Four of us will be spending a few days in the Marlborough Sound area in early February and would like to sail for a day. Any suggestions? Bareboat day charter? Hang out at a yacht club and beg a ride? Other? Can anyone point us in the right direction? Thanks
Heading to the South Island of New Zealand. Day sail?
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On Holiday, eh? You lucky blokes!
That is a really nice area. I visited near there several years ago and still remember the good time. I was in the area "next door" so to speak, and went from Picton to Wellington along the ferry route. The ferry at that time left Picton around noon to the early afternoon and I managed to hitch-hike on a fellows new boat. The crew was in the pub and he wanted to have a sober hand on-board to help sail her.
The trip across Cooks Strait was a ride in quite strong winds and fairly good sized seas and whitecaps. Got into Wellington sometime around 10pm and it was dark.
As for suggestions? I'd say, put yourself together a translation dictionary. Maybe you can search for something like that on the Internet. Then maybe try to tune in some Kiwi radio or TV stations on the Internet and listen to their "English". This way when you try to communicate to them it'll be a lot easier.
The terrain along the route we went was similar to that of the Pacific Northwest and somewhat like the outer BC central coast. Mountainous but not as much as the mainland BC coast and well timbered.
Driving a car: If you rent a car be very, VERY careful. I assume they still drive on the "other side" of the road. One problem I had was when making a left turn in front of a lot of oncoming traffic, because it was quick to get out of their way, I found myself on the "wrong" side of the road I was entering. Fortunately the drivers coming toward me had loud horns on their cars and warned me of my error. Do this once and if you survive and you should be a much more careful driver afterwards.
Pedestrian crossings: be sure to look "the other way" before stepping off the curb. Same situation as above only this time you won't have steel to protect you.
Hope this helps a little bit. By any chance you wouldn't happen to want a guide, would you???
That is a really nice area. I visited near there several years ago and still remember the good time. I was in the area "next door" so to speak, and went from Picton to Wellington along the ferry route. The ferry at that time left Picton around noon to the early afternoon and I managed to hitch-hike on a fellows new boat. The crew was in the pub and he wanted to have a sober hand on-board to help sail her.
The trip across Cooks Strait was a ride in quite strong winds and fairly good sized seas and whitecaps. Got into Wellington sometime around 10pm and it was dark.
As for suggestions? I'd say, put yourself together a translation dictionary. Maybe you can search for something like that on the Internet. Then maybe try to tune in some Kiwi radio or TV stations on the Internet and listen to their "English". This way when you try to communicate to them it'll be a lot easier.
The terrain along the route we went was similar to that of the Pacific Northwest and somewhat like the outer BC central coast. Mountainous but not as much as the mainland BC coast and well timbered.
Driving a car: If you rent a car be very, VERY careful. I assume they still drive on the "other side" of the road. One problem I had was when making a left turn in front of a lot of oncoming traffic, because it was quick to get out of their way, I found myself on the "wrong" side of the road I was entering. Fortunately the drivers coming toward me had loud horns on their cars and warned me of my error. Do this once and if you survive and you should be a much more careful driver afterwards.
Pedestrian crossings: be sure to look "the other way" before stepping off the curb. Same situation as above only this time you won't have steel to protect you.
Hope this helps a little bit. By any chance you wouldn't happen to want a guide, would you???
Thanks, I've driven a fair bit in the UK and Scotland so I have gotten past that initial urge to accidentally mow down pedestrians and enter the wrong lane on a left hand turn. I DID find a place that would charter us a 29 ft boat in Picton for a day (most want you to take a boat for a week). Are the cruising grounds fairly deep in the Picton area (where the Wellington Ferry arrives) such that we don't have to worry about submerged rocks a lot? Thanks
Ok, I have a little more detail now and would like to ask if any of you have sailed in the Queen Charlotte Sound area of Marlborough Sound. We have reserved a 29 ft Carpenter (not sure what that is) out of Waikawa for the day. Anybody have any experience sailing those grounds to recommend how to spend a day sailing there?
It's a big area. We visited about 10 yrs ago and toured that area by power boat to cover the area in which we were interested. It all depends on what your objective is.
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