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All set

The weather forecasts keep coming up good for a Monday morning departure. We had a busy day doing last minute prep. We had a final, final, final visit to the supermarket for fresh food. We did an inventory on our grab/ditch bag finding only we needed to replace all the batteries – an annual activity anyway.

I went over to Pier 21 to say goodbye to anyone we knew there. Passages were there which was good as they’re not heading to Fiji so our next chance to see Pam and John is in Australia. I dropped off a USB stick they loaned us up in Fiji.

I also bought some string to hoist our courtesy flags. The last one had chaffed during the bad weather up in Great Barrier Island. I found a fairly decent fishing rod for NZ$50 so I picked that up. Back on the boat it was up the mast to run in the new line and fly our NZ flag for the last time.

I made my duty free order in Marsden which we’ll pick up on Sunday. I bought gin and rum locally as the Marsden Off License is out of that.

Crewman Paul arrived just after 6pm. We ate together then settled down for an early nights sleep.

We plan to be out of here at 5:30am so as catch the last of the ebb tide and, more importantly, miss the flood. We should have a brisk sail up to Whangarei Heads where we’ll anchor tonight. It’s nearly 70nm so we may arrive after dark. We know the anchorage so that’s fine. Tomorrow we move onto the Q dock in Marsden ready for an 8:30am check out of NZ which is already booked with customs.

According to the current forecasts we will leave on northwesterlies which will turn to the SE over the course of the first day or two. We may then be in tradelike winds all the way up. We may encounter some weather after a few days but that’s too far our to be sure right now.

Departure thoughts

We’re now down to gobbling up the weather forecasts every six hours to help refine the departure decision. I have been favouring a Sunday departure for the last couple of days but that has now shifted towards a preferred Monday morning departure. Saturday now looks to be a feisty day to sail the boat up to Marsden Point so we can clear out there.

We decided to stay in the marina for an extra night or two but we couldn’t stay on the berth we were on. We had until midday to move down to the south end of the marina.

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In the afternoon Sam went to visit crewman Paul at his new pad. Paul has some need of some graphic design work and Sam’s in need of projects. Seemed a good match and Sam may now have his first commission.

I spent some time researching duty free fuel and booze. Duty free fuel is only available in Auckland for mega-yachts who take fuel by the tank load and the booze options appear very limited and awkward. Oh well. Looks like our plans are revolving round the weather and we’ll just have to make do. It could be worse. We could be paying for an unusable return ticket for Sam.

So – subject to confirming Paul can synch with our plan we could be heading north tomorrow. I like the idea of getting some coastal sailing in for Sam before leaping across the ocean to Fiji. The Monday departure means we’re less likely to arrive in Fiji in time for Sam’s birthday on the 7th but that’s the weather for you.

We have a few last minute things to do here in Auckland which will be made less fun by rain which is now falling abundantly.

One nice piece of news is that we’re in contact with Suzi and Dave on Sidewinder who have similar departure plans. The rest of our friends still have things to do so will be looking to catch the next opportunity out of Opua. We hope to see them all up in the islands.

Anzac Day

Wednesday was Anzac Day here in New Zealand as well as Australia. It was a beautiful day with light winds. As a lot of the shops were closed before 1pm Sam and I used the morning to mount the main sail. It was a good learning exercise for Sam and a big help for me. Helen did some cleaning and sorting and also varnished the rail to secure our new microwave.

In the afternoon we went shopping. We picked up some stationary for Sam for his drawing and note taking. We also visited the Chinese store to pick up fresh vegetables which are much better priced there than the supermarket.

In the evening we were joined by Jack and Jan from Anthem and Jackie and Gary from Inspiration Lady as well as crewman Paul for a typical get together. Unfortunately the Jacksters had had a bit of bad boat day and were out for the count so they couldn’t come. Everyone is on the verge of being ready to go to the islands so the excitement is rising.

Dignity and her crew are ready to go so I’m analysing weather morning and evening.

Yesterday morning saw a possible departure on Saturday morning but there were a lot of uncertainties and hopes that things would improve to make that happen. By the evening the new forecast had quashed all thoughts of a Saturday departure but a Sunday evening departure was beginning to look possible. This morning that possibility has improved. Some of the niggly weather patterns later in the trip have smoothed out. It’s still too far out to be sure on this one as it’s not a classic pattern like the one that appeared a week ago.

We do have a few more purchases to sort out and things to do today so we may try and see if we can stay an extra day here in the marina. If the Sunday weather window remains favourable we’ll leave the country from Auckland.

Phew

Phew on multiple fronts.

Big news, and the only really important news, is that Sam is now aboard. Phew.

Despite having 50lb checkin back and two carry ons there were no complications anywhere on baggage weight or numbers. Phew.

In the last 24 hours I have spent a lot of time on multiple fronts pursuing refund options on the ticket Sam (Ben) was forced to purchase. No surprise, a lot of conflicting advice. My usual approach is to pursue the case on all fronts and hope one strikes lucky. In the last few minutes I have received a note from American Airways reporting that for this one occasion they will break standard policy and refund the ticket. Phew.

So down to the days events surrounding all this. Knowing that Sam’s flight was running early we took the 10:30 bus from the ferry dock to the airport. I had enough time to visit immigration there to solicit their support for the refund. Sam came through in good time and after hugs and kisses we were back on the bus heading to Auckland. I had some additional worries in that one of the folders of paperwork I thought I’d brought wasn’t in the back pack. I’d rechecked immigration and it wasn’t there. We thought long and hard and could only conclude it was back on the boat. It was. Phew.

Between the ferry dock and the boat we picked up sushi and ate it aboard. Then Sam settled into his room (his new home for now) and Helen and I went through the ordered goodies.

We’d only just learned that today, Anzac Day, is a public holiday and a lot of our shopping plans for today may be frustrated. Sam needed a special cable for his graphics tablet and we’d promised him a guitar for his birthday. So Sam and I went out in the afternoon and picked up the cable and a guitar. We managed to negotiate 10% off the price of the guitar which made the deal feel sweet.

Back at the boat we finally celebrated Sam’s arrival with some bubbly before heading out for a meal together. We tried watching a movie together afterwards but Sam was very tired from his travels and I was very tired from the recent days stresses.

Last night I slept very well. Phew.

They just don’t make it easy

Monday was sail day. On reflection I was half regretting the decision to drive up to Whangarei while Sam was on his way so I decided to take my laptop and check in regularly.

I’d woken up at stupid O’Clock, well before my 5:30am alarm call so after checking the internet and having breakfast I was off fairly early. I reached Whangarei at 8am and took the sail into the sailmaker and discussed the problem. They said this was very typical wear for a catamaran and they see it often. I guess the problem we fixed with this new sail (ie, the flat and ineffective top third) now made the sail a typical catamaran sail that would come into contact with the shrouds more and take more wear. We’ve already adapted our behaviour to compensate.

After seeing the sail maker I checked online and at that point there was no news from Sam, Ben or Amy who were all at Newark airport to see Sam off. I picked up propane and headed off to the marina where I ran into the kids and Dan from Division II as well as Bruce and Alene from Migration. I checked online again and this time messages were flowing in. Ben and Amy had been trying to call but couldn’t get a response. I tested my phone, it was working. I’d just missed a chance to chat, it seemed, as I was powering off previously and they’d had to act to resolve a problem thrown up by the airline.

A decade or so ago one could buy one way tickets anywhere and run into few difficulties. This was frequently abused by folks who would end up in a country with insufficient funds to move on. The hosting country would then bear the burden of repatriation. These days the airlines have to shoulder the responsibility and cost (if they don’t) of ensuring folks have the means to travel onwards from their destination. A return ticket to your country of residence is the standard test but not everyone does this. We had difficulties returning to our own boat from the UK but the airline had an escalation process that helped us deal with this.

Anticipating possible problems with Sam we consulted New Zealand Immigration several weeks back to understand what supporting documentation Sam would need to allow him into the country knowing he was leaving on the boat. They gave us some guidance which we followed sending Sam a letter proving he was joining the boat as crew, that we were taking responsibility for him and that the boat was legitimately in the country.

American Airlines, it turns out, have there own policy which is tighter than the destination country and don’t have an escalation process to resolve rare cases. They refused Sam onto the plane unless he had a return ticket or a visa. They refused to accept the documentation provided and refused to escalate to NZ Immigration who, as in our case, would have provided consent.

So the only options were to not travel or buy a return. A refundable return leg was priced at $3,400 and a non-refundable ticker was about $1,300 and the desk clerk gave the impression that the refundable ticket may not be, in all circumstance, refundable. Sam couldn’t cover the cost and Ben could only cover the cheaper ticket so they made the right decision to buy the return ticket and get him on the plane.

It is quite annoying to have gone through all the due diligence this end to ensure Sam would be welcome in the country to have the airline policy to be both more restrictive and have insufficient flexibility to handle this case.

I learned all this while sitting at the Town Marina and chatting with the folks from Migration I learned this was not uncommon and seems to be more and more one of those financial hazards of a cruiser and their crew.

On the upside Sam had had no issues with extra baggage. The duffle bag Helen had ordered to take the microwave and all the other spares ordered turned out to have been perfectly sized. The kids had done a great job packing and weighing as it came in at 50.0lbs. Spot on. Sam was on his way.

By 11am I had our repaired sail and was on my way back down to Auckland thinking through our new problem. $1,300 is a lot of money and almost twice the price of his ticket here. We’ve blown more than 3 times that amount blowing out a sail so this may just end up in the realm of the marine life burning through cash. After all BOAT is well known to stand for Break Out Another Thousand. But we’ve got to try and as ever, it’s best to start sooner rather than later.

Back in Auckland I parked the car near the boat and lugged the sail back to the boat. I made a second trip to get the rest of the stuff from the car. I then set about trying to get the right contact info to start an appeal with American Airlines and to get further information, hopefully some supporting documentation, from NZ Immigration while Helen made a couple of trips to retrieve my phone and to pump the meter.

My call to NZ Immigration was unusually less than helpful with the woman simply spitting out the same information I originally was given. I decided at that point the personal touch would be more effective so as the immigration office was near the car hire depot I decided to return the car then visit the office. At the immigration office they appeared much more sympathetic but the boss, who would be the one to help if anyone could, wouldn’t be in until today.

Back on the boat I pursued looking into the appeal process with American Airlines. We have a non-refundable ticket which we won’t use which we want refunded. After finding someone to talk to by calling the Australian American Airlines call center I was advised to contact their customer relations department. Looking at the AA website the only way to do this is via web form so I lodged my first appeal there.

I then had a beer. I needed it.

Very soon it was time to head over to Pier 21 to meet up with John and Pam from Passages. We hadn’t yet heard from Sam as our remaining worry was his transfer at LA onto the flight to Fiji. His plane was running an hour and a half late but his stop over was just under three hours. He should make it. We also learned he didn’t have to recheck luggage which sometimes happens. As what one airline accepts, another may not it was a relief to know this was not another potential problem or delay. So I took my laptop with us to Passages. At Pier 21 we checked the wrong pier and ran into Gary from Inspiration Lady with the Jacksters who’d all just arrived. Bumping into old friends is the best and it helped lift my spirits after the long day. We’re hoping we can all get together on Wednesday evening but that may not be possible. We’ll see.

We were soon aboard Passages with a beer in hand. I checked online and Sam had relayed a message via one of his friends that he’d reached the gate for his onward flight. There could be no more problems to respond this that evening so I could relax. After our beers we headed over to Squashbucklers, a local hangout for more drinks and something to eat and, of course, more sailors yarns. It was a nice place with a great atmosphere, good beer and food. I needed it.

Now it’s the next morning. Sam should have landed in Fiji and in some ways we don’t care if there are any problems. He’s in the right corner of the world. Whatever happens we can work it out (sing along), we can work it o-out.

Apart from an automated acknowledgement I have no response to my initial appeal from AA. I will make more attempts to contact them once I know to what level NZ Immigration will support us. Another visit to them today is planned after Sam arrives and we’ve polished off the bubbly in the fridge.

The large scale weather patterns don’t call for a departure for Fiji this month. There is one low pressure system heading this way that looked to give us a possible kick up north but there is then several hundred miles of a high pressure ridge (and hence low winds) to subsequently cross. Not encouraging. The next low a week from now which is project to be further south shows more promise. You can be sure I’ll be watching how the forecast develops.