Welcome to Steadfast Sail
Steadfast Bow.
Experience the joys of sailing on board the good ship Steadfast! Built on 
the lines of the Jolie Brise, the famous French pilot cutter from 1913, Steadfast offers guests a delightful experience of sailing in comfort and style.
Our day cruises and coastal passages will open a whole new world of experience that will awaken the hidden sailor in you. Steadfast is also available for private or corporate charter, and offers an educational experience to students of all ages.
Step onto Steadfast’s wide and spacious timber decks, and step back in time for an unforgettable experience of the age of sail. Tarred standing rigging, block and tackle running rigging, varnished hatches and skylights, belaying pins and cavil bars: all these handcrafted details serve a necessary and practical purpose, yet possess an elegance that is naturally pleasing to the eye.
With the wind as our engine, we’ll set a course for the remote bays and islands of the outer Marlborough Sounds, where we’ll have the world to ourselves. Time to relax and simply enjoy the present moment.
Steadfast is 58 feet on deck and displaces 40 tonnes. She has been built of Western Australian hardwoods using traditional methods, and is licensed to carry up to 34 day passengers. Sleeping accommodation is for up to 11 passengers.
Where We Are
Steadfast is based in French Pass, and operates throughout the whole of Tasman Bay and the Marlborough Sounds. Sailing from French Pass, we conduct day sails and extended cruises for individuals and groups of all ages, throughout the year.
Steadfast in Admiralty Bay.
The wharf in French Pass is the point of departure for anyone going to D’Urville Island, New Zealand’s fifth largest island, just off the coast which with the mainland forms the channel known as Te Aumiti, or French Pass. French Pass and D’Urville Island are both named after the French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville, who first sailed through the pass in his ship Astrolabe in 1827, narrowly avoiding shipwreck in the process. The pass is subject to extreme tidal flows, with attendant whirlpools, eddies and overfalls. Current Basin and Admiralty Bay lie on either side of the pass, and it is in these generally smooth waters that we conduct our day sails. Coastal passages will invariably appeal to the more adventurous, with greater and longer exposure to the elements. After a long day on the water, a quiet night at anchor is all the more satisfying.
Situated midway by sea between Picton and Nelson, French Pass enjoys the best of both worlds: the sheltered conditions of the Marlborough Sounds, and the more consistent winds of Tasman Bay. French Pass is also wonderfully remote. It enjoys a sunny, northerly aspect, with a sea horizon punctuated by islands and rocks. Being remote, it is sparsely populated on land and at sea, which means we usually have the whole place to ourselves.
Delicious Meals
All of the cruises on board Steadfast are catered from the ship’s galley with freshly picked produce from our own organic garden and freshly baked bread. It is our principal aim to share with you our own love of sailing and the sea, and our great pleasure to serve you.
Steadfast is featured in the October 2007 issue of Woodenboat Magazine. Click here to view the article.
