Last week I had the privilege of spending two days in the snowy Southern Lakes district. I was there to go boating, which isn’t always at the front of people’s minds when temperatures are in the low single digits. But while it was a bit nippy outside, the sun was shining, so our two days on the water proved to be not only exhilarating, but also surprisingly pleasant.

It’s hard to beat the spectacular surroundings of this part of the country and the mountainous region’s many beautiful lakes offer some wonderful boating opportunities – even in winter.

Lake Wanaka was the venue for our review of the ground-breaking Candela C7 foiling electric trailer boat, published in this issue, while Lake Dunstan is where we spent an afternoon with a Buccaneer 605 Exess, which you can read about next month.

Amazingly, despite the bright sunshine and relatively relaxed start on both days, we had Lakes Wanaka and Dunstan virtually to ourselves – Dunstan completely so. And while it was cold and neither of the vessels had enclosed cabins, we thoroughly enjoyed taking in the sights and the winter sun on our faces.

They say there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes. That’s certainly true when it comes to winter boating. In the South Island, by dressing appropriately for the conditions, we were able to enjoy a couple of great days’ boating. I was, frankly, amazed there was no one else doing the same.

Back home again, temperatures were positively balmy by comparison, but still chilly for Auckland, especially when my fishing buddy and I launched his open boat at Sandspit before dawn. We had the beach to ourselves at that early hour, and while the 30-minute run down North Channel always sucks the heat from your body, Mark and I are old hands at this and dress for the conditions. Multiple layers, wind breakers and leggings, gloves and hats ensured we were ready to start fishing as soon as we arrived at the spot

Soon, with the sun up and the fish biting, the cold was forgotten and by mid-morning we were stripping the layers off. With the sunshine, other boaters hit the water and by late morning the channel was busy with boat traffic.

There’s nothing worse than being cold and miserable on the water – in extreme cases it can be dangerous, even life-threatening – but winter cold shouldn’t stop us enjoying our boating. If we dress appropriately and follow the relevant safety guidelines, boating in New Zealand is a year-round pursuit.

And winter boaters often avoid the crowds, which is a big plus in my book.