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.
Steadfast in Admiralty Bay.
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.
Ghosting along in light airs, or bowling along under a staysail and double-reefed main, the sailing is incomparable: Steadfast will amaze and thrill with her responsiveness and power. Dolphins may join us in our passage across the bay, cavorting in the bow wave and turning an intelligent eye to us; while we rejoice at the gracefulness of 
these powerful swimmers and dwellers in the sea. Moving in the lightest of airs, we glide silently along the coastline, serenaded by a chorus of tuis and bellbirds. Steadfast provides the perfect venue for experiencing the timeless beauty that nature ever sends forth into the wild places of the earth.
Where We Are
Steadfast is based in French Pass, in the outer Marlborough Sounds. Her regular cruising ground includes the whole of Tasman Bay and the Marlborough Sounds. The wharf in French Pass is the point of departure for people 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 early nineteenth century 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 itself 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 waters that we conduct our day sails. The West coast of D’Urville island is rugged and weatherbeaten, and the East coast is more sheltered. There are excellent anchorages situated around the coast of the island.
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 most beautiful northerly aspect, facing the sun, with a sea horizon punctuated by islands and rocks. It is a wonderful place to go sailing.
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. You can view it online at: www.woodenboat-digital.com/woodenboat/20070910/?pg=83
