I couldn't have done everything without the help of people around me. Jacquelyn took me in after work so I could change, and drove me to the marina. Murray and Roger loaned me gear. Roger let me onto his boat for a race even though I'm pretty inexperienced on keel boats still. And I managed to hitch a ride by boat and then by car all the way from The Middle of Nowhere, NZ, direct to the Nelson airport.
On Friday evening I reported to the boat for our overnight race to Nelson. I had already stowed my gear the night before. I tried on a coat that a crewmate had lent to me, but it was a large and went down to my knees. Off I went to the Marine Supply to buy a coat. Altogether my storm gear cost $500. Unfortunately they're sized for men, so although I got xsm, I still swim a bit.
Anywhoo, we set off on the race but immediately were delayed by mild winds.
Check out this picture of the entrance to Wellington Harbour, which usually has very choppy seas. The mirror glass is an indicator of zero wind-- incredibly weird for any part of Wellington, much less this turbulent section.
Night fell and we were far behind the rest of the boats. It was very choppy in the notorious Karori Reef; it was so fun! I Whoo hoo'd but was told by the captain that that scares some of the crew, so I had to shut my trap. Being on that race in the Cook Strait was one of the coolest things I've ever done.I was the first group allowed to take a 3-hour nap, until midnight. Around midnight, very strong winds came up. In my berth, I passively reflected that I could die. I say passively because I figured there was nothing I could do about it so I just, literally, held tight and enjoyed the ride. The captain came down to the hold and told his partner that he was pulling out of the race, after discussing it with the rest of the crew. The strong winds were too much for everyone, and we were going to hole up in a cove, wait out the winds for a couple of days, and then sail out to Wellington. I had a flight from Nelson to Wellington Sunday evening, but there was nothing to be done about that.
I had taken two dramamine, because the rest of the crew made it sound like everyone would be seasick, and I didn't want to be the novice wuss puking over the side. Well I forgot dramamine make people drowsy, so while sitting near the cockpit I fell asleep (hand firmly clenching a handle), for about three hours, waking up every once in awhile when a particularly hard wave hit. It was one way to get away from the reality of my cold, wet, feet and hands though. At one stage I was woken up by the captain yelling, "Dolphins! Wake up, dolphins!" I finally woke up and everywhere around me were cresting black dolphins coming out of the moonlit water in a big white spray of water. They followed the boat for several minutes. Some of the dolphins were very small. I stayed awake for a few minutes after that. In front of me was the almost full moon in the sky over a pointy island, with the moonlight coming towards the boat along the water. I was too tired to take a picture, but was aware of how lucky I was to see such a thing. The stars were out and I could see Orion's Belt and the Southern Cross quite clearly. We were in the Sounds of the South Island by that point.
Finally, at 5:30am, we found a buoy at a cove and we all went to sleep. I couldn't believe that 6 of us fit so nicely in the boat, but I was actually quite comfortable. I've never been so grateful for how short I am. In the morning, this is what I awoke to: The Marlborough Sounds.
We decided to spend the day going to a restaurant, and then Sunday trying to sail towards Wellington. The winds were not in our favor to head up to Nelson so that I could catch my plane. As soon as we started out, we spied a pod of porpoises; they look so much like small orcas.
I also saw two penguins around the same time.We heard by radio that there was bad weather at the restaurant, so we sought shelter from the strong gusty winds in a cove that had a few bach's rimmed around the shore. We found a buoy quite close to the largest bach that looked like it was a compound of three or four houses. We broke out the Captain Morgan and had a great time talking. The captain made tuna spaghetti which was surprisingly much better than it sounds!
I woke up the next morning to cold gusty winds, even stronger than the day before. Our boat had circled and rocked quite strongly during the night. The captain said that because of the winds we'd be sailing nowhere today, and that we might get into Wellington Tuesday night.
I noticed that the bach next to us seemed to be loading their motor boat; I decided that I wanted to get on that boat. My crewmates joked with me and told me how unlikely it was that this boat would be going to Nelson, about 70 miles away (where I wanted to go to catch my flight). Nonetheless, I got dressed and packed up my bags, just in case. I didn't eat breakfast so that I could watch for when the boat came closer. Finally it left its mooring and I waved at it, luckily it came over. Roger explained to the two men on the boat that I had a plane to catch in Nelson; and guess what? One of the men on the boat had a flight to catch in Nelson at around the same time as me, and they were happy to take me to the airport. Whooo hoo!!I jumped on their boat and we were off to French Pass, and then hopped in a car for Nelson. The road was narrow and steep, I was happy to look at the gorgeous views of the sounds below us. The guys were really nice, lawyers with kids my age. I even got to grab a shower at their parents' beautiful home in Nelson, and then caught a ride to the airport. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world to be making my plane.
Home in Wellington, I grabbed the bus and then a taxi home. I can't tell you how relieved I was to be at home. The sail had been wonderful, but it was hard to not know when the weather would let up-- that's the problem with New Zealand, is that the forecast always changes. In the end I had an amazing experience. My fb post today:
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