So, now I’ve got the computer sorted it’s time to catch up. I see that the last time I did a substantive Blog entry was on 02 March and quite a bit has happened since then but our trip back to the UK (my first in over four years) uses up a big slice of the time. Anyway, getting started, it’s back to Gulf Harbour Marina near Auckland for annual maintenance, and a couple of pictures to give a tiny flavour of two weeks’ solid hard work by all four of the crew (we had been joined by our friends Robin & Jenny Martin who we met when crossing the Atlantic with their boat, now sold, in 2010 – they are coming to Australia with us). We lifted out the day after returning from Europe, having had to move the boat 20 miles immediately upon return. Jet lag, what jet lag?

VS out on the hard, giving an idea of the scale (Robbie striding manfully past with empty trolley). Having a grand flight of steps instead of the usual rickety ladder makes all the difference when taking the washing up to the kitchen in a bowl, or going to the toilet in the middle of the night. The main job is to antifoul the hull. This takes three coats of antifoul, applied by hand, using 5 five litre cans at about NZ$ 250 a can. The whole process including cleaning and preparation takes about a week.

 

 

And strip, clean and grease all eight winches. This one is a Lewmar 66 (one of two electric winches used for our genoa sheets – the ropes used to pull the front sail in to fill it with wind). It’s big and complicated so this photo was taken by the workers Ali & Jen to remind themselves how to put it back together; thanks to the miracle of modern digital photography. Each big winch takes two people a full day to disassemble, clean and carefully reassemble.

 

 

An essential (and solitary!) day off to preserve crew morale took us over to the west coast, to the rather pleasant scenery of the Waitakere Ranges regional park which is surprisingly right on Auckland’s doorstep. A quite delightful place of wooded hills, quite estuaries and wild beaches. This is Whatipu on the north side of the mouth the inlet leading to Auckland from the west, looking from Ninepin Rock towards Wonga Wonga Bay and Auckland: