Steaming For Home
We set off at around 9:30 for our home port of the harbour at Waikawa Bay. We motored out of Endeavour Inlet to top up the batteries and also, as before, to make forward progress as the water was glassy and the wind nonexistant.
The calm air persisted for quite a while. After a couple of hours of motoring, the wind finally picked up sufficiently to give us headway, so we furled out the jib and bobbed our way home. The wind was was conveniently from our port side as we aimed for the harbour, so we made decent headway. Debbie helmed
while I sat on the foredeck enjoying the sun with a beer and some music for much of this part of the journey.
The wind continued to freshen and eventually shifted such that it was heading directly down the sound from the direction we wanted to go.
We spent an hour or so tacking our way up with moderate results, but the wind continued to get stronger, and we decided that getting back before it got too strong would be wise. We rolled up the jib and set to motoring the rest of the way.
The waves on the sound grew in size with the increasing wind speed, and after a while we were driving through some fairly large swells.
Thanks to the handheld GPS navigator Richard had loaned to us (thanks Rich!) we were able to keep close tabs on our forward motion. The Zachary Hicks in calm waters is able to do a little better than 4 knots. In the headwinds and chop we were facing, we were between 2 and 3 knots. I felt that as long as our forward motion did not diminish, we were safe, and our speed did, in fact, remain pretty constant the entire journey.
We eventually made our way to the marina, and after only one abortive attempt to drive the boat into her slip (it was, after all, pretty windy) we were home and safely tied up. We made the below and above decks tidy and then headed to the marina restaurant for a cocktail and some dinner.
In the evening Debbie watched a little more Alias while I did the preliminary packing in preparation for an early morning handover of Zachary Hicks (she got cleaning duties in the morning to even things out for those who keep such tallies).
Thursday will see us back aboard Southern Endurance. Here's to hoping.
Don
The calm air persisted for quite a while. After a couple of hours of motoring, the wind finally picked up sufficiently to give us headway, so we furled out the jib and bobbed our way home. The wind was was conveniently from our port side as we aimed for the harbour, so we made decent headway. Debbie helmed
while I sat on the foredeck enjoying the sun with a beer and some music for much of this part of the journey.
The wind continued to freshen and eventually shifted such that it was heading directly down the sound from the direction we wanted to go.
We spent an hour or so tacking our way up with moderate results, but the wind continued to get stronger, and we decided that getting back before it got too strong would be wise. We rolled up the jib and set to motoring the rest of the way.
The waves on the sound grew in size with the increasing wind speed, and after a while we were driving through some fairly large swells.
Thanks to the handheld GPS navigator Richard had loaned to us (thanks Rich!) we were able to keep close tabs on our forward motion. The Zachary Hicks in calm waters is able to do a little better than 4 knots. In the headwinds and chop we were facing, we were between 2 and 3 knots. I felt that as long as our forward motion did not diminish, we were safe, and our speed did, in fact, remain pretty constant the entire journey.
We eventually made our way to the marina, and after only one abortive attempt to drive the boat into her slip (it was, after all, pretty windy) we were home and safely tied up. We made the below and above decks tidy and then headed to the marina restaurant for a cocktail and some dinner.
In the evening Debbie watched a little more Alias while I did the preliminary packing in preparation for an early morning handover of Zachary Hicks (she got cleaning duties in the morning to even things out for those who keep such tallies).
Thursday will see us back aboard Southern Endurance. Here's to hoping.
Don
posted by Don at
12:01 am
7 Comments:
Left my comments in the wrong place. See below. Terry
By
Anonymous, at 8:15 am
A very rewarding holiday
By
Anonymous, at 6:34 pm
Hi, Debbie & Don: Greetings from the Great White North! It's been quite busy at OTPP and haven't had much time to send you a message but don't think that we have forgotten about you. We (Pam, Linda, Franca, et moi and now Cynthia) have been following your NZ adventures with envy. The pictures and comments are great and we're looking forward to lots of stories at our lunch time "round table" sessions. Franca is now in Punta Cana for a week of fun and some R&R. Michael and Jeff are in London for an investments conference this week. Claude is back from Turino; the whole family went to see hs son, Justin, compete in the snowboarding events at the Olympics -- he came in 21st out of the 40 best in the world. Rosemarie McLean is cruising from Chili to Antarctica. The construction of the 3 offices is almost finished. Juzar has told us he is going on vacation to Madagascar by way of London! Yikes, all these big trips are making me anxious to get away again too! Looking forward to seeing you back soon -- bring some warm weather with you. Cheers, Donna :)
By
Anonymous, at 1:01 am
Looking forward to seeing you guys,hope the time change doesn't affect you too much.The weather is still holding out here,no sign of winter.
By
Anonymous, at 9:19 am
Hi all,
Time has flown by - only 3 more sleeps until the dread plane ride home! It does tickle me to leave on Friday and get home on Friday. You'd think with all the Star Trek I've been exposed to over the years "time travel" wouldn't seem such a novelty.
Don will be updating the blog probably later today. It's 1:50 pm on Tuesday and I'm going to take a last wander around Picton before we head out for the north island and home tomorrow.
bye for now.
By
Anonymous, at 7:51 pm
Sorry - that was me above. Bit of a blog spaz
By
Anonymous, at 7:52 pm
Hi Debbie and Don,
I can't believe your trip is almost over. I thought you were going to be gone for four weeks. Did I miss something?
Debbie, I am astonished at how good your hair looks in all of the pictures - do you have your hairdryer with you on that sailboat?
I read the comment from Donna - does no one do any work at OTPP?
I must say that I really enjoyed reading your commentary. Can't wait for the slideshow when you return.
By
Anonymous, at 8:16 pm
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