26 March 2013 Auckland
The EJ's Voyage
Mike Everton-Jones
Mon 25 Mar 2013 23:09
We are still in Auckland and enjoying the city. The reason for our delay in departing the marina is that our watermaker hasn’t left the workshop bench yet! The membranes that we are waiting for haven’t been shipped from Christchurch as they should have been days ago. A bit of a mess really. Hopefully they will be delivered today and the watermaker can be put back in its place on the boat in full working order. In which case, we will be off the Great Barrier Islands tomorrow.
We have bought two solar panels that Mike is presently installing on each side aft of the boat. They will look a bit bizarre but what matters is that they are efficient and produce enough power to keep our batteries topped up.
We have done a bit of shopping but with the unfavourable exchange rate of the moment, everything is quite pricey.
The weather is still beautiful although the forecast keeps on telling us that rain is coming. People here all agree that this summer was their best ever. Lucky us!
Attached a few photos of Auckland and of the marina where we are moored. You will see Falbala next to the red Vodafone catamaran. Opposite us is the shed where NZ sailing team is preparing their catamaran with the big foil instead of a sail for the America's cup. Photo also attached. It looks more like a space ship than a boat with the crew wearing black outfits with crash helmets...
Sad news: our little red bike has been stolen! Some very drunk people made a lot of noise and created havoc the other night and we think it is them who took our bike. Such a shame, we are very sad indeed...
