by Judy Handley | Apr 20, 2007 | Sailing Logs Year 2, Whangarei to Opua |
NZ Land Logs 61, Year 2: Making Progress
Date: Friday, April 20, 2007
Weather Today: Absolutely Beautiful!
Location: Whangarei, New Zealand
According to my calendar, our grandbaby Sam is 90 days old today. Whatever calendar, he is three months old. How time flies! This morning when I was checking for emails, I got a Skype call from Heather and Sam. It was so great to see and to hear them. Sam’s hair is coming in as blondish-reddish and he still has blue eyes, even though those will probably change. Sam is a little chub at more than thirteen and a half pounds and he is a real cutie. Sam, we love you.
It was a beautiful day here. We worked inside the boat trying to get things put away. This took the whole morning, and then we pulled out the spinnaker to make sure it was dry. Mark worked on the bilge pumps this afternoon and I worked on cleaning our bicycles. Mark made a couple of trips into town early in the day to purchase parts he needed, and in the late afternoon, I went into town with Marie of Ranger. I went to copy some charts and to do the last of the grocery store shopping. I think we have everything we need except for the fresh foods and beer. We will buy the beer on Monday and get the fresh foods in Opua just before we leave for Fiji.
Tomorrow evening we hope to have a boat to boat visitation time. Since we will be leaving on Tuesday, weather permitting, we want to make sure that we have visited the various boats here. We always learn so much from seeing how other cruisers do things. Before we know it, we will be in Opua and then on our way to Fiji.
by Judy Handley | Apr 19, 2007 | Sailing Logs Year 2, Whangarei to Opua |
NZ Land Logs 60, Year 2: Back in the Water
Date: Thursday, April 19, 2007
Weather Today: Rainy and Cool
Location: Whangarei, New Zealand
By 8:30 this morning, Riverside Drive Marina was buzzing with activity. We were hauled to the water by the travel lift, and as soon we were lowered into the water and out of the slings, we turned to tie up to the fuel dock. There was a boat headed to the dock from up river and another from down river. In addition to that, Windsong and Wings and Strings, two boats from the marina that have been out sailing for the past two weeks, choose this time to return. For about an hour, boats were moving in and out. It looked like a water ballet!
We spent the next few hours cleaning up the boat. When you are on land, you track sand and gravel on the boat no matter how careful. And we had every tool on the boat out. So it was time to start putting things away. Mid-afternoon Marie came by to see if I wanted to do more shopping for provisions, so away I went. I’ve now spent about a thousand dollars on food. The list is dwindling, but there are still more things to buy. I’m so exhausted tonight that I hardly have the energy to write this log, so I think I’ll just end it here. There’s more news, but I’ll just have to write about it tomorrow night.
by Judy Handley | Apr 18, 2007 | Sailing Logs Year 2, Whangarei to Opua |
NZ Land Logs 59, Year 2: Ready to Launch
Date: Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Weather Today: Sunny Day
Location: Whangarei, New Zealand
Makani was at the fuel dock this morning when we got up. We had said our goodbyes last night at Reva’s but we walked over to the dock to say goodbye one more time. Felix promises to be in Opua when we arrive and is hoping to have a huge farewell celebration before we all take off in different directions. We look forward to that. After breakfast, we got right to work on today’s chores of waxing the boat and putting the Monitor windvane back on the stern. Both took longer than we expected. We were working right up until our 3 PM deadline this afternoon to get the boat ready to launch. And we almost got everything done. At 3:00 we were put into the slings of the travel lift to ready us for going into the water in the morning. We asked to be put in the slings this afternoon so we could move the blocks under the boat to a different location. We wanted to sand and bottom paint those areas. I had hoped to get two coats of wax on the topsides, but I was just finishing the buffing of the first coat on the port side when the travel lift arrived. Once we were settled in the travel lift slings for the night, I was able to wax and buff the front and back of the port side a second time. It was impossible to reach the middle section, but I can probably reach this section once we are back on the dock. Once on the dock, there are many jobs to do before we can leave here. It’s going to be a busy weekend, but we are still hoping to be ready to leave Whangarei by the first of the week. We shall see.
Marie and Paul of Ranger and Beth and Ken of Eagle’s Wings had made plans to go out to one of Whangarei’s best restaurants tonight and they asked us to come along. We are really trying to live on a tighter budget, but I’m afraid we couldn’t resist the good company. We went along and enjoy a delightful evening at a’Deco. The food was excellent but the most interesting thing was the 1939 house built and furnished in Art Deco style.
And since it is early to rise in the morning as we will be going into the water by 8:30 AM, it is now time to sign off and go to bed.
by Judy Handley | Apr 17, 2007 | Sailing Logs Year 2, Whangarei to Opua |
NZ Land Logs 58, Year 2: Treasures
Date: Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Weather Today: Some Sun, Some Rain
Location: Whangarei, New Zealand
Our son Justin once wrote a song called “Thanks and Praises to the Most High.” When I feel really thankful for something or someone, I often think of that song, and tonight was one of those nights. We went to Reva’s for the Tuesday Night Cruiser Special and by the end of the evening I felt very much in awe of the cruising life we are currently leading–not really because of the lifestyle itself, but because of the wonderful people who are out here doing this at the same time as us. We saw so many people tonight that we have met over the past year and half. Molly of Kauila was there (husband Jeff stayed home tonight). Molly grew up in Lebanon, New Hampshire, and still has family in Exeter. Toya from Namibia was there, Uta and George (from Germany and Switzerland) were there. And our good friends, Monika and Felix of Makani were there and well as many other friends from Germany. And the list goes on and on and on. We sat a table with our Riverside Drive Marina friends–Marie and Paul of Ranger, Dianna and Bob of White Swan, Ron and cynthia of Rontu, Kelly and Kelly of Moorea, Donna and Jerry of Scott Free, Beth of Eagle’s Wings (Ken stayed home–not feeling well tonight), Joe of Maggie Drum, Gwynn and Sandy of Aloha, and yours truly of Windbird. We have really bonded with this group and will find it very hard to leave knowing that we might not see some of these people ever again. Gwynn and Sandy of Aloha are leaving for Canada tomorrow morning and will not be returning until next season. Soon Ron and Cynthia are leaving and they, too, will not be returning until next season. It is doubtful that we will see them again. White Swan, Eagle’s Wings, and Ranger are headed to Fiji, so we will see them this season. But Felix and Monika, our good friends from Germany, are headed to Australia and then on to Malaysia, so we will not see them again until we can visit them in Germany or they can visit us in the United States. The bottom line is that we have made so many acquaintances and good friends in such a short time. I can’t imagine how we would ever make so many good friends in such a short time other than in the sailing community. The past eighteen months have cost us way more money than we expected but we have seen so much and made so many friends. Tonight just made us realize what a treasure we have found.
Tonight might have been our last Tuesday night at Reva’s. If all goes well, we will be leaving here on Monday. I talked with Reva tonight and promised to leave a picture of Windbird and a message from us in her memory book. Last week I came home and Googled Reva’s name and found that her brother is Gene Barry of Bat Masterson and Burke’s Law fame. Reva is herself a New Zealand treasure. For over 30 years she has made cruisers visiting New England have a home away from home. Thank you, Reva.
Boat work is still coming along. Mark finished painting the bottom today and I got one side of the boat waxed. It started raining hard just before noon and Marie of Ranger came to see if I would like to go grocery shopping during the rain. We left, and of course, the sun came out, but I got many more provisions bought and came home in time to attend a cruiser meeting and get the wax job completed. Anna Maria and Ernst of Galetea from Germany held a very informative meeting about cruising in Fiji this afternoon. There are so many wonderful possibilities for cruising there that it would be easy to just stay there for the whole season. Who knows? We might just do that. That’s the magic of the cruising lifestyle. You make plans, but you know you must be flexible. If you find a place that is just absolutely wonderful, you can change your plans and just stay there. That, too, is a one of life’s treasures.
by Judy Handley | Apr 16, 2007 | Sailing Logs Year 2, Whangarei to Opua |
NZ Land Logs 57, Year 2: Windbird–Looking Good
Date: Monday, April 16, 2007
Weather Today: Mostly Sunny with Sprinkles Here and There
Location: Whangarei, New Zealand
The boat work is really coming along. We waxed the newly painted waterline stripe today and then taped it off so we could start the bottom painting. Mark did some gelcoat repairs while I used Goo-Be-Gone or some such product to wipe off the stickies left by tape above the new waterline. Sounds easy, but when you have to climb scaffolding and walk on a 10-inch wide board in mid-air, it takes more time than you might expect. At least it does for me. Mark climbs around like a monkey, but I’m more like a sloth. Mark spent the rest of his day painting the bottom while I did laundry and used a new product to clean the windvane steering stainless one more time. I had cleaned all of the stainless once, but there were still some rust spots, so today I used “Grunt”. This is a New Zealand product that you are supposed to wipe on, let sit, and then spray off to get rid of any rust on your stainless. It does basically work like that and I will certainly buy an extra container of this miracle cleaner to take with us.
Before we started our work morning, we called Heather, Jed, and Sam via Skype. It was late Sunday afternoon for Sam which is not his best time of day, so we mostly got to see him nurse and sleep, but that’s good enough for us. He slept nine and a half hours last night and then took another two hour nap, so the fact that he wanted to eat non-stop for the remainder of the day was reasonable. While Sam snacked and napped, Heather gave us a run down on current US news. She also told us that Justin had a wisdom tooth extracted on Friday. This is something he neglected to mention to us. I’m still getting over the rip-tide episode and wasn’t ready to hear about any more painful episodes. We haven’t been able to make contact with him yet, but we’re hoping no news is good news in this case. We had hope to call him this afternoon, but we worked non-stop until after dark and then it was too late to call the West Coast. We hope to talk to him to tomorrow and find that all is well.
Aspect of Aaryon went into the water today. This is the boat captained by Jeff, a local doctor who spends the New Zealand winters in Vanuatu working in clinics. His wife is a local nurse mid-wife and she was here today for the launch. Tomorrow our neighbor Dave on Desire goes in the water and that leaves just Eagle’s Wings and Windbird on the hard. Rontu and Aloha are are on the hard, but they are staying there until next season. Liz and Hans on Rev de Lune are leaving in the morning for Bundaberg, Australia, and Kelly and Kelly on Moorea are leaving on Wednesday morning for Opua by way of Great Barrier Island. I think Eric on Nai’a from Nawiliwili, Hawaii, also leaves on Wednesday. The troops are diminishing quickly. We will probably go back in the water on Thursday and leave Whangarei on Monday or Tuesday. We’re not sure if we are still going south to Great Barrier Island. That will all depend on the weather. But soon we will be in the Bay of Islands waiting for that perfect “weather window” for heading to Fiji. We’re starting to get excited about the upcoming cruising season.
I’ll end tonight’s log with a funny story. When Marie of Ranger and I went shopping the other day, I was so excited to find corn flour. All across the Pacific there were no tacos or burritos to be found, so many of us looked for masa harina or corn flour to make our own tacos. This was not to be found. So when we were shopping and I saw packages labeled as “corn flour” I bought enough for me and enough for Sylvia on Windcastle. Marie bought some, too. When Sylvia stopped to visit last week, I gave here two packages. But this evening as Mark and I were working, Kelly and Kelly of Moorea stopped by to say hello at the same time as Marie of Ranger. Kelly had just been shopping at the Bin Vin and had bought some corn meal. She was saying that she would love to have some corn flour and I immediately told her that she could get some at CountDown. She then broke the unhappy news to me. Cornflour here is cornstarch, not masa harina. And you don’t want to eat tacos made with cornstarch. When we finished working and got back up in the boat, I inspected the packages I had bought, and sure enough, they were cornstarch. I searched the internet for corn flour and found the following: Cornflour may be cornmeal or cornstarch, the white, powdered starch of the maize grain (in UK usage, cornflour normally has this particular meaning) or masa harina, the flour of hominy. “In Australia the term cornflour is used to describe wheaten starch. The origin of this anomaly is not clear, but possibly may relate to the early days of the colony when wheat was the main cereal crop grown and wheaten starch was generally used by the early settlers in place of maize starch.” Evidently cornflour in New Zealand has the same meaning as in the UK and Australia. I’ll have to quickly email Sylvia and tell her not to try and make tacos with this cornflour. She’ll end up with glue!
by Judy Handley | Apr 15, 2007 | Sailing Logs Year 2, Whangarei to Opua |
NZ Land Logs 56, Year 2: Sunday–But Not A Day Of Rest
Date: Sunday, April 15, 2007
Weather Today: Mostly Sunny, Periods of Wind and Rain in the AM
Location: Whangarei, New Zealand
It was another frustrating weather day. It rained hard during the early morning, but by the time we got up the skies were blue. We went right out and dried everything off so that Mark could begin the day by putting the second coat of green paint on the waterline and shearline stripes. But as soon than we got everything dry it decided to rain. The rain didn’t last long and the sun came out once again, so we wiped down everything a second time. And just like clockwork, the rain came again. This time Mark had already started painting, so as soon as it slacked off, he just continued on. In between sunny periods, we worked on boat organization. We moved one of our big anchors and chain off the bow and put it in a locker on the aft deck. We did this to try and get our bow just a little lighter in weight. With our main anchor and 300 feet of heavy chain, plus the second anchor and chain, we sometimes felt like we were plowing through the water instead of sailing. Hopefully today’s move will help just a little. While Mark continued painting, I went off in search of finding a cleaning solution to remove mildew from material. I have this great little shoe organizer that hangs from our forward head door. I roll up our guest towels and put them in the organizer instead of shoes. It works beautifully but has “sprouted” some mildew stains and I am out of any cleaner that might do the job. Marie on Ranger gave me some IOSSO Mildew Stain Remover, and it works like a charm. I’m still soaking the organizer, but by morning it can be hung out to dry. While I was talking with Marie, we decided to go into town to do more food provisioning. We spent a couple of hours at the New World market. This is the more upscale grocery store in town with slightly higher prices, but it has some items that you just can’t get elsewhere. By the time we got back to the marina, it was time to fix the food to take to the Sunday night cruiser barbecue.
As always, we enjoyed talking with other cruisers over dinner. The numbers are dwindling and by next week even more people will be gone. At 6:35 am this morning I heard Dianna blowing her conch shell as she and Bob on White Swan escorted Pam and Scott of Starship down the river. Bob and Dianna will be back tomorrow, but Pam and Scott are headed north and then on to Australia. Others that we talked with tonight will be leaving this week. Due to our weather delays, it will probably be early next week before we leave. Conversations tonight were about how to keep warm until we sail north to warmer waters and what provisions to buy to take as trade items in the islands–powdered milk, noodles and rice, chocolate, and sugar. In terms of keeping warm, Paul and Marie on Ranger will be heading to Fiji with two extra crew members and are in need of extra blankets for their guests. We have two down comforters with us, so we will loan them one. We are using the other and it is keeping us nice and toasty at night. Beth and Ken on Eagle’s Wings were showing off their layers of clothing and long underwear that they have resorted to wearing in order to keep warm here at night. We all got a big chuckle out of the fact that they check with one another to make sure the other isn’t wearing something that will be warmer. They definitely were wearing coordinated dress tonight. As Marie said, Ken and Beth’s rugged outdoor wear puts Ken and Barbie to shame.
Tomorrow we start waxing the sides of the boat. This will continue on Tuesday, and hopefully by Tuesday we can also start painting the bottom. We are getting there, slowly but surely.
