Day 9 (Tuesday, part 2)

I got enough wind to get underway again at 0645. From here, it was 63 miles to wellington. That's the same as from Auckland to Great Barrier Island - a days sail, given a fair wind. Even without one, the longest that trip has taken me has been 17 hours.

The morning started tacking back and forth - first out, until it got quite windy, then tacked back. It occured to me that as the W winds bent around the cape to SW, they'd be weaker closer to shore, like the current at the inside of a bend in a river. I attempted to test this theory, by tacking out until I felt I needed to reef, then tacking back in until I felt I could add more sail, then tacking back out - also experimenting with all the sail settings - how high can I point if I flatten the sails etc? I normally don't bother with that stuff because I'm cruising, not racing... but today I am racing just to get around cape Pallisier. The theory seemed to work out. The sail trimming was more tricky to know if it was working or not because of confounding factors, like the swell. I could feel the boat slipping sideways on the back of each wave - on the front, you just seemed to rise up, but then slide down the back. If the wind is very light, you can feel an extra gust of wind over the wave, like the wave is pushing you into the air, or there is also an air wave, or something.

A forecast came in, today cook had a southerly in the afternoon, dying out tomorrow morning, but then northerly growing to 30 in the evening. Another gale! (30 isn't technically a gale, but you need to be very wary of the cook straight, I've met people who set out with a forecast for 15 knots, and ended up with 40!)

I didn't really want another gale. But I started to make a plan for what I could do.

• sail to wellington and anchor (obviously the ideal)
• anchor in Pallisier bay (seemed viable, but the still large southerly swell was very concerning)
• run for Port Underwood, on the Mainland (known as the South Island, on the North Island) (but this would be a beam reach in a northerly, so would be side on to the waves)
• use the sea anchor, and wait until probably thursday to get in
• run for Christchurch instead (Kaikora was out of the question, many pointy rocks and not really much harbour, and this would add another 2 days sailing.

Well, I had a plan at least, and sailing for wellington was a safe start anyway...

By 1550, the wind was southerly enough that I could do a single long tack and point past the cape. At 1805, I could see a small white building on the slope - the lighthouse, without the light on yet because it wasn't dark. I felt incredibly relieved to be past the cape. Now I could bear off, and sail on a beam reach to wellington, with this wind strength, I should be able to do 5 knots - and then turn and sail down wind into the harbour, and then, since it's a southerly, triumphantly anchor at Oriental Bay - the most expensive street in wellington, and the best beach, and right next to the city. Probably getting there about 4 am.

But the wind started to ease... now I was only making 3 knots... and then ease further... because of the rolling, not being able to catch the wind, and making less than 2 knots. Wind light enough to feel an alluring gust when we went down the back of each swell. It always felt like it was a tiny bit stronger than the last one, thus the wind was building... I started to worry a lot about the nearness of the coast again.

Just at dusk, Some dolphins came. And a seal! A good omen. I asked the dolphins if they could bring me wind. Then I noticed the sky to the south had changed - cloudy, and what looked like rain. If it came with wind I'd welcome rain right now.

quick note on dolphins vs seals: it's quite easy to tell the difference, even at a distance. Dolphins have a dorsal fin, and make generally come up to the surface in a curving motion, up then down gracefully. Seals on the other hand, have a proper neck, and can raise their head up and look around. (dolphins don't need a neck because they have sonar) seals can kinda surge forward, with their head up. Also, seals go ashore to sleep and make babies, but for dolphins, the shore is death. You'll often find dolphins frolicking, but seals don't frolic, they play.

It worked, some wind came! we were at least doing 4 knots. It didn't rain, but it did become cloudy, with reduced visibility. I was making best progress going more south, because the wind stayed in the sails better, this was an indirect route, but also further from the coast and thus safer.

Day 10 (Wednesday)

It was gonna be a long night, so I took two preemptive 20 minute naps, the second one, awaking within striking distance of wellington, but becalmed. At about 0130 Wednesday morning.

There was still a faint breeze, but the waves were taking the wind from the sails, maybe I could have very slowly sailed in, but the harbour entrance was full of hazards: rocks, ships (quite regular ferries, even in the middle of the night), currents (a rising tide would be more favorable, which started at low tide about 4 am).

At that time, I was safe from the ferries because I was too the east (and the ferries turn west, towards the South Island) and was 5 miles from Turakirae Head, and had already seen a cargo ship pass well inside of here. I was also close enough in to get cell signal, and I had gotten a forcast for the local wellington harbour recreational marine weather, it said only 25 knots. Strong but, not extreme. So I decided to heave to, until wind came, whenever that should be.

I sheeted the main in hard and flat. I took the jib down, because I had noticed that last night, taking the jib down and leaving the main up, in very light wind, caused us to sail to windward at half a knot. This was away from land, thus safer. On the other hand, if I left the jib up, it would probably have been more draggy and drifted towards land, not safe.

By this point in the trip, much of the interior was slightly damp, but I had a down sleeping bag, that I hadn't been using because it's really too hot to use it up north in the summer... and I got into that, setting a half hour alarm (just to check we were weren't drifting badly, then another 2 hours, then just rested. This was the most refreshing, most uninterrupted sleep I'd had on the trip.

I awoke to find myself still very becalmed, but time to have a relaxed breakfast, catch up on writing, message my friends and let them know I'm still alive and well. It's now 12:15 and still the water is glassy. Bobbing around out here with some albatross and other bird life, occasionally I see a ferry enter or leave. If I had an engine, I'd maybe be tempted to run it, but I'm not feeling impatient at all. I'm quite happy to just wait here. In an hour and a half it will be 9 days exactly since I raised anchor in Herne Bay in Auckland, so a few more hours don't really make a difference.