Wayne Girdlestone

After a fantastic lunch it was time to head back to the marina. It’s been a fantastic 8 days on the water seeing how we cope with this lifestyle, what works, what did not and of course how did Sealion live up to expectations. Simply put, Sealion was great however for two of us full time onboard she is too small. For me this is my dream, I love it, the highs, the lows and everything in between. It’s not easy but it’s rewarding beyond belief. A larger yacht with a few more basic creature comforts will hopefully make this life a bit more comfortable for Debbie? Budget wise, for the 2 or us, 8 days on the water eating really well was in the facility of $500. In terms of diesel, we went through about 75l which included motoring, heating and topping up the battery. Water consumption was 150l which included a little bit of a bugger up when a tap got left on so all in all a good test. All in all, this was a fantastic trip and I’m already looking forward to the next one… hopefully the weather will play ball 🤟🏻

Spent a bit of time trying to calibrate “Al” the autopilot but not sure he any better… time will tell! No wind again today so great opportunity to motor around to areas of Lyttelton Harbour I have not been to. Was a proper Gary glass-off for the majority of the morning and Quayle Island is an area I would like to venture to in the near future. Also looks to be a solid anchorage for a southerly blow? Motored back across the bay to Cass bay for lunch. Absolutely stunning day for this. Perhaps winter in the South is not ALWAYS so bad then?

Perfect day for it… not sure it’s any better mind you?

Gentle motor over to Purau taking in the sights… Going to give Paul’s mooring ball a go tonight. Expecting a light to moderate N-NE wind. Debbie feeling a bit better today which is a relief …

Well that was not the best anchorage… should have realised that after a big blow Little Port Cooper would have been rolly as… Bigger concern was no water on arrival yesterday afternoon so I suspect either I made a calculation error or a tap as left on. 20l reserves came in handy last night.. No wind to speak of so just motored back this morning.

After yesterdays blow with gusts into into the 50’s even in Diamond Harbour (very sheltered) the sea state was a tad unpleasant today. Never seen rollers braking in the harbour before so thats a first. Steady enough wind to power us through the chop but did die off near the heads again. Picked up a club mooring ball in Little Port Cooper but have the feeling we are in for a rough night.

After been hunkered down for two days it was nice to get out and sail again. Idea is still to get miles in so Debbie can get her sea legs… still a bit crook so this does not help. Was a bit of a swell running with chop & waves bouncing off the shoreline to make a lovely washing machine motion. Sealion was again pretty good so happy with the way things are all working. Picked up the club mooring ball in Diamond Harbour as we are expecting a NE blow with gusts into the 50’s … Missing a bit of data on this file as I had SeaPeople running in the background and did not realise that once I went off Navionics it paused the file?

Light NE breeze with persistent drizzle. Good opportunity for Debbie to be at the helm giving her the opportunity to “feel” the wind and to adjust her course accordingly to changes in the wind.

Gentle 3-5pm NE so we just motored out to anchor

Was a bit more wind than expected but great nonetheless. Temp was 8 degrees so fresh with wind gusting from the SW into the high 20’s… Flew downwind with a full main & #2 Genoa but put the 2nd reef in on the way back. Balance was good for the most part and Sealion loved it, as did Debbie & I… Great way to end 3 days on the water. Rather annoyed as I recorded this with Savvy Navvy but as I was “free sailing” with no route plotted apparently I can’t export the .gpx file???