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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.

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.

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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.

Climbing Rangitoto

Helen declared herself fit enough for the climb up Rangitoto so after a bit of morning, international, stress we left the boat and tied up the dinghy to the wharf.

The path to the summit was not too strenuous. Lower down it took us through lava fields where the vegetation was still struggling to take hold. Further up the soil had developed and the vegetation was more diverse.

Because we had left the boat a little late the weekend tourists had arrived. A lot of families were on the trail but we still got sections to ourselves. At the top is was a much busier as it was reachable most of the way by road so many people there had taken the easy way up.

From the top there were great views all around including over Auckland. quickly moved on from the crowded section and made our way around the crater and then onto the lava tubes on one side of the volcano. We had again forgotten our torch so we made our way through the main lava tube using the ranging light on our camera.

We made it back down in time for lunch. Helen’s foot was beginning to ache but not too badly and her back was ok. We had our lunch aboard and waited for the incoming tide to head into Auckland Harbour where we picked a spot to anchor and wait out the night. We ended up anchoring more or less opposite the Viaduct Marina where we’ll be heading today.

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Once settled, and because there was no wind, we removed and packed the mainsail ready to take to Whangarei tomorrow.

This morning Helen’s back and foot both feel improved. The recent easing up appears to be working.

Rangitoto

At 1:30pm we moved the boat catching the incoming tide. We did, optimistically, raise the sails and may have had some assist for a while but about half way to our destination we dropped them as the wind died completely.

Instead of heading to Islington Bay, our first choice, we decided to anchor in Wharf Bay where the ferries come and go. The main reason is the walk to the summit is shortest from here and while Helen’s back is improving it is not fully better yet. This way she stands a chance of making the climb to the summit today.

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Because of the commercial traffic we’ve left the AIS transponder on and we do show on marinetraffic.com.

At night the view of the city was pretty impressive with the lights twinkling in the (rapidly) cooling air.

After a walk this morning, this afternoon we plan to move into Auckland harbour prior to moving back into Viaduct Marina tomorrow.

The countdown to Sam’s arrival is ticking fast. We’re getting a little stressed mostly by things not happening as smoothly (or at all) his end as they should. The joys of parenthood.