Around to Port Underwood (20 March)

Tim had an early start and was on the road back to Lyttelton soon after 6.30am. I planned to head around to Port Underwood, south of Queen Charlotte Sound - my plan was to catch the start of the out-going tide through Tory Channel which meant I didn't need to leave Waikawa before about 1pm. So back to sleep for me for a couple of hours. It was a lovely sunny day and still a bit breezy, perfect for drying out everything that had got damp over the last couple of days. Then with Honey readied to go, I left Waikawa at 1.45pm. It was a relatively quick trip out to the heads, motor sailing in the still gusty conditions to Dieffenbach Point at the start of Tory Channel and through Tory Channel where the wind was a bit more steady and a bit lighter, dodging a couple of ferries along the way. It was a beautiful trip, seeing the sunlight cast shadows in the creases of Arapawa Island slide by. I had hoped that leaving a little after 1pm would mean I had some assistance from the current through Tory Channel, but it seemed I was a bit early and Honey barely went faster than her usual motoring cruising speed of 5 knots. There was a light south easterly breeze of about 10-15 knots in the strait, and I raised the mainsail and turned Honey towards the south in the direction of Port Underwood. It was a nice sail, a tight reach and Honey was moving along at about 4 knots. But the day was drawing in and I was aiming for Oyster Bay which I had been told had quite a large number of moorings – I would prefer to get there in the light if possible. So I motor sailed at 6 knots, passing Fighting Bay where the Cook Strait HVDC cable leaves the South Island, and rounded into Port Underwood just before 7.30pm with the last light of the day. It was just getting dark when I entered into Oyster Bay and I could just make out the moorings. Dodging them and a couple of barges and several boats moored in the bay, I found a nice sheltered spot and dropped the anchor for the night.

Arapawa Island and Tory Channel