This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
Off with the sail covers, turn her into the wind, up on the main halyard, furl out the genoa, and our sailing weekend was underway! Twenty Wellington Tramping, Mountaineering and Sailing Club members cruised the Marlborough Sounds for three days on Roger's baby, La Ruche and two yachts; Syrena and Cheyenne hired, from Charter Link. Friday was clear with a slight breeze giving the new sailors a chance to learn the ropes (sheets and halyards) in forgiving conditions. We sailed out Queen Charlotte Sound until the wind dropped to nothing. Even the purest of sailors had to eventually admit defeat. Drop the main, furl the genoa and start the motor! We chugged the last mile or two to our Ships Cove mooring. After a wander amongst the bird life on Motuara Island, the three yachts rafted together for the night allowing the sailors to leap from boat to boat and enjoy a progressive dinner. Fridays lack of wind was more than made up for with 35 knots on Saturday. In on number 2 reef, a bit more on the back stay and the vang. We battled into the wind out towards Cook Strait testing the nerve and skills of our new sailors. Saturday night we rafted up again, this time in Tawa bay, a beautiful small bush clad bay. Syrena's crew were keen for some more action, so Sunday had us cranking the number 2 reef in again as we sailed back to the outer Sounds to enjoy the brisk winds. Each part day had another keen helmsperson at “control”, keeping the skipper and Syrena “on edge”. The four hour cruise back into Waikawa Marina was superb with a consistent wind. Another great weekend on the water. A nice change from the hills. And not only did we have a great weekend but we raised $1000 for “Water For Survival”. Thank you sailors and “Charter Link Marlborough" for your generous donations! That $1000 plus the $2000 NZ Government VASS subsidy has made it possible to provide the skills and materials necessary to help the 69 people of Jakhrol Village, Himachal Pradesh, India to build and operate their own safe water supply system plus toilets. Want to go sailing? Contact one of our skippers, look up Charter Link at www.charterlinksouth.co.nz or look out for next years Tongue and Meat Sailing weekend. Captain Stuart
SSS > www.wtmc.org.nz PO Box 5068, Wellington