Cruising at home

That’s the thinking behind Island Cruising’s first ever South Island rally, to be run this summer. Christchurch sailor and business owner Viki Moore, who has recently taken the helm of the longstanding organisation, has decided that while the pandemic continues to make cruising to more tropical islands impossible, why not start with our own group of beautiful and imminently cruiseable motu?

The plan is for northern yachts to gather in Opua in the Bay of Islands after Christmas, before heading around North Cape and down the west coast to the Abel Tasman National Park, to meet up with Wellington and South Island-based boats. Cruisers will spend a couple of weeks exploring these beautiful and historic waters, making their way to the Marlborough Sounds via D’Urville Island.

Here, Island Cruising has arranged