Cruise Reports South of France/Italy Aug/Sep 2018
- Thread starter J12345T
- Start date
MapisM
Well-Known Member
Naah, why should you? Give him some time, and I'm sure he'll be able to make the thread even more appealing.
Having been in some of the places which he mentioned, including his home cruising grounds, I can anticipate that we ain't seen nothing yet! :encouragement:
Having been in some of the places which he mentioned, including his home cruising grounds, I can anticipate that we ain't seen nothing yet! :encouragement:
J12345T
Well-Known Member
Hi All,
Still getting used to all this photo hosting stuff.. The pic on post #94 still appears for me. It is a picture of copper in some rocks on Kawau Island.. The pics in posts 96 and 97 were not made by me but appear as blue squares...
Final part of this cruise report will hopefully be ready to post today.
Cheers
James.
Still getting used to all this photo hosting stuff.. The pic on post #94 still appears for me. It is a picture of copper in some rocks on Kawau Island.. The pics in posts 96 and 97 were not made by me but appear as blue squares...
Final part of this cruise report will hopefully be ready to post today.
Cheers
James.
Last edited:
J12345T
Well-Known Member
The Long Voyage Home
We arrived in Picton at 2345 on Monday night. I had not suffered from sickness at all during the delivery but that night in the flat calm of the marina I was violently ill. I believe it was my body's delayed reaction to the stress or to the relief of stress that we had encountered in the final hours of the trip.
Laser left her Gulf Harbour berth at 0430 hours on Saturday morning. The intrepid crew of three included myself, the skipper Ian and my long time friend, colleague and Med cruising buddy Steve. Steve had answered the call to arms at the last minute when my other options had been unable to make the departure date. As it turned out our history as military pilots and our ability to work together was going to prove invaluable.
The first watch was Ian's so after taking her out and setting heading I retired to the bunk.
The Flat Calm.
Rounding Cape Colville was beautiful as I woke up to coffee and breakfast and the sight of the Mercury Islands in the distance. The forecast was nice and indeed we enjoyed a very calm crossing of the Bay of Plenty.
My first night watch commenced at 2200 hours Saturday night and went to 0300hrs on Sunday morning; about the time we were due to round the infamous East Cape.
The Big Ocean Rollers
As we approached 50nm out the wind had picked up and the swells started to build behind us. We were making good progress and I was getting into the swing of things surfing down the waves at times reaching speeds of 14kts. Nothing like a free ride. During the night we were joined by a cruise ship which I later learned was The Renaissance of the Seas. She was lit up like the proverbial Christmas tree and steamed past us at 25kts about 4 miles on our starboard side. At about 30nm out from East Cape I saw the radar contact that was the cruise ship now 10nm ahead of me getting slowly closer. I was puzzled as I could no longer see her but continued to track the target inbound. As we drew closer I could just make out through the binoculars the outline shadow of a very large ship, broadside, directly on my track. There were no other lights except running lights and she appeared to be stationary. I made a small course correction closer to the land and passed 1.5 miles behind what turned out to be the blacked out cruise ship; hoved to.
Whilst I was trying to decipher what the hell she was doing I suddenly noticed a single red flashing strobe light in the water not 3 swells dead ahead of me! I was forced to take immediate evasive action and swung Laser 60 degrees to starboard putting her nearly broadside to the sea. As she was rolling fairly significantly I caught a glimpse of the red strobe that turned out to be one end of a fishing boat's long line pass ~50 metres to my port side. The thought of nearly getting 150m of heavy line caught around my props still gives me shivers. After returning Laser to her course and figuratively changing my underwear I noticed that the mystery cruise ship contact was now charging directly at me from astern at 25kts! This time she passed 1nm to my port side before proceeding to hove to once again. No lights except her running lights, nothing on Ch 16. A mystery to this day but not the last time on the trip that we would encounter Renaissance of the Seas. After what seemed like 30 mins but had in fact been 5 hours we rounded East Cape and my watch was over. I slept like the dead.
When I awoke we were a couple of hours out of Gisborne, our first and only refuelling stop. On the approach we jockeyed for position with a local fishing boat, saw a very large shark and enjoyed some spectacular scenery. On arrival into the very small, mostly commercial port we were directed to a pier that not even the roughest fishing boat would consider acceptable. The only protection from the wood and steel piles was a few huge tractor tyres. We very timidly approached and after getting a couple of lines ashore we found that the residual ocean surge in the port made the location completely untenable. Laser's beautiful white gel coat was getting unceremoniously shoved up against filthy tractor tyres that were long past their dump by date. We made a hasty retreat and reassessed our options. The tanker driver (yes tanker) was adamant that that was the only possible location. We felt differently and headed further into the port and found an unoccupied floating jetty just inside the marina's perimeter fence. We directed the tanker driver to back up to the fence, passed the fuel bowser through gap and made our sneaky refuelling. Ian and I loaded the fuel while Steve did a fantastic job with the turps and boat wash to clean up the horrifying mess down Laser's starboard side. 850 litres later job done and we were off again. Total time less than 1.5hrs.
The next leg to Picton was 306nm and once we were past Napier there was no port of refuge. Even the charts indicated that most of the coastline was surveyed which made an approach to anywhere along that coast untenable. It was clear that we were on our own with virtually no cell coverage and no VHF coverage for the next 24 hours at least.
My night watch began again at 2200 and the weather was fine with a large, long following sea and little wind. Really a very pleasant evening. This time the 5 hours seemed like 10 as there was not a lot to report. The odd fishing boat doing its thing and thankfully no more unannounced cruise ships or dangerous long lines. My watch ended at 0300 and I was off to bed for what I hoped would be a nice rest.
I was thrown from my bed at 0700 as Laser rolled violently. I stumbled up to the helm to find Ian wrestling with a sizeable sea from the west. We were abeam the dreaded Castle Point where for a quirk of topography the wind is funnelled out from a narrow gap in the mountains turning even the moderate NW wind into a 41kt gale. I had gotten up with such a start that in closing my cabin door I had inadvertently locked myself out! Unless I could find a way back in I was faced with completing the remainder of the trip in my PJ's! First things first though. We had a battle on our hands and after initially running for cover closer to the land we opted to turn around and tack downwind for some respite. We repeated this over and over for the next few hours. Enough time for me to work out how to unlock my cabin door from the outside using an Allen key. Phew; crisis averted. No PJ trip for me.
Some hours later we were far enough past Castle Point for the wind effect to be minimal and we settled into some much deserved calm weather. Disconcertingly though, the wind that had piped through Castle Point was still affecting the Cook Strait. It was forecast to abate but we all know how that goes in New Zealand right?
I was at the helm most of the afternoon as we approached Cape Palliser. The sea was beautifully calm and the huge cape that marks the south east corner of the North Island seemed to take forever to round. We were escorted much of the way by various pods of dolphins playing in the bow wave and in the wake. Beautiful creatures but very difficult to photograph.
The weather reports were confirming our fears that the wind in the Cook Strait had not abated as forecast and the stubborn NW 31kt report from Brothers Lighthouse became a knot that was slowly forming in my stomach. As we rounded Cape Palliser and pushed into Palliser Bay the weather worsened with an increasing NW and an increasing sea state. We were still confident that the wind would abate; but when was the question.
The Grey Sea Terror.
Our options at that point were limited. There were no ports of refuge. Wellington harbour although appearing close would have meant a long hard slog directly into the sea, wind and tide. Another option was to turn around and head back around Cape Palliser however, another 20-30nm seemed unpalatable and there was no guarantee that the NW hadn't pushed back around the corner.
Laser was handling the sea on her forward starboard quarter reasonably well but there were large volumes of water coming over the top and every now and then a large set would have Laser falling off the crest and banging into the next face. We elected to try another tactic which was to reduce power to idle and accept the 3-4 kt speed over the ground and wait for the weather to abate. Trouble was that this was uncomfortable to say the least and my concern was that it would mean another 12 or so hours of this punishment.
Laser was taking a pounding but was doing well however, we had already lost the autopilot, the portholes were letting in a small amount of water and some 'different' noises were beginning to develop during those heavy rolling motions. One more, even small failure at this point could have proven critical.
I was trying to rest at this point and my final deciding factor was seeing a close up view of the underside of Cook Strait as it tried to bury my cabin window. I wasn't resting next to that.
I arose to find Ian, with Steve close by watching a cruise ship to our starboard side leaving Wellington Harbour. After a little while it was clear she was on a constant bearing and that we were obliged to give way. A quick check through the binoculars confirmed our suspicions. The Re-nuisance of the Seas. Out of shear exasperation I called her on Ch16, stated that due to the sea state we were limited in our ability of manoeuvre and could she please avoid us. After a short pause a reply of 'no problem' was received. I'm sure I could hear the sound of a fine china tea cup being returned to its saucer as well. Urgh..
Back to the business at hand we decided that our best course of action was to press on. There was a small lull in the wind so I took the helm and experimented with a slightly faster boat speed. 8 kts. 10kts. 12kts. 15kts. With the bow fully trimmed down all seemed to be OK. Taking what I'd learned from our Great Barrier trip I took a slightly more southerly course putting the worst of the sea off to our starboard side allowing a longer period and therefore faster speed. Laser's pedigree really showed through here as the performance of the hull in those conditions and at those speeds surprised us all. Instead of the banging and popping there was more swishing and crushing but nothing alarming. She was doing really well so we pressed on.
On; until we encountered the tail of the Karori rip; a notorious area of very disturbed sea that lies between Cape Terawhiti and Sinclair Head. The Tasman sea as it tries to squeeze its way through the narrow gap between the North and the South Islands creates a nasty, confused sea made up of peaks, troughs, standing and cresting waves from all directions. Thankfully our plan to stay well south meant we only caught the edge of this. Although we had to slow down once again we were through the worst of it in fairly short order.
It was about this time that the 'periods of low cloud or fog' part of the forecast became the topic of conversation for ahead lay a fairly significant bank of fog. With the light fading and the sea state allowing for limited short bursts of speed we entered the fog. I would have to say that this was my lowest point. We were tired, we had no autopilot, it was dark, it was foggy and we were faced with negotiating the very busy, very narrow, very rocky and very tidal entrance to the Marlborough Sounds known as Tory Channel.
I know Tory Channel pretty well but I've never entered in anything close to those conditions. There were no other viable options and I knew we had to get this right the first time. This is where Ian's experience as a large freighter captain paid huge dividends. We transferred control to the fly-bridge and Ian took the helm. I manned the navigator's seat and Steve observed, whilst giving minute by minute updates on the positions of ferry traffic tracked live on his iPhone. Gotta love that.
We saw nothing but fog until ~1.2nm from the Tory entrance when Steve picked up the faintest hint of the leading lights. Ian picked up the lead in bearing and with a constant stream of heading updates from me we drew closer. Shortly thereafter the fog bank lifted just enough to give us a clear but still very black view of the leading lights allowing Laser to slip through the narrow channel and into the safety and flat calm of the Marlborough Sounds.
My feelings at that time were pretty much indescribable. We still had some work to do negotiating the remainder of the channel and the Queen Charlotte Sound. We had one ferry approaching ahead and another chasing us down from behind but at that point I knew we'd made it. Entering the Queen Charlotte Sound we accelerated Laser to 22kts for her final run home.
As we entered Picton marina I could see my wife and daughter waving to us from the over bridge. Such troopers even though it was now just a few minutes from midnight on Monday and they had just completed their own long drive and ferry crossing that day. After securing Laser to her berth we shut down and heard silence for the first time in three days.
Cheers.
James.
We arrived in Picton at 2345 on Monday night. I had not suffered from sickness at all during the delivery but that night in the flat calm of the marina I was violently ill. I believe it was my body's delayed reaction to the stress or to the relief of stress that we had encountered in the final hours of the trip.
Laser left her Gulf Harbour berth at 0430 hours on Saturday morning. The intrepid crew of three included myself, the skipper Ian and my long time friend, colleague and Med cruising buddy Steve. Steve had answered the call to arms at the last minute when my other options had been unable to make the departure date. As it turned out our history as military pilots and our ability to work together was going to prove invaluable.
The first watch was Ian's so after taking her out and setting heading I retired to the bunk.
The Flat Calm.
Rounding Cape Colville was beautiful as I woke up to coffee and breakfast and the sight of the Mercury Islands in the distance. The forecast was nice and indeed we enjoyed a very calm crossing of the Bay of Plenty.
My first night watch commenced at 2200 hours Saturday night and went to 0300hrs on Sunday morning; about the time we were due to round the infamous East Cape.
The Big Ocean Rollers
As we approached 50nm out the wind had picked up and the swells started to build behind us. We were making good progress and I was getting into the swing of things surfing down the waves at times reaching speeds of 14kts. Nothing like a free ride. During the night we were joined by a cruise ship which I later learned was The Renaissance of the Seas. She was lit up like the proverbial Christmas tree and steamed past us at 25kts about 4 miles on our starboard side. At about 30nm out from East Cape I saw the radar contact that was the cruise ship now 10nm ahead of me getting slowly closer. I was puzzled as I could no longer see her but continued to track the target inbound. As we drew closer I could just make out through the binoculars the outline shadow of a very large ship, broadside, directly on my track. There were no other lights except running lights and she appeared to be stationary. I made a small course correction closer to the land and passed 1.5 miles behind what turned out to be the blacked out cruise ship; hoved to.
Whilst I was trying to decipher what the hell she was doing I suddenly noticed a single red flashing strobe light in the water not 3 swells dead ahead of me! I was forced to take immediate evasive action and swung Laser 60 degrees to starboard putting her nearly broadside to the sea. As she was rolling fairly significantly I caught a glimpse of the red strobe that turned out to be one end of a fishing boat's long line pass ~50 metres to my port side. The thought of nearly getting 150m of heavy line caught around my props still gives me shivers. After returning Laser to her course and figuratively changing my underwear I noticed that the mystery cruise ship contact was now charging directly at me from astern at 25kts! This time she passed 1nm to my port side before proceeding to hove to once again. No lights except her running lights, nothing on Ch 16. A mystery to this day but not the last time on the trip that we would encounter Renaissance of the Seas. After what seemed like 30 mins but had in fact been 5 hours we rounded East Cape and my watch was over. I slept like the dead.
When I awoke we were a couple of hours out of Gisborne, our first and only refuelling stop. On the approach we jockeyed for position with a local fishing boat, saw a very large shark and enjoyed some spectacular scenery. On arrival into the very small, mostly commercial port we were directed to a pier that not even the roughest fishing boat would consider acceptable. The only protection from the wood and steel piles was a few huge tractor tyres. We very timidly approached and after getting a couple of lines ashore we found that the residual ocean surge in the port made the location completely untenable. Laser's beautiful white gel coat was getting unceremoniously shoved up against filthy tractor tyres that were long past their dump by date. We made a hasty retreat and reassessed our options. The tanker driver (yes tanker) was adamant that that was the only possible location. We felt differently and headed further into the port and found an unoccupied floating jetty just inside the marina's perimeter fence. We directed the tanker driver to back up to the fence, passed the fuel bowser through gap and made our sneaky refuelling. Ian and I loaded the fuel while Steve did a fantastic job with the turps and boat wash to clean up the horrifying mess down Laser's starboard side. 850 litres later job done and we were off again. Total time less than 1.5hrs.
The next leg to Picton was 306nm and once we were past Napier there was no port of refuge. Even the charts indicated that most of the coastline was surveyed which made an approach to anywhere along that coast untenable. It was clear that we were on our own with virtually no cell coverage and no VHF coverage for the next 24 hours at least.
My night watch began again at 2200 and the weather was fine with a large, long following sea and little wind. Really a very pleasant evening. This time the 5 hours seemed like 10 as there was not a lot to report. The odd fishing boat doing its thing and thankfully no more unannounced cruise ships or dangerous long lines. My watch ended at 0300 and I was off to bed for what I hoped would be a nice rest.
I was thrown from my bed at 0700 as Laser rolled violently. I stumbled up to the helm to find Ian wrestling with a sizeable sea from the west. We were abeam the dreaded Castle Point where for a quirk of topography the wind is funnelled out from a narrow gap in the mountains turning even the moderate NW wind into a 41kt gale. I had gotten up with such a start that in closing my cabin door I had inadvertently locked myself out! Unless I could find a way back in I was faced with completing the remainder of the trip in my PJ's! First things first though. We had a battle on our hands and after initially running for cover closer to the land we opted to turn around and tack downwind for some respite. We repeated this over and over for the next few hours. Enough time for me to work out how to unlock my cabin door from the outside using an Allen key. Phew; crisis averted. No PJ trip for me.
Some hours later we were far enough past Castle Point for the wind effect to be minimal and we settled into some much deserved calm weather. Disconcertingly though, the wind that had piped through Castle Point was still affecting the Cook Strait. It was forecast to abate but we all know how that goes in New Zealand right?
I was at the helm most of the afternoon as we approached Cape Palliser. The sea was beautifully calm and the huge cape that marks the south east corner of the North Island seemed to take forever to round. We were escorted much of the way by various pods of dolphins playing in the bow wave and in the wake. Beautiful creatures but very difficult to photograph.
The weather reports were confirming our fears that the wind in the Cook Strait had not abated as forecast and the stubborn NW 31kt report from Brothers Lighthouse became a knot that was slowly forming in my stomach. As we rounded Cape Palliser and pushed into Palliser Bay the weather worsened with an increasing NW and an increasing sea state. We were still confident that the wind would abate; but when was the question.
The Grey Sea Terror.
Our options at that point were limited. There were no ports of refuge. Wellington harbour although appearing close would have meant a long hard slog directly into the sea, wind and tide. Another option was to turn around and head back around Cape Palliser however, another 20-30nm seemed unpalatable and there was no guarantee that the NW hadn't pushed back around the corner.
Laser was handling the sea on her forward starboard quarter reasonably well but there were large volumes of water coming over the top and every now and then a large set would have Laser falling off the crest and banging into the next face. We elected to try another tactic which was to reduce power to idle and accept the 3-4 kt speed over the ground and wait for the weather to abate. Trouble was that this was uncomfortable to say the least and my concern was that it would mean another 12 or so hours of this punishment.
Laser was taking a pounding but was doing well however, we had already lost the autopilot, the portholes were letting in a small amount of water and some 'different' noises were beginning to develop during those heavy rolling motions. One more, even small failure at this point could have proven critical.
I was trying to rest at this point and my final deciding factor was seeing a close up view of the underside of Cook Strait as it tried to bury my cabin window. I wasn't resting next to that.
I arose to find Ian, with Steve close by watching a cruise ship to our starboard side leaving Wellington Harbour. After a little while it was clear she was on a constant bearing and that we were obliged to give way. A quick check through the binoculars confirmed our suspicions. The Re-nuisance of the Seas. Out of shear exasperation I called her on Ch16, stated that due to the sea state we were limited in our ability of manoeuvre and could she please avoid us. After a short pause a reply of 'no problem' was received. I'm sure I could hear the sound of a fine china tea cup being returned to its saucer as well. Urgh..
Back to the business at hand we decided that our best course of action was to press on. There was a small lull in the wind so I took the helm and experimented with a slightly faster boat speed. 8 kts. 10kts. 12kts. 15kts. With the bow fully trimmed down all seemed to be OK. Taking what I'd learned from our Great Barrier trip I took a slightly more southerly course putting the worst of the sea off to our starboard side allowing a longer period and therefore faster speed. Laser's pedigree really showed through here as the performance of the hull in those conditions and at those speeds surprised us all. Instead of the banging and popping there was more swishing and crushing but nothing alarming. She was doing really well so we pressed on.
On; until we encountered the tail of the Karori rip; a notorious area of very disturbed sea that lies between Cape Terawhiti and Sinclair Head. The Tasman sea as it tries to squeeze its way through the narrow gap between the North and the South Islands creates a nasty, confused sea made up of peaks, troughs, standing and cresting waves from all directions. Thankfully our plan to stay well south meant we only caught the edge of this. Although we had to slow down once again we were through the worst of it in fairly short order.
It was about this time that the 'periods of low cloud or fog' part of the forecast became the topic of conversation for ahead lay a fairly significant bank of fog. With the light fading and the sea state allowing for limited short bursts of speed we entered the fog. I would have to say that this was my lowest point. We were tired, we had no autopilot, it was dark, it was foggy and we were faced with negotiating the very busy, very narrow, very rocky and very tidal entrance to the Marlborough Sounds known as Tory Channel.
I know Tory Channel pretty well but I've never entered in anything close to those conditions. There were no other viable options and I knew we had to get this right the first time. This is where Ian's experience as a large freighter captain paid huge dividends. We transferred control to the fly-bridge and Ian took the helm. I manned the navigator's seat and Steve observed, whilst giving minute by minute updates on the positions of ferry traffic tracked live on his iPhone. Gotta love that.
We saw nothing but fog until ~1.2nm from the Tory entrance when Steve picked up the faintest hint of the leading lights. Ian picked up the lead in bearing and with a constant stream of heading updates from me we drew closer. Shortly thereafter the fog bank lifted just enough to give us a clear but still very black view of the leading lights allowing Laser to slip through the narrow channel and into the safety and flat calm of the Marlborough Sounds.
My feelings at that time were pretty much indescribable. We still had some work to do negotiating the remainder of the channel and the Queen Charlotte Sound. We had one ferry approaching ahead and another chasing us down from behind but at that point I knew we'd made it. Entering the Queen Charlotte Sound we accelerated Laser to 22kts for her final run home.
As we entered Picton marina I could see my wife and daughter waving to us from the over bridge. Such troopers even though it was now just a few minutes from midnight on Monday and they had just completed their own long drive and ferry crossing that day. After securing Laser to her berth we shut down and heard silence for the first time in three days.
Cheers.
James.
J12345T
Well-Known Member
Re: The Long Voyage Home
In closing I have to say a huge thanks to all involved. To Ian for his vast skill and experience. To Steve for his cool head, wise council and unwavering sense of calm. To my wife for her constant support both practical and emotional and to Laser for her strength, her reliability and her sure footed handling. We're here, we're home and we're looking forward to many more adventures to come.
Cheers,
James.
In closing I have to say a huge thanks to all involved. To Ian for his vast skill and experience. To Steve for his cool head, wise council and unwavering sense of calm. To my wife for her constant support both practical and emotional and to Laser for her strength, her reliability and her sure footed handling. We're here, we're home and we're looking forward to many more adventures to come.
Cheers,
James.
Bouba
Well-Known Member
Re: The Long Voyage Home
Wow! What an adventure. Incredible.
Wow! What an adventure. Incredible.
mcanderson
Well-Known Member
Re: The Long Voyage Home
James,
By far the best trip report I have ever read on this bulletin board. I was great to meet you guys in Beaulieu and I wish you all the best now that you are finally home.
A fantastic adventure and shows you what is possible when you put your mind to it!
James,
By far the best trip report I have ever read on this bulletin board. I was great to meet you guys in Beaulieu and I wish you all the best now that you are finally home.
A fantastic adventure and shows you what is possible when you put your mind to it!
markc
Well-Known Member
Re: The Long Voyage Home
Brilliantly engaging! Thanks James
Brilliantly engaging! Thanks James
D
Deleted User YDKXO
Guest
Re: The Long Voyage Home
Amazing achievement James and thanks for the reports. In fact keep them coming because its a beautiful part of the world with which not many forumites are familiar
Amazing achievement James and thanks for the reports. In fact keep them coming because its a beautiful part of the world with which not many forumites are familiar
vas
Well-Known Member
Re: The Long Voyage Home
+1 to what the previous posters say!
also thanks for the geography lesson! Had a tab with google maps and the tab with the report and pics side by side to take full advantage of the story
cheers
V.
+1 to what the previous posters say!
also thanks for the geography lesson! Had a tab with google maps and the tab with the report and pics side by side to take full advantage of the story
cheers
V.
J12345T
Well-Known Member
Re: The Long Voyage Home
Hi All,
Thanks for the kind comments. I'm glad the google maps came in handy. I was hoping that would be the case!
I'll see how we go re further cruise reports. It has been a fun way to document and record what has been a true (once?) in a lifetime experience for me. I've gained a huge amount from all of this and it was great to be able to share it with you all.
Cheers
James.
Hi All,
Thanks for the kind comments. I'm glad the google maps came in handy. I was hoping that would be the case!
I'll see how we go re further cruise reports. It has been a fun way to document and record what has been a true (once?) in a lifetime experience for me. I've gained a huge amount from all of this and it was great to be able to share it with you all.
Cheers
James.
roa312
Well-Known Member
Re: The Long Voyage Home
Hi James,
Just want to chime in and say I also found this thread a super interesting read. Thank you for taking the time to post this!
Hi James,
Just want to chime in and say I also found this thread a super interesting read. Thank you for taking the time to post this!