Tag: Green-lipped Mussels

Green Lipped Mussels
Havelock, March 2021

Charming Town Of Havelock

Well, if you’ve been following along you know we had a bit of a stressful entrance into Havelock Marina but we made it. Tied to the dock with anchor down beverages in hand we began to take stock in what would be our home for the next three days….The charming town of Havelock. 

Havelock Marina Sign

Once we finished our ceremonial anchor down beverages, which, by the way, went down extra fast this afternoon, we headed up to the marina office to take care of business.

Anthony and Steve in the office here might be two of the finest mates we’ve come across down here on South Island. Their infectious smiles, great sense of humor and willingness to help us with whatever we need is simply amazing. Steve, God bless his soul, even volunteered to help get a package we had delivered to Picton Marina delivered to us here in Havelock.

Seems he lives in Blenheim and knew one of the workers at the Picton Marina. He had this guy pick up our package, deliver it to him at his home and in turn he brought it to us here in Havelock. Now THAT is what I call excellent customer service. Thanks again Steve. This is true example of what we’ve come to know as the “Kiwi way”.

After getting things squared away at the office Dan came back to Dazzler to get things organized again. We had roughly 60 meters of anchor rode sitting on deck from the tow, the dinghy was still in the water and lines and other things were strewn about Dazzler’s rails and deck. While Dan tightened up the decks I headed to the showers. There’s just something so inviting about a warm marina shower after days or weeks on the hook.

The Green-Lipped Mussel Capital Of The World

Havelock Marina Under Fog
It was a bit foggy in the mornings but it made for great pics.

Let me stop to give you a little history on this adorable place. Havelock is a small town that has a population of just 591. When I say this is a small town, I mean it. It’s so small they recently had the whole place re-carpeted. (A little funny for those of you who love the movie, Arthur). 

This charming town sits at the base of Mount Takorika and is mainly a commercial fishing port. Havelock is considered the green-lipped mussel capital of the world. Given that everywhere you look in the sounds you see mussel farms, it’s a no brainer as to why this is the case.

The marina and surrounding mussel packing plants make up the largest part of town and are located center stage along the waterfront. The road that goes through the city’s centre is just over a quarter of a mile long. No, this is not a big place! But, what we found is that what it lacks in physical size it more than makes up in heart with her wonderful and kind residents.

As you can see…this is a pretty small town.
Image Copyright Stuff.co.nz from interesting article on how eating mussels could help reduce inflammation in muscles. (Click image to read the article.)

New Zealand produces just over 95,000 gross tons of mussels each year and 75% of them come from the Pelorus Sound region which is where Havelock is located. Everywhere you look as you travel through the sound you see mussel farms lacing the shores. We’ve enjoyed the views along the way and it’s even better getting to see where all of these mussels end up.

Interestingly enough 80% of New Zealand’s aquaculture exports are mussels so if you eat New Zealand green-lipped mussels, chances are they came from here. We may even have photos of the farm where your muscles were grown.

Our First Evening In Havelock

When we checked in at the marina the guys there told us the Annual Mussel Festival was going to be held this weekend. We were originally only planning to stay three days but since my birthday is on Saturday and they said they could accommodate us for the extra days, we decided to stay a couple more days.

The evening we arrived Lutz & Gabi joined us as we went to the only restaurant open in this quaint little town….The Captain’s Daughter. Little did I know then how much I would come to love this place. (More on that in the next article). The walk to the restaurant, just like walks to anywhere else in town, was just ten minutes from the marina.

Captain's Table Restaurant

We arrived to find one of the cutest little restaurants ever. With wood floors and tables, stone walls and a quaint little bar area complete with fireplaces in the bar and restaurant. It reminded me of something you’d see in a village in the Cotswolds in England. They were busy too! Of course we figured it being the only restaurant open that night probably had something to do with it. Soon we’d find out that there is more to it than just that.

We had a booking and were seated quite promptly. The menu is fabulous. They have  everything from King Salmon to mussels to lamb. We all ordered the lamb. There’s nothing quite like New Zealand lamb. And this lamb dinner is comprised of the back strap of the lamb. There’s nothing more delicious and tender than that.

The lamb ROCKS!

Over dinner and cocktails we discussed the events of the day. Of course there were many jokes flying about regarding the way we used the mud to clean Dazzler’s bottom on the way into port. Dan took it all in stride. After all they say there are only three types of captains out there. “The one who has gone aground, the one who will eventually go aground and the one who lies about it.”

Our dinner here was over the top exceptional! The lamb was sliced into small tenderloins then laid on a potato and cauliflower puree with some pureed green peas on the side for color. Over the top they drizzled a light, yet extremely flavorful au jus. Oh my, my mouth is watering just thinking of it. It was so good that Dan & I returned the following evening and had the exact same meal.

Passing The Time In Havelock

Over the next couple of days we spent a little time here and there with our friends when we weren’t all trying to catch up on business or other projects. On one afternoon we met up at the Havelock Hotel and Settler’s Restaurant to watch the America’s Cup race. So many people we know are envious that we are in New Zealand while this is being held here. Many also ask why we aren’t in Auckland watching it live. Well, for us that’s just a whole lot of chaos and people. We’re just as happy to watch it on TV and quite frankly, you get a better view.

We did a little provisioning while in town. Havelock has a very small Four Square Grocery store, a liquor store and even a small chandlery. Of course with all of the commercial fishing you’d expect that. They do have a few other restaurants as well and one night we ate at the Mussel Pot. Can you guess what we had??? Yep….green-lipped mussels. These mussels here in New Zealand are really something and getting them in this little town where they are so fresh is even better. We all ate until we couldn’t possibly eat another bite.

  • Watching America's Cup
Dinner at The Mussel Pot and an afternoon watching the America’s Cup at Havelock Hotel

One night after watching that afternoon’s America’s Cup race we ate at the Havelock Hotel. They had live music that evening so we stuck around and even did a little dancing. Somehow we were fortunate enough to get a front row table to watch the band and the crazy characters on the dance floor. It really was quite a show that kept us thoroughly entertained. One guy we chatted with a bit was a dancing fool. He didn’t know how to dance…move like chaotic movements. All he wanted to do was dance and his wife refused so he just bounced around in the middle of everyone and with anyone who would look his way all night long. I so truly love his spirit! Keep moving my new Kiwi friend.

Our stay here in Havelock has been one we will always remember….the kind, laidback people, the amazing food and the quaint little town nestled at the foot of Mount Takorika. 

There’s a bit more to the story of Havelock but we’ll save that for the next article….you’ll definitely want to check it out as it’s really big news!

Until next time,

Jilly & Dan

Cullen Point Warning Sign
2021, March 2021, Marlborough Sound, New Zealand

Sudden Stop At Cullen Point

Time had come to plan our next move from Nydia Bay to the small community of the working fishing village of Havelock, New Zealand.  Green-lipped mussel capitol of the world.  In fact, we later learned that Havelock has their annual mussel festival this coming Saturday.  

I studied  closely all the weather and tide information for planning purposes.  Then I looked at the chart.  What?  Wow!  That is going to be a very shallow entrance.  Good thing we were planning for entry a few hours before high tide.  

You may or may not know that feeling of holding your breath when you are driving under the fuel canopy to get fuel or driving your motorhome or towing your trailer under a tunnel opening.  You hold your breath hoping you haven’t miscalculated your clearance.  

Now Imagine not being able to see your undercarriage that is dragging six feet below the surface of the roadway.  I mean surface of the water.  No real wind to speak of and a little incoming tidal current to give you that extra little push.  We had both.

We passed by the first few navigational markers and experienced 15, 5, 24 and even 2 feet of depth under the keel as we passed them.  You hold your breath and hope your keel is a bit thinner and shallower than it’s physical appearance.  When the depth reading starts to increase you breathe out with a sigh of relief that the bottom didn’t get any closer.

Okay, our first real test mark is coming up and we stay to its right side, making scientific extrapolations and hold our breath for extra luck.  Wow!  Another shallow bar in our path has been passed over without incidence.  Will our luck hold out?

Jilly is on the bow trying to look through murky water just in case a miracle occurs and she can see the bottom.  Everything is going well as we get closer and closer to our destination.  Our last major hurdle is the narrower channel at Cullen Point.  

Rounding Cullen Point

As we approach this narrow and potentially shallow channel, Jilly’s butt pucker factor is now off the charts.  Somewhere around Rainbow Seven.  The sign near the first left hand turn says stay to the starboard side of the channel.  The green navigational aid is several hundred feet away from our right side.  What do we do?  We move to the right side of the channel.  

That’s when it happened.  We made contact with what felt like a slushy, muddy bottom and slid to a stop.  Safe!  Well, not so much.  I immediately gave the command for reverse thrusters Mr. Sulu.  But, the helm did not respond.  Just a large cloud of muddy water rose along both sides of Dazzler’s keel.  Well, this can’t be a good thing.  

Google Map of Cullen Point

Our good friends on SuAn were about a mile behind us.  I knew we would have to launch our tender to attempt to set our anchor to our port stern.  This would help turn our bow around into the tidal flow and wind allowing a better chance of freeing us from the mud monster that was trying to encapsulate our keel.  We still had about an hour and a half of incoming tide working in our favor.  

Thank You SV SuAn

As we finished launching Sparkle, Lutz and I agreed to stretch a long line from Dazzler’s bow to the stern of SuAn.  We used our secondary anchor rode which is 3/4” eight ply braid.  Jilly pulled out about 200 feet of line as I delivered it to SuAn.  SuAn was in position heading into the current and wind and I returned to Dazzler.  Our line tightened.  I put Dazzler’s helm hard over to port, dropped the transmission into forward gear and added a few RPMs as SuAn began to tug.  

Dazzler’s bow responded by gently swinging to port and into deeper water.  Once clear of the shallow bar, we hauled in our secondary anchor rode that was now detached from SuAn and made a tight turn to starboard back into the narrow channel.  We hugged the shore so closely you could almost touch the red channel stakes on the shore of Cullen Point.  If you look too closely you might even see some red paint transfers on her port side.  LOL

We truly appreciate our friends Lutz and Gabi on SuAn.  They were there for us.  No thanks to all the other commercial vessels, fishing and recreational boats.  They floated on by without any offer of assistance.  

What Happened To The Kiwi Way?

I feel confident that had Lutz and Gabi not been nearby our anchor placement to our port side would have also helped us free the grip from the mud monster.  We were, however, a bit disappointed in the lack of assistance or even any offer to make a call on our behalf from the Kiwis that passed by.  Several boats flew by us leaving a wake that actually was making the situation worse by lifting us and pushing further onto the shoal.

What do you do for great friends who come to your rescue? Buy them a wonderful dinner of course!

Did they know something we didn’t?  Would we have floated free?  Or were they eyeballing all the deck hardware Dazzler has as a potential salvage prize.  We will never know.  But, one thing was obvious.  The Kiwi way as we continue to hear about wasn’t experienced at this time.  That’s okay too.  We will continue to always be the ones that offers a hand to those in need.  

We cleared Cullen Point and headed for the straight long approach to Havelock Harbor.  As we approached the last green navigational aid I saw the depth gauge indicate 1 foot below the keel.  Once again we hold our breath as we pass over that bit of shallow shoaling at the harbor entrance.  

Havelock Marina….a truly welcome sight!

We make it through the entrance and navigate to out guest berth, tie off the lines and gladly sip down that of so sweet anchor down beverage. Or, as our friend Gabi called it, the “keel down beer”.  As we sipped down our beverages you could see the Rainbow Seven level of stress slowly leaving Jilly’s face.  I’m not going to say that my stress level wasn’t elevated, because it was, but keeping one’s head in situations is a must for a favorable outcome.  

Safely tied to the dock!

Mud Monster vs Dazzler tied.  And as we all know, tie goes to the runner.  And we were the runner.

Until next time at the bar (The one with taps and ice cold beverages, not the sandbar. May all your drinks be boat drinks.  Cheers!

Captain Dan 

A note from Jilly: Dan’s right…it was clearly a stressful time for me. I like it when things run smoothly and perfectly, which is most of the time. That said, I was clearly impressed by his calm, thoughtful demeanor and the way he went about getting us off the bar. It’s quite different than some other boating experiences I’ve had with others who have lost their heads in moments of stress. As always….I feel blessed to have such an amazing captain, friend and love of my life to share all of these adventures….good and bad.

Here’s a little video of our trip around Cullen Point.

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