Arriving in Whangarei was like entering Aladdin’s cave without having to rub the lamp! Brian, the manager of the Town Basin Marina, which was owned by the Town Council, could not have been more helpful. All of the local marine businesses ran a cooperative to produce a booklet describing all the services available. There was competition for any and all marine activities and supplies and consequently prices were competitive for materials and spares and labour was relatively cheap.
The Town Basin was right on the edge of the thriving town of about 60,000 people, with a large supermarket 100m away and two others to choose from within a kilometre. There was nothing that could not be obtained here. There were 3 engineering/tool shops, stainless fabricators, countless D-I-Y shops, electronics, and second-hand bookshops. You name it – it was here and all within walking distance!
Of course, the first thing we needed was cash, but unfortunately the ATM in the supermarket swallowed my card. We found the ATM’s owning bank in the town, only to be told that the card would be returned to the issuing bank. Since in this case it was HSBC in Malta, I explained that this would cause us a real problem. They, in turn explained that the local ATMs were serviced by Securicor and to locate and return my card, they would have to send a special operative which may incur a charge. We agreed to go ahead, but when we returned to the bank the following day, it proved that Securicor were unable to raise an invoice to an individual and my card was returned with their compliments. I somehow find it difficult to imagine the same service to a New Zealander in similar circumstances in England but perhaps I am being unkind. However, the last laugh was on me because when I re-inserted the card in a hole-in-the-wall attached to a bank, which we had decided was the safest thing to do in the future, it spat it out with the message that the card had expired – which indeed it had.
Meanwhile, I had found a dentist who, happily was able to advise that my broken teeth were both crowns and not the implant and so over the next week or so I had a root filling and two new crowns fitted. I was able to smile once more and at a fraction of the cost of UK prices! Sarah was so impressed she organised an appointment for herself to get her teeth whitened.
We were able to wash the boat down and get the salt off our foul weather gear. We took the sewing machine to the Elna shop to be told that the electronic control board was more expensive than a new machine, so we decided to invest in a new one. Time was spent up the mast fixing the staysail halyard and then Pelle, who ran the local Doyle sail loft, came to help unbend the yankee, main and staysail and took them for inspection and repair.
Our square search around the industrial area proved unsuccessful in locating an immersion heater to fit the calorifier because the New Zealand standard is different to the UK. However, I managed to get a boss made up in order to adapt the opening to accommodate the New Zealand standard heater and so at last we were back to having domestic hot water.
On the plus side we located a diesel engineering shop who would be able to service the injectors and more importantly the injection pump – something I was to do more than once in the coming months. The first estimate for a new Bimini frame was disappointingly expensive, but the second was attractive, and we decide to go ahead with a plan for a fixed frame, suitably reinforced and at the same time reduce the height of the sprayhood.
I had no joy in fixing the heating system which, of course had not been used since we left the UK (and as it turns out should have been run monthly!) and neither heater would start. Luckily, I found a Webasto supplier in Auckland who should hopefully be able to source spare parts. It will give us an excuse to hire a car and take a trip, but meanwhile we have succumbed to the need to purchase a fan heater because the mornings are still chilly even if the clocks have gone forward for summertime. We took the TV to a repair man, but as with the sewing machine it is more cost effective to buy a new one.
Although only early October, time was running short before Moonbeam was to come out of the water so we could return home for Annabel and Jack’s wedding, and still there was a great deal to do. I stripped the oven so we could clean it and get some replacement parts although only some were still being produced. This gave us an excuse to go out for lunch every day for a week, until I put it back together.
Our trip to Auckland surprised us by taking nearly three hours. The road is mostly single carriageway with occasional passing places. Slow it might be, but the drive is through the most staggeringly beautiful countryside. It was good to learn how long the journey was so that we leave plenty of time to get to the airport. Having found the Webasto dealer, I suppose it was inevitable that we were told that the heaters were beyond economical repair, but new heaters could be obtained at some extortionate price. A decision we decided to put off for now, as summer is around the corner.
We have a problem going home because our ‘E’ ticket requires a stop in Bangkok, so even though I spoke to staff travel and there is space available on the through flight we will nevertheless have to night stop, something that is not entirely unwelcome to the female part of the crew!
I spent a whole morning doing a five-minute job of installing the new TV into its cupboard. It only just fits and of course had to be fixed so it can’t come adrift. This protracted exercise, I see from Sarah’s diary, enabled her to smuggle a new dress on board.
After parting with lots of dollars I got the injection pump back fully re-conditioned and was very satisfied when the engine stared after refitting it. The nightmare of losing the timing with the injector removed was over for the time being. The new sewing machine just about coped with making a new wheel/binnacle cover and mainsheet pocket, but it is clearly on the edge of its capabilities.
We decided to take another day off and drove up to the Bay of Islands. It was another delightful drive through magnificent countryside – arum lilies growing wild in the fields and huge herds of cattle not seen at home since childhood. The bay is quite lovely with everything looking well-kept and cared for, so we are excited with the prospect of cruising there after Christmas.
We had already met the pleasant and helpful team that run Norsand, which was the local boatyard, when we visited on foot and so we knew what to expect when we arrived at 0930 to be pulled out. We were met with a reception committee consisting of Kevin, the yard foreman and Victor and Jo, who managed it. After positioning Moonbeam on what was rather a ‘Heath Robinson’ trailer, she was pulled out, washed off and parked in the yard. Her bottom was not too bad given the length of time since we left Curacao with only my diving on her from time to time to clean her.
Living on the boat when she is out of the water is like living in a caravan park with central loos and showers as any grey water from the boat had to be collected and taken to the sewers. As soon as we had arrived in Whangarei, I had sent the complete Iridium sat-phone to a main agent in Auckland and we were advised that the problem lay on a printed circuit board in the main unit (no longer made, of course), which resulted in the unit’s ability to Tx/Rx falling off over a matter of a few seconds. This must have been the case from the outset so I shall collate all the invoices and try to get some compensation. The bottom line is that we need a new sat-phone. Oh dear!
We settled on Sunbrella material in colour linen for the new sprayhood, bimini and UV strips and ordered the bimini and sprayhood from Palmer Canvas in Whangarei. We ordered a new permanent bimini frame and a reduction of the height of the sprayhood from a stainless specialist, to be constructed and modified whilst we were away. We asked Pelle to do the sails. The last thing we organised was for anchor and chain to be re-galvanised and the max-prop to be serviced whilst we were away. So, on October 20th we departed Auckland for London via Sydney and Bangkok.
Annabel and Jack were married in an incredibly moving and beautiful ceremony in Wells Cathedral and Eloise was christened the week before, so it was a lovely time with our children. Christmas was spent with Tony and Jo together with all our families. Very sadly, it would be Tony’s last. His cancer had clearly taken a rapid turn for the worse and the prognosis was dire.
I departed on New Year’s Eve direct to Sydney and arrived back on Moonbeam on 3rd January where I found her safe and sound. The max-prop had been serviced by filing the cups and the fixed bimini frame had been installed together with the reduction of the sprayhood frame. The sails were returned, and the anchor and chain were returned. Unfortunately, there was no sign of the new bimini or sprayhood. Nevertheless, I completed the anti-fouling with the local equivalent of Awlgrip which was prohibited in New Zealand.
On 16th January Moonbeam was returned to the water and sailed up to the town basin. Ronnie from Palmer Canvas completed the fitting of the sprayhood, bimini and an insert between the two. Sarah returned to Whangerai on schedule on the 20th of January, having routed in comfort to Los Angeles and discomfort from there to Aukland. Ronnie constructed shade material to be attached to the bimini, which hopefully would be needed to protect us from the sun. He was a lovely man who befriended us and gave me his book describing Captain Cook’s voyage of discovery. He envisaged constructing rain curtains to enclose the cockpit in adverse weather conditions.
Five days later, my sister, Linda, and brother-in-law, Norlan, joined us. Once we had completed the safety briefing, we departed the town basin and once re-fueled, spent the night at Tutukaka marina. The following day we had a gentle sail up to a lovely anchorage in Deep Water Bay, at the entrance to the Bay of Islands. This was really fortunate because my sister was not comfortable on a boat. A gentle sail to Robertson Island for lunch where the sand is not quite so white as the picture postcards before motoring around to Russell to anchor off the boat club. As usual, the outboard wouldn’t start so it was not until the next day that we could go ashore once it had been fixed. The girls went shopping whilst Norlan and I climbed Flagstaff Hill.
After a couple more days, a visit to the Stone Store, New Zealand’s oldest trading post revealed why so many blacksmiths emigrated here. It was fascinating to learn that nails were cut by hand until machinery was introduced, and the Stone Store had timbers sporting both hand cut and machined nails. Shortly afterwards, it was time to say good-bye to my sister and her husband and offload the golf clubs as their holiday was only half over, but the visit was a great success thanks to the benign weather.
Our 35th wedding anniversary was celebrated at Kamakuru in Russell on 2nd February and Richard and Rita arrived the next day. Richard and I trained together, and he was my best man as I was his. Rita and Sarah also trained together as BOAC stewardesses at a time when female cabin crew were special. We are lucky guys!
For the next few days, we wandered around the Bay and visited Pahia to go to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds to witness the 21 Gun Salute for Waitangi Day and climbed Flagstaff Hill again. Our challenge for this trip was the throttle cable parting and the need to replace the Morse cable. We initially robbed the dinghy, but we were then able to obtain a replacement from Opua Marina and duly fitted it.
On the 8th of February we left the Bay of Islands and headed back to Tutukaka in light airs and brilliant sunshine, which was enough to send them home with sunburn! We watched the amateur Whangerai Angler’s club weighing the striped marlin they had caught in a competition. Some had been tagged and released others killed and brought ashore. One weighed 129kgs – it was going to make a lot of steaks! A short trip the following morning back to Whangerai, where after a lovely evening meal we sadly had to say good-bye once more to Richard and Rita, our very special guests who were going home via Sydney.
We spent the next week doing the laundry, servicing the engine and generator. I had to take the cold plate out of the fridge to have it welded as it had developed a leak along the bottom seal and then the local fridge man replaced the refrigerant. We departed Whangerai on the afternoon high tide heading for Rodney point but abandoned the plan when we realised that our ETA was after nightfall and before moonrise, so we diverted to an anchorage in Urquhurt Bay. Next day we had a lovely sail on down to Bon Accord Harbour on Kawau Island. It is a lovely little place, reminding Sarah of Norway where she lived as a child. The forecast storm dully arrived the following day, but the harbour turned out to be a perfect refuge. We suffered an occasional gust of wind but plenty of rain, sometimes reducing the visibility to less than 100m. We had booked a slot in Bayswater Marina across the harbour from the centre of Auckland and sailed down at over 8kts to arrive at lunchtime, as the wind was rising and the sky becoming progressively more overcast.
The marina was exposed to the prevailing wind so we fendered and warped up before coming downwind alongside the fuel dock to check in. We were allocated a berth starboard hand to and again downwind, but the crazy system here had no cleats on the pontoon, so it was impossible to attach the spring (athwartship) line to any part of the pontoon. Luckily, we had help from the marina staff otherwise we would have found ourselves in a bit of a mess. We discovered that most of the pontoons were privately owned and thus set up to suit the resident boats. Not very helpful to visitors!