Date 31/01/15 Time 17.00 Position Bounty Haven, Bligh Sound
We are now anchored at the end of Bligh Sound at an anchorage named Bounty Haven. We are tucked into a little cove with a shoreline from the stern to a tree and a waterfall behind us. Bligh Sound is 10 miles long and has several anchorage options depending on the wind direction you need protection from. Bligh Sound feels more rugged then Milford. The hills (although they are called mountains) as that is what they appear like compared to Milford's towering peaks are not as steep and are covered in trees. The skylines are rocky and craggy. When we entered the sound yesterday afternoon the low, misty rain clouds were very atmospheric with the slopes ahead of us unfolding in different shades of grey as we made our way along the sound.
Yesterday morning before we left our anchorage at Milford I rowed ashore to dispose of our rubbish and to fill up our two water containers at the wharf. Whist I was filling the containers a crayfish boat was off loading its catch into the back of a truck. When the fishermen had finished loading the truck they noticed a crayfish that had fallen out of the crate and who was the lucky recipient of that crayfish? Me!
It was a 17 mile combination of sailing and motoring to Bligh Sound from Milford as the winds were still light. We passed by Sutherland Sound as you can only access the entrance to this sound as a sandbar prevents boats going any further. Along the coast we had to keep an eye out for floating buoys which marked the location of crayfish pots. We saw several rafts of up to about a hundred shearwaters, lots of seals and three sharks. Not long after we entered Bligh Sound we saw five Fiordland Penguins swimming across our bow and another one this morning when we went kayaking. From the boat this morning we could see fish splashing about on the surface, so Wayne took his fishing rod with him on the kayak and we hadn't gone very far when Wayne caught a 70cm long Barracouta. Because it was such a big fish and we hadn't taken a net with us I towed Wayne holding onto his fish back to the boat. After our big catch we paddled all around this end of the sound and we were even able to paddle up the Wild Natives River for some way until we met rapids. The water near the edge is clear enough to see the rocks and fish below and there are lots of small waterfalls running into the sound.
As I type this Wayne is putting his folding crayfish pot together since he now has a fish head to use as bait! If Bounty Haven continues to provide our bounty we may not need to move on for quite some time. Plus there is a gale blowing off shore so we are in no rush.
All is well on board. Wayne and Kathy
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment