MV Dirona travel digest for Fiordland, New Zealand 2014


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1/27/2014: Heading to Fiordland
A low pressure system passed through last night, bringing 47-knot gusts to our anchorage, but conditions are settling down now. We've got good weather for the next 2-3 days to make the 420-mile, 2.5-day run south to Fiordland. From what we've seen so far, that's about as long a calm period as it gets.
1/27/2014: Nile Head
Rugged coastline to our south off Nile Head on D'Urville Island..
1/27/2014: Bush Point
Light at Bush Point off the end of Farewell Spit. Conditions in Tasman Bay have been a bit lumpy, but should settle down as we round Cape Farewell.
1/27/2014: Latitude
The fishing vessel Latitude that we saw in Port Hardy yesterday left about the same time as we did and has been running a similar speed as they head offshore to fish. We're in perhaps a 6-foot swell, but the waves are at least 8 seconds apart, so the boat just slowly climbs up one side then descends down the other.
1/27/2014: Kahurangi Point
The light at Kahurangi Point on a faily bleak-looking coastline. Conditions have settled down to a nice slow swell with less than 5 knots wind.
1/27/2014: Sunset
Conditions remain excellent.
1/28/2014: Sunrise
Winds are blowing about SW 15 and the southerly swell has tightened up to about 6 feet on 6 seconds. Not a big deal, but a fair bit of boat motion. Conditions should settle down throughout the day.
1/28/2014: Spray
Conditions didn't improve yet--winds are 20 knots from the SW and we're now in 6-8' waves on the nose on about an 8-second period. We're taking a lot of spray over the bow--we'll be pretty salt-covered when we arrive in Fiordland. We're still on track to arrive tomorrow afternoon, but the conditions have slowed us down a knot or so.
1/29/2014: Dolphins
Dolphins playing in our bow wake. Conditions have improved dramatically: winds are now less then 5 and we're in a one-meter swell on about 10 seconds. Those big waves really slowed us down--at the same RPM, our speed has gone up almost 2 knots now that conditions are calmer. And fuel economy has improved too.
1/29/2014: McKenzie Range
Looking east into the McKenzie Range. Too bad the skies are so overcast--would have been nice to enter Milford with clear skies.
1/29/2014: Albatross
Several Albatross swooped around our boat as we neared Milford Sound.
1/29/2014: Approaching Milford Sound
We'll soon be in Milford Sound--we've been wanting to go to Milford for nearly as long as we've been boating. Due to the steep rock faces soaring thousands of feet above the water on each side, its unlikely we'll have satellite coverage inside.
1/29/2014: Dale Point
Approaching Dale Point on the left, with the shoreline soaring to over 1,000m on the right. Boat traffic is suprisingly heavy here--we've seen perhaps ten boats in as many minutes, mostly commercial tourist boats. They follow a regular traffic pattern of outbound on the southern wall and inbound on the northern wall.
1/29/2014: Between shoulders
Heading down Milford Sound between steep shoulders. Even though the day is overcast, the scenery is astonishing. We're so excited to actually be here after so many years of wanting to.
1/29/2014: Seals
New Zealand fur seals sunning on the rocks.
1/29/2014: Stirling Falls
151-meter Stirling Falls--you can bring the boat right up close to shore. The tour boats bring their bows under the spray and tell their customers that getting soaked in the falls will add 20 years to their life.
1/29/2014: Cascade Peak
1221-meter Cascade Peak east of Harrison Cove. The small speck below at the right is a 100-foot tourist boat.
1/29/2014: Freshwater Basin
The busy tour boat terminal at Freshwater Basin is harbourmaster-controlled--only tour boats are allowed there.
1/29/2014: Bowen Falls
160-meter Bowen Falls literally gush over the cliff.
1/29/2014: Channel to Deepwater Basin
Entering the channel to Deepwater Basin, where we plan to anchor for the night. The channel is narrow and shallow, but well marked and accurately charted. We saw a minimum depth of 10 feet entering on a 2-foot tide.
1/29/2014: Barren Peak
View northeast from the anchorage to Barren Peak (right) over the Deepwater Basin commercial fishing boat moorage. We were expecting to have a difficult time finding an anchorage, due to the depths, moorings and fish floats in the bay. But we found a spot in 40' with good swing room just inside.
1/30/2014: Rainwater
Spitfire loves rainwater and doesn't mind getting wet. He'll sit out in the rain drinking from puddles for ages. Here he is sitting on the pilothouse ceiling hatch, lapping up the rainwater collected there.
1/30/2014: Morning scene
Beautiful morning scene at anchor, looking to the Cleddau River basin to the right of Barren Peak. The boat on the mooring is one of the tourist boats, Real Journey's MV Sinbad. It appears there isn't room at the dock in Freshwater Basin to keep it there overnight with the others.
1/30/2014: Walk to town
We tied the dinghy off inside the fuel dock at Deepwater Basin and walked about 20 minutes into town. Initially we walked along the highway, but soon picked up a track that followed along the foreshore.
1/30/2014: Paradise duck
A male Paradise Shelduck, New Zealand's only shelduck, grazing along the track to town.
1/30/2014: Freshwater Basin
At the tourist boat terminal in Freshwater Basin. The facility looked quite new and very well-built.
1/30/2014: Loading
The terminal was busy--a constant stream of visitors arrived to board one of the vessels. About a half million people visit Milford Sound each year, with about 5,000 per day during the peak season of January and February.
1/30/2014: Harbour control
Every few minutes, a boat either departed or landed. When we'd arrived yesterday afternoon and saw all the tour boats running so close together, we wondered why they didn't stagger them more. This morning we realized they actually were staggered, but so many were coming and going that the boats ended up running pretty close to each other. It's clear why harbourmaster control is needed here.
1/30/2014: Track closed
From the opposite side of the harbour, we could see a track running along the north shore. We were hoping to walk to the base of Bowen Falls, but the track was was closed.
1/30/2014: Blue Duck Cafe
Lunch with a view up Milford Sound at the Blue Duck Cafe.
1/30/2014: Milford Lookout
We followed the Milford Lookout Track, a short walk from behind the main parking lot to a platform with a nice view up the sound.
1/30/2014: Airplane arrivals
Milford Sound is one of only two road-accessible sounds in Fiordland (Doubtful Sound is the other), which partly accounts for its popularity. Most of Milford Sound's visitors arrive by tour bus, but a few dozen arrive by plane each day and get a wonderful aerial view of the region.
1/30/2014: Milford Track
Besides visitors arriving by road or plane, about 14,000 people arrive along the famed Milford Track each year. The 53.5km, 4-day track is considered one of the finest walks in the world, and is one of New Zealand's nine Great Walks.
1/30/2014: Sandfly Point
Sandfly Point is the terminus of the Milford Track from the starting point at Glade House. It is aptly-named--sandflies are rampant in Fiordland. We'd doused ourselves with Deep Woods Off and were staying pretty bite-free, but the treatment definitely was necessary. We were surprised that the sign showed the total distance in imperial rather than metric units. Portions of track were initially built in the late 1800s--likely the sign was kept for historic reasons.
1/30/2014: On the Milford Track
We walked a short distance up the Milford Track--it's beautifully built and maintained.
1/30/2014: Anita Bay
The Milford Track ferry Anita Bay, loaded with happy hikers who had completed the 4-day walk. The boat was full fore and aft--perhaps twenty hikers were already at Sandfly Point when we arrived, and we passed another dozen or so on the trail. The ferry will bring them to Freshwater Basin, where some will return directly by bus and others might stay the night at one of the lodges and perhaps take a boat tour.
1/30/2014: Bowen Falls
Since we couldn't walk to the base of Bowen Falls, we were planning to land the dinghy there. But the winds had come up and were blowing a good twenty knots up-inlet, and there was nowhere easy to land with big waves that were crashing ashore.
1/30/2014: Discovery Center
Southern Discoveries' Discovery Center at Harrison Cove. We were wondering how the various tour companies that operate out of Freshwater Bay differentiate themselves--this appears to be one way. Southern Discovery clients can visit the underwater observatory here and kayak in Harrison Cove.
1/30/2014: Mooring
Two large moorings in Harrison Cove, of the same design as the one Sinbad was tied off to in Deepwater Basin. When we departed Milford Sound the following morning, a Real Journeys boat was on each of the moorings and set off towards the mouth as we passed. An overnight cruise in Milford was another way the the companies were differentiating.
1/30/2014: Mitre Peak
1,692-meter Mitre Peak is Milford's most famous and photographed peak. Clouds had obscured it most of the day, but we finally got a clear shot.
1/30/2014: Deepwater Basin
A view across Deepwater Basin in clearer skies. We're anchored below a 1,000-meter bluff with 2,222-meter Mount Underwood visible in the distance through the Cleddau River valley.
1/31/2014: Dawn
Pink sky looking north from the anchorage at dawn.
1/31/2014: Mitre Peak
The tip of Mitre Peak aglow in the rising sun as we depart Milford Sound.
1/31/2014: Mist
Mist alongshore as one of the Milford Sound tourist boats cruises south.
1/31/2014: Sutherland Sound
Approaching Sutherland Sound. Mud flats and a sandspit near the mouth in restrict entry to the rest of the waterway. We plan to anchor outside the flats and run the dinghy in to explore. Depths in the area were generally deeper than charted, but we found a spot in about 55' along the west shore. This mostly sheltered us from the 2-meter southwesterly swell, but launching the dinghy still required care as the boat was still rocking a bit.
1/31/2014: Through the neck
Sutherland Sound is a classic tidal basin: a large body of water connected to the sea through a narrow, high-current channel. Large waves crashed into shore on either side of the entry, but we had no trouble approaching. We entered about an hour before high water and currents through the neck were running about 8-10 knots. (We exited about an hour after high water and currents had slowed to perhaps 2-3 knots.) Given ebb currents usually are stronger, entry likely would be challenging against the ebb, particularly with an opposing current standing up the waves from the incoming swell.
1/31/2014: Inside
The flats extend nearly halfway inside. We had to pick our way carefully to find sufficient depth for the dinghy--often we were in 2-3'. We were very happy to have come though--the basin inside is beautiful.
1/31/2014: Mount Mackenzie
Looking east across the Light River estuary. That's likely 1885-meter Mount Mackenzie in the distance.
1/31/2014: Waterfall
Healthy waterfall above the Dark River.
1/31/2014: Beach
A soft-sand beach made an excellent lunch stop.
1/31/2014: Fog
We left Sutherland Bay and entered a thick fog. The radar showed a boat passing us from behind about a quarter mile away, but we never saw it by eye.
1/31/2014: Bligh Sound
Entering Bligh Sound, still in the fog. The shores are said to be steep, second only to Milford, but we sure couldn't tell.
1/31/2014: Clear skies
The fog finally lifted as we got further into Bligh, revealing those high cliffs, and the Franklin Mountains in the distance to the southeast.
1/31/2014: 4001 hours
We just crossed 4000 hours on the engine. Since taking delivery February 20, 2010 we've averaged 1,000 hours a year.
2/1/2014: Oil change
Time to change the dinghy motor oil and filter.
2/1/2014: Stern tie line
Fiordland has few anchorages that are shallow enough for a boat to swing free, and that also have good wave protection in big winds. To take advantage of any protected areas, fishers have installed tie lines throughout Fiordland to allow a small boat to anchor tucked against a steep shore or in a narrow basin and tie to shore to restrict their swing. Many are stern-tie lines such as this one near our anchorage, where a line is run from the stern of the boat to the loop shown after the boat is anchored. Some include bow ties as well, and with some the boats are tied sideways to the line and an anchor isn't even needed. The stern lines appear to be engineered for somewhat ligher boats, so we feel better hanging off our own ground tackle. And with 500 feet of chain and a hydraulic windlass, we're pretty comfortable anchoring in 80-plus feet in more exposed anchorages--the wind waves have to be pretty large to be bothersome for a heavy, thick-hulled boat. Also, if any spot in the area has the probability of another boat in close quarters, it'll be the stern-ties.
2/1/2014: Wild Natives River
At high tide, we ran the dinghy up the Wild Natives River. We might have gotten farther with the kayaks, but this was a pretty appealing place to stop.
2/1/2014: Lunch
After a dinghy tour of the lower sound, we climbed a small bluff for lunch with a view.
2/1/2014: Waterfall
This waterfall was visible from our anchorage, spilling over a cliff behind the cove with the stern-tie line. We followed the shore north of the stream outlet and scrambled up the hill a bit to get to the base. The falls also tumble down about 200 feet to sea level over the cliffs below Jennifer. The satellite imagery for the small lake that feeds this waterfall is amazingly beautiful.
2/1/2014: Bounty Haven
Our anchorage in Bounty Haven at the head of Bligh Sound, beneath 1,206-meter Rugged Peak. The waterfall we hiked up to is at the lower left of the picture.
2/2/2014: Spitfire
Spitfire on the bow, taking in the scenery we missed in yesterday's fog.
2/2/2014: One Love
Sailboat One Love entering Bligh Sound as we depart. We've not seen many cruising boats so far--none in Milford Sound, although one was anchored at the entrance as we were leaving. And we passed another en route to Sutherland Bay. And that's about it.
2/2/2014: Alice Falls
At anchor in 80' off Alice Falls at the head of George Sound. Many boaters skip Bligh Sound and head straight to George Sound because it's so much more attractive. We did enjoy Bligh Sound, but George Sound definitely has more impressive scenery.
2/2/2014: Lunch at the falls
An easy climb brought us partway up the falls for a great lunch spot.
2/2/2014: Canoe
We couldn't find an easy way to reach the top of the falls alongside them, so we followed a dry overflow bed just to the south up to lake level, then picked up a rough trail along the lake shore. This canoe was partway along the trail.
2/2/2014: Top of the falls
Looking down from the top of the falls, about 150 feet above sea level.
2/2/2014: George Sound Hut
The New Zealand Department of Conservation maintains many huts and trails throughout Fiordland. This hut is reached through a 10-hour hike from the northwest arm of Lake Te Anau. Presumabely hikers are dropped off by boat there from the town of Te Anau.
2/2/2014: Hut interior
The hut was very nicely maintained and quite appealing inside.
2/2/2014: Walkwire
We walked a short distance along the trail to this "walkwire" footbridge over the Katherine Creek. The bridge was a little tippy side-to-side, but pretty easy to cross once you got used to the motion.
2/3/2014: Super Bowl Monday in Fiordland
We have no cellular or wifi here, so we "watched" the game on a mobile play-by-play app over our 64 kbps satellite connection. We're not sure if this was a step backwards to a time before television, or a step forwards, but as Seahawks fans it definately was the most enjoyable Super Bowl we've ever watched.
2/3/2014: South West Arm
We moved over to the other arm for a change of scenery. We're anchored in 120' behind a small islet with great views up and down the arm.
2/4/2014: Rain
A storm system is passing through the area--rain is falling for the first time since the night we arrived in Milford Sound. We were planning to spend a night in Caswell Sound, but didn't want to get stuck in what appeared a rather exposed anchorage for two nights or more while the system passed. So we went directly to Charles Sound as it looked more interesting anyway.
2/4/2014: Irene River
Heading up the Irene River about 3 hours before high tide. Once across the estuary, the river was a good 8-10 feet deep, or more, most places. What little wind there was is completely gone here.
2/4/2014: Marjorie Falls
A small spur from the river took us almost to the base of 150m Marjorie Falls.
2/4/2014: Base of the falls
The falls were even more dramatic close-up.
2/4/2014: End of the road
One of the guides we're using, A Boaties Guide to Fiordland by the Mana Cruising Club, says the river can be explored about 5km up. That feels about right for where we ran out of depth. We tied off there and walked ashore a bit. The area feels so like the familiar BC Mid-Coast Inlets that it feels very strange not to worry about bears when walking ashore.
2/4/2014: New Zealand Pigeon
Pigeons generally aren't that remarkable, but at 51cm this is the largest pigeon in New Zealand, and among the world's most attractive.
2/5/2014: Narrows
The charts showed 1.5-meter depths in the channel east of Fanny and Catherine Islands, and indicated a deeper path west of Catherine Island. But the channel there looked much too narrow to bring the boat through.
2/5/2014: Bow watch
We instead passed east of Fanny and Catherine Islands with a careful bow watch, and never saw less than 70-feet in the charted 1.5-meter section. The charts for Fiordland are suprisingly poor--and ours are current to November 2013. Overall, the New Zealand charts aren't nearly the quality of what we're used in Canada and the US. Given the amount of commercial and recreational activity here, we were expecting the charts to be of similar quality. Likely the economic activity, or accidents, isn't sufficient to warrant the investment.
2/5/2014: Gold Arm
View looking southeast from the anchorage at Gold Arm. We're anchored in about 70', just off the Windward River estuary. A southeast gale is predicted for this afternoon, but you couldn't tell from the conditions here. We eventually did get a few gusts in the 20s later in the day, but wavelets barely formed on the water.
2/5/2014: Helicopter pad
This helicopter pad is moored just back from the estuary. Local rock lobster are choppered out for live export to Asia, so perhaps the pad is used to transfer fresh catch from boat to air.
2/5/2014: Black swan
We've seen black swans in almost every sound so far. And a few times we've seen fluffy white cygnets as well.
2/5/2014: Canyon
The Windward River gushed into the sea through this dramatic narrow canyon that extended up and out of sight.
2/5/2014: Lunch
A shelf just inside was such a cool lunch spot we couldn't resist. The smooth wall gave nowhere to tie the dinghy off, so we secured it to the rock face with a grapple anchor.
2/5/2014: Up-canyon
We landed the dinghy just south of the canyon, scrambled ashore, and found a rough trail that led beside the canyon to the top. This is looking back down partway along.
2/5/2014: Oystercatchers
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2/5/2014: Waterfall I
We could see two large waterfalls along the north shore opposite the anchorage, so followed their outlet through the woods. This is looking up from the base of the leftmost of the two--fhe falls still are visible way up near the top of the frame.
2/5/2014: Waterfall II
Jennifer perched partway up the cliff next to the rightmost of the two falls. Fiordland sure has spectacular waterfalls, even though we've had little rain.
2/6/2014: Coffee
James enjoying a morning cup as we cruise down Gold Arm.
2/6/2014: Morning reflections
The view looking north up Gold Arm.
2/6/2014: Catherine Island
At anchor in 125' off Catherine and Fanny Islands. The cove behind the islands looked so appealing when we briefly entered yesterday that we decided to return here for a night.
2/6/2014: Prospect
Fishing vessel Prospect heading up Gold Arm. We believe the boat went to the head and left almost immediately, possibly dropping something off at the helicopter pad.
2/6/2014: Landslide
Depsite the steep shores, trees and shrubs somehow manage to get a hold and grow. But landslides such as this are common--some starting thousands of feet up. Another similarity with the BC coast.
2/6/2014: Dinghy tour
Touring the islands around our anchorage.
2/7/2014: Sunrise
Sunrise looking into the mouth of Caswell Sound. With a couple of days of low winds, we retraced our path slightly north to visit Caswell Sound that we'd skipped on the way down.
2/7/2014: Near the head
Approaching the head of Caswell Sound. Looks like another beautiful day--we've had just amazing weather in Fiordland so far.
2/7/2014: Anchorage
At anchor in 112' off the Stillwater River estuary. The winds have a straight run down the sound from the entry, and it doesn't take much to generate a chop. We had a calm night, but conditions probably would have been less comfortable had we come in directly from George Sound when that storm was coming.
2/7/2014: Stillwater River
We had paddled the kayaks to the Stillwater River with the vague hope we might reach Lake Marchant. But rapids blocked the way not far up--and it didn't appear to be an easy portage to get past them.
2/7/2014: Trailhead
Since we couldn't paddle up the river, we'd try hiking. We landed the kayaks on a point with a large orange triangle on it, marking a trailhead. This is the view looking back down-inlet.
2/7/2014: Caswell Sound Hut
A well-marked and heavily-used trail led a short distance to the historic Caswell Sound Hut. The 1949 New Zealand-American Fiordland expedition erected the hut, and it's the last remaining physical evidence of their 50-person research trip to study Fiordland Wapiti deer. (Position approximate.)
2/7/2014: Lake Marchant
A marked, but overgrown trail led from the hut along the Stillwater River to Lake Marchant. The going was a little difficult in places, and we lost the trail a few times where markers probably had blown down--the distance felt a lot further than the kilometer or so it appears to be in the map. But we did reach the lake.
2/7/2014: Lunch
The lake was quite boggy alongshore, and we couldn't see a nice place for lunch. So we returned back partway down the trail and climbed out onto some rocks along the river for lunch instead. (Position approximate.)
2/7/2014: Foot soaking
Jennifer soaking her feet in the cool clear water of the Stillwater River near our lunch rock. We were both hot and tired by the time we stopped for lunch.
2/7/2014: Handoff
On way back to our kayaks we met a hunter, Geoff (on the bow), and chatted with him for a bit. He was from a larger group in two boats that seemed to move around the sound tied together. They came by later and gave us three rock lobster tails and some paua (abalone). Delicious.
2/8/2014: Anxiety Point
Looking back to Anxiety Point just inside the entrance to Nancy Sound. Names like that always have a reason, but conditions are so calm and sunny today that we have no concerns.
2/8/2014: Master Ridge
The 1,100-meter peaks of Master Ridge to our west as we cruise up Nancy Inlet.
2/8/2014: Reflections
The view north behind us down Nancy Sound as we round Bend Point to enter Foot Arm. Nancy Sound is shaped like a leg, and many of the features are named accordingly, such as Toe and Heel Cove and Leg Head.
2/8/2014: Saddle Back Peak
1264-meter Saddle Back Peak dominates the skyline as we near the head of Foot Arm. We anchored in sheltered Toe Cove in 60'.
2/8/2014: Scrubbing the deck
When the non-skid gets too dirty or stained, a scrub with Bar Keeper's Friend soft cleanser makes it look like new again.
2/8/2014: Leap
We landed the dinghy near the bottom of a recent-looking landslide and climbed up the exposed rocks.
2/8/2014: Waterfall
One of many waterfalls along the way up the slide area.
2/8/2014: Up high
We quickly climbed several hundred feet up--the dinghy is barely visible way down below.
2/9/2014: Thompson Sound
Looking south from the mouth of Thompson Sound. The scenery in Fiordland is just amazing with the beautiful clear skies we've been having.
2/9/2014: Zayla Jay
Fishing vessel Zayla Jay, visible at bottom right in the previous photo, working along the rock face. The boat looks well rigged and maintained, and quite capable.
2/9/2014: Dolphins
Bottlenose dolphins are common in Doubtful Sound--they're big mammals at up to 4 meters long. A pod followed us for quite a while as we entered Bradshaw Sound, sometimes leaping out of the water.
2/9/2014: Precipice Cove
Heading out in the kayaks from our anchorage in Precipice Cove. We'd read that the Rea River at the head of the cove was navigable by dinghy, but couldn't find any way in even by kayak though.
2/9/2014: Lunch
We followed a streambed up to the base of a waterfall, then scaled the cliff. We stopped for lunch at this excellent viewpoint, where the waterfall cascaded into large clear pools beside and below us. We're both wearing shorts today--the temperature is 82F.
2/9/2014: Mooring
A large, well-maintained mooring in Precipice Cove, similar to the one we'd seen in Milford Sound. We've read that Real Journeys has a mooring here, so this likely is theirs.
2/9/2014: Company
We were the only boat in the anchorage when we arrived, but later in the afternoon this well-equipped aluminum craft arrived and anchored to our west. The boat carried four Honda outboards: two for cruising, one for trolling and a fourth for their tender.
2/9/2014: Tutoko II
The MV Tutoko II arrived shortly after, disgorging a group of kayakers en route, who followed the boat in. They took a small mooring to our east for the night.
2/9/2014: Ethereal
Our third and final covemate for the night was the beautiful superyacht Ethereal.
2/10/2014: Shoal Cove
At anchor in Shoal Cove at the head of Gaer Arm. Looks like we're going to have another beautiful day.
2/10/2014: Gaer Arm
Looking down Gaer Arm from the Camelot River estuary--Dirona is the rightmost of the two white specks near the center of the picture. The main river entrance is the 2nd channel from the south, but wasn't obvious on the way in. We ended up following a tributary along the south shore that joined the main river, and found the deeper main route on the way back out. We had a good five feet or so of water exiting an hour after high tide compared to about three feet entering at high tide.
2/10/2014: Camelot River
Conditions were calm in our anchorage, but the water was even more still along the sheltered Camelot River.
2/10/2014: Breakfast
Rapids blocked the way about 2km upriver, so we stopped there for a picnic breakfast (we'd come up in the morning to take advantage of the high tide.) A rough trail apparently leads along the east shore about another 3km to Bedivere Falls, but we were a little nervous about having enough water to get the dinghy back out on the falling tide, so didn't investigate.
2/10/2014: Alert II
Alert II had arrived shortly before we did, and we stopped off to chat with them on our way back to the Dirona. A few folks from the boat were upriver hunting--we'd seen their tender beached near where we stopped for breakfast--and at least another half dozen still were on board.
2/11/2014: Drying the gear
The answer to the question we asked back in November of 2012: it ended up being 15 months before we reinstalled our drysuit inflation hoses. Unfortunately a valve failed in one of the hoses, so we can't dive both dive at the same time. But we did clean the bottom in shifts using the good hose. The amount of growth in only four months was suprising, but fortunately it came off easily. We'll keep an eye on it to see if the new bottom paint isn't working or we've just been in difficult conditions.
2/11/2014: Mmmm ... lobster
Spitfire wolfs down his kibbles, but isn't interested in much else. He'll apparently make an exception, however, for rock lobster. (The skipper of Alert II gave us two fresh tails for our "tea".)
2/12/2014: Sailboat
This well-rigged wooden sailboat came in last night and anchored in shallower waters along the southwest shore. This morning five people set off in the rain up the Camelot River, with the powered tender towing their rowboat.
2/12/2014: Waterfalls
A plus of any rain we get here is the waterfalls really come out. Water is gushing everywhere along the slopes.
2/12/2014: Dolphins
As we cruised slowly through Pendulo Reach between Bradshaw and Doubtful Sounds, perhaps thirty Bottlenose dolphins joined us, rolling and jumping in our bow wake.
2/12/2014: Snug Cove
At anchor in Snug Cove. This rainbow emerged at the dark ridge directly behind us, then slowly rose up higher and higher.
2/12/2014: Clouds
The rain stopped, but the weather remained overcast for much of the day. The gap between these two 1,200-meter peaks looked like a witches cauldren as windblown clouds forced between them surged upwards.
2/12/2014: Ridge
The setting sun lit the tip of this 1,100-meter ridge to our west.
2/12/2014: Fiordland Navigator
Real Journey's Fiordland Navigator, just visible in the distance at anchor, arrived shortly before dark to spend the night.
2/13/2014: Oceanic Discoverer
The 200-foot pocket cruise ship Oceanic Discoverer standing off near Secretary Island. From a distance, it looked like a full-sized 900-foot cruise ship.
2/13/2014: Crooked Arm
Heading down Crooked Arm. The day is overcast, but the scenery still is dramatic.
2/13/2014: Trailhead
Approaching the trailhead for the hike across Narrow Neck to Dagg Sound. For shallower water, we've recently been using the kayaks more than the micro-tender. The kayaks generally are easier, except we've not yet learned to land them in surf, so we'll use the micro-tender for that.
2/13/2014: On the trail
The trail was well-marked with plastic orange triangles nailed to the trees and heavily used. The going was relatively easy, although quite boggy in parts. Our "duck feet" (6" Bean Boots from L.L. Bean) have been ideal for tramping in Fiordland.
2/13/2014: Stream
The track crossed several small streams, but we didn't have any trouble getting across.
2/13/2014: Off track
We lost the track when it crossed a large field. We followed some ribbon blazes we found and this did lead us to Dagg Sound, but in retrospect realized the trail was marked with plastic marks on the trees, and that is what we should have looked for as we never saw any more plastic tree marks once across the field--the ribbon blazes appeared to be for locating possum traps and wandered all over. The real track likely continued a little more to the north, and we ended up going more south when we saw the ribbon blazes. Maybe in Dagg Sound we'll follow the trailhead from the other end and see where it joins the field.
2/13/2014: Dagg Sound
Lunch at the edge of Dagg Sound. We're looking forward to bringing Dirona there--it looks quite appealing. And 20,000 sandflies couldn't be wrong.
2/14/2014: Peaks
1,200-meter peaks to our east as we exit Crooked Arm. Nothing is small here, except us.
2/14/2014: Patea Explorer
Real Journey's Patea Explorer with a boatload of tourists heading down Doubtful Sound.
2/14/2014: Olphert Cove
We originally were planning to go down Hall Arm, but Olphert Cove looked so nice we decided to stop there. This turned out to be an excellent anchorage--later in the afternoon the winds were blowing steady in the 20s up Doubtful Sound, with small wind waves, and we only got an ocassional gust to maybe 10 or 15 knots that barely disturbed the water surface. And it also was a good base for running the dinghy to Deep Cove, as the anchorage there didn't look great.
2/14/2014: Slide
We've learned that slide areas, particularly with active creeks, usually are a quick path to a great view. The climbing is steep, but generally pretty easy--almost liked a paved staircase. This is looking west across the anchorage to Elizabeth Island. Dirona is partially visible through the leafless tree on the center of the photo.
2/14/2014: Elizabeth Island Marine Reserve
Within the Fiordland Marine Area (the marine portion of Fiordland National Park) are ten Marine Reserves, some marked with signs such as these at the boundaries. All life in Marine Reserves is protected--fishing is not allowed and, in some cases, neither is anchoring. The area of Doubtul Sound from the north end of Elizabeth Island south nearly to Deep Cove is part of Elizabeth Island Marine Reserve, where anchoring is allowed. The government publication Beneath the Reflections has a good description of these areas, as well as useful information on boating, fishing and diving in Fiordland in general. We've been using both this guide and the Mana Cruising Club's A Boaties Guide to Fiordland equally as we cruise the area.
2/14/2014: Lunch
The shores are so steep everywhere that we had a hard time finding a place for lunch where we could both tie off the dinghy and be able to climb ashore. We eventually found a good spot by a waterfall with a pool, and that also had a nice view down to Deep Cove at the head of the sound.
2/14/2014: Sonar buoy
We've seen several of these buoys around Fiordland. The sign reads "Please do not moor here. Monitoring Equipment Suspended Below".
2/14/2014: Deep Cove wharf
The main wharf at Deep Cove. A wide array of varying-sized lines were strung from the sides--looks like many different boats tie off here.
2/14/2014: Full wharf
When we returned a short time later, Real Journey's Fiordland Navigator was tied off at the wharf to take on a load of passengers. And the New Zealand Department of Convervation's Southern Winds was tucked under their bowsprit with only inches to spare. Within a half-hour, both had departed and the wharf was empty again.
2/14/2014: Wilmot Pass Rd.
We landed the dinghy in Wanganella Cove and walked back to the main wharf. We passed several tour company vehicles along the way, plus this group that was returning from a kayaking trip.
2/14/2014: Helicopter
Helicopter landing at Wanganella Cove--we've seen several helicopters and planes in Doubtful Sound. Our dinghy is tied off just to the right out of the picture. (We used the anchor buddy and with a line to the dock so as not to take up any space.)
2/14/2014: Zayla Jay
The fishing vessel Zayla Jay that we saw when entering Thompson Sound a few days ago, moored just south of the main wharf. The shoreline along Deep Cove is steep--the main wharf is cantilevered out, as are a couple of smaller docks, and the remaining boats are mostly strung along shore like this one is.
2/14/2014: Tailrace
Inside the Manapouri hydroelectric power plant tailrace tunnel. The 9.1m-diameter tunnel runs 10km northeast from the the West Arm of Lake Manapouri, rising from a depth of 40 meters below sea level to discharge into Deep Cove. The current was quite strong the entire way from saltwater to inside the tunnel, but still manageable in the dinhgy. A tour bus arrived just as we were exiting--they must have been pretty suprised to see a dinghy pop out.
2/15/2014: Rain
Our weather luck has run out for a time--heavy rain has been failing all morning. But we're well-equipped for it, and Dirona is warm and dry inside, so we don't mind.
2/15/2014: Waterfall
One major upsdide of the rain is the waterfalls that appear. Literally dozens are gushing down the steep slopes of Hall Arm as we pass through.
2/15/2014: Hall Arm
Hall Arm is said to be the most beautiful in all of Fiordland, and even in these conditions we can get a sense of that. Hopefully we'll get some clear weather while we are here. One thing we've learned about New Zealand weather: conditions can change quickly and frequently.
2/15/2014: At anchor
Anchored in 100' at the head of Hall Arm. The scenery is pretty spectacular, despite the conditions. Steep 1,000-meter slopes are on all sides, with waterfalls streaming down all around. Some drop several hundred feet before joining the slope again.
2/15/2014: Kayakers
A group of eight kayakers in four double kayaks came over to say hello. They had paddled out of Deep Cove and were overnighting at the mouth of Hall Arm. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves, despite the weather, although one jokingly inquired about the possibility of space on our settee for the night.
2/15/2014: Rainwater
While we don't mind the rain, Spitfire loves it. Here is is, outside on the bow getting soaked, while lapping up the fresh "stream" water.
2/16/2014: Takaroa
Takaroa leaving Hall Arm in the morning mist. The boat was leaving when we entered Hall Arm, then returned back to anchor for the night off the east shore.
2/16/2014: Fiordland Navigator
The Fiordland Navigator came nearly to the head, but idled a distance off, then turned around and exited.
2/16/2014: Sunshine
The peaks are still in the clouds, but we are getting a little sunshine. This is looking west to the bluff near our anchorage.
2/16/2014: Kayaking
The river estuary was a great place to take the kayaks. We were able to work our way a few hundred yards up several narrow channels before hitting rapids or blockages. Depths generally were several feet, but the way was so narrow in places that the kayaks could barely pass--we wouldn't have gotten the micro-tender up very far, let alone the larger dinghy.
2/16/2014: Clear skies
We returned from the river estuary to clear skies and amazing mountain views down-sound. Hard to believe that 45-knot winds are foreceast for tomorrow.
2/16/2014: Close quarters
The Fiordland Navigator returned down Hall Arm, this time coming all the way to the head and then passing between us and shore in a slow, lazy loop. They were close enough for a friendly chat with the skipper and crew as they passed.
2/16/2014: Base of the falls
We followed a streambed up to the base of the falls, looking for a lunch stop. From the water the way looked a bit overgrown, but once past a few trees at shore the going was fast and easy in a wide creek bed.
2/16/2014: Lunch
Getting beyond the base of the falls was a more difficult climb, but we did find a way up. And wow, what a view.
2/16/2014: View east
The view east wasn't bad either. The river estuary we paddled is on the left of the shot.
2/16/2014: Mt Danae
1,495-meter Mt Danae, on the left of the photo, was invisible in yesterday's rain and cloud.
2/16/2014: Panorama
Panorama showing the head of Hall Sound. The scenery here really is spectacular--we were lucky to get a day of such clear weather.
2/17/2014: Phenomenal seas
The barometer has fallen 16 millibars since yesterday morning and the forecast now is for northerly winds to 70 knots today with "sea becoming phenomenal". Whatever the Meterological Services' definition of phenomenal, we'll plan to avoid them.
2/18/2014: Dark
Normally by 6:30am we've got pretty decent light, but fog combined with the high cliffs is blocking out much of the sun. The mountains are high and close enough that we lost satellite connectivity for a bit while entering and leaving. We actually didn't expect to have any satellite connectivity in Fiordland, but so far this is the first place we've lost it.
2/18/2014: Browne Falls
Browne Falls descend 836 meters from Lake Browne. They are unofficially the tallest falls in New Zealand, but true waterfall aficianados say that 580m Sutherland Falls along the Milford Track are the tallest because they cascade freely rather than wind along the cliff in parts.
2/18/2014: Wind
Winds were calm all night in our anchorage, but were blowing in the 20s down Doubtful Sound as we emerged. So far the heads of the sounds have generally provided excellent wind shelter, contrary to what we were expecting. We're not sure the sea conditions, but we'll to take a look and see if we can comfortably make Dagg Sound. If not, we'll return back into Doubtful.
2/18/2014: Fiordland Navigator
The Fiordland Navigator returning to Deep Cove after a two-night cruise. The skipper radiod us and we chatted a bit about our cruising plans. He'd been talking with someone Purgeseyer (southwest corner of South Island) this morning who reported good conditions out there. That sounds promising.
2/18/2014: Cascade Bay
As we neared Cascade Bay to port, this sturdy-looking bright red boat entered the sound. We're not sure where they started from, but likely conditions were reasonable if they were out there. We'll see soon.
2/18/2014: Virtual AIS target
Tarapunga Rock is 7.4-meters underwater--not a real hazard to us, but a definate concern for the full-sized cruise ships that ply these waters. The rock shows up as an virtual AIS target--the transponder is somehwere nearby and set to report the position of the rock.
2/18/2014: Swell
The forecast is for northwesterly swell up to 4 meters. We encountered a few large waves like this one, but they were a good 12 seconds apart, so not a big deal. And mostly the waves were in the 3-meter range and settled down as we proceeded towards Dagg Sound.
2/18/2014: Entering Dagg Sound
The weather is overcast, but otherwise conditions were overall quite good for the run and we're glad to have headed out.
2/18/2014: Heatwave
We had the engine room door open for a bit after arriving. Spitfire took advantage and sprawled out on the floor to bask in the 100-degree temperature.
2/18/2014: Dagg Sound Anchorage
Anchored in 40' at the south arm of Dagg Sound--we've rarely anchored in less than 80 feet through most of Fiordland. We're in sight of our lunch spot from a few days ago. Since leaving Hawaii, this is only the second time we've been somewhere on foot before we arrived by boat. The other was when we went to Auckland to get new visa labels shortly after arriving in New Zealand.
2/18/2014: Satellite Dish
We went for a dinghy tour of the sound and noticed this satellite dish mounted off a point near the head of Anchorage Arm. We traced the line alongshore to the east a bit and found a coil hung from a tree. The fishers probably don't want to miss the All Blacks games when they're out here.
2/18/2014: Creek
On a 2.2m high tide, we had just enough water to work a suprising distance up the unnamed creek that empties into the southwesternmost point of Dagg Sound. Small rapids blocked the big dinghy, but the way looked clear beyond as far as we could see to the next bend. We easily could have carried the kayaks around the rapids and possibly gotten much further.
2/18/2014: Trail to Crooked Arm
We found the trailhead at the other end of the track from Crooked Arm--it did come out at the northeast corner of the bay, rather than the southeast corner. Where we had lost the track, we should have gone farther north to cross the grassy area. The trail is quite overgrown here, at the west edge of the field, as it descends down through a grassy slope back into the woods. The marks were hard to pick out from the field--we had a difficult time finding them again even though we knew where they were after we'd just followed them up through the grassy bank.
2/18/2014: View from the head
Looking back into the anchorage from the head.
2/18/2014: Sandflies
The sandflies are pretty bad everywhere in Fiordland, but especially in Dagg Sound. All those black dots (click the image to enlarge) on the other side of the screen are sandflies trying to get in. In Seattle, we installed Phantom Screen doors on the pilothouse and salon doors, expecting to have bug problems in the South Pacific. So far, however, our main use has been to keep Spitfire inside at night while on passage with the doors open for ventilation. But we're using the screens constantly in Fiordland, and are very glad to have them.
2/19/2014: Breaksea Island
Sea arch off the northwest tip of Breaksea Island. Seas are reasonably calm, with a 1-2-meter swell, but visibility is poor.
2/19/2014: Gilbert Islands
Looking east from the Gilbert Islands. It was a little exposed, but probaly would make a good anchorage in calm condtions.
2/19/2014: Sunday Cove
Fisher's barge in Sunday Cove, with a helicopter landing on the roof. A small floathome also was along the head. A little too built-up for our taste.
2/19/2014: Beach Harbour
Pleasure craft anchored in Beach Harbor, with the 1,106m Mount Wallis in the background to the northeast.
2/19/2014: John Islands
The channel between the largest of the John Islands and the mainland looked like a possible anchorage. But the charted depths of 13.8m didn't match the actual depths of closer to 30m, and swing room wasn't sufficient for the amount of rode we'd need to put out. Too bad, as it was quite an attractive location, with bluffs beside, and views up and down Breaksea Sound.
2/19/2014: Vancouver Arm
Looking up Vancouver Arm. The clouds are starting to clear and those mountains look amazing, especially with the calm seas.
2/19/2014: Lunch
We've started using the boat deck table more in Fiordland, mostly to better take in the scenery. The table is more exposed, and when the wind is blowing we normally prefer the cockpit table as it's more sheltered. But the sandflies don't seem to like wind, so the boat deck works better from that resepct too.
2/19/2014: Working up-creek
On the way to the anchorage, we could see a fair way up an unnamed creek along the north shore, so we came back in the dinghy to investigate. On a 2.0m high tide, we were able to get about a half-kilometer up before shallows and rapids stopped us. (Position approximate.)
2/19/2014: Track
A track led north along the east shore through the vibrant rainforest. The track was full of deer hoof-prints and might have been just an animal track, but it was very well-worn and easy to follow.
2/19/2014: Creek junction
We turned back at this junction with another creek coming in from the west.
2/19/2014: Fence
As we returned downstream in the dinghy, we noticed a wire fence along the east shore and ran the dinghy into a small channel to investigate. The fence (lying along the ground at left of photo) was about 5 feet high and in disrepair, but encompassed two adjacent squares, each perhaps 100 feet across with a gate at the south end. The fence appeared machine-made by the regularity of its construction, so probably dated from sometime after the 1940s at least, but wasn't very rusty, so could have bbeen much more recent. The area inside the fence didn't appear to have been cleared, so probably wasn't for a garden. Perhaps it was for livestock? (Position approximate.)
2/19/2014: Anchorage
Looking south from the head of Vancouver Arm to the 1,200m and 1,300m peaks along the east shore. Dirona is the white speck at the base of the right-hand cliff.
2/20/2014: Dolphins
Bottlenose dolphins followed us as we passed between Vancouver and Broughton Arm.
2/20/2014: Leap
Only a slight second to chasing our bow wake, the bottlenose dolphins seems to particularly enjoy leaping out of the water.
2/20/2014: Pembroke
Pembroke anchored off a large unnamed creek in Broughton Arm. Their tender was beached in the woods nearby, and was there the next day when returned out. Likely they were hunting, either on a multi-day trip, or coming out each evening.
2/20/2014: Towards the head
View to the final bend before the head of Broughton Arm.
2/20/2014: Water pump maintenance
We carry a Honda WH15X high-powered water pump for emergency water evacuation and fire-fighting. So it's always ready to go, we periodically take it out, test it, run it up to temperature, change the oil and fuel, and shut it back down again.
2/20/2014: High pressure
The pump is capable of moving 100 gallons per minute through a spray nozzle, and presumably somewhat more without head pressure. We can actually move the boat forward by spraying into the water at the stern.
2/20/2014: Butter Factory night
We frequented the Butter Factory in Whangarei, and always had one of their delicious pizzas with a bottle of Shingle Peak Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand. We used to make our pizza dough from scratch, but in New Zealand even the smallest grocery stores stock "pizza bases." We freeze these pre-baked, thin-crust pizza shells, thaw one out, load it up and bake it for ten minutes on a pizza stone for a convenient and delicious meal.
2/21/2014: Second Cove
Sailboat anchored in Second Cove to our north as we exit Breaksea Sound.
2/21/2014: Radiance of the Seas
The 962-foot cruise ship Radiance of the Seas emerging from behind Entrance Island running north. So far, this is the only vessel we've seen that hasn't looked small compared to the surroundings.
2/21/2014: Reserve boundary
We think this carving is a boundary mark for the Wet Jacket Arm Marine Reserve. We later saw a similar one on the south side, both roughly at the reserve boundary.
2/21/2014: Spring onions
Spring onions from Wellington--still in great shape a month later. We are using all our tricks from our guide, Cruising the Secret Coast, but even still, that SubZero fridge is amazing.
2/22/2014: Front
A front bringing heavy rain passed through last night. The barometer fell from 1016 to 994 in just over a day and we recorded gusts to 38 knots last night.
2/22/2014: Slide
A jumble of tree trunks caught on the cliff after a slide.
2/22/2014: Gushing
After a day of heavy rain, this creek near our anchorage is just gushing. And it's producing a fair amount of surface current too.
2/22/2014: Diving dry
We temporarily fixed the failed drysuit inflation hose so we could dive together--we'd really wanted to dive in Fiordland. Cold-water diving certainly has a lot more overhead--to counteract the bouyancy of all that extra insulation Jennifer is wearing 23 lbs of weight with a steel tank, compared to only 2 lbs of weight with the 3mm wetsuit. And we're wearing hoods and thicker gloves too. But it was worth the effort--we did an awesome wall dive along the north shore of Oke Island. The first thing we saw after descending was a Nudibranch, among our favorite sea creatures. Over 3,000 Nudibranch species live throughout the world's oceans--their fantastic forms and psychedelic colors seem unreal. We couldn't identify the one we saw--it looked similar to our boat's namesake Dirona Albolineata, or the Alabaster Nudibranch, but was narrower for it's length and longer. We found under the water Fiordland reminded us of British Columbia as well, with 55F nutrient-rich waters full of kelp, rockfish and plankton-feeding invertibrates. (Position approximate.)
2/22/2014: Black coral
Had we seen nothing but the nudibranch, the dive would have been a success, but we really did want to see black coral. Fiordland contains some of the largest populations of black coral in the world. Typically a deep-sea species, black coral grows in 15 to 50 meters in Fiordland where a 2-3-meter layer of freshwater, with a visibility of about 3 meters, lies over the saltwater. Black coral looks white because of the thousands of white polyps that grow over the black skeleton. We saw many black coral on the dive, some nearly two meters wide. The visibility once under the freshwater layer was at least 15 meters, but the light isn't great. Some clearer pictures are here. (Position approximate.)
2/22/2014: Squall
A squall passed through the anchorage, bringing 39-knot gusts and more heavy rain, with distant thunder and lightning. We enjoyed the show over a glass of wine in the pilothouse.
2/23/2014: Snow
The temperature is 46.4F this morning, with snow on the mountains around us. A big change from from the 80-degree weather two weeks ago.
2/23/2014: Waterfall
Enjoying the "fallout" of yesterday's rain.
2/23/2014: 49 knots
Winds were gusting to 49 knots once we rounded Passage Point. That seemed like a lot, but compared to what we would see a few days later, 49 knots was just a light breeze.
2/23/2014: Cooper Island
A barge and two large launches (NZ term for powerboats), were anchored in the bay at the east end of Cooper Island.
2/23/2014: Nine Fathom Passage
A 200-meter waterfall along the south shore of Nine Fathom Passage.
2/23/2014: Adjusting the hydraulics
James adjusting the hydraulics to increase thruster output without overloading the wing engine.
2/23/2014: Shark Cove
Looking south from the anchorage at Shark Cove. The anchorage was suprisingly snug and protected in the big winds that were blowing up-inlet as we approached.
2/24/2014: Seaforth River
We ran the tender up the Seaforth River to walk part of the 84km Dusky Track. The track continues west from here to a hut in Supper Cove near where we are anchored, but that part of the trail floods and would be quite boggy after all the rain we've had. Our guidebook recommended instead running the dinghy upriver and walking the track from there.
2/24/2014: Log bridge
We walked east along the track--it was well-maintained and easy walking. The track followed through beautiful woods closely along the Seaforth River, with nice views to the water. In a few places, log bridges carried the trail over creeks. (Position approximate.)
2/24/2014: Foot bridge
A sturdy foot bridge crossed one creek. The trail has been quite good, with very few boggy sections considering all the rain we've had recently. And we're staying warm and dry with gloves and rain gear. We've had to don raingear occasionally since leaving San Francisco, but it sure has been a long time since we've worn gloves. (Position approximate.)
2/24/2014: Bridge with rails
This was the easiest bridge we crossed along the trail--it even had handrails. (Position approximate.)
2/24/2014: Slide
After walking for about forty minutes, we climbed out onto this slide looking for a view and a possible breakfast spot. The slide appeared quite recent--dirt was still built up in little piles on the rocks--it wouldn't take much rain to wash that away. (Position approximate.)
2/24/2014: Breakfast
We found a good spot for breakfast on a large, clean rock partway up the slide. (Position approximate.)
2/24/2014: Supper Cove Hut
Dusky Track sign at the Supper Cove Hut. We ran the dinghy back out to the anchorage and landed at the Supper Cove Hut to walk the trail a bit from there. The hut was occupied, so we didn't go inside.
2/24/2014: Penguin!
A Fiordland Crested Penguin just off the trail--our first penguin sighting! Well, we've seen Blue Penguins in Fiordland, but they look more like normal birds. This is the first "tuxedo-wearing" penguin sighting. It seemed so strange to see a penguin in the woods, so far from the water. But it seemed quite comfortable there and not concerned by our presence, even preening for a bit as we watched. (Position approximate.)
2/24/2014: Walkwire
The track was quite boggy near the hut, but one of the reasons we'd walked this section hut was to reach one of the walkwires we could see on the track map.
2/24/2014: Crossing the walkwire
Looking down to the stream as we cross. This walkwire was shorter than the one we'd crossed in George Sound, and didn't tip as much side-to-side.
2/24/2014: Nine Fathoms Passage
The winds were picking up and Supper Cove isn't nearly as sheltered as Shark Cove. So we set off down Dusky to find an anchorage for the night, passing through Nine Fathom Passage south of Cooper Island. We're not sure how the passage was named, but if it was for depth, we sure couldn't find a nine-fathom (fifty-four feet) route through. We entered along the charted channel, but depths decreased to under twenty feet where we were expecting at least fifty feet. So we backed out and tried running closer to the south shore. The depths there mostly were in the forty-foot range, with a brief blip to twenty feet.
2/24/2014: Corybas
Selene Corybas en route up-inlet. We last saw this boat at Viaduct Harbour in Auckland. The skipper radiod us and we chatted for a bit about cruising plans.
2/24/2014: 110 knots
We could see a squall line approaching as we ran down Cook Channel. As the squall hit the wind speed shot up to 50, then 60, then 70 and eventually topped out at 110 kts with an average speed of 61 kts. Previous to this, the highest we had seen was 60 kts and it was big and kind of exciting. 110 kts was scary--the boat sounded like it was exploding. 15 or 20 min later, the wind was back to the 15 kts range. It took us a while to settle down from that. Amazingly, we took no serious damage. We did sustain minor damage in that our canvas bimini was deployed over the flybridge and the material was stretched and one of the poles bent slightly. We're lucky (and surprised), that it wasn't ripped off the boat--a tribute to the quality work and materials of Canvas Supply in Seattle. They say they design to sustain for 60kts without damage, but this was way beyond that. Likely had we turned sideways to it, we would have holes in the fiberglass at the bimini mounting location rather than a bimini. These sure are strong boats.
2/24/2014: Waterfall
Impressive waterfall gushing into the mouth of Cascade Cove.
2/25/2014: Captain Cook
This plaque on Astronomer Point reads "Pickersgill Harbour. Captain James Cook moored the bark Resolution in this harbour from March 27th until 28th April 1773." During his time there, Cook explored Dusky Sound and produced the first, highly accurate chart.
2/25/2014: Astronomer Point
Cook's crew cleared an acre of land at Astronomer Point. William Wales, of the Board of Longitude, setup a temporary observatory there to fix the position of New Zealand. His observations made New Zealand the most accurately located place in the world at the time. The New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC) built and maintains a nice boardwalk around the site, with a viewing platform up Dusky Sound across Pickersgill Harbour. According to DOC, the site is the among the most visited historic sites in Southland.
2/25/2014: Survey mark
Hydrographic survey mark on Astronomer Point.
2/25/2014: Stump
Jennifer standing on one of the stumps cleared by Cook's crew for the observatory with the survey mark in the foreground.
2/25/2014: Pickersgill Harbour
View east from the boardwalk viewing platform. The boat coming in moored in the narrow slot south of Astronomer Point with a bow anchor and at least three lines to shore.
2/25/2014: Track to Lake Forster
From Astronomer Point, we followed a well-marked but muddy track through beautiful rainforest to Lake Forster. We'd picked up the marked track from a spur track at the top of the boardwalk, and followed the marked track out to the bottom of the boardwalk where we'd tied off the dinghy. (Position approximate.)
2/25/2014: Lake Forster
Placid Lake Forster.
2/25/2014: Many Islands
Approaching the narrow channel into Luncheon Cove north of Many Islands.
2/25/2014: Seals
New Zealand fur seals sunning on the rocks.
2/25/2014: Corybas
We anchored just outside Luncheon Cove and, appropriately, ate lunch. The whole area is quite beautiful, but busy. At least two boats already were there when we arrived, and two more entered during our short stay. Another front was coming the following day, so we were planning to run to Chalky Inlet early the next morning. But we didn't want to leave this anchorage in the dark, so were going to need to move again today anyway and ended up deciding to just head directly to Chalky today. As we were lifting anchor, the Selene Corybas entered the cove and asked if they could have our spot since we were leaving.
2/25/2014: Exiting Luncheon Cove
We exited through the southern channel. It was narrow, but a little more direct and easier to navigate than the one we'd entered on.
2/25/2014: Chalky Island
The white cliffs on Chalky Island are a distinctive landmark at the entrance to Chalky Inlet. It would be easy to go aground here--rocks and shallows extend over a mile offshore south of Cape Providence to port.
2/25/2014: Ship Entrance
Approaching Ship Entrance to North Port where we plan to anchor for the night.
2/25/2014: North Port
Looking west across Blind Entrance to Breaker Point. The more popular anchorage is to the northeast, stern-tied in the small channel north of Little Island. But it looked pretty tight on the chart and we could see two AIS targets in there already, so we opted for the west end of the bay and found an excellent spot in 93' with plenty of room to swing.
2/26/2014: Dawn
Dawn looking northeast across Little Island.
2/26/2014: Cabinet repair
The pushbutton locking latch in one of our galley pantry cupboards failed and James replaced it with a spare.
2/26/2014: Sea arch
Sea arch at Breaker Point--the coast here is waveswept and rugged. We'd run the large dinghy out through Blind Entrance to circumnavigate Great Island.
2/26/2014: Wave
Big waves were rolling and breaking--Breaker Point was aptly named. The winds were at least twenty knots from the north, and were blowing the tops off the waves as they broke.
2/26/2014: Kar-Reece
We watched the lobster boat Kar-Reece pick up traps in the swell at the south end of Great Island.
2/26/2014: SS Stella
The SS Stella, an old government lightship, beached on Little Island.
2/26/2014: Ashore
We landed the dinghy at a small concrete pad and building that are the remains of a failed early 1900s fish-freezing business.
2/26/2014: Lake Cove
We ran to Lake Cove for the night. Near nightfall, Tranquil Image arrived and anchored, then Macy Gray came in shortly after and rafted against them. Both are charter boats that seem to always travel together.
2/27/2014: Lumaluma Creek
On roughly a 1.8m tide, we had just enough depth to reach a high-walled canyon beyond a bar on the Lumaluma Creek.
2/27/2014: Canyon
We couldn't see beyond the last bend in the canyon, but mist began to fill the air and we could hear the roar of falls.
2/27/2014: Falls
Around the final bend, the canyon ended in a dramatic mist-filled basin where falls gushed over a cliff. Surprisingly, this isn't mentioned in any of our cruising guides.
2/27/2014: Above the falls
After spending some time in the dinghy inside the basin, we tied it off to the east shore of the creek and hiked in through the woods to reach the falls. The previous panorama photo was taken from the corner that is at upper left in this picture, and the basin entry by dinghy is out of the shot below left.
2/27/2014: Looking north
The creek wound down to the falls through a canyon that disappeared around a corner. Judging by the height of the walls and how scoured clean they were, the water must really flow through here during spring runnoff. The whole area was really impressive.
2/27/2014: West of falls
We were able to cross the creek for a view above from the west side.
2/27/2014: Dinghy
We tied the dinghy off in the creek that flows from Lake Cadman to follow a trail to the lake.
2/27/2014: Lake Cadman
The trail to Lake Cadman was unmarked, but well-trod and easy to follow, although quite boggy in parts. A rowboat with several patches was at the lake, but not much else to see. It would have been fun to have the kayaks here to paddle on the lake, but too difficult to carry them up.
2/27/2014: Cora Lynn Falls
We'd stopped at the falls on the way to the lake and expected we'd return for lunch. We were right. The falls were more dramatic that the ones along the Lumaluma Creek, but not quite as accessible.
2/27/2014: Squall
We hit another squall, with gusts to 74 knots, en route from Lake Cove in Edwardson Sound to Islet Cove in Cunaris Sound.
2/28/2014: Islet Cove
Sunrise looking west down Cunaris Sound. Last night we'd taken a look at Cliff Cove, but depths generally were too deep for anchoring and it felt quite exposed to the big northwesterly winds we were getting. We instead found an excellent anchorage in 45' at Islet Cove, with good northerly protection. We had a nice view east over the Carrick River Estuary, and west over the islets to Cunaris Sound.
2/28/2014: Hail
Hail fell as we were underway to Preservation Sound this morning. The weather certainly has changed from the summer conditions we had the first two weeks in Fiordland.
2/28/2014: Red Head
Rugged coast at Red Head on the short run between Chalky and Preservation inlets.
2/28/2014: Southern Star
Nordhavn 47 Southern Star at anchor in Kisbee Bay. We'd been corresponding with owners Robbie and Jo Ashton for months--it was fun to finally meet up in person.
2/28/2014: Social time
We had a great time with Southern Star owners Robbie and Jo Ashton (right), Jo's brother Murray and his wife Jenny. We all met up on Dirona first, and then had a delicious dinner on Southern Star of freshly caught blue cod that Murray had expertly cleaned and cooked.
3/1/2014: Helicopter
DOC helicopter landing at the Preservation Lodge, just behind the treeline at Kisbee Bay.
3/1/2014: Steam donkey
We landed the dinghy and picked up the well-marked trail to the Golden Mine Site. Gold was discovered in the area in the late 1800s--the DOC maintains the track following an tram line to the Golden Site mine at the Wilson River. This steam donkey, similar to ones we've seen along the BC coast, was a short distance in from our landing. (Position approximate).
3/1/2014: Tramline
The tramline tracks were mostly made of wood, but steel was used in a few places such as this one. Horses pulled the trams 8km over a 1 in 7 grade to a gully above the Wilson River where the mine was located. (Position approximate.)
3/1/2014: Log bridge
The track was easy to follow, but extremely boggy in places. And rain began falling soon after we got started, worsening conditions as we progressed. We easily crossed the few creeks where old bridges had washed away, sometimes just over the rocks, but occasionally over a log bridge such as this one. (Position approximate.)
3/1/2014: Tram wheels
Tram wheels on the track as we near the descent to the mine at the Wilson River, where a sledge track was used to transfer gold up to the tramline. From the top of the gulley, the track descends about 150m down over 200m in distance. The track down was very well-marked and easy to follow, but a steep climb.
3/1/2014: Stampers
Stampers used to crush rock at the mine site. Overall it took us about 2.5 hours, at a fast pace, to reach the top of the gully, and another 15 minutes to descend to the mine site. The hike was long, wet and tiring, but we're glad we came.
3/1/2014: Stampers from below
Looking up at the stampers from below.
3/1/2014: Back of stamper
Close-up view of the other side of the stamper.
3/1/2014: Berdans
Berdans, or large crushing bowls, behind the stampers.
3/1/2014: Flume
Jennifer inspecting the remains of an old flume, nearly overgrown in moss.
3/2/2014: Bluff
Bluff on east side of Long Sound, just north of Blacklock Creek.
3/2/2014: 4096 hours
Just hit 4096 main engine hours. In four years, that's the number we had put on the previous boat in nearly eleven years.
3/2/2014: Lake Widgeon Falls
The falls from Lake Widgeon gush over a cliff into a narrow channel at the head of Cascade Basin.
3/3/2014: Lady Bay
At anchor in 55' in Lady Bay with room to swing. This was an excellent anchorage--with nice views north to the head of Long Sound and south past the islets. We're suprised it isn't mentioned in any of the guidebooks as at least a fairweather anchorage.
3/3/2014: Pied Shag
The Pied Shag is native to New Zealand and can stay underwater 20-30 seconds when diving for fish. Several were resting with wings outstretched on a rock near the anchoroage.
3/3/2014: Snow
Snow on the Cameron Mountains at the head of Long Sound.
3/4/2014: Wind
Winds have been blowing from the southwest pretty steadily for the two nights we've been anchored at Lady Bay. The anchorage has good holding and no fetch from that direction, so not a big deal. But we are pulling back on the the rode a fair bit. The divider lines on the chart show distances to various hazards, or to our course line when we passed through the anchorage at the edge of the shallows. We use the divider lines to determine where to drop the anchor in order to have sufficient swing room.
3/4/2014: Revolver Bay
We anchored for lunch in 80' off this dramatic waterfall along the east shore of Revolver Bay.
3/5/2014: Morning sun
Haven't seen a clear sky like this for a few days--it's been just front after front passing through.
3/5/2014: At anchor
Looking south across the anchorage at the mouth of Isthmus Sound. Dirona is in the distance, anchored in 80' just left of the islet in the foreground. Most of our anchorages in Fiordland have been a fair distance from shore--the last couple have been more tucked-in and snug-feeling.
5/6/2014: Blog post: Fiordland
Fiordland has been on our list of special places to visit for nearly as long as we've been boating. We were captivated after seeing a photograph taken from way above Milford Sound of a lone boat heading into a narrow channel between soaring, jagged peaks, its long wake slowly heading out for the shoreline. ... Read more.