IN PORT
15 September 2010 | Nelson, NZ
Overcast and cold, expecting big southerly front
Hello to all you lovely people. yes Wind Dancer crew made
landfall in Nelson Harbour at 0400 hrs Wednesday morning and went straight to NZ Customs amd Quarantine wharf. Clearance granted after a routine search and then we motored around to the Nelson and Marina where WD II is now moored, safe and happy in her new home.
Graham and David went home for well a earned
kip while Daniel and Lindsay slept from 5.30 am to 8.30 then it was breakfast in bed, of sorts then to the hot shower, BLISS. 12 days without one but we didn't smell, had plenty of salt sea water showers, involuntary in the cockpit while we had a brilliant fast sail down the North Island Coast. A very fast trip over all, some days we averaged 6.83 nm which is great going. The passage
through Taranaki oil/ gas production platforms on Monday night/ Tuesday morning was interesting and then we encountered some rather high seas , 40 knots plus in a savage North West blow. Quite exciting racing through the large swells but being careful not to round up. Wind Dancer II handled well and with no main, a little genoa unfurled we fair raced along at 7 - 8 + knots ! The surf passing the hull sounded like an express train !
Cold,and a wet night we entered Tasman Bay
and then the wind backed around to the West and finally on the nose, southwest so we motored in the last 13nm into the harbour.
It is only with the coming weather predictions
of a perfect storm in that we feel we arrived in a great "weather window".
So that is all this time, Rebecca and I will do doing lots of drying, cleaning in due course and we will post a number of pictures of the voyage in a few days.
P.S. I am sorry the the blogs connections did not work but connection problems and other matters did not allow us to use blogs enroute.