Categories

A sample text widget

Etiam pulvinar consectetur dolor sed malesuada. Ut convallis euismod dolor nec pretium. Nunc ut tristique massa.

Nam sodales mi vitae dolor ullamcorper et vulputate enim accumsan. Morbi orci magna, tincidunt vitae molestie nec, molestie at mi. Nulla nulla lorem, suscipit in posuere in, interdum non magna.

Yet another oil change

It was time to change the port motor oil. It was on exactly 50 hours and the time was right. The weather was on and off so Sam and I took on this task. It took about the same time as the starboard engine as there was no easy easy way to optimise the task. We had to take few breaks due to rain.

But we got the job done and were satisfied. We probably won’t have to do another oil change until Australia.

In the afternoon Helen dropped Sam off ashore so he could hang out with one of the locals at Savusavu university. We met him at 5:30 ashore for dinner. He’d just met up with a crewman from another boat, Jay, who was deciding what to do next. We invited him to join us for a drink and for dinner. We also ran into the A Capallas who also joined us for the evening.

Towards the end of the evening I was feeling very, very tired so we headed back to the boat saying goodbye to everyone.

An update on my dizziness. It is getting gradually better but I still get very tired throughout the day. Recently I’ve been suffering from double vision which is easily fixed by closing one eye when I need to. In some ways it feels like progress.

Saturday (tomorrow) still seems to be the day to leave the area as the current cool southerly winds change over to easterlies.

Night out with friends

It rained all morning. I rested while Helen cleaned the outside of the boat with the rain water.

In the afternoon Helen dropped off Sam so he could hang out with the kids from the nearby village. Later, we went ashore to meet up with the Jacksters, Inspiration Ladys and A Capallas who are all here. We had a couple of beers before heading off for a chinese in town.

Sam manage to grab a ride and appeared on the boat around 10:30pm.

The winds are currently southerly which means we’re not going anywhere just yet. Looks like Saturday is the day to head south.

Back in the Viaduct

After my usual morning chores (the washing up inevitably left from the previous evening) I called the Viaduct Marina to check if our allocated spot was free. After some toing and froing on the radio which managed to ascertain that it was so we very soon raised our anchor and headed over. We ended up two slips away from before.

INSERT_MAP

Once in and connected to the internet we managed to chat with our friends (now almost extended family) Anne and John who have been fantastic help getting Sam over his last minute hurdles along with Ben and Amy. They were all involved in getting his luggage sorted and some late admin. Can’t say enough to express our gratitude to all those helping us out on this.

Our previous weekend companions John and Jose came by principally to pick up their fishing rods left behind when they departed. We’d used their visit to bring to us our repaired VHF radio which we’d had couriered to crewman Paul.

After they left I headed out to pick up our latest round of medication. Because both the Solomons and Vanuatu have malaria all three of us will need to be on medication for three months. We’ve also got some additional antibiotices, creams and, for the first time, some morphine based painkillers in case of a serious accident. To date we’ve planned on using a stiff upper lip but strong stuff is definitely better if you have a bone coming out where it shouldn’t.

I also checked out customs, which I may not have found, and the duty free store here in Auckland in case we leave from here.

Back on the boat I switched the radios and found our repaired radio to be working fine – better than the old Raymarine. And it fit the hole in the dashboard. So the one Sam is bringing will end up being a back up and the old Raymarine a backup to the backup.

Around 3:30pm we headed off towards the main supermarket. We split up so that I could collect the hire car. I met Helen in the store where we provisioned for three weeks – optimistically planning on 1 more week here and a double up on what’s needed for a one week passage.

Bringing our stuff back in the newly hired car we lugged everything back to the boat and then put the mainsail into the car before I parked it for the night.

Ed and Cornelia from A Cappella visited for dinner in the evening. Ed we’ve seen recently but it was our first chance to catch up with Cornelia in quite some time.

Today I’ll be heading up to Whangarei to sort our our mainsail and do a few extra bits and pieces while I wait. Hopefully I’ll be back by early afternoon. This evening we’re meeting up with John and Pam from Passages.

It’s hard to believe that tomorrow we’ll be picking Sam up from the airport. We’re very excited.

Auckland Errands

Paul, having spent the night with us, was very helpful in giving me a ride to the Icom service center here in Auckland. It turned out to be a lot further away than I expected so I was very glad of the ride. On the way back he dropped me off at the lift raft service center. His car wasn’t big enough to take the life raft so I opted to complete the trip back by taxi.

Despite the manufacturer stating we should service the life raft every two years this was the first time we did so. I was shocked to see how much was replaced but pleased to learn what was actually in with the life raft. There is quite a substantial set of flares contained which will complement those we have in the cabin in case of distress where we don’t need to leave the main boat. Flares do have a limited lifetime so it was good we had this service done now. Of course, it is important we have a life raft that works in the unhoped for event we need it.

Once the life raft was installed into it’s slot I walked over to the workshop near Pier 21 to give them our desired lengths for the kauri trim we want to prevent our next microwave from sliding off it’s home.

After that it was time for lunch. We ate a very delicious sushi then headed off to the supermarket for our first round of provisioning. On this trip we only took what we could carry the mile or so back to the boat. (Today we’re going again but returning by taxi)

In the afternoon I made the 45 minute return walk back to the work shop to pick up our trim. It looked really nice. Had a quick chat with Pam from Passages who appeared to welcome a quick break from polishing the boat sides.

In the afternoon I managed to work out a new plan to have our mainsail attended to. We’d already decided to return to the Viaduct Marina for when Sam arrives 11 days from now. We changed our booking to come in a day early and arranged a hire car so we can drive up to Whangarei and have it sorted there and then. The last thing I want is a weather window to appear and have to miss it because we need to get up to Whangarei to have our sail fixed. The sailmaker has agreed to this so we’re all set.

Incidentally, a fantastic weather window opened for Fiji yesterday. Pity we’re not in a position to take it. Particularly considering the southerly winds we have right now have brought a bit of a chill.

Early evening Ed from A Cappella dropped by. We’ve not seen him for a year so it was nice to catch up. They have a similar plan to us for the next couple of year so we’ll be still in touch with them for a while. There is a special tie amongst all those we crossed the Pacific with in 2010 and it’s nice to keep in contact.

Around 7pm past crew(wo)man Lissa visited with sister Megan. It was nice to see them again. They’d been invited out to Waiheke for the weekend but can’t make it. She does a lot of wedding photography so weekends are inevitably busy. We shared pizza and stories. Nice evening.

Last Hike in the South

After our previously mentioned lie in we roused ourselved and drove into town to meet the A Cappellas and Inspiration Ladies. We chatted in a small cafe for an hour or so before Ed and Cornelia had to leave for the ferry. We wandered the high street with Jackie and Gary before finalizing our plans for the evening and parting ways.

Helen and I picked up a small lunch before driving a short way south of town to a walk which offered good views of the town from a hill overlooking the area.

From the look out we carried on getting down to the main road east of town. Once we’d made our way back to the car we headed back to our room to read for the afternoon.

At 6pm Gary and Jackie joined us on the balcony of our room. We’d agreed on an takeaway and made our choices from the menu we’d collected earlier. Gary and I went to collect the food leaving Helen and Jackie to sort out where to eat. When we returned we found they’d set up down below in the garden which was a great idea.

Another Canadian couple ended up joining us and we had a good time – it almost felt like times back on the boat.

We don’t have a great deal to do today before our 1:10pm ferry so there will be no rush to leave our room. We’re thinking of staying in the Wellington area tonight to give us a chance to see the city but this is still not set in stone.