Aboard Chimere, Chaffers Marina, Wellington
Sunday 23 May 2021
It was a still and quiet night, with the morning again seeing rowers – in 8s, 4s and Pairs – going through their paces in the calm conditions; sometimes having instructions barked at them through a megaphone from a small motor boat trailing off to the side.
Seeing the rowers it brought back memories of my father’s stories of growing up here in Wellington and in the 1930s being in the Sea Cadets in nearby Oriental Bay. One of dad’s most enduring memories was of ten or more boys rowing big, heavy clinker-built dinghies around getting positively cold and wet, with one or more on permanent bailing duties.
There was also more cloud cover than yesterday, showing signs, no doubt, of the cold and windy snap to come.
The wind and wave predictions for the next few days are being studied in a little more detail now. Their accuracy increasing the closer we get – to our time of departure. At the moment, the big Low-Pressure system centred a fair way north of here looks like moving off to the east, bringing more moderate conditions. That is, after tomorrow’s big blow.
After a slow breakfast, John and I got back into washing and painting the deck, making the most of the remaining fine weather, while Matt set about doing some scrubbing inside.
Nearby, onshore, it was market day, with a large selection of fruit and vegetables on offer, plus food stalls, entertainment and more. It was a perfect morning for it, with Matt, John and I wandering around, taking a break while paint dried.
Returning to the boat for lunch – no fast food from a street vendor for us – it was great to catch up briefly with my cousin Pam (Keith’s sister) who was in town with her husband Mark and friends.
At 3:00 o’clock it was time to say our sad good-byes to Matt. He’d be catching the 5:00pm flight back to Christchurch and although the visit was brief, the effort and expense to come for just one night was greatly appreciated by John and me.
Clouds built throughout the afternoon and at one-point small spots of rain could be detected, causing me to break out a tarp to cover the section of the foredeck we were painting. Of course, it then came out sunny, with the reprieve lasting till fading light definitely brought play to an end.
Last night’s meal left us with enough leftovers to solve tonight’s dinner dilemma, which was accompanied with the surplus bread rolls from Matt’s shopping expedition yesterday.
Around 7:30pm, the much-anticipated arrival of John’s oldest grandson, Harper, brought the average age of the crew down significantly. Crew numbers also took a 50% hike to a total of three … with two more planned arrivals tomorrow.
Harper was to have joined us for part of last year’s voyage, but it was not to be … blame it on the COVID?!
Right now, it’s late in the evening, John and Harper have retired to their bunks and the predicted rain and wind has definitely arrived. A short while ago there was a little more rocking and rolling than normal, causing me to venture outside to tighten lines and add a further line to the stern.
With conditions deteriorating, I’m starting to wonder now whether my hull-cleaning-diver will make an appearance tomorrow. Meanwhile the pitch of the wind in the nearby rigging, just went up a notch.
Smooth seas, fair breeze and then there were three
Rob Latimer
NZ2020 