M/Y Iron Lady

OK – Milford Sound is the one Fiord accessible by road. It is also the most spectacular (vertically speaking). Over 500,000 people visit here per year. More amazing since the sounds south of here are unhabited and visited by just a few. Further, the next safe stop northbound by visiting yachts is around Farewell Spit at the top of the South Island to Nelson or back to Queen Charlotte and Picton via Cook Straight.

In terms of anchorages, there are none for visiting yachts (unless you can anchor in 50 plus meters of water). There are no protected coves. There is one small facility at the end of the sound run by a fisheries company but that is it.

These first pics are on our way from Doubtful.

Departure thru Thompson Sound.

Up the coast

And an encounter with a sperm whale.

Ansd more dolphin having fun.

Approaching Milford.

A long swell (that was nothing at sea) busting 5o feet high on the rocks.

Now it gets impressive.

Those “small” boats in the picture are actually cruise ships – and another pic just so you can get the picture.

And more pics.

And now a bunch of Iron Lady.

And some in front of Miter Peak – sorry that the sun was against us.

All this was made more interesting by the fact that the afternoon winds (in fair weather) came up to 40 knots. Typical of fickle Fiordland.

We thought about staying, but with a good weather window, we made the call to head north. A few parting pics.

Farewell Fiordland – what a spectacular place!

We were off early the next morning for Doubtful Sound.

Despite its name, Doubtful Sound is a Fiord surrounded by high mountains and is almost as visually imposing as its famous northern neighbor, Milford Sound. It received its name from Captain Cook in 1770 who named it Doubtful Harbor as he concluded that if he sailed in to it, he might never be able to get out again. The name was later changed to Doubtful Sound.

First, some more shots as we proceeded up the coast.

The following map shows the Doubtful Sound complex.

Our routing plan was to enter the sound and travel down to Deep Cove and then track back toward Thompson and Bradshaw Sounds to the Gaer Arm. We planned to spend the night at Precipice Cove – one of the few all weather anchorages in the complex. The soundings on the chart pretty clearly show the difficulty of finding protected and suitable anchorages. Water depths of 200 feet are common right up to the shore line (the numbers on the chart are in meters) and there are few protected coves.

Note the terrain elevations – particularly in the Marrington Peak area – over 1300 meters and they fell almost vertically into the sounds. More distant terrain was even higher – some of the peaks sporting hanging glaciers.

I can’t quite remember where each of the following pictures were taken, but they are sequenced to the route we traveled starting at the entrance to Doubtful.

The following is an interesting shot of the water near one of the ends of the arms.

It is common for a layer of fresh water 2 to 10 meters thick to lie on top of the salt water depending on how much rain has fallen. It had been quite dry so the layer was probably close to 3 meters thick based on our soundings. The bright yellow color is a result of tannins that are leached from the soil as the fresh water runs in to the sound (and yes – it was that bright).

Finally,pictures in the vicinity of Precipice Cove and our home for the night.

And Iron Lady beneath the obvious precipice that gave the cove its name.

As I have frequently mentioned, weather is a big issue in this part of the world. While the weather was nice, several days before our departure from Stuart, reports surfaced that a long swell from deep in the Southern ocean was running. While innocuous enough at sea (in fact quite fun to slowly ride up and down these monsters) the swell steepens and shortens at the entrances to the Sounds of Fiordland. 6 to 7 meter (in excess of 20 foot) breaking seas were reported at the entrance to Milford Sound. With the weather still with us and lots more sounds in front of us, we were off at daybreak for Dusky and Breaksea Sounds which are connected by Acheron Passage – an inside passage connecting the two.

No need to tempt Mother Nature.

On the way, we passed a boat that seemed to be in distress. We got no reply to our hails, but they were busy launching a dink so we stopped to see if they needed help.

Turns out that it was the New Zealand Government at work. They asked permission to board and we were inspected by the Department of Conservation, Customs, and Fish and Game. Very professional (and nice) – they performed their inspection and we chatted for about 30 minutes. (I really think they just wanted a look at Iron lady!)

As we approached Dusky Sound, it was readily apparent how it got its name.

Along with visual reminders that it pays to be careful.

The trip down the sound was spectacular. The mountains get more impressive with each sound as you head north. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

We stopped in this little cove for a bit.

And then it was on to the Acheron Passage.

Near the end of the passage, we came across these guys. They were taking turns jumping over each other.

Once in Breaksea, we came across this “hunting camp”.

All the comforts of home – and a quick way to get to the office as well. Just one of the many oddities you see in NZ.

Not far from our anchorage for the night was this beautiful waterfall.

And our home for the evening.

Just another tough day – glad we were the ones who had to do it.

The next morning we were off early for the 90 mile run to Chalky Inlet that took us across the infamous Foveaux Straight and around the even more infamous Puysegar Point. Joe told us that the Foveaux has claimed more lives then Cape Horn – all the more reason to pick a gentile day. Doesn’t look like it was too gentile (and it wasn’t), but by Foveaux Straight standards, this was “flat as a pancake” to use Joe’s words.

This was in the vicinity of Puysegar.

Our destination was the southern most fiord, Chalky Inlet. The following is a shot of the chart. Those small red circles are the only safe all weather anchorages in the whole of the fiord.

A bit tough to see, but there are three all told. Our cruising guide for Fiordland (which was recommended by some friendly cruisers back in Picton) was “Beneath the Reflections”. An extremely good guide that identified all the anchorages, what kind of weather they were safe in, and how to anchor in them.

While we found it a bit conservative, much better safe then sorry. From our experience, we would trust it 100%. The locals (few that we saw) confirmed its value.

The following shots were taken after we had rounded Puysegar and closed on Chalky.

From the following, you can see how the inlet got its name.

Some shots as we headed down the fiord.

As we approached our anchorage, we saw this cruising sailboat – the first and last cruising boat we saw from Akaroa until we made Picton again – as a quick guess, some 1200 nautical miles.

We continued onto our anchorage – here are some shots as we approached and anchored.

As remote as we are, seems we never quite escape technology. The Sat dish is for visiting lobster men (so they can watch their all-important rugby games.

Anyway, we tied up just as our guide advertised.

We launched the dink to explore and Deb went prepared for bugs.

Just one problem – they got her anyway – even thru the netting. Joe and I were fine – the bugs were annoying but didn’t seem to trouble us. Deb – well they just attacked – absent protection, all we would have found of Deb was a bleached carcass by morning. Fiordland is infamous for these nasty critters.

We launched Beer Can and headed to where we had seen the other boat and came across this fellow kayaking. He was helping the boat owners out on their passage.

Shortly after, we met the owner and his family.

They were from Tasmania and had recently arrived. Enroute, they had endured a 90 knot blow coming across the Tasman – VERY nasty.

They had been out with some local lobster men who were checking their storage pots that morning. We had hoped to do the same, but the lobster boats were gone. The procedure is to place pots outside the sound and then take the captured lobsters to storage pots in the fiord. When the market is right, they retrieve the lobsters from the storage pots and helicopter them (yes – helicopter if the price is right) them to market when the prices are good.

The Tasmanians asked us to stop by to pick up a lobster – with pleasure!

Made our day!

Based on their recommendation (and the horrible bugs in our anchorage) and the settled weather – we moved Iron Lady out in to the middle of the fiord and joined them.

The lobster joined us for dinner! And another nice sunset – except for him.

Port Adventure is the next inlet south of Patterson. We were off early and headed to Abraham’s Bosom – a secure anchorage. The following shots were taken enroute.

This as we approached the anchorage.

And Iron Lady at anchor (Always have to fit one in.)

Abraham’s Bosom offered another tidal creek to explore. The tidal creek led to a small freshwater stream and waterfall. Our guide indicated the water was potable but we didn’t try it. First some shots as we ventured up the tidal creek.

And a some shots of the water fall.

And some shots as we paddled our way back down the stream.

You will note that I am wearing a fleece. Stewart island weather is controlled by a warm current that flows around it so the climate remains temperate – typically 40 degrees (5 C.) at night and 50 to 60 (10 to 15 C) during the day. Most days, a fleece felt pretty good.

There was another river nearby so we continued our exploration and came across these fellows on a deer hunting and fishing trip.

The bush camp is available for rent at very modest prices but reservations must be made up to a year in advance. The bigger expense involves hauling all the gear in and out. Everyone, including all the gear, is brought in by ferry from Bluff on the south end of the South Island. The ferry delivers everything directly to the campsite. It is even equipped with a crane to load, launch and retrieve the small boats. Pretty typical group of guys on a hunting and fish trip – you can see the kegs lined up in front of the bush shack.

Another view as we traveled up the river.

While we wanted to travel on south to Lords River and Pegasus, the weather forecast argued that we should move on to Fiordland. Reluctantly, we motored back up to Patterson for the night and prepared Iron Lady for the trip up the Foveaux Straight around Point Puysegur Point to the southern most fiords. These shots were taken on the way back up.

The plan for our next day at Stewart Island was to visit Ulva Island in Patterson Inlet. Ulva is completely free of invasive species and is home to a wife variety of bird life native to New Zealand. Our day began by motoring from our anchorage at Little Glory to anchor up off Ulva Island.

First a few shots taken at daybreak – pretty spectacular.

Iron Lady anchored off Ulva.

The water here is a beautiful, crystal clear green color with lots of kelp.

Ulva was home to the southern most post office in the world at almost 50 degrees south.

There are a variety of walks and we chose the one to West End Beach. Lots of nice scenery on the way out so here are a bunch of photos along the way.

There was a bird in this picture but I can’t seem to locate it now. In general, the birds were vey hard to spot in the dense native bush. Certainly could hear them everywhere though.

There was one variety that was particularly fearless – while you are not supposed to feed them, clearly these little guys have won the hearts of many and were very adept at begging for food.

On with the photos.

Here are some shots at West End Beach where we also spotted a Weka.

After our outing at Ulva, it was off to Kidney Fern Arm where we intended to a anchor for the night.

Near the anchorage was someones mobile bush shack.

Pretty neat way to view Stuart Island. The following were taken as we approached the anchorage.

Once we were secure it was off in Beer Can to explore a whaling station that used to be in the area. The station was used to rebuild the whaling vessels that hunted in the Ross Sea during the whaling season. In the off season, the vessels were brought here to be rebuilt from the punishing service they saw.

The following plaques detailed life at the whaling station.

A variety of artifacts were still around including the concrete foundations of the buildings, an old boiler, ruined props, and even a boat that was sunk to serve as a wharf. The wreck is submerged but still much intact. You can see the sampson post above the water in the picture.

Finally some shots once we were back aboard our gal and the sun was going down.

It is no wonder that one of the Maori names for Stewart is Rakiura – roughly translated to mean the land of the glowing skies.
For those of you who might some day travel here and see Rakiura first hand, I will close with a picture of of the definitive guide for cruising Stewartt Island.

The next morning dawned grey (a pretty much continual state of affairs on Stuart) so the pictures taken on our trip from Half Moon Bay to Patterson Inlet lacked much contrast. Patterson Inlet is the next inlet south of Half Moon and the following pictures were taken on the trip down.

Our destination anchorage was Little Glory which was written up in our cruising guide. Talking to a number of local folks, they confirmed that Little Glory was an excellent all weather anchorage.

Once at anchor, we launched the Beer Can to explore a local track not far from our anchorage.

You might notice a stern line in this shot of Iron lady. While not strictly necessary in this anchorage, we were beginning to practice med mooring in preparation for Fiordland where it is an absolute necessity. I will be doing a full post on our system, but the gist is to deploy the anchor and then tie the stern off to a rock or sturdy tree on shore to hold the boat in a fixed position. More on this in a future post.

As the day progressed, the sun came out and we caught these fellows enjoying the sun and settled weather.

Our trek took us across a peninsula to a beach on the Foveaux Straight.

This as we approached the beach side.

Not another soul to be seen anywhere either on our trek or at the anchorage.

Joe needs a haircut – seems he gained some dreadlocks somewhere.

There is a weka in this shot – a ground bird somewhat like a chicken – but he is tough to see.

We also hunted for the elusive Kiwi – this is as close as we came.

I actually suspect that Kiwis fall in the same category as the mythical snipe that tenderfoot campers are sent out to round up at night at summer camp (remember those days?). At Camp Kon O Kwee, we were all warned before our nighttime excursion to watch out for the snattle rakes as they were fairly dangerous critters that inhabited snipe country.

Nope – we didn’t see any snattle rakes on Stuart Island either, but it was another great day.