#102 NOW April 24, 2006 8:45UTC +12 hours (New Zealand Standard Time) Docked in Nelson Harbour S4115.6 E17316.9 Temp 62 degrees, Raining Greetings from Nelson, After the blustery front passed through, I left Homestead Harbour for DUrville Island. This area is very remote and I only encountered two other sailboats during the several days I spent there. I pulled into Port Hardy and found a lovely little bay where I anchored. Due to the deep water, I used a shoreline from my stern to a tree. This worked very well, although I had to allow for the 8 to 10 foot tides. From Port Hardy I went on down to Greville Harbour, passing through its shallow (3 to 4 feet at low tide) entrance at high tide. Timing your entrance and exit to this lovely area is vital to the health and well-being of your boat. I proceeded to the far reaches of Mill Arm. This secluded area is protected from all wind and had an abundance of wildlife. I should perhaps clarify several words that are used down here. First, the spelling of harbour is the correct spelling used in most all commonwealth countries. While we think of the word harbor and port as being a busy place where boats dock and there are port facilities, down here it can mean any place that provides a protected area suitable for anchorage. It may be a large remote area that includes bays, coves, and inlets with no facilities whatsoever. Some other things you must remember are that everything is in meters, and forget the red right returning jingle when entering a harbour. Outside of North America, it is just the opposite. I have found the charts down here to be very good, with most of them using WGS 84 Chart Datum. This allows for accurate GPS positioning. In remote areas, such as DUrville Island, the scale is rather small and soundings sparse, but they are very usable. Last Friday I pulled into Port Nelson. In this case, Port takes on the familiar meaning. It is a lovely Port with a large marina and all the necessary facilities. The city of Nelson has a population of about 52,000. It is a very cosmopolitan city with many ethnic restaurants and a great shopping area. Of course, I am spending some time nosing around the used bookstores, where I have found some excellent buys. My boat is becoming a floating library and any further purchases could cause a serious stability problem. However, I could not resist the complete six-volume set of Churchills history of the Second World War for $12.00 US. Well, I need to make a few phone calls and connect with the internet to check out what is happening with the rest of the world. There are several internet cafes in town, which makes it very convenient to take care of the humdrum of everyday life. This afternoon, my new friends, Rainer and Claudia will be joining me for a couple of days. We will be cruising across Tasman Bay to the Able/Avaroa area. This is the location of Able Tasman National Park, considered one of the loveliest areas in New Zealand. According to my sources, approximately 30% of New Zealand is protected National Parks, Conservation areas, and Reserves. This provides a wonderful playground for New Zealands four million inhabitants, and of course, its visiting tourists like me. Life is a Cruise, Larry -- Ben Gray Idlewild Custom Buehler 55 powered by a 55-hp Kubota Home port: Dunvegan, Alberta http://www.idlewildexpedition.ca/ http://dieselducks.com/Idelwild.html http://www.trawlersandtrawlering.com/ Where to follow Idlewild if you have Google Earth installed: http://tinyurl.com/ksnhg For the JPEG version: http://tinyurl.com/ovdt7 Note from GxK: The above was posted incorrectly yesterday, with Idlewild in the subject line.