Aboard Dignity (Lagoon 420) Blog

Blog

  • Auckland Celebration

    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.

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    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.

  • Real time

    For those of you who are catching the blog near real time we are now showing live on marinetraffic.com. There was definitely a shadow behind Rangitoto as even the Waiheke ferry disappeared behind it.

    I’ll leave the transponder on for a while when we’re in the marina so you can hopefully see where we are on the above site (should you wish to).

    If you can’t find us on the above link, try this one which will zoom in on us any where we’ve been running our transponder near a major port.

  • Tasty Day

    Tuesday was spent seeing the island and wine tasting with the very excellent Ananda Tours. We were picked up at the beach by the minibus right where we left out dinghy. Being high tide we hadn’t had far to haul the dinghy either.

    We spent about three hours visiting three different vineyards (Mudbrick, Kennedy Point and Obsidian) where we tasted some delicious wines and buying a couple of bottles we particularly likes which we’ll save for special occasions (like any old evening really). We were then dropped off at the Stonyridge Vineyard for a late lunch and some more complementary wine tasting. We both had a very delicious steak meal.

    We also got on pretty well with the other wine tasters on the minibus with us. There was a family from Long Island and a couple of post grad students from Singapore.

    Helen’s foot survived the day with the swelling kept under control with ibuprofen. We were dropped off, by our request, on Oneroa high street where Helen wanted to look at a shop. The things she wanted had been sold so no purchases there. We did pick up some delicious fudge from the store next door.

    We spent the evening watching a movie, eating light and drinking tea. All in all a very good day out.

    Today we’re off to Auckland where we’ll stay at the viaduct marina for three nights. On Friday we’re meeting friends and on Saturday taking some others out on the boat. Very much looking forward to all that.

    Bit of a choice to make this morning. High tide is at 10:20am which would suggest an early start to get the benefit of the incoming current. However, wind is light right now but strength and direction will be improving throughout the morning so it’s more likely we’ll be be able to sail later on.

  • Comfy Chair

    For most of the day we continued to let Helen rest her foot. The swelling apparent in the morning did go down which was encouraging.

    Late afternoon we went ashore and dragged the dinghy all the way up the beach due to the incoming tide. We went for the 5pm movie at the local cinema. The cinema at Onerea has to be the best we’ve ever visited. Rather than regular cinema seats it has about twenty comfy sofas from two to four seaters. They were slightly tiered so the ones further back could see over the ones in front. It was a perfect way to watch a movie. We watched “The Ides of March”, a political thriller. Not the sort of movie we’d normally go out for but we enjoyed it.

    Although we had the option to do so, we decided not to take out a curry and eat it while watching the movie. Instead we went to the restaurant next door straight after the movie by which time we were quite hungry. All in all a good evening.

    For today we’ve booked a wine tour. They were all booked out over Easter but with Helen’s foot we’d have waited anyway. This should be a good way to get to see the island as well as taste some of the wines made here.

  • Easter DIY

    With Helen’s foot inflamed rest is what the doctor would have ordered had we visited one. So we stayed aboard all day. Helen had the idea we should get on with some of the things on our list which, given that it was nice out and the water calm, was not a bad idea.

    The main job was replacing the tap and shower head for the deck shower on the starboard transom. The tap was ok but the lid had been ripped off last year sometime. Can’t buy the lid, just the whole tap. As it was a European fitting I ordered it and picked it up while in the Uk. It took to Easter Sunday to get round to changing it over. It turned out to be a pretty awkward job as I had to get on my back down in the engine bay a few times to work on the hose fittings and to cut away glue. It was all eventually done and we’re now back in business. Most of the rest of the chores were regular inspection items so I won’t bore you any further.

    The anchorage continued to fill throughout the day. I reckon there are about 200 boats here. And we were probably the only ones doing boat work. It is quite crowded here now, not what we like. However, Easter is over soon and most these folks will have to go back to work.

    This morning Helen’s foot remains swollen so more rest is required. We may book a wine tasting tour for tomorrow after most of the crowds have left. Not too much walking involved with that.