Around NZ

[darkside]

Underway on hopefully a circumnavigation of New Zealand leaving most of it to port.
This trip was on our minds when we built Ahi, I guess we have been thinking about it for ten years or so.
First run was up to Tutukaka as our first practice with the 500l bladder in the cockpit. You could certainly notice the change in balance, no surprises given the narrow hulls.
Stayed the night in Tutukaka then up passed Cape Brett and into Houhora for a fuel top up. We were running fairly quick, 18kn or so and burned 2.75l/nm

[cardude01]

Awesome!

[Peter B]

What a great adventure Darkside..? I'm envious. One thing at least NZ's shoreline is such that you don't need to travel all that far to find a weather hidey-hole.
When we lived they we did trail our Gazelle 26 maxi trailer yacht up and did the Bay of Islands. There was no way I'd have tried to sail all that way.

However, over here in Brisbane, we had a Clipper (CHB) 34, which under previous owners had been up to the Whitsundays and back a couple of times, but for mine, it would have taken just too long to do that, the distances are so large. I had to give up on that idea while still working, as just getting there would have used up the holidays, and by the time we retired, a spousal health issue forced sale of the boat. So, I'll enjoy this trip vicariously through your reports if that's ok..?

[O C Diver]

Sounds like a great trip! For those of us with a limited knowledge of NZ, can you give us an overview of the distance to Circumnavigate and projected number of days you think it will take?

Ted

[darkside]

The direct circumnavigation is around 2100nm. We will add a fair bit to that. All up probably 2 months on the boat with a few trips back to work here and there.
The west coast has far fewer safe havens that the east coast. On the north island there is one harbour that doesn't require a bar crossing so 340 miles non stop. On the south island there are none from the top all the way to Fiordland, so roughly 390 miles non stop. As always good weather windows is the key.
We should get away with only two overnight passages.

[Juliet 15]

That sounds fantastic! I hope one day to make it to NZ. If I do, I plan a circumnavigation of it too. Please keep up the posting and pics.

[BruceK]

Subscribing! I`ve done bits of NZ, twice on a cruise ship. I`ve also done a number of south island cycling trips. Though last cruise we spent time involuntarily in the cabin and the ship left Covid in its wake.
The Sounds in Fjordland should be a highlight. I`ve overnighted on Milford and Doubtful, separate trips from the cruise ships, years ago. The sandflies would carry you away but the scenery, esp Doubtful, is stunning.
Hope it`s a great trip and you post lots.

[cardude01]

Originally Posted by darkside

The direct circumnavigation is around 2100nm. We will add a fair bit to that. All up probably 2 months on the boat with a few trips back to work here and there.
The west coast has far fewer safe havens that the east coast. On the north island there is one harbour that doesn't require a bar crossing so 340 miles non stop. On the south island there are none from the top all the way to Fiordland, so roughly 390 miles non stop. As always good weather windows is the key.
We should get away with only two overnight passages.

Wow that’s quite the adventurous cruise. Good thing your boat is fast!

How fast would you run on an overnight passage?

[darkside]

We left Houhora around midday. Then up around the three Capes, North, Reinga and Maria van Diemen. Pretty much flat until the tidal overfalls at Reinga but still good enough to go inside Pandora Bank and head south. About 3kn of current with us which was nice. More swell on the west coast.
Cray pot floats everywhere. Then the autopilot stopped. Got it started again but only for a minute. Then the Raymarine Axioms stopped. Power off and rebooted and they were good again. A bit of a scramble to check our various other navigation options were OK, laptops etc. They were so we decided to carry on south.
The auto pilot motor was barely warm to touch so not overloaded even though it was working a bit in the seas.
We slowed to 14kn for more comfort as it got dark. The pilot and screens were stable again.
Pumped about 300l of diesel from the bladder to top up both sides and settled in for the night. Heading straight for the Southern Cross in nice moon light.Attachment 134395

[mcarthur]

Following with interest! Love to cross the ditch and see the coast line like you are doing, but we can't run at 18kn which is a great advantage even with bladders.

[darkside]

The other pic that didn't load correctly

[Insequent]

Should be great trip, keep us updated please!

With your speed and power I would think it easy enough to piggy-back a wave on the way in through a bar crossing. Of course getting back out might be quite a challenge! A while back I saw some video of the fishing boats at Greymouth. Definitely not a crossing for the faint-hearted.

My iPad maps include NZ so I took a peak at your coastline. One thing I noticed was that in Fiordland most Sounds are marked "Compulsory Pilotage". I did see a news article about Superyachts being able to do a course to get exemptions. What are the requirements for "our size" boats?

[darkside]

Yes I agree bars are much easier if you can keep pace with the wave train.
We certainly could if we had to. I spent many years running perhaps the worst of the North Island bars, Aotea, in an inflatable overloaded with dive gear. Greymouth is in a different league however.
That said waiting for little wind, and low swell which would make the bars more tenable, narrows the weather windows even further. So our plan is to skip all the bar entrances, except maybe Riverton.
The only requirements for normal cruisers for Fiordland is a clean hull declaration. Given it is a nearly pristine wilderness area that is understandable.

[darkside]

Dawn bought calmer seas but the window to approach the South Island had closed so a slight turn to port for New Plymouth.
Amazingly no fuel available for commercial or recreational craft. You have to book a fuel truck, and can only get to the dock a couple of hours either side of high tide. The truck wasn't available for the next week or so. We were probably OK for fuel but jerry jugged 160l just to be sure as fuel burn calcs were still work in progress with the extra weight.
Two days later a nice gap opened up and we carried on down to DÚrville Island.
Then through French Pass which as close as NZ gets to Dodd Narrows, but fairly benign for us.
Fueled up in Nelson and all up 2.5l/nm for the run from Houhora at perhaps 15kn average. Pretty happy with that.

[darkside]

The picsAttachment 134445

[darkside]

And again

[klee wyck]

Originally Posted by darkside

Fueled up in Nelson and all up 2.5l/nm for the run from Houhora at perhaps 15kn average. Pretty happy with that.

I should say! Nice economy for that much speed in that much boat. Nice!

Epic undertaking, this circumnavigation. Good sailing.

[Insequent]

Ross - any plans to "stop and smell the roses"? If so, where? I'd like to make a note of such places for future visits! I guess a note of places that rate "don't bother" would also be useful. The Marlborough Sound area has long intrigued me although I think the water is likely to be a bit cold for me as more often than not I don a "spring suit" (2mm) when swim here in Queensland.

Will you do any lingering other than waiting for weather windows? I'm guessing that with deep water and limited anchorages the many of the Sounds of Fiordland will be by-passed.

[darkside]

I used to keep a sailboat in the Marlborough Sounds for four years so have already explored that pretty well.
This trip we want to spend as much time as possible in the southern fiords and Stewart Island.
Also the east coast of the South Island, especially around Dunedin and Akaroa

[BruceK]

Brian raises a good point about anchoring in Fjordland. Obviously it varies, but what sort of depths are likely? My overnight on Doubtful Sound was a magic experience.