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We’re hoping to be out of here by Wednesday. Our ferry to the south island is the following Monday and we’d like to take our time getting down to Wellington. We’ve also had a gracious invitation from some NZers near Napier to stay with them on Friday and Saturday which we’re aiming to make. So. There’s no time to rest. This is going to be one of those project list blogs …..
First order of the day was to remove the sails before the possibility of the wind picking up. The jib is always easy and this we accomplished first. Removing the mainsail requires removing the reefs and the battons, sliding off the sail cars and lowering the lazy bag before heaving the sail off the boom. Both sails had to be folded which is not so hard to do on the foredeck. They’re now bagged up and ready to be collected by the sailmaker today.
Between us (either collectively or separate) for the rest of the day we accomplished the following other items :
- Chased an erroneous bank charge down
- Talked to Tom on Emily Grace about his experiences aggregating items in the US to be sent to NZ
- Learned that our car battery should be here on Monday (today)
- Went to a local store to buy plastic boxes for putting all our loose items in for camping. Also bought tubing for creating an easy delivery system for topping up house batteries.
- Packed plastic boxes with items for camping
- Partially packed car (including moving car twice)
- Removed oven and inspected interior in anticipation for future improvement
- Installed diversion valve on water maker output line to make filling external vessels simpler
- Installed new hose connections at dock tap to make removal of pressure limiter simpler
- Changed filters on water maker
- Filled 2 x 5 gallon containers of water from dock via water maker making huge supply of very good battery water
- Went to top up house batteries only to discover they don’t need topping up (but was pleased with all the prep work as I intended to do it anyway)
- Fixed burst hose (unplanned)
Along the way we bumped into a few of the cruisers still here: Frank from Tahina, Dan from Division II, Tom & Kim from Emily Grace (already mentioned), Dave from Leu Cat and Steve & Vicky from True Companions. Each meeting involved a bit of a chat and a catch up so I feel relieved we accomplished as much as we did.
In the evening we received a brief Facebook message from Sam to say they’d arrived safely with no hiccups on the flights. The boat feels quite empty. We keep expecting to see Ben in the corner where he made his home. But he’s not there.
We still have more to do today and tomorrow. I’ll bore you with the detail on the next blog.
by steve, on December 28th, 2010 ( Boree, Emily Grace, Jackster, Leu Cat, Marquesa, New Zealand, Paleides, Sea Mist, True Companions) Last of the camping gear is purchased and most is stuffed in the car. And boy is that car packed. It’s ideal for the two of us. We always knew it would be a squeeze for four but we hadn’t anticipated going camping with four. The boys will be sitting in the back with quite a bit of gear. And Sam still wants to take his guitar. Final compression testing soon.
Yesterday evening we had a little soiree. Now that we’re all in civilization the notion of having drinks and nibbles for folks aboard seems to have been forgotten. So it was a nice change to have a bunch of folks aboard. We ended up with the folks from Leu Cat, Sea Mist, Paleides, Jackster, True Companions, Emily Grace, Marequesa and Boree. The rain, which had been falling all day, dried out so we had a great evening.
It’s approaching 7:30am. Folks are still asleep aboard. Ben and Sam went out on the town with Ian from Sea Mist so may end being a little groggy when woken. I’ll give them until 8. Then we’ll stuff the last few things in the car, test we can all fit in, then back to the boat to move it over the river and leave it on the pilings. Hopefully we’ll be away by 10.
Happy Holidays to one and all.
Xmas Eve was a rush of last minute shopping. Our tiny tree suddenly ended up with a few presents underneath and around – more than we’ve seen in a few years due to our anticipated visitors.
The evening was spent in fine company. Squeezing the Jacksters (making six adults in all) into our tiny car we headed off to a nearby hotel to have an Xmas Eve meal with the local community, ie our Pacific cruising friends all here in Whangarei. At the table were Sea Mist (thanks for organising this John), Boree, Emily Grace, True Companions, Leu Cat, Jacksters and us. A riotous assembly. Food and company were both good.
As the Jacksters were nearby they joined us for a night cap back on Dignity. Helen impressed us all by (with just two glasses of wine in her) fell in the water getting aboard. It wasn’t really cold but the water was less than clear so she was out and into the shower in a hurry.
So now it’s Xmas and quite late in the morning at that (8 – if I can call that late). Being in NZ we get to celebrate Xmas a little earlier than the rest of the year. So here’s wishing everyone a very pleasant day wherever you are, whatever you’re doing.
The weather continued to be miserable. We also got a call from Whangarei marina letting us know a slot on the dock was coming available Friday afternoon. We didn’t get off the boat on Thursday and waking up this morning (Friday) we saw the mountain we wanted to climb shrouded in cloud. Our minds were made up. One hour after low tide we headed up river and here we are in Whangarei.
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We overtook Scream on the way up the river who turned out to be anchored one bay away. We saw John on Sea Mist at Riverside Marina close to town. We all waved. He called to see if we were interested in a dinner at a nearby hotel on Xmas eve. We were so that was sorted even before we were tied to the dock.
Docking was tight but the wind was blowing us slightly onto the dock which allowed me to be totally cool and let the boat drive right into it’s place nudging the motors to keep us in place. This was in front of a ton of people all around the dock and restaurant which overlooks us. The audience can make or break you – this time I wasn’t beaten.
On the dock we soon ran into Laura from Jenny, Kim from Emily Grace and Mary Margaret from Leu Cat. Nothing changes. Here we are 15 miles up river and we’re still bumping into old friends. Should be a good time here. We also recognised a lot of other boats that crossed the Pacific this year. Hopefully we’ll meet all these in good time.
We’re now hooked up to internet and water (in that order) and sorted out our stay at the office. Tonight we’re off for a curry, if the rain stops.
by KC2RIY, on December 14th, 2010 ( Emily Grace, New Zealand) Yesterday evening was fairly normal except for being invited over to Emily Grace to share desert with them. Kim had baked a pumpkin pie which wasn’t a pumpkin pie but tasted like one. We hung around for about an hour before returning back to Dignity as we were feeling a little tired.
This morning we moved to Whatupuke Island, part of the Hen & Chickens group. The wind was light initially so we motored half way before being able to sail downwind with just the job out. It was foggy most of the way and it was a little nerve wracking coming through the nearby pass with such little visibility. But we made it ok.
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We soon had the fishing rod and handline out and not long after were reeling in the snapper. Ben looked up the legal size limit and although the fish were not exactly huge, they were certainly bigger than the number Ben quoted. We caught fourteen in all putting four back as they really were just too small. Five I filleted leaving all the guts intact (giving us five ‘fish frames’ for our crayfish trap) and five I disembowelled so they could be cooked whole. Ben and I then hung the five frames from the roof of the crayfish trap and, now in the rain, dinghied out to set the trap. I then double checked the minimum size limit and came up with a different interpretation to Ben. We may have to use some relavistic style argument to ensure all the fish we kept were above the minimum limit.
The trap with five fish frames looked irresistible. Our hopes are high. We have whole fish and some filets to cook and, no doubt, we’ll be bringing in the crayfish tomorrow morning.
If the current weather forecasts remain as they are we’ll have to hightail it out of here tomorrow as the winds are expect to become strong from the east making this anchorage untenable towards the evening. We’ll be heading west for shelter at the same time getting closer to Whangarei where we’ll spend Xmas. It looks likely that we’ll have Sam’s Godfather / old friend / of Helen and myself and his family over on Xmas day so we’re looking forward to that. They’re over here on vacation and the timing works out perfectly for a visit to the boat.
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