Having filled up with fuel in the marina and set off to leave for the Marlborough Sounds the fuel alarm went off.  Back to the pontoon where we stayed for the next 5 hours whilst Jonathan, with huge patience, filtered off 22 litres of water that had somehow got into one of the fuel tanks. This was either caused by a fuel cap not being done up tightly enough and got water in during their last night of stormy weather into Nelson or it is condensation from going from a hot climate to a relatively cool one.

We left the marina at about 5 p.m which would give us enough light hours to get to Oyster Bay to drop anchor for the night.  Unfortunately as we were into a 10 knot head wind we had to motor and hour from our destination the fuel alarm went off again, so I pulled out the staysail whilst Jonathan went below to filter off more water, a tedious job.  The wind dropped and so we were slopping around which did not make life easy for him as well, also the dolphins which had been playing around our bow got quite miffed when we stopped, about five heads appeared on the starboard side and looked at me as if to say 'why have you stopped our fun?'  They swam off in disgust.

We got going again half an hour later and found an anchorage among the many fish farms that have popped up since it was last charted.

The following morning at 8.15 a.m. we transited Frenchman's Pass at half tide, it is important to get the tides right as it can rush through there at 9 knots.

It was very calm and very sunny.  We picked up a buoy at Ship's Cove and had lunch on board, contemplated taking the dingy ashore to look at Cook's monument but were not over happy about where the yacht was situated as there was a very strong breeze blowing into the cove and no real shelter there.  We set sail again after lunch and popped around to Resolution Bay which was much more sheltered.

We took the dingy ashore the following morning to do a good hike, along part of the Queen Charlotte's track, back to Ship's Cove to go and see the Cook Monument.  This is the bay where The Endeavour was refitted.  Cook visited this bay five times during his exploration and charting and did good trade with the Maoris, even to the point on his last visit where he off loaded sheep, pigs and chickens and grew European vegetables so that they would always be able to pick up a supply of fresh food there.  The walk was 4.5 kilometres there and the same back again with some very steep climbs.  It was stunning, through beautiful native forest of tree ferns, beech, manuka trees etc.  Jonathan did very well with the walk, using Nordic walking poles, as he has a torn meniscus and arthritis which needs sorting out next year.  It was just a tad swollen so need ice and leg up for awhile.

Whilst at Ships Cove there was one of the picnic tables laid out with a white cloth and the delicious smell of cooked food.  We were lucky enough to be offered a couple of sausages having started chatting to the chef's.  They were doing a surprise lunch for a party staying at a lodge in another cove.  We found out the name of the lodge, Furneaux Lodge in Endeavour Inlet, looked it up on the internet when we returned and decided to sail around there for dinner that evening, they have moorings for yachts and the only other way to get to the lodge is either walking the Queen Charlotte Track or by boat.  We met up with some other yachties and all had wine and supper together, lots of fun and so sheltered and warm and sunny, I came dressed in jeans and a fleece as it was like winter out on the yacht with very strong, cold winds blowing.

We are now in Chaucer Bay at the head of Bay of Many Coves.  Still sunny periods, with cold wind gusts.  Our plan for the moment is to head out into the Cook Straights on Friday and north up the East Coast to get to Auckland as the weather looks to be set fair over the weekend, only down side the 10 - 15 knots winds are right on the nose.....   We may decide to sail out for a bit and then cut back in.  More photos to follow as not enough bytes to put in this one.