RPNYC Island Bay Race – 26 November 2022

Crew: Geoff, Murray, Anastasia, Patricia. Forecast: Northwest 15 knots, rising to 25 knots gusting 35 knots for a time in the afternoon and early evening. Low tide 1355 hrs. On the morning of the race the forecasts weren't looking too good. On arrival at Chaffers at 9am it was already blowing hard with gusts over...

Nelson to Punt Rails to Wellington – 14/15 November 2022

Graciela and I spent the weekend in Nelson and enjoyed a wonderful celebration of Dave's 70th on Saturday night. Great to catch up with Bob there too. Our friends Jim and Lindie kindly let us stay in their house while they were in the Abel Tasman. After checking the forecasts and tide tables we decided...

D’Urville Island to Nelson – 11 Nov 2022

After resting for two nights at Catherine Cove we cast off from the mooring at 0817 hrs and headed down Admiralty Bay towards Te Aumiti / French Pass. Although the SE wind had eased off considerably from yesterday it was still a stiff 15-20 kts. As we neared the pass we noted that our tide...

Wellington to D’Urville – 9 Nov 2022

My friend Dave who lives in Nelson sent us an invitation to his 70th birthday party. I replied that Graciela and I would love to come and half jokingly said we could sail there! After checking tide tables and watching weather forecasts it was looking promising for a Cook Strait crossing on Wednesday 9th: southerly...

EBYMBC Spring Sailing – 5 Nov 2022

Crew: Geoff, Murray, Anastasia, Patricia. Forecast: Northerly 15 knots, gradually easing to variable 5 knots in the morning. Southerly 10 knots developing about midday. Turning southeast 10 knots. HW 1428 hrs. Anastasia and Patricia joined Geoff on Halo at Chaffers Marina at 1100 hrs. The southerly breeze was very light so we rigged up the light Genoa...

Nanni Annual Service – 27 October 2022

Annual Nanni engine service by Isaac from TS Marine Ltd as per manufacturer’s recommendations.Drain and replace gearbox oilDrain and replace engine oilReplace impellerClean out water strainerReplace Racor 500 fuel filterReplace engine fuel filterReplace oil filterReplace engine zinc anodeReplace alternator beltCheck start and house batteriesEngine hours: 534 Power Cord I also got the boat power cord checked and...

EBYMBC Spring Sailing – Stuck in the Middle

Saturday 22 October 2022 The Predictwind wind map showed New Zealand stuck in the middle of a large southern hemisphere anti-cyclone with strong winds circulating around the motu but almost dead calm in Wellington. The Metservice were forecasting southerly 10 knots, easing to variable 5 knots for a time in the morning with northerly 10...

EBYMBC Opening Day 1 Oct 2022

Well the Metservice got it totally wrong this time with racing being abandoned due to lack of wind. Crew: Geoff, Grant, Murray, Trey. Forecast: Metservice: Southeast 20 knots. At 1000 hrs Geoff and Grant departed Chaffers and motor-sailed round to Evans Bay. We tied up on a pole next to the travel lift and attended...

Cook Strait Crossing Waikawa to Wellington – 20 Sept 2022

Crew: Geoff, Grant, Eduardo Following our participation at the Waikawa Women's Regatta, the plan was for Halo, Grenadier, Tamerlane and 88% Proof to sail together across Cook Strait from Waikawa back to Wellington early on Wednesday morning. The forecasts were showing a dying northerly from midnight Tuesday but changing to a strong southerly Wednesday afternoon. It was going...

Waikawa Women’s Regatta – Sept 2022

Crew: Marion (helm), Meredith (foredeck), Vivien (sail trim) and Anastasia (main sheet). A great weekend of sailing and social events run by the Waikawa Boating Club with 188 crew entries and 34 keeler yachts split into two divisions. Halo was in Division Two along with Wellington boats Tamerlane, Grenadier and 88% Proof. The weather was...