Cook Strait Weather, NZ

[seafox]

You are kidding me. You cannot compare the two. The Cook Strait is outside the sounds. Once you are in the Sounds you can find shelter and the channels do not allow much fetch. There can be 10m swells in the strait and you wouldn't know in the Sounds.
Auckland is very overcrowed. We get two boats in a nice bay and think it is busy. When I cruised in Auckland, the same bay would have hundreds of boats. If you like peace, clean and green with amazing scenery the Sounds wins buy a mile. If you are into crowds, pollution and packed noisey bays, then go to Auckland.

[seafox]

I am gratefull for the Cook Strait. It keeps the North Island people away. If it was not there, every weekend hundreds of Wellington people would take their fizzies across and spoil it. I don't mind crossing it to get from Mana to the Sounds because it keeps our cruising grounds unpopulated. The few hardy souls who cross it regularly seem to respect the Sounds when they get there.

[Connemara]

Well, at least for the near future, the second generation (and the incipient third) is in Auckland, although they keep talking about moving, perhaps to Nelson.

So Auckland might make some sort of sense, or maybe the Bay of Plenty. We rather liked Mt. Managanui when we were there and it would only be a couple of hours from Auckland, so the kids could drive down for a weekend.

OTOH, all this is in the indefinite future. At the moment, we are still locked into work, and watching winter start to roll in in Toronto. Temp dropping to freezing today, with snow in the forecast -- but at least I'm not sailing in it.


Connemara

[seafox]

Looking like a dying 15k Southerly here today and then turning to 10knot Northerly tomorrow. That's more like it. Sun is out. Feels a bit more like Summer today.

[Alan Wheeler]

Yeah, even saying they are miles apart doesn't do it justice. It is like a whole nother country. The weather can be similar in Northerlies, but most of the time, it is chalk and cheese. Infact, in a major southerly storm, my side can be calm and sunny and we are ruffly 20miles apart.
As for view, I don't think there is a more beautiful place on earth that is so accessable. Only place that could beat it would be Fiordland, but that is a major seriouse place to get to.
Connemara, Nelson is a very good sailing area. It has great beaches and bays with a "set the clock by" regular on shore breeze every afternoon across a huge bay area. It is not so good for power boaters as the chop is annoying for them. But sailing is something special over there. Incomparison, the sounds is more a relax and view place. Very frustrating to sail in.

[Alan Wheeler]

Oh yeah, apparently our long term weather predictors are suggesting that this summer could be the hottest we have ever had on record. It will start off cooler and then change soon after Christmas. Yippeeeeeee!

[NoTies]

Hey Seafox, we're in Seaview and didn't hear anything about a boat losing it's stick. I unstepped mine last Sunday (in 40 knots and pouring rain!!!) but I still know where it is. My luck the weather's looking OK this weekend and I'm reduced to being a launch for a few weeks.

[tdw]

Totally off topic I know but I don't know where else to have a moan. Sydney today is dull, overcast and drizzly. Not a spot of wind anywhere so no sailing and anyway, I'm supposed to be sanding and priming parts of the Raven's deck. Not a happy wombat.

[Alan Wheeler]

Hey Pete, why are you stepping the mast???

Yeah tdw, we all know when you start sanding, the rain is on it's way. I reckon the act of sanding must resemble some rain dance of an ancient tribe or something.

[NoTies]

Wheels, just spending a couple of boat units to replace/beef up the standing rigging and make a new step to take out some of the pre-bend. Insurance for bluewater in a few months. Dealing with Cat 1 bureaucracy at the moment and am seriously considering going Vanuatu Flag for simplicity. They want some unbelievable nonsense out of me that's going to cost at least $7K just to prove my keel isn't going to fall off and the boat will self-right. I know she is all good (it's my trade afterall) and I would rather spend the money making her safer with new rig etc. than on a piece of paper that expires the moment I clear customs. Rant Rant, damn bureaucratic paper shufflers.

[Alan Wheeler]

Yeah that "self-right" one is a real hair puller. Wouldn't Whiting have had documentation for that??
I don't know what we will do when it comes to that. I have talked to a survey guy and he was kinda vague. It maybe the one point that stops our boat going cat1. And yet before that rule was introduced, many many Tahitians have crossed the Pacific with no issues.
At least I don't have to worry about a keel.

[seafox]

Are they going to make you crack the keel to check the bolts? What a pain.

[Alan Wheeler]

But don't they just make you remove one bolt? and if that checks OK, then they don't go any further. If it doesn't check OK, then it was nice to know you have a problem before a bang in the night and an unwanted roll in the hay lets you know.

[seafox]

A boat at mana had to crack the keel and drop it from the hull for cat1.
The bolts were even monel.

[NoTies]

I've been told they'll want to see at least one bolt and considering the age of the boat may want me to drop the keel. Forget it, massive monel bolts and absolutely no disturbance round the keel fairing. These sort of invasive checks lead to more problems than they solve in my experience. I am loath to have somebody with less experience than me tell me to pull my boat apart just so I can leave the country in it. I didn't opt for this lifestyle to be regulated in such a way.