Yesterday afternoon I rang Dockland 5 to let them know that we had arrived in Whangarei and to confirm our haul-out booked for Friday, and perhaps to bring it forward to Thursday. The manager agreed that he would try to arrange an earlier haul-out and to that end, at midday I weighed anchor, motored a short distance up river with the flooding tide and brought Sylph alongside Dockland 5’s marina (new since we were last here), where we tied up at 1230.

There have been quite a few improvements at Dockland 5 since we were last here in 2020. Apart from the new marina, the facilities have been increased, the office complex is new, and a boat dealership has been built out the front. As with most modernisations, the place has lost some of its old boatyard charm and no doubt there will be more rules now, as with everything, and costs will of course have gone up. Such is life.

With luck we will haul out late tomorrow and I can then get stuck into the jobs that we came here to do.

All is well.