Glassy Calm?

Well we waited for about five days but still the SE wind remained. This was a bit inconsiderate of the powers that be as this would mean a head wind all the way to Campbell Island. The weather charts we receive each day showed no sign of a break so we decided to head out and see how we went (this is the furious fifties, sea of the ever constant roaring westerlies!). The wind was about 15 knots with a 1 metre wave chop and a three metre SE swell. We could motor sail at about four knots but were going
to use a fair bit of diesel. We decided to push on and see how it went. That night the wind died and by the next morning there was a glassy calm on top of the underlying 1 to 2 metre E swell. After a cold night sat in the cockpit steering for six hours each we were pleased with a great new day with even some sunshine! Campbell Island was a great sight to see coming over the horizon. A very rugged Island with high cliffs plunging into the sea and cloud shrouded peaks. There was plenty of life visible
as we closed the coast and were accompanied on our way by many Albatross. The shags also began to fly out from the shore around us and back ashore again. A pod of dolphins also stopped by to accompany us for a period. The arrival at Perseverance Harbour allowed the engine to be shut down and peace and quiet reigned. The voyage of just under 200 miles had used a fair bit of our remaining diesel but we were here. A voyage time of 30 hours was also quite good for our boat in such conditions.

Camplbell Island is the location of a meteorological station. The base is not manned anymore but there are lots of buildings ashore. It just happens to be the annual maintenance time now and a small group of men are working on the buildings. This means generators chain saws and other boats about. Almost as bad as a weekend at Waiheke Island anchorages. Tori has gone ashore to walk up to the Col-Lyall saddle. Watching her get safely ashore I could see a mass of splashing around the dinghy which
she reported as Fur Seals keen to get in the boat with her. A fascinating sight last night was watching some fishing. A penguin was chasing a school of small fish. These fish would erupt out of the water followed by the penguin only to disappear again pretty quick. The local birds spotted this pretty quick and would dive into the fish as they came to the surface.

The anchorage here is the busiest spot we have anchored in for a long time. The Meteorological staff are on an expedition boat called 'Evohe'. This is a very solid 80 foot motor-sailor. The vessel has been through the Northwest passage and down to Antarctica. A very comfortable ad solid looking boat. The other vessel is from the University of Otago. Th 'Polaris II' is an ex-fishing boat of about 20 metres length. Quite solid but with all its accommodation at the bow. I would imagine this is not the
boat to be on when motoring into any kind of sea!!

The presence of other boats and people has brought home to use how lucky we have been on this voyage. There are three places that recieve a fair number of visitors each year (600 in total). These are Enderby Island, Ererbus Cove both on Auckland Island group and the Col-lyall saddle here. We have been allowed to visit many sites that very few people will ever get a chance to see. All these sites have been very special and we consider ourselves very lucky.

Following the days of SE wind we had a NW wind settle in last night with squalls and rain/drizzle. With four days left here we will be making the most of what time we have and get as much done as possible. We have decided, unless the plan changes of course (a plan set in custard as some would say), that we will go from here to Dunedin. In Dunedin we will dry out the boat which is now very damp after 5 months of cold weather (the cold wet bunk is loosing some charm) and stock up on diesel which is
getting low after our unplanned motor across here(not even enough to run the heater). After a quick catch up with some friends we will head up the south Island, via Christchurch, to Marlborough Sounds and the Able Tasman before heading off to Wellington. A stop at Kaikoura on the trip north to see if we can spot some whales.

We can always get our hull inspected in Bluff and come back again but the night watches are rather cold sat out in or cockpit (even inside our solid doghouse) while someone throws bath-fulls of cold water at you. I must be getting soft!

A lot of the birds here seem to have a 'camera sensing device'. This allows them to keep well away as you sit in the cockpit camera poised, and then as soon as you put the camera down they fly close by. The timing is very precise as they are just too far away by the time you have picked up the camera and focused. We thus have plenty of pictures of small white dots or photos of the sky where an Albatross, Skua etc used to be but isn't now. If there is good speed internet connection available in Dunedin
we will post some more photos. We have some good photos but alot of photos will not convey the ruggedness, grace, beauty, and starkness of the surroundings.

We will try to update again prior to our departure from Campbell Island

Nearly time to move on.

Following the general description of the route Tori followed I made my way to Southwest Cape. The going was tough in scrub and slippery pig tracks. More than once I found myself taking a slide and getting a wee bit muddy! The pay off was sitting near to Shy Mollymawks nesting. Every now and then an adult would stand up and display a very large fluffy chick. Following a quick wing stretch and move both birds would settle down and you would never guess that such a large chick lurked underneath. Some
birds were performing beak rubbing rituals and others were preening each other. Just out from the cliffs birds would be landing, taking off and soaring. All of which was very impressive. We spent a day being 'lazy' at Western Harbour, we have spent a lot of time on 40 feet of boat in the last 5 months and it doesn't improve your fitness! Although it certainly beats sitting behind a desk. This wait also allowed the heavy SW swell and wind to die down a bit. Our next exploration was to take us out
of a small shallow passage onto the windward side of the island and we wanted as calm a sea as possible, which down here is not very calm!

The next morning we prepared to go. Our departure was to be with the tide against us in the passage. This meant the 4 meter swell that broke dangerously in the passage with the outgoing tide would be a little less daunting and dangerous. Although it would take a little longer to get through. Prior to our departure Tori went for a swim (total insanity again) and was joined very quickly by a young female Sea Lion who was keen to play. The Sea Lion swam quickly around Tori having a good look. She would
swim away and then reappear right under Tori before disappearing again to reappear just as quickly.

We got underway and headed out. The passage was about 20 metres wide with a cliff on one side and a reef on the other. Very dramatic but we were soon through and bouncing our way along the windward side of the Island. The cliffs rise straight up to between 350m to 500m. Some waterfalls cascade down, only to get blown straight back up in most cases. The chart as often has no details other than the outline of the island, and that has bits in the wrong place (like islands and outcrops!). We rolled and
plummeted our way for two hours along this coast followed by Albatross, Skuas, Petrels and the odd penguin. We appeared to be on the Shag flying route as every one we saw came and flew a loop around us. The Shags seemed very unnatural and strained flyers compared to the Light Mantled Sooty Albatross who are very fluid and amazingly graceful in flight.

We arrived at the entrance to Fly Harbour, on the south coast of Adams Island, and were ready for some calmer water. Once again the inlet is not charted so we picked our way carefully through the kelp covering the entrance. We were confident the inlet held no major problems as it had been recommended to us by Henk of the yacht 'Tiama", probably the most experienced and knowledgeable person on navigation around these islands (try a google search to finds Henks website for extreme latitude charters
and expeditions). We arrived at the head of the inlet to find a good anchorage. Like many anchorages the wind can be a bit gusty but it was calm with cliffs rising to over 500m and waterfalls. We had the company of plenty of wildlife and I watched Penguins(Yellow eye)feeding, Albtross (Wandering and Light Mantelled), Diving Petrels, Shags, Giant Petrels, all whilst I did the washing up in the galley. Not a bad view!

We set off the next morning following along the shore towards Waterfall Inlet. Still a bit bouncy but nothing bad. We are looking at moving on to Campbell Island now and as if on cue the wind has swung to the SE as a low pressure comes down from NZ. We will wait and see what happens. We expect the wind to return to the West early next week which will be better for us if not a bit strong! We must be away from the Islands before 2nd March as our hull inspection certificate will lapse at that time.
I doubt we will fancy a trip to Bluff and back to have another inspection although we have a permit for the Campbell Island til 15th March. Our trip back up the mainland is not clear yet. We would like to go to the other outer islands of Antipodes, Bounty and Chatham, but would also life to cruise the east coast of NZ and catch up with friends and family (and have a shower, do some washing and enjoy some warm summer weather for a bit!!).

And then there was one!

We are now alone. There were two groups of scientists on the islands, but these two groups have now gone leaving us all alone.

After a day in waterfall inlet we decided the worst of the storm had passed and it was time to move on. We headed out into a four meter southerly swell and a 30 knot southerly breeze. The combination of the swell, rebounds from the cliffs, wind waves and a good head wind gave us a wild trip to Carnley Harbour. Falling off some of the wave crests left us suspended in the air, and this was in the cockpit the bow looking completely untenable. After and hour and a half and three miles we gained the relative
shelter of Carnley and could enjoy the scenery.

Carnley Harbour is actually a strait separating Auckland from Adam Island. In the upper reaches of the harbour are several fiords and bays. One of the highlights of this whole trip was our current destination. In 1864 the vessel Grafton was driven ashore and wrecked within Carnley Harbour. The five crew survived the wreck and spent a total of 20 months on the island before they were able to make a vessel, some of them sail to New Zealand to raise the alarm and arrange the rescue of the remainder.
In this time they built a small cottage on the island and scavenged to survive. We located the site of the wreck and were able to examine the frames, floors and remaining planking. Nearby was the site o the cottage where we found the fireplace stones still in some shape. There was also remains of the ships planking they used for floor boards (teak) and the spars they used for beams and corner posts. A testament to the quality of the timber used in the ships construction. Also evident was a n area
of the beach cleared of rocks so the boat could be pulled ashore and the rata forest around the hut for some distance was far newer growth than that 500m away, from the cutting of timber for the fire. Having read several accounts of their survival and the tasks they undertook in order to do so it was amazing to be stood looking at the site and seeing the remains.

Long after the wreck of the Grafton the Government decide to install castaway depots and boat sheds. These provided a shipwrecked mariner with various supplies, shelter and a boat. This would at least assist them as they awaited rescue. Many of the depots are still to be seen although no longer maintained. In order that these depots may be found by an unlucky seafarer a series of finger posts was erected. These finger posts were placed at many headlands an d consisted of a high post with a finger
shaped piece of timber fixed to the top pointing in the direction of the depot.

A coast watcher hut was located at Tagua Bay during the second world war. This was still visible although in poor condition. A more interesting was a cave near the beach that had evidence of habitation. This included a planked floor, a stove, discarded items and some barrels. This evidence of human endeavor on the island is quickly reclaimed by the bush. In many cases we landed and found no evidence of former activity.

Today we have moved to Western Harbour. Tori is at present scaling the 250 m tall cliffs to the Albatross colony. We are only able to go off the vessel one at a time. This means the person onboard minds the yacht (you wouldn't want to leave you boat in these places anyway) whilst the other person heads off and reports in on th vhf as they go. The handheld gps allows the 'walker' to report actual positions so should they have a problem we will know where to find them, or talk them over the problem.
We have picked all our landing sites so the dinghy can be pulled clear by one person and the walk is within a few hundred meters of the landing point. This does mean we may have to miss some places if conditions are not right.

The scenery at this southern end of the island is very dramatic. Sheer cliffs, rocky outcrops and wind, lots of wind. We usually collect rainwater for the tanks onboard. This has not proved that feasible here. Whilst there is plenty of rain it is normally too windy to rig our large tarp in which we collect water and pipe it to our tanks. Luckily we have just under one tonne of water so have plenty for a few months yet. Tori has just reported she has got to the top of the cliffs and is now walking
along to southwest cape.

Hope the warm weather continues for all in New Zealand, the weather cools for those in Australia and warms for those in Canada and the UK. Here we have day time highs of 10 to 12 degrees celcius, winds are westerly 25 to 30 knots, and it always rains!

Enderby and beyond

We woke up one morning to a relatively calm day and motored across to Enderby Island. The island is just amazing, as we approached we could see a large number of sea lions both splashing around in the water and ashore. DOC have a team here monitoring the sea lions as this is one of the main breeding colonies in the Auckland Islands. Unfortunately they told us that pup numbers are down by around 30% this year. Landed at Sandy Beach and Louise from the sea lion team helped us negotiate the sea lions
and gave us some tips for dealing with them as they want to play, but even a small playful sea lion can be quite intimidating! The exception to this is the pups who are very cute, one bared his teeth and growled thinking he is bigger than he really is! Near the shore was a whole mass of pups playing in a big heap. Earlier, just after we had dropped anchor, I watched through the binoculars as a group of yellow-eyed penguins slowly made their way down to the beach. As they entered the water they split
into 2 groups and 'porpoised' rapidly through the water, one group passing close by Elenya. Between us, on our way around the island, we saw more yellow eyed penguins including one who has chosen to moult right by the DOC huts, lots of sea lions, fur seals, pipits, royal albatross, giant petrels, auckland island dotterel and auckland island cormorants. There were also some mega herbs still in flower, although the main flowering season is over. We would have liked to anchor here for the night but
unfortunately the wind came up more from the west so we returned to Port Ross for the night.

After a day waiting for the weather we moved down to Musgrave Inlet. On the way we stopped at Ranui Cove where there is a WWII coastwatchers station and lookout. Good views from the lookout and Jim was fascinated by the 1930s and 40s reading material and other paraphernalia left in the huts. Next we visited Haskell Cove, we couldn't land here but Jim dropped me off in the dinghy at the head of the cove and I slowly made my way down past a rockhopper penguin rookery. For small birds they make a lot
of noise! After retrieving me and the dinghy we made our way down to Musgrave for the night. All along this coast are impressive cliffs (the western side of the island must be even more stunning). Enjoyed watching some light mantled sooty albatrosses soaring in the updrafts on the cliffs. This may be a good time to mention that although we have a couple of bird books on board, we are no ornithologists so while the birds we mention are what we think we are seeing we may also just be making it up as
we go along!

At the head of Musgrave Inlet are cliffs with a waterfall dropping into Lake Hinemoa which can't be seen from the inlet but the next day we walked up to the lake. Jim went first and disturbed some feral pigs on the shore. At the lake, which is about 700m inland, we saw three sea lions playing in the fresh water. A group of four sea lions also checked out the dinghy as I was securing it ashore after landing! We had a brief stop at Norman Inlet to look at the pile of corrugated iron and wood which
is the remains of a castaway depot on our way to Waterfall Inlet. Our peace and quiet in Norman Inlet was shattered by an airforce orion which overflew us. The coast line here is spectacular, cliffs and waterfalls (especially in Hanfield inlet which we took a detour down), lots of bird life - albatross, petrels, sooty shearwaters, shags and penguins. We motored quite close to the cliffs enjoying the views and the shelter. We are now passing through areas of white on the chart - no soundings, completely
unsurveyed!

Waterfall Inlet appears very sheltered, there are certainly larger rata trees here than we've seen so far in the Islands which should be a good sign! We don't have a permit to go ashore here but it will hopefully make a snug hideaway to sit out the next spot of bad weather. Interestingly our definition of bad weather has changed somewhat! What we are calling a good day here we probably wouldn't have bothered going out in in the Hauraki Gulf! eg Wednesday we had patches of rain and even hail at one
point but relatively little wind so that was accorded a 'good' day!!

Erebus Cove

Well we got here!! Elenya is currently anchored off Erebus Cove in Port Ross, Auckland Island. I can't say either of us enjoyed the trip down. We left on Monday afternoon after our hull inspection. We had WNW winds to begin with but of course this went round to the SW. We sailed for around the first 48 plus hours until we were to leeward of the islands and then motor sailed and beat into it the rest of the way. To say it was quite rough at times is probably an understatement, Jim reckons about 4m
swells and 35 knots (I wasn't looking!). I suppose it is not called the furious fifties for nothing. We made landfall at dawn to find a cruise ship had beaten us there! The islands as may be expected are quite low and windswept with dense rata bush. Once we had slept a bit and recovered somewhat (and the cruise ship had left) we went ashore to have a look at the site of Hardwicke. This is where someone had the great idea to build a town and start a farming community! Needless to say it didn't last
long. I went ashore first as we have to go ashore one at a time as we can't leave the yacht unattended. Ashore out of the wind it was quite warm and sunny. There is not much left of Hardwicke, a few bricks and broken bottles and the cemetery which contains graves of both some of the unfortunate settlers and sailors who were wrecked on the Islands. If you don't know anything about the Auckland Islands, they are situated on the great circle sailing route to the South of NZ which was the main thoroughfare
in the days of sail and hence there have been numerous shipwrecks over the years. We have seen a couple of Hoiho next to the boat and spotted a sea lion and her pup ashore. It looked like she was trying to coax the pup down to the water but he wasn't having any of it! Today we are looking at going ashore at Terror Cove just around the corner from where we are anchored with two anchors down due to some forecast strong winds.