At Sea, West Coast NZ
Tuesday 17 March 2020
It would have been a perfect night’s sleep at anchor in Jackson Bay, if it hadn’t been for the anchor alarm sounding at around 12:00 midnight, as the change of tide drew Chimere to the chain’s outer limit, albeit in the opposite direction to when we arrived.
Despite being relatively close to the shore, a short chop had established as a result of a brisk easterly wind that had built up. Still, all was safe. The depth was good. The anchor was holding. And there were no better alternatives. The slight boat-movement and increased noise in the rigging, would soon be lost to sleep, as we retreated to our bunks; after first re-setting the alarm of course.
After departing Jackson Bay at 5:45, making sure not to snag any boat moorings in the dark, we made good progress up the coast, with the wind gusting up to 30 knots, blown down off the mountains (of ever-increasing size) on our starboard side.
By 11:00am, however, the wind was but a breeze and in order to maintain a speed of at least 6 knots we had no choice but to keep the motor ticking away in the background at around 1600 RPM.
The sea was as calm as the wind, and the sun, as it rose in the east, highlighted more and more, the glistening snow-capped mountains that towered over, what seemed now to be just coastal hills that rose directly from the sea.
The mountains remained a feature for most of the day – Mt Sefton, Mount Cook, Mt Tasman to name just a few – All over 3,000 metres high and all shining in the sun and at times with basins of glacial white between the peaks. We were occasionally joined by pods of dolphin, as well as groups of seals, plus the ever-present albatrosses, which are just magnificent to watch.
On one occasion, John moved quickly to turn off the Auto Helm, grabbing the wheel in order to quickly steer around what he thought was a big tree floating in our path. The floating hazard soon revealed itself to be a collection of seals, all sunning their flippers – whether to cool down, or warm up, I’ve never been sure.
“No, hang on … it’s just some seals, sunning themselves”
We were passing through a designated fishing ground – according to the chart – and for a while we notice a couple of boats going this way and that, presumably trawling for tuna. Then John made the comment … “that fishing boat is coming straight for us” … and sure enough, they seemed to have no idea there was someone else in the vicinity.
We made the necessary course adjustments and then as we passed saw the crew, and presumably the skipper too, on the back deck attending to their lines. Good thing at least one of us was on watch.
It was around this time, as afternoon was starting to become evening, when John let up the cry … “I’ve hooked a fish !!!” Sure enough, the line was tight and there was a lot of splashing way back on the end of the line.
After a tense time, slowly winding in the line and finally deploying the hand net, it was confirmed, John had caught himself an Albacore Tuna! Another fish hooked itself a short time later, but slipped off in the process of retrieval … but still, the Tuna Slayer Lure had finally delivered.
As evening closed in, all of a sudden we received “Pings” on our phones and found that we had “2 Bars” enabling us to receive emails and transmit – if only for a brief time. It was long enough for us to discover more details of the world’s response to the Coronavirus disease; including Australia and New Zealand. This included travel restrictions, food shortages and strangely runs on toilet paper … or should that read runs on the sales of toilet paper.
Linda mentioned that racks of once stocked supermarket shelves were now bare, and some people were taking to hoarding selected items, in particular toilet paper.
After our call I somehow felt compelled to check Chimere’s stocks of the goodly paper, and there seems enough to last a few weeks yet – barring significantly increased demand of course, which we don’t expect – but who knows, this “NZ2020 – In the wake of Captain Cook” voyage might become even more authentic than anticipated, as we are forced to utilise the softest wooden handled brush we can find – as was the practise aboard the Bark Endeavour in 1770 – stay tuned …
As the night continued, John and I took turns at being on watch … 3 hours on, and 3 hours off … till the welcome sight of dawn. Our current plan is to make the most of the kind weather and mild seas, so as to arrive in Porirua Harbour, behind Mana Island on Friday, when friends will be joining us for the next stage north to Opua and the Bay of Islands
There is no doubt the travel plans of family and friends, planning to join us in a few weeks, will be disrupted. As it was, Linda, Matt and James got back into Australia on Sunday, just 6 hours before the introduction of the 14-day self-isolation requirements. Talk about self-isolation?! Surely, Chimere must qualify as the ultimate in self-isolation … although at there moment there’s me AND John aboard … so it’s not quite what you’d call solitary isolation …
At the moment, no matter what’s happening “out there” … all I can do “right now, right here” … is sail the boat and adjust our future plans as circumstances dictate. I’m reminded of the quote attributed to Franklin D. Roosevelt, from his 1932 political campaign speech, during the depths of the Great Depression, when he said … “The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself” …
Smooth seas, fair breeze and Tuna Slayer Delivers
Rob Latimer
NZ2020 