On Saturday I headed north (by car) in the early morning to the village of Russell, once the capital of New Zealand, for the Tall Ships Race. There are tall ships there but mostly it is a collection of 125 yachts looking for a good day's sailing followed by a Hangi - food is buried in the ground, a huge fire built over and everything is dug up and eaten 12 hours later.

At last I was to meet Annie Hill author of "Cruising on a Small Income", the book which set the Wild Fox project in motion.

I had signed onto a boat called Shoestring (there is a clue in the name) owned and sailed by Roger Scott who just happens to be from Magherafelt - surely the world epicentre of sailing excellence! It was a wonderful day as you can see from the 'photos. I stayed in a magnificantly restored wooden house which the owner cut into three pieces and transported it 180 kilometers to Russell before rebuilding in great detail. Now, there is a way to get rid of money faster than owning a boat...