Season's Greetings

Well it's that time of the year again. 2008 has come and nearly gone and it seems only a short while ago we were up in the Bay of Islands last Christmas.

It's been an interesting year, our first full year on the boat and we've escaped relatively unscarred (mentally and physically). We've learnt a lot, mainly about how expensive being self funded retirees is but also about living together (reasonably harmoniously) in a confined space. All in all it's been an enjoyable year and we have no plans to return ashore in the foreseeable future. The fishing has been one of the highlights for me and we usually return with a good feed.


The last few weeks have been quite busy with Doreen off on family research trips to the Hokianga in the North and Auckland in the south. As for me I've been building the bathroom in the forward cabin. It's been a long process (I started it about six months ago) but it's now virtually finished other than a bit of painting and I must admit I'm quite pleased with the outcome.








We received a lovely Christmas Hamper from our daughters the other day (thank you girls), also some very nice Christmas Cards made by our Essex grand-daughters plus their school photos, all of which now have pride of place in the saloon.



























Well it's Christmas Eve today, all the shopping has been done, the boat provisioned and fuelled and all being well with the weather we'll try and get away on Boxing Day. Most people in the marina will be away so Christmas Dinner will be just the two of us on board (roast chicken) but I'm sure we'll be thinking of you all.

So it only remains now to wish all our family and friends a very happy Christmas, a bright and prosperous New Year and may 2009 bring all that you would wish for.

Voting Day in New Zealand

Today we did our civil duty and went out and voted at the local Ngunguru Hall. All a bit low-key really after watching how America does it on TV.

We have been back for a few weeks now from Brisbane but we have been keeping our heads low because we have been quite unwell with the Brizzie-Bug that we thought we had escaped. But no, the nose starting going the second day I was back and now John has it as well. He says - on I have no idea what authority - that it is mutating quite rapidly. It only started out as a boy-cold, then went to woman-cold and now that it has got to him it is full blown man-flu. I'll fix him - I shall make him go to the Doctor.

Two of our immediate boat neighbors have gone into Whangarei to have their boats out of the water for work to be done. It all seems so quiet and open with them gone. One lot is due back today but the others could be away for months with serious hull problems.

We managed to achieve something that so far we have only been talking about. We decided that the Ford Escape was not the right sort of car for us with all the running around that we do, especially with the cost of fuel these days. So we let it go and have replaced it with a Suzuki SX4 which is the model up from the Swift. There it is in the picture. Very nice and very comfortable and uses a little less that half the petrol.

We also looked about for an old roomy van so that we could store our stuff in it and that John can use sort of as his mobile workshop or for carting large and dirty things. It was a nuisance having to go into Whangarei to get things we wanted from the storage shed. It looks quite smart in the photo but it is fairly rough. However, it goes well and has a Warrant of Fitness.

Our friends the Boyles are back from their trip to the Islands. The boat went through Customs last Tuesday but they are staying at Opua for a while so will catch up with them later. We won't be going anywhere until these colds are gone. Have also just heard that the Goings have just left Tonga for home.

Another achievement is the Radar finally getting fixed. Two months ago 20 metres of new cable was ordered from Japan (all under Warranty) and finally this week 10 metres arrived ! By this time the original serviceman had left and the person that inherited this had to go all the way back to Whangarei to pick up the forgotten bits plus a junction box so that we did not have to wait another 2 months for the right sized cable. Good to have that done at last.

In Brisbane

As usual it's been a while between posts and as usual I haven't really got any good excuse other than laziness.

Anyway, here we are again in sunny Brizvegas. Well, it's sort of sunny now and then, yesterday it poured with rain all day and the odd shower again this morning but on the whole it's a much better proposition than what we've been putting up with in NZ for the last three or four months.

We had an early departure flight from Auckland (Tuesday week ago) leaving at 6.10am which meant a midnight departure from Tutukaka. The drive down was good though, hardly any traffic and we arrived a good three hours before the flight left. We were met at the airport by Zane and Liam who seemed to remember us from our last visit in April. He hadn't changed much, just a bit bigger and a bit more livlier.

Angela was at home feeding James Sydney when we arrived and our arrival seemed to go completely unnoticed by James but I guess he had other things on his mind.

(I seem to be having trouble getting these photos where I want them today but I'm sure you get the drift).

Life has settled into a pretty orderly routine over the last week or so. Doreen spends quite a lot of time in the laundry and amusing Liam and my jobs are to cook dinner and take Liam to nursery school on Thursday and Friday. In between we've managed a couple of trips to Chermside with Ange and James and had a nice BBQ at the Masons last Sunday.

OK, I know. I'm on a diet now.

A quiet moment.

A noisy moment.

A busy moment.

All things considered, things are humming along quite smoothly and we're really enjoying catching up with everybody again. This weekend is Father's Day and the Knight's, Masons and Warren families are all meeting up at the Victoria Park Golf Club for a Father's Day breakfast tomorrow morning.

Another Storm Coming

Well we survived the big storm of a few days ago and are now battening down the hatches again for another one, due to arrive this afternoon. Apparently the next one won't have quite such destructive winds but is likely to have more rain than the last one.

The last storm slowly built up over Saturday morning with the barometer steadily falling to an incredible low of about 969.

The winds were quite impressive with a peak of 86 knots (160 kmh)at the harbour entrance. The windspeed meter on the the boat peaked at 62 knots (115 kmh) which was more than enough to keep us on our toes and keeping an eye on the ropes.




The reason I was out on the jetty in the photo above is that our TV satellite dish had just been ripped off the pole. The wind was so strong it broke a weld on the bracket holding the dish up.

Apart from the weather life goes on pretty routinely. There are always jobs to do on the boat and what with fishing usually once a week and helping friends with jobs on their boats I manage to keep reasonably busy.

Julie arrived safely in Auckland on Saturday and (weather permitting) we'll go down to Auckland tomorrow to pick her up.

Well that's about it for now, the rain has set in so I might just watch a DVD or two. Doreen is in Whangarei doing whatever it is she does in there so the boat is ALL MINE for the day!

Storm Warning

	Issued at: 4:37 am 26 Jul 2008 NZST
	Valid to: 11:59 pm 26 Jul 2008 NZST
	Forecast *STORM WARNING IN FORCE* Easterly 40 knots, rising to 50 knots this morning. Tending northerly this afternoon, becoming westerly 55 knots at night. Sea becoming very high. Northerly swell 6 metres developing. Poor visibility in rain, with some heavy and thundery falls.
	Outlook Outlook following 3 days: Rising early Sunday westerly 55 knots, easing to 35 knots at night, and to northwest 25 knots on Monday. Becoming Tuesday northeast 25 knots, rising late Tuesday to southeast 40 knots. Very high sea easing late Sunday. Heavy northeast swell developing, easing Sunday. This is what we woke to this morning on the Met Service website! A large tropical depression has been moving across the Tasman Sea from off the Queensland coast (thanks Zane and Ange) for the last few days and we''ve all been watching it closely to see where it is going to hit. Seems we've scored lucky and the target is Northland! Forecast is for storm force winds and torrential rain for about 24 hours. A satellite image shows clear skies over New Zealand and a large storm front approaching from the northwest Yesterday we doubled up on all the ropes, tied down anything that could move and went to bed to wait. Woke up this morning at 3am to hear the wind howling, the rain raining and the waves slapping on the hull like thunderclaps. Well, smallish thunderclaps. All this and it hasn't even arrived yet. The main event is due around lunchtime today. Anyway, we dozed for a couple of hours then when we couldn't lie there any longer we got up at 5am. The joys of living on a boat. Julie is due to arrive in Auckland tonight at around 11pm I think. If the storm hasn't passed by then I'm picking her flight may be diverted further south. Hopefully it will have passed though. That's it for now, I'll report later if we survive!

Anti-foul Week

We were only back for a few days after our car trip up North when John announced that he had booked our boat in to be hauled out of the water at Dockland5 in Whangarei the following Monday. The purpose of this is to enable us to clean, sand and paint the hull ( 3 coats) with a marine anti-foul paint. This should be done annually but it has been a good 18 months since last done so it was overdue and we were concerned that it could be a big job.

So we sailed down to Whangarei last Saturday (14th June) with another boat from here that needed new clears -- Nigel and 'Fred' (Winifred) with their new acquisition 'Holo Malana'
We arrived in good time and tied up at the Dockland5 jetty for Saturday and Sunday nights - very windy and rainy and the water slap on the hull kept us awake.

Very tired when we got hauled out first thing on Monday. 'Whanga-rain' really poured it on us all day and we got wet through. Mud everywhere.
They water-blasted the hull while still in the sling (as in picture) and we were relieved to find that it was in pretty good shape.
The propeller and drive shaft were pretty crusty and we had our own mussel farm growing on the bottom of the keel.
It did not take them long to set us up in the yard.
Check out the new back steps.
Still raining so we made the purchases we needed for the job hoping to get onto it next day.

But it rained so I visited a cousin of my father who is 90 and in a Whangarei Nursing Home. She was a very young 90 and we had great fun talking about the family.
Next day John got the sander out and quickly got around the hull - thankfully it only needed a smoothing over. The black dust was awful so for once the rain was a relief because it washed it away.
The first coat of paint went on after that - more rain but John managed to get another coat on one side later in the day. Also achieved was that the propeller and drive shaft were cleaned up and treated with 'Prop-Speed'
Next day we managed to finish it all --between showers so it ended up mostly John painting while I seemed to be continually wiping away water before it ran down the hull.
We were put back in the water first thing next morning - Friday - so by 8.15am we were motoring up the Whangarei Harbour towards the Heads and Tutukaka. Not the best sea for a pleasant sail but made good time - 1pm arrival - by 1.30pm we were eating pizza at the marina fast food place.
A clean hull & prop do make the boat perform better so it was good thing done. Weather is worsening again but we are now warm and dry and can use the taps on the boat again.

Visit to Hokianga Harbour

The week before last we decided to do the trip up North that we had been thinking about for ages. It has been some years since we have been there and it was time to have a few days off the boat. It is not really far to go from Tutukaka and we got to the mouth of the Hokianga Harbour in just a couple of hours, stopping to look at the giant kauri, Tane Mahuta, ( Maoris call it 'God of the Forest') in the Waipoua Forest on the way.
It is supposed to be 2000 years old.
The first view of the Harbour Entrance was quite spectacular with the waves breaking over the bar and the hills of sand dune on the other side.

We dropped down into Omapere and looked for somewhere to stay the night, choosing the hotel in Omapere which used to be a hotel in the 1800's and is now part of the Copthorne Chain. It is a delightful old building done out with kauri. Some of the original furniture is still there. Our room was in a new annex built to fit in with the style. Just a lawn
separated us from the beach . Here is a photo of the sunset from our deck.
We were told that in the 1800's the tall ships had to wait weeks sometimes before they could get over the bar safely to take timber to Australia so the hotel was well used then.

The Hokianga Harbour was the area where four of my Great Grandparents settled upon their arrival in New Zealand and where both my parents went to school. Great Grandfather Magee from Ireland taught at 4-5 schools in the area and Great Grandfather Pearson was a Methodist Home Missioner. I therefore thought there might be some information about them in the local historical museum. There were certainly folders there for the families but the only information they had seems to have come from my Aunt Dorothy Pearson. I shall be doing what she did and give them some photos and information for the folders. I did have some gain from other family folders that married into our family.

We found my Grandparents Magee old home in Oue - they would not recognise it with the additions and the bright blue paint and garden changes. Other cottages and the Oue School are no longer there. In Rawene it was the same with the Grandparents Pearson home. Their old farmhouse was pulled down by a later owner because he had a problem with "squatters."

Rawene sort of looks the same and the hospital appears to be still functioning. The graveyard over the road has been tidied up and the council keeps it tidy and mowed. Last time I went there it was a terrible mess so that was good to see.

We visited another Clements/Magee descendant - my 2nd cousin, Dick Curtis, who has been in Oue farming on part his father's property and part former Pearson property. He thought I was Clements looking and I thought he was.

I hope this has not been too boring this time but I enjoyed my nostalgia trip and researching famly history is a hobby that I enjoy. I have met some nice fellow descendants with more to see yet. We enjoy the talks about our common history and share the photos.

Doreen

Taking the Pressing out of 'Irrepressible'

Here we are after a long gap between updates again. Truth to tell is that we have taken a while to settle back into our routine (of sorts) since we returned from Australia and get back into those projects that we had started before we went. In other words we have just been plain idle and have had nothing interesting to write about.
However, we have been good just lately and things are happening again in the effort to make the boat as pleasurable as we can to use an live on. I suppose this posting is a report on that progress.

We are very pleased with the new sail covers and the colour which does a lot more for the boat than the green did. Under all those other covers are the dinghy (forward deck), the generator (aft deck) and the dinghy motor and barbeque ( either side aft rails). There she is radiating all her new found glory.

Putting the new bog on the blog - here a picture of the new enclosure, with a picture of the other side. As you can see, any visitors sleeping in the forward cabin won't have the problem of their pillow falling off the back of the bunk into the toilet any more. It is all operational just needs painting or covering with formica or something.
I shall have to shorten 2 squabs a little now and tidy up the covers.
No problem.

It is great having the curtains all finished. It makes the living areas much more homely but the best thing is that we now have privacy when it is dark and the lights are on.

We have been out since the new sails were installed. They are better and the it doesn't look like we forgot to iron the sails any more.

Oh, the SSB Radio needed attention. When our friends the Boyles on 'Nutcase' left for Fiji we thought we would talk to them each day and track their progress but it was not to be. It needed servicing and we have just got it back - John is putting it back where it belongs. Too late for talks with the Boyles though - we got a text to say that they have arrived in Suva after 9 days so they did well. Arrived in 40 knots with the sea anchor out. We texted back telling them we were enjoying our Millpond here. Bonus for me with the radio needing to come out was that the aerial tuning unit had to come out as well - from my wardrobe - which gave me more room. John had to put it back somewhere else.

Someone called Tom and a companion have just arrived - I thought for the freezer but they are climbing up the mast. Turns out it is the riggers putting up an inner fore-stay that can take a sail. We don't need it - in fact we got rid of the inner furler because it was a nuisance with the headsail at times while tacking but apparently this can be clipped away. But it seems that it is a requirement to go Category One which is a requirement before Customs will let you out of the country, so forgive me if I sound a bit worried.

About the freezer, it seems we needed to put some goo in somewhere (John did that) and it goes better and we don't have to run the motor so long to get it down now. But we really want the option of using shore power for it while we are tied up so that we can go away for a few days without having to empty it. Apparently there is a plate of some sort that can be inserted to achieve that. At present we have to run the motor for a bit each day to keep it freezing.

We still have not had the boat out of the water to have its bottom scrubbed.

In the meantime I have been continuing my search for knowledge, photos etc. with the ongoing family research. Now that we are in back in the pioneering great-grandparents area I have been seeking out fellow descendants and with one set of G'Grands ( the Clements) having 16 children who all survived and the others (Magees) having 8 - there are plenty of us.
I was rewarded last week with a second cousin sharing her photos with me - unfortunately had been bent but at last I know what my Great-Grandparents Magee look like. They came from Ireland and seeing he taught at a native school at one time I often wondered if those native children had Irish accents.

Next week we plan to do a car trip around the North looking up more fellow descendants and visiting some of the old places.

Back in Aoteoroa

Well we made it safely back to Tutukaka on Wednesday night after a long, convoluted trip from Brisbane. We left Kerrie and Rick's place at 6.00am, caught the 8.45am flight to Christchurch, visited friends for a couple of hours, caught the 6.10pm flight to Auckland, taxi to friend's place at Half Moon Bay, picked up our car and drove to Tutukaka where we arrived at midnight. Brisbane to Auckland doesn't sound far but it takes a bit of doing.

Anyway, enough of our travel issues. We had a great time in Brisbane with all the family, it's unfortunate that we can't do it more often but with everyone scattered around the world it's a bit hard. We especially enjoyed the day a Dreamworld with Chloe, Katie and Liam. (Toby and Sophie had to go to school that day unfortunately!)

Queuing for the Log Flume Ride with Chloe

The boat was all shipshape and pleased to see us back apart from the fact that the batteries were flat and the fridge wouldn't start and one of the water pipes had sprung a leak. Nothing that wasn't quickly and easily fixed though and now we're back in the daily routine of liveaboard boaties.

Yesterday I went fishing with our friend Ken on his launch and came back with a good haul of fish. 20 snapper, 15 trevally, a couple of groper, and 2 coral perch. There were six of us on board and I got first and second prize for the biggest fish.

First prize

Second prize

The weather here has changed markedly since we left, it's now decidedly cooler and the days shorter although having said that I'm still wearing shorts and T shirts. Heavy rain is forecast for the next couple of days so we'll probably be boat-bound for a bit. Actually it's just started as I type.

Birthday BBQ

Well another year has come and gone with a birthday BBQ for all the March/April birthday people held at Chez Mason last night. The whole Warren extended family was in attendance plus an old workmate from Tait Brisbane.

Food and drink was in plentiful supply (having catered for half of Brisbane) and so another BBQ is planned for today to use up the leftovers.

Family photos were taken just as the light was fading and the children showing signs of becoming restless but with the help of Rick's tripod and a bit of cajoling we managed to get in a couple of good ones.

Two blog posts in two days has got me plum tuckered out. I'm off for breakfast and a nap.

At Brisbane

Well it only seems like a few days ago that I last updated the blog but on reflection, maybe it was a bit longer. Time flies when you're having fun as the old saying goes.

Entrance to Tutukaka Harbour

Actually, I have started to update it several times from Tutukaka but the internet there is quite slow and whenever I've tried uploading photos it has timed out and I've given up. A blog without photos is like a rum without ice, not at all interesting. That's my excuse anyway and I'm sticking with it.

Irrepressible (through gap, 3rd from left, green sail cover)

What have we done since the last entry I hear you wondering? Well, actually, quite a lot although we do seem to go for quite long periods just chilling out in the marina.

Our beach, 100m from boat.

I guess the highlights of the time have been Ange and Zane's visit in March and then a five day Easter cruise up the coast. We sailed in tandem with another couple in the marina and spent a couple of days in Whangamumu Harbour about 25 miles up towards the Bay of Islands and then a couple of nights in Whangaruru Harbour which is about 15 miles north of Tutukaka. The weather was very nice the whole time we were away and we spent the days lazing around in the sun and the evenings slaving away over cold rum, red wine and nice food.

Our jetty. Far end, right hand side, green sail cover.

In between all this we've been steadily working away on the boat getting it up to the standard we want. It's amazing how much there is to do on a boat after you've bought it. All the jobs that have accumulated over the years the previous owners have had it seem to become urgent and there seems to be a pressing need to "put your own stamp on it" and make it your own. Doreen spent a long time making curtains for all the windows, not a big job on the face of it but when you realise there are 15 or more windows and making small curtains and putting up track is as big a job as for house sized curtains (in some cases even bigger as fitting track and curtains in very confined spaces can be quite difficult). We also had a new set of sails and sail covers made, plus new canvas covers for the outboard motor, BBQ and hatches so all in all it's now looking a million dollars, which is only slightly more than what it's cost.

Ange and Zane's visit was a great time. It was good to see Liam again after a year and to see how much he had grown. They had told us what a model child he was and by and large they were right but there are signs that the "terrible twos" are not far away and his need to assert his personality seems to increase every day! Unfortunately the boat didn't have any sails on it when they were with us so we couldn't go sailing but I think they enjoyed their stay nevertheless.

At the present time we're in Brisbane for a couple of weeks. Leigh, John, Chloe and Katie are over here from the UK for a fortnight and it's the first time we've all been together for six or seven years. In fact it's the first time we've ever all been together with all the grandchildren.

We've been staying with Ange and Zane while Leigh and her family have been staying at Kerrie and Rick's new place. Today being my birthday (belated presents or cash can be sent c/o Tutukaka Marina, RD3, Whangarei) we are all going over to Chez Mason for a BBQ and no doubt, family photo shoot. Should be a good night! Yesterday Zane and I went and played a round of golf (crap golf but good fun). The weather is still summery here, lovely sunny days for the most part and temperature today forecast for 27C. No doubt by the time we get back to Tutukaka at the end of the month it will be time to pull out the winter woolies. One of the good things about living on a boat is that you need very few clothes. A couple of pairs of shorts and a few T-shirts sees me through the summer and a pair of jeans and a couple of shirts plus a jacket or two does the winter. I don't think we've used the iron (other than for making the curtains) since we've been living on board.

Well that sort of covers the last few months, what next?

We go back on 23rd April and one of the first jobs we need to do before the winter sets in is get the boat out of the water and the bottom cleaned and anti-fouled. I think we'll probably go down to Whangarei to do that. There are good haulout facilities there and it's much easier than trying to do it in Tutukaka. Then in July there is the possibility of a visit from Julie but apart from those two things we don't really have anything planned. Probably we'll just hunker down for the winter.

One question we are constantly asked is: "what's it like living on a boat?" Well I guess the answer is it's pretty much like living in a house only more cramped. Actually, when I really think about it, it's nothing like living in a house. It is certainly more cramped but you get used to it and learn to make use of every available nook and cranny. One of the biggest issues is storage space (there never seems to be enough). Maintenance is also another big issue. You have to learn to be a diesel mechanic, plumber and general handyman very quickly or you either go broke or sink. Every day brings it's own unique challenges from finding and fixing the latest leak to pulling out engine water pumps and overhauling them. Life in the galley is much the same as in a house only everything is much closer at hand. We have a gas oven with 2 burner hob plus a fridge and freezer. There are two toilets, one shower and a front loading washing machine. We also have satellite TV, DVD player, stereo and well stocked wine cabinet. All in all we're pretty well set up. There are half a dozen or so couples living on their boats around us and we all get on extremely well and most nights get together for an hour before dinner to swap war stories and drink rum. Occasionally we'll have a communal BBQ and most weeks I go out fishing with the guy next us on his 15m launch. All in all it's not a bad life and certainly beats mowing lawns.

Well that's it for now. Hopefully the next update won't take quite as long.