sailfish 0 Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 HI All, My wife and I would like to sail to christchurch at xmas (around 20th of december) and would like to get back to ferno by new years. We've done the cook crossing maybe 8 times or so which is our only sailing in this yacht (apart from initial delivery from nelson and harbor sailing) and are still learning about the cook crossing and what happens (weather, currents, wind funnels, tides, ferrys etc). Given that the crossing is only normally a 6-8hr trip or so and christchurch is 160+ miles can anybody offer any advice in preparation of this trip ie weather that makes it good/bad, currents, rocks etc problematic rips like the kaori rip that no matter how wide we go we always end up in it etc. Also timings would be good, I'm thinking it would take between 1 and 2 days to sail there. Also shelter if needed etc, what the sea is like this time of year. Its all really new to us a journey of this size. We have a 43ft steel sloop. cheers mike Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 Hi Mike Do everything to avoid going Welly to Chch in a southerly - that was not the best trip I imagine it will take you 30 something hours. I have done it in a Farr 9.2 in 38 hours dock to dock in horrible conditions. The Y88s who left at same time took about 32ish hours. I also did Chch to Welly in a Y43 but we were meant to be going to Opua not Welly. We were 60miles off the coast when we had to divert to Welly. That took 36 hours dock to dock. It is pretty straight forward navigation wise. The main point is stand off the coast enough There are some shoals to avoid south of Kaikoura. There isn't really anywhere to shelter along the way, Kaikoura is the only option and there not really any facilities for yachts there to my knowledge. Tides aren't too much of a problem like the sounds or Welly heads. Kaori rip will be well to the west of you so no problems Watch out for cray pots - these can be suprisingly far off the coast and proberly won't be lit. There may be ropes between the bouys too. It is a great trip fauna wise, lots of birds, seals, dolphins, porpoises and of course whales! There are others that post that have done this trip heaps more times than me (Kestrahl for one) so I'm sure they will post. Hope that helps. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 Also see this thread viewtopic.php?f=6&t=14122&start=40 Naval Point have published a cruising guide for Banks Peninsular which might also interest you Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 The best scenario is to leave Wellington on the tail end of a southerly. Motor/sail to Cape Campbell when you should pick up the change back to north to west favourable breezes. Like most NZ coastwise passagemaking, the important thing is to plan to the weather system - not to a fixed schedule/dates. By using MetVUW you should be able to spot an opportunity such as I describe, several days in advance of it occuring. Link to post Share on other sites
sailfish 0 Posted June 22, 2011 Author Share Posted June 22, 2011 Hi Guys, Thanks for the info very useful Might be easier if we stay in akaroa (visiting family in lincoln) if we have to anchor or moor. might be nicer as well cheers mike Link to post Share on other sites
Kestrahl 6 Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 I've only done it 3 times, the weather is pretty unsettled that time of year so it would be hard to do it to dates and really have to work with the weather. French farm is another nice spot closer to lincoln than Akaroa with lots of moorings. The cruising guide covers the trip down coastline and kaikora. Link to post Share on other sites
sailfish 0 Posted June 24, 2011 Author Share Posted June 24, 2011 I've only done it 3 times, the weather is pretty unsettled that time of year so it would be hard to do it to dates and really have to work with the weather. French farm is another nice spot closer to lincoln than Akaroa with lots of moorings. The cruising guide covers the trip down coastline and kaikora. Is that right at the head of the inlet there as you come down the hill and the old pub is there? could be a goer. looked to be another 8 hours sailing further on from Lyttleton harbor. sound about right? Link to post Share on other sites
Kestrahl 6 Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Yup that is where it is, you turn off at the old pub and dive 1km or so. french farm aquatic club. 8 hours sounds about right. Link to post Share on other sites
wheels 543 Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 OK, my two cents. With a nice breeze and good sea, it is possible to go from Port to Port in ruffly 24hrs or so. A light to moderate Northerly to Norwester through the strait runs down the East coast and comes into CHCH as the Easterly. A strong Norwester, which can be identified by the Nowest arch over the Alps, does not hit the East coast till usualy midday. Off Kaikoura coast in a strong Norwester can be frustrating due to turbulance. But the sea is always flat calm. Stand well off the coast to get the more settled wind. Once you get down to Pegasus, you are a long way off shore. In fact a straight line from Welly to Godly heads places you about 80Nm off Pegasus shore line. When running to Wellington, go on a dieing Southerly, or with a light Southerly. Once you are North of Motonau, you get into the deep waters over the continental shelf from then on all the way to Welly. Any Westerly type winds tend to drop to nothing at night. But if you are off the Kaikoura coast at night, be wary and on gaurd. A strange wind event takes place at night where you can experience a southerly blow in localised areas. This is something wierd caused by the high Kaikoura ranges and probably catabatic winds and what ever the heck else I dunno, but it can catch you out if not prepared for it if it happens. AKaroa has some lovely Bays and one of my favorite is Te Kao Bay pretty much opposite Akaroa. Very pretty and a great place to shelter in a strong southerly. That is the only problem with Akaroa Harbour, there are not a lot of Southerly shelterd bays. Another area you can tuck into is the South end of Wainui. But beware that the bottom there is huge Boulders about 1m in diameter and 30ft high Kelp growing straight up from the bottom. Much of the Harbour is like that from Wainui on out to the heads. But the water becomes much clearer also. Be careful toward the head of the Harbour. Even French farm is getting very shallow and lots of that area above French Farm dries out at low. Also the Bay of French Farm dries and is quite rocky. You will get a good indication of where deeper water is by observing the mooring field. Both Akaroa and Lyttleton inner harbour areas have cloudy water, so not good visibility. The bays around the Peninsula are attractive, but need a lot of caution. I would not bother going into any that have the wind and sea driving directly into them. They are all very narrow, all have slow rising flat sandy bottoms and the sea surging in and out is very powerful. Waves become breakers with big currents flowing back out as rips. Not comforatable and getting caught in a rip could put you somewhere you don't want to be. Lyttleton has only one good Southerly shelter, that being Diamond harbour. Purau is OK as far, but the wind can come down the valley behind it and give a good blow across the harbour. Port Levey is pretty and worth going into, but becareful as it gets shallow at the head of the bay. Pidgeon bay is open to the Easterly and I have experienced some huge waves in there. Link to post Share on other sites
sailfish 0 Posted December 12, 2011 Author Share Posted December 12, 2011 Hey wheels, thanks for the info - very very useful Only one week away till we leave and all info taken on board, nervous as all hell and knees are knocking Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Hey wheels, thanks for the info - very very useful Only one week away till we leave and all info taken on board, nervous as all hell and knees are knocking txt sent Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Not tomorrow but how about friday arvo at evans bay with sailibility. Aotherwise sunday morning at your yacht for brunch?? Eaiser to post than txt Link to post Share on other sites
sailfish 0 Posted December 12, 2011 Author Share Posted December 12, 2011 sunday brunch would be best, need someone to pull the bung for the engine oil Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 LOL, isnt that why you have a wife??? Will ring tomorrow arvo. Sailing course full till feb. Reme is our coach, would be good if you could make it down friday Link to post Share on other sites
sailfish 0 Posted December 12, 2011 Author Share Posted December 12, 2011 friday got work function on and wife is on hens weekend so yeah not so good for getting down to the yacht club. brunch is good, your cooking right well I could but you won't like it Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 friday got work function on and wife is on hens weekend so yeah not so good for getting down to the yacht club. brunch is good, your cooking right well I could but you won't like it Too true, will ring tomorrow. Should be able to crew next week anyway Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 Don't be tempted to get sucked into the land give Kaikoura a wide berth. if you get within 5 miles of the peninsula the sea can get very confused in certain conditions. Deep water is always your friend. You should not have any problems with rocks etc as long as you don't stray in side the rum line from Cambell - Kaikorua or Kaikoura - Godley heads. If you do it with a NE blowing expect it to die at night in Pegasus bay There is shelter in North and South bay at Kaikoura... how ever North bay is full of rocks and difficult to navigate in the dark if you don't know the area. In a southerly you can shelter close in on the northern side of Cape Cambell. Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.