April 25 – June 4, 2016
We weren’t completely sold on Nelson before going there to stay but as soon as we settled in, our ambivalence began to vanish. We actually bonded with this place very quickly as it ticked nearly all our boxes for a great home base. Here are some of the reasons (over several coming blog posts) that we ended up loving it.
Reason One: The Nelson Marina. While marinas may look very much alike, they can have a very different vibe depending on the staff, the tenants, the types of boats in the marina, the surrounding city or town, and the scenery. We’d already learned the management here was very nice from the way they’d kindly dealt with our mail before even meeting us! When we did get to meet the staff, we found them to be both very professional and very nice folks, a good combination which leads to a marina that is well-run yet relaxed.
We thought we’d be a bit isolated down here and were surprised to find a pretty strong cruising community which made the place feel friendly. The boats here were nice, the marina was clean, and there was no feeling of having to lock our boat up. In fact, everyone looked out for every one else here. Yep, we’d found a nice neighborhood. As far as the scenery, it’s quite beautiful with large hills around the city of Nelson and mountains in the distance. (You can click to enlarge/scroll though galleries below.)
Nelson Marina by day:
and Nelson Marina area in the evening:
There’s only one thing lacking at the Nelson Marina: there’s no restaurant, no bar, no cafe, not even a coffee cart. Of course a restaurant with a bar is the gold standard, but a good cafe can be a great gathering place and a nice break during a day of boat work. Barring that, an espresso cart in the morning for takeout coffee can be very nice, too. If all else fails, a Cruising Club that will let you visit can also be nice (if annoying) at times.
Nelson actually does have a cruising club, but we quickly found out that it’s not a private bar and restaurant like other New Zealand cruising clubs. Instead, it’s a real club, like a yacht club, that caters their own special events and dinners. You can’t just get a pass, go for a drink and maybe casually meet people. Instead, you get an invitation and then sit with other members after you arrive.
We found this out when we showed up for our “dinner reservations.” Everyone was very nice, but we fit in about as well as a newly-acquired moose head (as in coming into a place you know, spotting the recent addition of a moose head propped up against the wall, and vaguely wondering what it’s doing there until you get distracted by buying your drink). We ended up staying for drinks but didn’t feel up to sticking around for the dinner which wasn’t due to start for some time.
Anyway, my wish for the Nelson Marina would be for some person to put in a restaurant there. Everyone loves to come and eat by the water and look at boats, and the tenants love to have a place to meet for a drink or a meal. Everyone wins. And no one cares whether or not someone puts up a moose head. –Cyndi
