventure ... and the First Mate is now a serious drinker! Congratulations Commodore and Skipper and of course Mimu - you have done us proud!   Keeping the blog alive - lack of wifi has made it incredibly difficult at times but with collective contributions we have had so much fun putting this together. We have done more motor sailing in the South Island than we ever could have imagined.  Either too much or too little wind. Here we are genoa close hauled, no engine ... pure silence, gentle seas, soft motion down below and still trucking a...

 We have had a dream three day two night trip up the west coast.  Brilliant blue skies and sunshine, 1-2m swells but wind on the nose so under engine again.  This has been an unexpectedly easy leg, apart from some heavy pounding motoring into the northerly swell earlier this morning.  Am sleeping in the bow and found myself airborne a couple of times. Crew happy to be relaxing in warmer temperatures, great company, awesome food and finally everything feels dry again. Plan is to be on anchor tonight at Abel Tasman or D'Urville Sounds. Thursday's beautiful sunset. Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum OR Dumb and Dumber! Friday morning sky has some very ominous red in it. Rounding the top of the South Island. The right hand track is when we came down from the north. Abel Tasman, stunning golden beaches, sculptured granite cliffs, light cloud, ENE gusting 30 knots.

 We started the night watches at 7pm, 2 hours on, 4 hours sleep but more like 3.5 hours sleep with coming off watch, wet weather gear off etc, then 10-15 minutes prior to shift starting putting it all on again/making a cuppa.  Motoring almost due north, amazing night sky tonight. 470nm to Wellington, approx 3 days sailing.  And its warm!  Even the temperature of the night time sailing was very agreeable. Just look at what daybreak showed us! Aoraki, Mt Cook Blue skies and sunshine - time to dry out some wet foul weather gear The plane is actually us, 1pm we are now passed Greymouth.  Ahead of schedule. Time out for the Skipper - its good to have crew!! Farmers talking about ... sailing? These two are definitely our good weather fairies on this leg! How magic is this! A pod of 30-40 hector dolphins came to play! Hector (we think) dolphins playing at our bow. Another one of those memorable moments. Corn fritters for lunch - thank you Commodore! John keeping a shar...

  Weather front has gone through - up early to stow the dinghy, go alongside the fishing wharf for water and new crew pickup. Flat calm, clear skies, waterfalls have dried up but we have lost the stunning glacial green waters and instead a murky brown from the flooded rivers. The mist hangs low. Dinghy hoisted on deck for the next leg of our adventure.  Takes us about 4 minutes to complete this task.  We have it down to a fine art now! We have Cam from Taupo and John from Wyndham as our new crew - both farmers so lots in common.   Safety briefing and breakfast on the water. 9am at the entrance to Milford Sounds. A bit of sightseeing on the way out of the Sound.  There was enough spray off this waterfall to have a shower! 3 pirates and 2 mermaids on this leg. Barometer rising, 1-2m swell, minimal wind. Genoa out, then in again, out, in.  Motoring north.

  The galley is the Commodore's domain - busy day with food prep for the next leg ... so we only need to heat up rather than start cooking from scratch. Pasta bake, soup, sweet corn fritters, risotto Great fridge and freezer space onboard plus microwave,  Sorting out the tool cupboard And at the end of the day ... a DIY pedicure with a good book

  Have to send a huge shout out to Karen for the loan of her wonderful Gill foul weather gear!  Today, in particular, has been a hideous day.  Crawling on my knees on deck retying mooring lines in the torrential rain.  Rivers running along the deck.  Keeping me warm and dry.  First time today for wet feet, understandable bailing a dinghy half full of water!  No GenSet at the moment so unfortunately no heating to dry out our wet and sodden gear. Thank you Karen!!  Keeping me dry when I need to be dry! Midnight, the rain came in!  Heavy downpours, drip drip drip on the hatches but not so cold so less condensation this morning.  Looked outside to see the cliff faces we had moored in the shadow of, now looking like a cliff of vertical rivers. Multiple waterfalls dropping into the water and with a deafening sound of rushing water.  9am gusty SE winds getting up, dinghy half full of water, 100ml has fallen today.  It’s going to be a...