Nelson - Stilwell Bay

We started off the morning with our friendly electricians paying us a visit to install our new engine bay extraction fan. This took about 10 minutes and once it was done, we filled up our water and diesel tanks and set sail for the Abel Tasman.

After heading out of the shelter of Nelson marina and the port, we were greeted with a lovely 15kt Southerly which had us flying across the bay to Abel Tasman at nearly 9kts. About 30 minutes in, we hit a convergence zone as the sea breeze filled in and we ended up sailing in a 10-15kt northerly for the rest of the way (still doing about 8.5kt). Photos 4 and 5 show the before and after of this wind shift.

We pulled in just south of Adele Island around 1pm for lunch ("Chinese flag" soup with noodles) and a spot of fishing, before we moved further in, to Stilwell Bay. We enjoyed a dip in the beautiful water and a paddleboard around the bay.

After dinner (hotpot with some fish from the freezer), Lissa and Andrew from Cape Landing (a Lagoon 42), who are undertaking a very similar trip to us, joined us for a couple of drinks. Nathan knows Lissa from when they both used to work for LiveSailDie, when Nathan would drive Lissa around in a RIB to photograph yachting events. It was really nice to be able to catch up with familiar faces who are doing similar things, and share our "war stories".

Tomorrow we're looking forward to trying to catch some fish and continue exploring the Abel Tasman!Read more