This week was my and Te Kaihōpara’s turn to welcome our new skipper, Jo Ivory. A legend amongst the Steinlager II community (the sailing yacht, not the beer). Not one to hold back, Jo whipped up a storm, as she led an extreme clean-up onboard. Not a speck of dust was safe, as every nook and cranny was ransacked by the new skipper, armed with every cleaning apparatus known to mankind. Te Kaihōpara and I are quite sure she’s never met a dirty submariner before (no pun intended).

As the shock cleaning came to an end, we welcomed onboard, Lynda Stirling (hereby known as Lynda), a medieval musician armed with her own ukele, Sharon Lobb (Shazz) and David Robinson (David), a couple sailing with us to celebrate their 7-year anniversary. I’m aiming to get the happy couple, to do a titanic pose on the bow at some point.

A luxury cruising experience awaited us as all as we settled into our own private cabins with private ensuites. Te Kaihōpara never ceases to amaze me. Safety briefings and provisioning took up most of our day, as we got the necessary (I didn’t say boring) stuff out of the way before we were finally ready to set sail! Three weeks of preparation had finally come to an end.

We carried on our tradition of not leaving Picton marina without a hitch, as a broken bolt on the belt drive cover made a horrendous metallic noise, the minute we began our exit out of the marina. Nevertheless, it was a quick fix as we marvelled at the pristine beauty of Governor’s Bay on the the way to Anakiwa Bay.

A cozy anchorage and mouth watering lamb roast awaited us at Kaipakirikiri Bay, as the crew settled in after a game of golf (with cards). There were protests and calls of blasphemy (mostly from Lynda) as David turned out to be the victor of the night. More adventures await tomorrow, as Te Kaihōpara gently sways on her safely laid out anchor and blew a goodnight kiss to the ever present moon.

Arjun Thimmaya, Chief Mate, Te Kaihōpara