Thursday 24th March
Another night and day in the same spot, I am now feeling like a permanent fixture! Not a caged tiger feeling but more of a why this long? I question MN, I do not have the crystal ball so I just have to wait this weather pattern out. I am being looked after and I just need to thank someone, something, maybe I will thank the universe for this.
Once the wind and rain drops later today I will load the rest of my stuff into T2 ready for an early departure. It will also be my 3000km paddle mile stone section. I will be saying a sad fair well to Breaksea Sounds but now it is urgent to move north, I am so behind my schedule and getting far too comfortable! Seven days and still waiting! It seems a bit of pattern, two days of paddling and seven days not.
The day has been spent packing stuff into my kayak and actually enjoying the sun coming out this afternoon, how amazing the warmth of the sunshine is and no sandflies, really unsure why but there are none. Crazy little bugs they are. I spent time chatting to Derk and enjoying hearing his stories of yachting, the open ocean and just enjoying new stories and company. I was ready to move on and we both agreed tomorrow was to be the day. I had a plan and a schedule for the next couple of days, I went to shore to stretch my legs and to paddle T2 about. The wind was still a little strong and cooler now, as I was out on the back deck earlier Black Pearl cruised past, we waved and said hi. It is a beautiful super yacht, they had been in and around Dusky Sounds last week and had managed to help the guys on Chasin Beaver, with wifi, batteries etc and sending my pics back.
As I got back their tender headed my way, we sat and chatted for a while until they needed to go and collect some others from the shore. Then I got the most amazing invite back to the Black Pearl for dinner. Thank you for this totally unexpected and and extremely generous invite, it was a brilliant evening to talk to people with such interesting backgrounds, you made me feel extremely special and so welcome. Big hugs to you all. What a totally amazing team you have onboard, Paul your captain, thanks for the water taxi rides. As I headed over to join them for dinner Jase messaged me with a not so great weather forecast, bigger swells than I wanted further up the coast and bigger winds! Really? Honestly! Maybe I just need to swallow some concrete pills and just paddle, maybe this forecast is wrong, so of course let's look at other sites. Ahhhhh what a mistake, now I am confused, two are saying it is not that nice for me and T2 out there on the coastline and one site is saying it is going to be fine! Trust your website Red, trust it! What is another day? Saturday looks amazing so go on Saturday. In the meantime go Paua hunting, go fishing!
I am waiting on a 6am update, if the weather has dropped then I will paddle. If not I have to stay. Jeez. Tonight as I sit in the dark , it is one of the colder nights we have had and I fill my hottie, the sky is clear with a full moon and lots of stars, there is a cold wind and the launch is rocking, but the weather may blow through faster than first thought so let's see. My day has been incredible, we had cockles from the beach and also mussels on Black Pearl tonight with a lovely Mexican dinner, coconut chewy biscuits for dessert, washed down with plenty of hot herbal tea.
Thanks guys, may see you for one more day, but if not it was fantastic. We will meet again.
My smiles today:
Sunshine, blue skies and no sandflies,.
So ready to be paddling north.
My chatting with incredible, interesting people today.
Derk you and your own fantastic stories of your trans Tasman yachting tails.
Black Pearl, you made me feel very special.
My thoughts today:
Everybody I meet has an experience which involves a loved one with depression. We connect, understand each other's pain and the emotional roller coaster ride we have lived in. It is what makes me keep paddling for all of these others.
Good night from Red & T2.
