Our final full day in the Marlborough Sounds dawned beautifully clear, however listening to the weather forecast over breakfast we knew that the Southerly storm was fast approaching. After consulting the charts we decided to head out of Endeavour Inlet for another sheltered bay closer to the marina.
We left Endeavour Inlet under sail, although this far into the Sounds the winds were increasingly variable and made for quite challenging sailing conditions. Eventually, with a bit of a motor sail to get us through some of the calmer waters we made it to our destination, Kaipakirikiri Bay.
Just as in Meretoto / Ship Cove, the water in this secluded bay was a beautiful shade of turquoise and incredibly clear. The deep bay meant that we were able to safely moor very close to the shore and could appreciate the lush, tropical vegetation from the comfort of the boat.
With a little extra time, we decided to take the dingy out and explore the bay. The photos don’t show the gusty breeze that made rowing the dingy quite a challenge at times!
My dad and Eric once again set out their fishing lines and were rewarded with a beautiful Red Gurnard. Unfortunately they caught it a little late for it to make it onto the menu for dinner, but we all enjoyed looking at it’s beautiful fins before throwing it back.
We settled in for our last night on the boat, with the evening feeling oddly quite despite the approaching storm. Smoke from nearby wildfires hung in the air and the wind that had been gusting all day seemed to die away.
We were all woken in the early hours of the morning when the winds shifted and the promised storm arrived. Our mooring proved to be pretty sheltered and we were well positioned to make a quick dash across the channel to the marina in the morning.