Day 20 - Sunday 20th Feb

Dept mooring buoy at Lochmara Bay, last boat to leave, at 08.20 bound for Waikawa Bay to return Millenium Spirit to her rightful owners at Charterlink. She has been a great ride, comfy boat, steady and responsive sail and coped with all 9 of us for 5 nights and 6 days - so three cheers for Millenium Spirit!!
Once docked at 09.30 - we had the tedious task of the clean up, garbage/recycling off load, luggage, dive gear, food etc. Bus to Blenheim airport at 10.45 and small plane at 12.50 to Auckland to connect with 20.15 flight to YVR. Took photos of Long Island from plane window - fantastic overview of Marlborough Sounds from the plane - that was us down there just yesterday! What an adventure!
Long transit time at Auckland airport - very bright, modern airport with loads of shops. Last souvenirs and Rugby World Cup T-shirts for Alex - even witnessed a live Haka at airport arrivals lobby with beautiful warrior-looking maori men. Rugby-obsessed country with replayed TV footage in every safe, bar and restaurant across the land. Bit like ice-hockey in Canada! Very swollen feet and ankles from sandfly bites at Lochmara Lodge last night giving me gip before the 13 hour flight so went to airport 1st aid and got antihistamene pill and ice pack. Will zone out on plane for sure with dinner, wine and movie.

Goodbye New Zealand and to our wonderful Kiwi hosts Richard and Enid for this past week sailing the Marlborough Sounds - and thanks for having me!

Day 19 - Sat 19th Feb

Last full day on board - sailing as crew today so will get some grinding exercise on winches (Lewmar 66's!) Depart Tawa Bay in Tory Channel at 09.45 and raised main with first reef in place. Sailed across to Arthurs Bay in Bay of Many Coves, arriving at 11.45 with me on helm duty. Went ashore for coffee and showers (ist shower since Blenheim - phew!)  Cloudy day with variable winds forecast, light SE at 10kn am- picking up to  stronger 20kn, gusty winds this afternoon. Motored out of Arthurs Bay to enjoy lunch underway, passing other sailboats heeling and flying colourful genakers in the stronger winds in Queen Charlotte Sound. Sudden heels caused us to lower the main sail and continue with genoa only. Still reached 7.5kn on broad reach with just the foresail! Motored past mouth of Picton Harbour to view large dinghy race - at least 50 small Opti boats and the odd Laser 1 sailing around, looking like white caps in the distance, hearing the squeals of delight form the kids! Took loads of photos and imagined this sight with my Learn to Sail program in Gibsons - maybe one day!!!
16.00 motored into Lochmara Bay to moor/raft up for last time and dinghy ashore for 6pm BBQ dinner at Lochmara Lodge - very swanky. Live band playing outside (English girl from London called Savannah!) Enjoyed fresh lamb kebabs, fat sausages, steak, lemon fish (which is really shark - delish!) Treated myself to two glasses of champagne to celebrate this 259 mile sea voyage in Bay of Islands and Marlborough Sounds, and my ability to skipper, adapt to larger boats, and cope with real personality mix of the group. Every day a new challenge and the overall experience - unforgettable! Well done me!!!
Oh, and bought the CD's from the band so will try and send this sometime, somehow. Cheers to all of you back in freezing cold Canada, and to all the sprinkled friends and family everywhere. New Zealand is is beautiful place, as I have said before, and I am so blessed to be here and to have been able to visit. If there is a next time, I will dive in the warmer waters of Bay of Islands in the turquoise waters and hope the dolphins come to swim alongside me, and I will sail with a small, intimate crew with good music and quieter moments to savour. It is hard to take this all in and no doubt this blog has whet your appetite to visit NZ too - at least I hope so. One last word to my great g.friend Sherida - everything you ever told me about your "beloved land" is true and although you didn't manage to fulfill your dream to emigrate here, we will return one day - perhaps even together!!! I have lived some of this for you and you have never been far from my thoughts. Love to you all and thanks for sharing this blog with me on gillie's fantastic voyage!!!!!xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Day 18 - Fri 18th Feb

Left Ship Cove mooring at 09.45 - galley crew today (ugh!) Sailed upwind for 3 hours toward Cape Jackson to see the famous lighthouse (unmanned) perched out on a windy peninsula in heavy cross-currents. Stood on foredeck at mast facing forward and inhaling expansive vista of horizon and blue, blue sky and breathing it all in! Wonderful sense of freedom that sailing gives as you float into infinity. Average speed 7kn. but reached 9.3kn at helm. Antares passed by shooting video of us all on board Millenium Spirit - me waving from bowDelayed lunch due to rolling motion in large swells as we neared lighthouse - great photo opp for rest of crew. Turned downwind and motored away from cape into calmer waters before sailing on broad reach for further 3 hours, serving lunch underway at 13.30. Sailed back downwind under a full main and full genoa, past Long Island - yesterday's dive site - under sunny skies with NE winds 10-20kn. Today's sail from Ship Cove to Cape Hacjson and back to Tawa Bay off Tory Channel a total of 30 nautical miles.

Day 17 - Thurs 17th Feb

Diving Day!!! Late start today while we waited for Chef Dale to cook fresh cinnamon buns (from scratch) on board Vis a Vis, sharing ovens with Antares (our oven didn't work!?). Delicious and even better than Nancy's Bakery in Lund (Sunshine Coast) - Nigel you will remember! Moved dive gear and 4 tanks over to Antares and cast off at 12.30 for dive site at Long Island Marine Park. Arrived at site and geared up with John and Enid (Kiwi skipper Richard's lovely Canadian wife) and began dive at 13.25. Full wet suit, hood, gloves and booties and 22kg of weight! Water about 15degrees C. and very murky. Visibility poor - approx 8 feet. Stayed at 10-15 feet to try and clear right ear (old wound of middle ear infection back in '79 in Red Sea still plays up!) and tried to descend to Enid on bottom - only 45 feet max. But as tried to descend, ear refused to clear. Enid on bottom, John still at surface, murky all around, no fish, no fun - had to decide whether to persevere or abort. Chose the latter and returned to the surface, disappointed. ($320 cost of rental). Lunch on board with chilled glass of Sauvignon helped cheer me up. Enid and John enjoyed dive til 14.15 and saw crayfish and tried feeding cod fish with sea urchin which Enid broke up with rock on bottom! Scallop season just over (enjoyed fresh scallop dinner last night on board - Richard bagged 190 on previous dive!!!). Will have to wait for fresh crayfish!
Motored to Ship Cove, dropped anchor at 16.00 and went ashore in dinghy to view Cook Memorial and read all about the infamous Captain James Cook. Walked up forest pathway to waterfall, sat at the beach looking our boats at anchor and tried to imagine Cook's tall ship sitting there and the life he and his crew must have experienced on his 3 voyages of exploration all those years ago (between 1768-1779).
Moved to inner cove to raft up for the night and enjoyed freshly caught green-lipped mussels and chilled Marlborough wine on board Antares. Sighted more dolphins offshore. Drank and danced on foredeck of Millenium Spirit until late, staring up at the waxing moon and Southern Cross and listening to Cold Play. AMAZING!!!
NOTE: First Voyage 1768-1771 aboard HMS Endeavour - sailed to Cape Horn, Tahiti, New Zealand (later mapped complete NZ coastline), E.Australia (landing at Botany Bay), Indonesia, Cape of Good Hope;  Second Voyage 1772-1775 aboard HMS Resolution - sailed to Antarctic, Tahiti, Easter Island, New Caledonia and successfully calculated longitudinal position of S.Pacific (navigational charting of large area of Pacific a major achievement);  Third Voyage 1776-1779 aboard HMS Resolution - Northwest passage, Hawaii, Oregon, Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island, Bering Strait, Alaska, Hawaii - killed 14 Feb 1779.
Interesting to also note that William Bligh, Cook's sailing master, sailed to Tahiti on HMS Bounty in 1787; and George Vancouver, one of Cook's midshipmen, led an exploration to Pacific North West in 1791-1794.

Day 16 - Weds 16th Feb

Cast off 2 rafted vessels and mooring buoy at 09.30 at Ngakuta Bay off Groove Arm and sailed out into Queen Charlotte Sound. Daily crew rota for skipper/crew and galley duties. Today I'm SKIPPER - yay!! - with 3 male crew - John, Frank and Kin. Studied charts and maintained navigation and GPS checks with my crew. Started on the helm before handing over. 2 crew on jib sheets, one on main sheet. Millenium Spirit has a huge genoa foresail - at least 1.5. Main sail with two reefing points as winds here can be changeable and quite gusty, with frequent wind shifts in early afternoon. General rule is winds 10kn less than what's blowing in Cook Strait. This morning winds ESE at 15kn true, increasing to 20kn. Sailed 20miles to Endurance Inlet (next overnight stop) and continued due north to Long Island in gusty winds, mostly on broad reach with lots of gybing across the channel. Top speed (SOG) 8.9kn - a hull speed of about 11kn - and each crew member managed to reach a boat speed of over 8knots so I called us the Super 8 crew! On arrival into Punga Cove at Camp Bay in Endurance Inlet, we were greeted by another pod of bottlenosed dolphins frolicking at the bow. They slid under the hull at the beam, criss-crossed at the bow, sometimes three or four dolphins deep, and jumped and broached all around us as the other beneteau sailed up. What a sight - so much joy from witnessing these graceful and playful animals up close.
Secured to mooring buoy at 18.00 after sailing about 40 miles today - F.A.B.!!!!