Cruising New Zealand
Milford Sound in Fiordland was a major highlight of our South Island cruise. Photo: Andrew Robertson
This feature article originally appeared in AFLOAT Magazine and forms part of our latest edition of boating features exploring a Tasman crossing and South Island cruise through some of New Zealand’s most remote and beautiful waters.
Andrew Robertson continues his Pacific cruise, around South Island New Zealand this time.
Our yacht Polaris 2, a Bluewater 400, has been cruising New Zealand waters from November 2025 to April 2026 since departing Australia in 2025. After many months of preparation during most of 2025 (utilising many experts from the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club in Sydney) we crossed the Tasman Sea for our next adventure. We had previously signed on to the Island Cruising South Island Rally 2025/2026 organised by Viki Moore and her team. Viki suggested Newcastle to Nelson as a good option to facilitate exploration of the South Island before heading north to Auckland and the Bay of Islands later in 2026.
Tasman Crossing
Our first adventure was the 1,250 nm open sea crossing to New Zealand during November 2025. This began in clear skies and a following breeze. I had arranged for experienced meteorologist Kenn Batt to provide weather outlook advice before and during the trip. We aimed to sail the rhumb line course of approx. 1,150 nm to Nelson at the top of South Island. And with Kenn’s suggestion, to stay south of the rhumb line when possible. We had several days of good weather and for the first three days averaged over 7 knots and around 175 nm each day. The weather outlook from Kenn started sounding some warning notes on Sat 8 November, 2025 with a major cold front forecast for later the following day. Sunday afternoon saw big black clouds rolling over the horizon with thunder/lightning/rain passing to the south. We thought we had missed the worst of it but the darker clouds forming on the horizon a bit later suggested that we had only seen the pre-frontal trough with the main act to follow. Which it did a few hours later as darkness fell and the wind started piping up (typical!). We were reading 20 to 25 knots on the wind instruments which we thought wasn’t too bad. However, we only realised afterwards that the instruments were reading in metres per second rather than knots. I thought the instruments’ calibration may have been upset as a result of the mast re-rigging earlier in the year but only noticed the m/s units on the screen a few days after the storm.
Heave-to
This means that 25 to 30 metres per second is equivalent to 49 to 58 knots. And we recorded gusts over what we thought at the time were 30 knots (= 60 knots plus). I thought at the time that it seemed very strong for “only” 25 to 30 knots. At any rate, we decided to heave-to around 2am on Monday 10 November under double reefed mainsail. After some excitement, we managed to heave-to successfully, lashed the helm and with storm washboards secured, took to our beds while maintaining one person on watch. The motion of the boat when hove-to was remarkably stable with the boat stalled and drifting slowly sideways. The hull sliding sideways created a protective slick upwind which effectively smoothed-down breaking seas on their approach and we no longer had breaking waves on the deck. Polaris 2 lay hove to comfortably under a double reefed mainsail for about 10 hours.
We had our Coppins Para Anchor on deck prepared for deployment but decided as Polaris 2 was able to remain stationary (apart from sliding sideways) and not sail out of her wake, we decided to defer deployment unless conditions deteriorated. The storm abated by late morning and we got under way around noon. Freshly baked bread and a shower each helped regain crew morale. The rest of the trip to Nelson was completed in fine weather with a fish for dinner to boot. The boat survived the storm reasonably well, apart from the Rutland 1200 Wind Generator. The storm stripped the blades, blew the nose cone off and caused the main bearing to overheat during a screaming fit; seizing the unit. I arranged a replacement via Stella Marine in Queensland and managed to install it myself before the start of the second adventure (with only about NZD$1,000 in the swear jar!).
Interestingly, on our arrival at the Customs Wharf at Nelson Marina on Friday 14 November at 8 pm, NZ Customs and Biosecurity Officers said that they had been tracking Polaris 2 since leaving Newcastle (which is now standard practice in NZ, Australia, Fiji and others). They queried why it looked like we were turning around about halfway here (referring to our 10 hours hove-to) and thought it looked suspicious (possible drug delivery/collection rendezvous). I showed them the video of the storm we experienced. All good. And we were allowed to crash land in our allocated marina berth for a few beers and a long sleep.
South Island Cruising
Our second adventure involved cruising the Abel Tasman National Park and Golden Bay during February 2026 for about 120 nm. For this two-week cruise we had a crew of six including my wife Margaret Campbell; Martin Kluckow and Philippa Ramsay; Dianne Ramsay and David Lawson. Six on board was a bit of a squeeze but David slept in the cockpit unless it was raining. We enjoyed exploring Adele Island, Anchorage Bay, Awaroa Bay (and Awaroa Lodge for Philippa’s birthday lunch and a later pizza dinner at the outdoor hangout). Then we had an overnight in Port Tarakohe Marina with a land-based visit to Takaka village and surrounding hinterland. Days were spent swimming, kayaking, walking the Abel Tasman Track and lolling around the boat. A crew change-over via water taxi in Anchorage Bay saw Caroline Currie join me and Margaret for a few days and a delightful sail back to Nelson.
Fiordland
Our third adventure was from Nelson to Lyttelton via Fiordland and Stewart Island during March/April this year; about 1,450 nm of sailing. The crew for this leg were all Kiwis this time and included Chris Langsta, Tony McGhie (via the Island Cruising crew seeker webpage) and Martin Dack (Philippa and Dianne Ramsay’s cousin). Martin has lived in NZ for many years after a long career as a performance analyst for 20 years with a number of America’s Cup syndicates, including Australia for the Fremantle challenge as well as subsequent stints with AC syndicates from Spain, Japan, and the US. Martin also worked for some years as a principal with Iain Murray in the Murray Burns Dovell design office at RPAYC. Martin enjoyed his spare time on Polaris 2 working to optimise the calibration of the various speed and wind instruments, singing and cooking delicious tuna curries. The attached photo deck shows the progress of Polaris 2 from Cape Farewell to Milford Sound. The rhumb line course of 350 nm should have taken us about two days. Due to headwinds all the way, 620 nm and five days later we made it to Milford Sound, a place too beautiful for words. Here, Chris Langsta had to leave due to family commitments, so Polaris 2 continued on to Breaksea/Dusky Sounds 130 nm south with only myself, Tony and Martin. The Breaksea and Dusky sounds comprise the largest fiord complex in Fiordland and are rich in Maori and European settlement history, including Captain Cook first exploring this area in 1773. It is a visually stunning remote and inaccessible wilderness area that must be seen to be experienced. The attached photos attempts to convey some of the remarkable beauty of this area. We sheltered in Cascade Cove during an expected severe cold front, using stern lines and over 100m chain during 26-27 March. On advice from Kenn Batt to leave early, before the next severe cold front, we left at 3 am on the Saturday morning to sail to Stewart Island (navigating out of Dusky Sound at 3 am in the morning in the pitch dark by chart plotter, waypoints and radar is not for the faint hearted!). We had good weather and a 20 kg tuna to help us sail the 135 nm to Stewart Island and anchored in Preservation Inlet near the water taxi jetty late Saturday night.
A local fisherman lent us one of his moorings (rated to 50 tonnes) which came in very handy when the major front blew in on Monday 30 March at over 50 knots (Kenn Batt forecast “it will blow dogs off chains”). We made a timely appearance on Sunday 29 March at the South Sea Hotel Sunday night weekly quiz night – the fresh fish and chips were amazing! Before departing on Tuesday 31 March, we refuelled at Oban wharf (for NZD $4.30 a litre – over twice the usual rate) and starting the 340 nm to Akaroa (no wonder it is called the Jewel of the South) and courtesy overnight use of the Akaroa YC mooring and the club facilities (thanks Jonny Bell).
Our final leg was a 65 nm hop through the complex cross currents east of the Banks Peninsula that led us into Te Ana Marina at Lyttelton around 11 pm that night and our pre-booked berth. After a late night red wine dinner and a long sleep, all crew enjoyed a few days shore leave in Lyttelton before flying back to our respective homes. Meantime, Polaris 2 is safe and secure in Te Ana Marina until further adventures in NZ and the South Pacific later in 2026 and 2027.
Footnote: Andrew Robertson is a certified RYA Yachtmaster Ocean (Cert. No. 9836).
This feature article originally appeared in AFLOAT Magazine. To explore more stories like this, browse the AFLOAT Magazine archive or view the latest edition of AFLOAT Magazine.
