We decided not to wait for the wind to pick up only to discover that the wind picked up just as we left. Perfect. We had a fantastic sail down to Auckland. There is something special about bringing your boat into a city and this was no exception.
I had a lot of excitement when Dignity showed up on the www.marinetraffic.com. Kind of cool to think how that was working. Our AIS transponder was putting out digital information over the VHF which was being picked up by a station in Auckland. That information was being published on the internet. www.marinetraffic.com was displaying that information showing where we were (and where we’ve been) and we were picking that up using our vodafone dongle to connect to the internet from the boat while in motion. Not the most effective way to find out where we were but all pretty cool.
The links above (both the same) will zoom in our location. If Dignity is there in the center it means our transponder is on and we’re close to one of the receiving stations.
We had booked a berth at the Viaduct Marina ahead of time. As a swing footbridge has been built across the entrance to the marina we had to call ahead to have it raised. It turned out it already was raised so we came in as another boat was departing. Once we saw where we had been allocated we spent a little while getting the fenders and lines set up and then backed in. The security guard helped us tie up. He even did proper cleat hitches which you don’t see often.
Once settled we headed off for a walk. We went around the dock and over to the marine shops west of us. We picked up a part for the dinghy and found a place who can make up some trip that we can use to prevent our next microwave (that Sam is bringing) falling off in the same way the last one did. The trim will be made of kauri wood which will be a special reminder of New Zealand once we leave.
We bumped into Pam and John from Passages who were on the hard near the place where we found the trim and chatted for a while. We’ll meet up with them properly the night before Sam arrives.
Back on the boat we prepared for Paul’s and his son, Tom’s, arrival. It was good to meet up with them both. Paul had just struck a couple of work deals which was a good excuse to celebrate. We did.
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