Life on the hard on board Tiare Taporo III

We hope this finds everyone well. We are slowly but surely getting through all the jobs before we depart for points north. Things we are doing:

We have moved the pipe that the anchor chain travels through in and out of the chain locker forward so that it will fall into the locker without jamming, as it was inclined to do before. This is just about finished.

We are converting a hanging locker into a conventional storage locker which will use the space more efficiently.

We have had the watermaker overhauled. Hopefully it will work without further problems but we can't test it until we are back in the water.

We have moved the position of a couple of pad eyes on deck to give a more user friendly staysail sheet angle.

We have put a rack in the freezer to try and overcome the issues with food thawing in the bottom as a result of the original  incompetent installation at Partridge Yachts, Kerikeri. So far with mixed success.

We have changed the engine oil and tightened the engine mounts - also replaced another Kerikeri stuff up with a proper marine non return valve to ensure that water doesn't flood into the boat in future when the bilge pump skin fitting is under water when we are heeled.

Cleaned the bilge - what fun - oh, the joys of boating!!

We are installing two 60 watt solar panels to further augment our power generation capacity.

We are slowly getting the hull painted but having some frustration due to showers coming over in fits and starts.

We have raised the waterline by means of creating a boot top above the old waterline. It is looking very smart with its pale lemon colour against the white of the topsides and blue antifouling. We'll have to stop sinking the boat any more by loading cruising supplies!!

We have modified the bow anchor rollers to accommodate our new Rocna anchor with which we have replaced the Delta which dragged a couple of times on our recent cruise.

We now have an awning which fits over the boom to keep the boat cooler in the tropics. It also has a facility for collecting rainwater which will be a boon and save us running the watermaker when we are at anchor. As long as it rains!!

Gina has been sewing mosquito screens to fit over our opening ports. Apart from the discomfort, mosquito bites have the potential for some very nasty diseases.

We have hessian screens rigged around the boat so as to create a humid atmosphere under the boat when we water the ground. This is to prevent the wooden hull from drying out too much until we go back in the water. When people ask about the screens we tell them it is to prevent prying eyes from seeing our revolutionary keel  - albeit that it was designed 80 years ago!!

Noel Barrott who has been doing all the boatbuilding work to the boat, has been the driving force behind the screens as his long experience with boats such as ours recommends such a course as being not only desirable but necessary.

10 days ago Jim went to Christchurch for the weekend to see his daughter Charlotte (and Jon) and their 2 yr old daughter, Lucia. Lucia is delightful although somewhat living up to the "terrible twos" reputation with "no" and "won't" coming to the fore with some regularity! But it was great to see Jon's father Max (and Phillipa) and to just have some extended time with them all. The next time will be after we return from our big nautical adventure.

Jean (Gina) spent time with her family at their new property at Tuakau/Port Waikato and caught up with extended family there as well. Perry, her son, and Tracie came to lunch one day as well. There won't be much chance to see family for the next 4-5 months so these times are precious.

Life in the boatyard is not without it's excitements, although a recent event was not what anyone would wish to happen. A fishing boat "San Elizabeth" had lost her rudder and requested Norsand to haul her out. It seems that for whatever reason the boat's weight had been very much understated and Norsand proceeded on the assumption that the 60 ton weight which had been advised was correct. However, when the boat had been hauled some way up the slipway the real weight (which is now thought to be closer to 100 tons) was too much for the cradle which was being used and she literally fell over on her starboard side in the slipway. Unfortunately she sustained substantial damage to her hull and because she is of triple skin Kauri construction the cost of repairs will almost certainly exceed her value and the only result of that is that she could be written off. This is a real tragedy as she is one of the last wooden fishing boats of her type to have been built in NZ (1962) and is a superbly built and very pretty hull. She was built by Percy Vos originally for Sanford Ltd. Vos's were arguably the best wooden boat builders in Auckland in their heyday and in fact had also built a number of dinghies for Jim's father including in 1958 an 18' open launch called "Jado" which by a great coincidence has recently been acquired by a relative of Gina's and is being painstakingly restored by him. Vos's also built a 12' clinker sailing dinghy for Jim in 1966 ("Tiare Taporo II"). She is now on permanent loan to the Auckland Traditional Wooden Boat Building School which is located at the former RNZAF Hobsonville Airbase. One of the School's directors is Robert Brooke, a former Vos apprentice. So, there has been a long association with and interest in P. Vos Ltd. This has made the accident with the "San Elizabeth" all the more poignant and it is certainly not the end which a grand old lady like that deserves.

We are hoping to be back in the water in a fortnight or so and will then be busy provisioning and making sure that the myriad of other things necessary are done. It will be a relief to get away and eventually relax, although probably not until we have arrived in Vanuatu!

We'll be giving you a blow by blow account of the passage.

Cheers for now

J & J(G)