There's ay some bloody thing!

We're back aboard Maunie and were delighted to find her in very good order after her (and our) 2 month holiday. Whilst we were away a local sailor, Mike, came out to the mooring to check on her weekly and he emailed us a condition report each time - when cyclone Ian blew through here a couple of weeks ago he also came and had a good look at her through his binoculars! Our mooring was well-sheltered but other boats weren't so lucky; a few had sails and covers ripped and the car ferry came adrift from its overnight mooring and damaged a couple of nearby yachts, including Liberty VI who seemed to follow us (enjoying Dianne and Heidi's night time VHF conversations!) on several Pacific passages.

After a brilliant car and tent journey it's great to be home! However, we're back to some boat work and Graham's father's favourite boat saying, "There's ay some bloody thing!" (to be spoken in a Scottish accent),  is being much used, along with "It's a boat!" (to be spoken in an exasperated accent). For example:

We'd decided to tackle a simple-sounding job, to add some permanent mountings for the solar panel on the cabin roof - we'd had it lashed in place with rope and the cable just trailed back into the cockpit to a deck socket. It worked fine but offended Graham's engineering senses and looked a bit Heath Robinson. Thanks to a chat with the guys in the local chandlery (who are proper sailors and so give great, practical advice) we came up with the idea of using stong polycarbonate hinges rather than stainless steel brackets to make the job of aligning the panel with the curved roof much easier. Of course, this meant drilling bolt holes through the roof so the headlining in the cabin had to come down and we took great care to make sure that the bolt holes were very well sealed to prevent water ingress. 

Chaos below

New fittings to raise the panel clear of the ropes

This of course was just part of the project - a new cable gland was needed (a waterproof socket, bolted to the roof, through which the power cable was threaded) and the cable had to be threaded through various very small spaces down to the charge controller next to the batteries beneath our bunk. All in all about an 8-hour job but were pleased with the result.

However, whilst we had the headlining down we investigated an annoying drip from the back of the cabin roof and eventually found that the sealant around the bolts fastening the mainsheet traveller had hardened and cracked allowing capilliary action to draw rainwater (and sea water in bad weather!) through into the cabin. Getting the whole thing prised up, cleaned and resealed was a bit of a challenge.

A large lever and lots of muttering were required to lift the alloy fitting from its resting place of 17 years

A third, minor, leak had also been spotted last time we sailed in rough seas so, whilst we were in the mood (though noticeable less enthusiastic by this time), we removed one of the deck hatches and resealed it; a process known as "gobbering up with Sikaflex" by an old sailing friend. 

The hatch removed and the deck masked up ready for gobbering up

Sikaflex is an amazing adhesive / sealant that's almost guaranteed to end up on your clothes and skin, no matter how careful you are with it. Once there nothing will remove it apart from time and vigorous scrubbing. Graham now wears two pairs of latex gloves so when he gets all sticky he can peel off the outer pair and continue working.

So, finally (and all this was a 2-day project) we refitted the headlining and tidied the boat up, just as torrential rain arrived. Our smug satisfaction at several jobs well done was soon shattered when a drip arrived, swiftly followed by quite a few of its friends. How could this be after all our careful work with the Sikaflex?

Once more the headlining came down to reveal the source of the water - the cable gland for the older solar panel on the roof. A rubber o-ring seal had perished and split allowing water to find its way past the threaded fitting.

The leaking deck gland

The cause - a UV-degraded o-ring seal

Replacing it involved removing the cable, prising the whole fitting from the deck to disassemble it, fitting a new o-ring, reassembly and, of course, more application of Sikaflex before replacing the headlining. Time to complete all this? Three hours! It's a boat!!

Hope we can remember how to do it!

After 2 months away from the boat, we'll have to relearn all the sailing routines. Here's a little video to remind us what sailing's like. It was taken last April as we were sailing from Panama but we've only just got round to editing it!

Growing old doesn't necessarily mean growing up! It's not so painfull

Today (29th March) was Graham's 50th birthday so he decided to mark the occasion, literally. As friends of ours said, "sailors need ink" so in Blenheim he took the plunge and had his first (and only!) tattoo:

It's not so painful!

The design is a Cook Islands one that was on the sails of the Vaka Hine Moana (a replica Polynesian voyaging canoe) that we sailed on in Tonga

The end of the 8 week camping adventure

We've just arrived in Auckland and unloaded the tent from the roof rack into friends' garage for safekeeping at the end of a brilliant 2 months' tour. The car and tent combination worked superbly well and we only slept indoors on 5 nights in the whole trip. The last few days saw some really sunny weather during the day but cold and dewy nights so we took extra care to get the tent properly dried and aired at our last campsite in the Coromandel Peninsula.

Camping with the sheep at Lake Tutira just north of Napier

A great walk above the camp

You need to take the 'falling rocks' road signs seriously in these parts!

We detoured up to the town of Whitianga on Coromandel to have lunch with Staffan and Eleanor - they sail a lovely Halberg Rassy called Salsa and we met them in an anchorage in Spain. They've made Whitianga their base for a few months and the children Andreas and Erika are loving the local school. Staffan writes an excellent blog with daily updates on all sorts of things and he and Graham had a good conversation about how our voyaging experiences might be turned into something useful (in terms of business) back home.

I think we are being followed

Farewell view of South Island from the ferry

Our little cabin at the Eketehuna camp proved to be a very comfy choice so we spent yesterday afternoon relaxing on the veranda.

Home for one night

The campsite has a definite end-of-season feel to it, with only a couple of caravans in residence, so the arrival of a Britz campervan at about 5.00pm made us look up; we were more than a little surprised and delighted to see that it was Heidi and Peter. Quite by chance they'd stumbled upon the very same camp, having spent the morning back in Wellington, quite unaware that we'd be here. So another sociable evening followed that's done nothing for our 'must drink less'  intentions! 

Graham was allowed to indulge his boy scout tendencies and he built a very decent bonfire which we sat around as the sky cleared to provide a stunning star show and the dew fell heavily on the grass around us.

Back in North Island

We're glad to report that the ferry crossing was drama-free; it was pretty windy but the swell was gentle. We arrived in Wellington at 5.30pm  and drove 30 minutes north to a good campsite in Upper Hutt where we met Heidi & Peter from Stormvogel for a great BBQ supper; it was great to catch up with their news after 3 months or so and much wine was drunk.

The following day saw us take a very easy bus and train combination into Wellington where we spent the afternoon in the Te Papa museum before enjoying some very tasty pizza in Cuba Street, which appears to be the happening part of town for cafes and restaurants. We can see why so many people love the city (when it's not blowing a gale - it's known as Windy Wellington) but, to be honest, we like the wild countryside better so we felt that one day was enough for us.

Today (Sunday) we've headed north west to revisit the excellent little campsite in Eketahuna - we were about to rig the tent when we spotted that the cute little cabins (just two on site) were on $25 (£12.50) for the night including free use of a bbq on the veranda, free showers and even a free washing machine. The bargain of the trip, so we're enjoying a spot of (relative) luxury!

A farewell blast from South Island

We left Blenheim in warm sunshine yesterday for a very twisty route up the east coast to a very nice DOC site at the wonderfully named Whatamango Bay.

However as dusk arrived so did the beginning of a 40 knot gale (not even mentioned in the forecast yesterday morning - one gets the impression that weather in the Cook Straight changes quickly). Thankfully we were pretty well sheltered by the trees and bushes behind us but the sound of the gusts roaring down the valley through the trees sounded like an approaching express train! The wind this morning is abating but our hope of a nice smooth ferry crossing might prove to be a tad optimistic!  Ah well.