40:52:03S
173:45:86E
Weather looks set fair for the
next couple of days. We left Nelson this morning destination Chatham Islands. We
planned to take a short cut through a narrow pass between D’Urville Island and
the Mainland saving ourselves 6 hours. However we got to French Pass just
1/2 and hour too late……even with the engine at full revs we came to a halt
and then were pushed back. making a quick turn we raced back to a
nearby bay where we anchored for a short while. We worked out
that we couldn’t attempt the pass again until after dark. Not a risk worth
taking. So we are now under way again motoring for Cook Straight in a light
N’thly wind that promises to fill in later this evening. So far so good.
Interestingly enough friends emailed us that they had googled up flight distance
from Nelson to Chatham Island which came up as 28624 Kilometres or 17786 miles
or 15455 nautical miles. Don’t forget to turn right out of Nelson. Thank you
Tim, we took your advice……