Our Sailing Waters
We sail both on the Avon - Heathcote Estuary, Ihutai, at high tide, and out towards the Sumner Bar, past Shag Rock, Rapanui at low tide.
Estuary races make use of the numerous marker buoys in the Estuary, some of which are named for the history of the Estuary, such as Skylark, which marks the location of what was a low lying island, eroded when the causeway was built. Other marks are practically named, for instance Orange, which is an Orange buoy.
Wells marks an artesian freshwater well, that once provided fresh water to Sumner through a pipe about 30cm above the mudflats - this could cause yachts to come to a sudden halt as their centreboards hit the pipe!
The Sumner Bar has claimed many vessels over the years, most recently in 2013, when a keelboat broke her mooring and ended up on Clifton Beach.
The Bar should not be crossed without recent local knowledge of the position of the bar
