Nicer in Nara
We had a great overnight sail to Whitehaven after losing sight of Salt Lines late evening. With 2 reefs in the main and the staysail up, we had a flexible sail combination that covered the full wind range of 16-33 knots without any stress.
RIght on midday, we sailed into Tongue Bay, with the squally, showery winds blowing through the planned anchorage at 20-25 knots. We finally dropped the anchor, and all needed to warm up after the dropping sails in the cold, cloudy conditions.
Tony repairing a winch fuse
Matt, Kurt, Keryn and Ken at the lookout
I jumped into the galley and whipped up a a nice hot chilli tuna cheese pasta, which included about 10 other ingredients for extra flavour. It was the perfect cold weather lunch to raise crew spirits.
Taku took Keryn, Kurt, Kirk, Ken, Matt, ashore to venture to the lookout while Tony, David Strauss and myself stayed onboard to tackle the faulty starboard electric windlass switch that had plagued is since just after departure. After discovering an extra fuse I did not know existed., David S and Tony conjured up a makeshift replacement and within an hour the winch was repaired, as Taku ferried the crew back onboard.
Passing Esk Island
The look out at Whitehaven
Faced with a wild and windy anchorage, we opted to motor the 14nm to Nara Inlet, Hook Island for the night instead, in search of a calm anchorage, free of sea surges and 25 knot winds tugging at the anchor chain.
David Strauss and Taku took over the helm and navigation, guiding Silver Fern through the narrow channels and into the narrow, protected inlet. The breeze dropped to 3-6 knots as we found nirvana and dropped the pick. With 30-40 other yachts tucked away in here, we figured we had come to the right spot for the night.
The weather closing in
Anchored in Nara Inlet
The world famous, Whitehaven Beach
Plenty of company
As we anchored deep inside the inlet, the wind dropped to 6 knots and a calmness came over us. On went the music, out came the drinks and nibbles as we settled down for a relaxing evening that included sausages, gravy and mash for dinner, freshly made self-saucing chocolate pudding and ice-cream, with the days Bledisloe Cup Rugby test between the Wallabies and the All Blacks on the nav station monitor, courtesy of Starlink and Stan Sport.
21 years… just saying!
David