Nawaks

Discovering New Zealand’s South Island

More than 20 years after their construction, Gérard Danson’s Outremer 45s are still sailing around the world. Fast multihulls par excellence, you’ll cross paths with them on all the oceans.

Nawaks

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Published 26/05/2023

By Gilles Ruffet

Issue: 190

Published: july / aug. 2023

Discover this issue

Who: Anne-Sophie and Loïc, Océane (10), Eléonore (7)
Where: New Zealand
Multihull: Outremer 45 (first generation)
Facebook: @Nawaks.Outremer.45

We sailed down to the Akaroa Peninsula, at 43°50’S. The 180-nautical mile journey was very pleasant. The sailing was downwind and wonderful sunshine followed us. Once again, we were accompanied by the albatrosses. On arrival, the bay goes inland, and surprisingly, we were hit with what felt like the hot blast of a hairdryer. The contrast in temperature was striking. We had to switch from sweaters to T-shirts. The sensation was really strange, even if it only lasted a few minutes. We sheltered at the bottom of the bay for the afternoon and the night, because there were a few hours of rain and wind. We had our strongest gust that afternoon when we arrived at the anchorage, at 53 knots. Fortunately, we found a place that was well protected from the wind that reaches here and which gets stronger because of the hills. We waited and played board games. The next day, we went to the charming village of Akaroa, former stronghold of the French whalers. The bay is called the French Bay and even the street names are in French. The houses are very beautiful and the walk along the seaside was very pleasant with its small shops. As always in New Zealand, everything is perfectly maintained. There were four boats in the bay, and they were four Outremer catamarans! We sailed for two months with Imagine, another first-generation 45. We also met up with our great friends from Tous différents tous des rêves (well-known from this column - ed.) who are now cruising by RV.

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