It starts

Serendipity
David Caukill
Tue 30 Apr 2013 06:30

Tuesday, April 30th Viaduct Harbour, Auckland,  New Zealand  South Pacific Ocean 36:50.50S 174:45.61E  Today’s Blog by Richard Norton (Time zone GMT+13.00; UTC +13.00)

 

 

Serendipity is back in business! She is presently acting as a tender to “Janice of Wyoming”, which you can see parked alongside:

 

 

I am delighted to be back for another adventure with David and rookie crew, Daryl Wyer - fondly referred to as The

Unlikely Lads by David:

 

 

This time, our quest is Fiji and, subject to the return and installation of the ship's compass (a rather important

piece of equipment), we expect to set sail tomorrow morning for our first destination, Great Barrier Island.

 

Daryl and I have spent the last three days provisioning the boat and this was quite a task as we had to plan for about

three weeks consumption. Among many other items, thirty litres of milk, 90 cans of beer, loads of tonic to go with the

gin and vegetables by the kilo took a lot of carrying. Wine and spirits were the trickiest part. We had to estimate

enough to keep us going without the risk of entering Fiji with too much and having to pay duty.

 

I have been promoted! Now that there are only three of us on board, I was given my choice of cabins and, with little

reluctance, decided to try something other than the workshop for a change. I chose the forecabin, which is rather luxurious and has

quite a wide berth and lots of storage. (I recall that previous occupants of this cabin have frequently been David's

second in command which is why I think I may have been promoted). Here is a photograph:

 

 

Sumptuous, don't you think? Can you see the rope hanging from the ceiling? This is my only slight concern about this

cabin. David said it was something to do with the lee cloth but I am deeply suspicious that it has some other, dark

purpose. However, it is worth the risk to avoid the noise pollution in the workshop (see previous blogs). What he

didn't tell me was that his new baby, a "Code Zero" sail, would be stored under my bunk, alongside the spinnaker. That

is going to mean that my bunk will have to be dismantled every time we use the Code Zero - and David makes a habit of

changing the sail plan in the middle of the night. Hmm, not sure if I made a wise choice……

 

Anyway, enough of this rubbish, we look forward to bringing you some real sailing news very soon.