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Old 03-03-2014, 04:11 AM   #1
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Default Sheltering from a storm in Diamond Harbour

Current position and recent track

With the NZ MetService forecast of wind gusts up to 50 knots from the SW tonight and through tomorrow I've decided to leave the marina at Lyttelton and head for Diamond Harbour.

I tied up to a mooring buoy owned by the club here which was, by various different people's reports, rated either for 4 tonnes or 20 tonnes. I am 14 tonnes. Although this place is relatively sheltered from all of the southerlies I've still recorded peaks here on the instruments of 25 knots while the other side of the harbour has been reaching 35. The wind has bent around a bit so it's coming into where I am from the NW where it's otherwise blowing a SW'erly. I can see some flatter water over the other side of the harbour but I don't know if the wind speed there is any more or less than here, and I'd be without the benefit of the mooring buoy.

I'm quite close to shore here but my estimate is that I'd need to drag about 60 metres before there was any bother. I have 2 anchor alarms set, one on my GPS and one on my phone (which seems to be a bit hit and miss as to its location).

I've dropped my anchor at what should have been about a 90 degree angle to the rope leading to the mooring buoy, however with the wind moving from SW to NW that angle is more like 30 degrees at the moment. I have put extra slack on the anchor chain (I let out nearly 12 metres) and the chain appears to be dropping straight down off the roller with the mooring buoy ropes at full stretch. In the last 18 hours I haven't shifted more than the normal amount you'd expect from swinging about (my GPS antenna is on my stern rail which means it exaggerates the swing compared to one, say, on my bow).

I've tied a fender buoy to 5 metres of rope and shackled it to the slot on the shaft of the anchor (it's a Manson Supreme). It's 30cm off high tide now and I just dinghied out to the rope and there's a bit less than a metre of slack in it right now, so the buoy shouldn't be in any danger of lifting the anchor even at high tide.

The worst is apparently scheduled to hit around 1am tomorrow (according to both MetService and PredictWind), so I guess I won't be getting a lot of sleep tonight. If we get through that without dragging either mooring or anchor then I will probably sleep like a brick for 2-3 days. I didn't get much sleep last night either, being up constantly to check position as first one then the other anchor alarm went off as we shifted into our current position from being swung the other side of the mooring.

What have I forgotten? Should I take in some anchor chain and tension it at high tide to allow the chain to take some of the load from the mooring ropes? Should I drop the mooring buoy completely, heft the anchor and head to the other side of the harbour (but then I'd be on anchor alone and this mooring appears to be holding).

Can't say I'm entirely happy but the options were to stay in the marina where some boats have been extensively damaged in these sort of winds, or to head for an unknown anchorage elsewhere, or to come here where I've already been and scouted out the mooring.

Advice from the locals was to do pretty much what I've done. The other advice was to go to Purau nearby but some of the old heads said that a boat my size was not going to have enough swing room there.
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Old 03-03-2014, 04:44 AM   #2
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Just been looking on the earth wind map (earth :: an animated map of global wind and weather) and I see your storm and another to the north east. I wonder if the second may track south west and give you another black eye in a few days time.
Stay safe.
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Old 03-03-2014, 05:02 AM   #3
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Yes I saw that but it's unlikely for weather in these parts to move to the south west, it generally comes from the south and moves north and east. The current storm cell is located off the coast now and that's driving the southerlies. Predictwind isobar map has it moving up the coast and disintegrating by Wednesday morning, but leaving strong southerly winds in its tail until late Wednesday. My plan is to head back to Lyttelton at first light on Thursday if it's still, otherwise wait until the calm late in the day. There's a high pressure ridge coming through after that, but that will contain northerlies, nothing for me to worry about.

The NZ MetService, generally speaking, can't be trusted. I've posted on my blog extensively about that. I've subscribed to PredictWind which was recommended to me by a few of the guys around the marina, and I intend to use it between here and French Polynesia, so I only need a 3 months subscription (then I'll drop back to using the free GRIB files from NOAA). I know that there are free services around that do a similar job but PredictWind seems to be right on the money so far. This is the one occasion where they've agreed mostly with MetService since I've started using them. They seem to have a pretty good reputation and I think for the trip along the roaring forties that might be worth taking note of.

Anyway, tonight will be the test. I've decided that I prefer the idea of having the anchor chain loose and the mooring buoy lines tight, if the anchor chain tightens up then I have another alarm that the mooring might be dragging, and the anchor should hold until I can get ready to get out and across the bay. If everything holds tonight then I'll be pretty happy, it's going to be sustained for a few days apparently but tonight should be the worst of it.
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Old 03-03-2014, 09:43 PM   #4
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The thing that I did forget about was securing the dinghy after I'd been out in it to check the anchor:

Chiara Stella: Holy Sharknado, Batman!
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Old 03-03-2014, 09:44 PM   #5
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... oh, and the spot on the other side of the harbour, marked in the local guides as a safe anchorage in SW conditions, which I'd been considering moving to, has had tornadoes ripping through it all morning. I think I'm better off where I am. It's a bit bouncy but the anchor/mooring combination hasn't shifted an inch.
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Old 03-04-2014, 12:03 PM   #6
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How are you getting on, Del? Looks like you're still being clouted.
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Old 03-04-2014, 10:42 PM   #7
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I'm through it now. The worst is that I appear to have lost my anchor, it came free of its shackle yesterday and this morning when I got up the buoy that I had tied to it was floating nearby, obviously still affixed to the anchor. I went back to bed for a few hours because the rain was still pretty heavy and now the buoy is up on shore, clearly it's been removed from the anchor. I'll have to wait for the rain to stop to go and investigate.
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