Finally about to leave

Hi everyone,

Well, it's now 2 years and 3 months since Jim and Jean (Gina) became an item (after having met at the Russell Boating Club before the Classic Invitation Yacht Race in January 2008) and work started on the refit of the yacht at the Norsand Boatyard, Whangarei. Jim brought the yacht from the Bay of Islands down to Whangarei in June 2008 thinking that it would only be about 3-4 months to have various alterations done but alas, there was so much wrong with the so-called refit that was done at Kerikeri ,that the work required, which included replacement of 4 hull planks and a complete rebuild of the mast and fittings plus a whole lot of other stuff that we won't bore you with here, took forever with a launching  half way through so that the hull wouldn't dry out. We eventually launched last November as a wholly rigged boat again and cruised north but found a number of teething problems and gradually worked through all those. The notable one that is still not fixed and probably will never be totally satisfactory is the freezer/fridge. This was due to shoddy manufacture at Kerikeri and although there was one attempt to fix it the effort has not been satisfactory so, unless we spend a vast amount getting another freezer built, we will probably just have to put up with it. The yard at Kerikeri doesn't have the expertise to fix it and probably wouldn't anyway.

Since the boat came to Whangarei we have lived in a variety of places. First, we babysat a rural property south of Whangarei at Otaika for 4 months while the owners were in Alaska running their salmon fishing business up there and then, because the boat was still uninhabitable at that stage, we lived in the flat at the Norsand Boatyard for another 5 months. During this time it was decided to change the yacht's name from "Reflections of Wellington" (she had been built in Wellington over 32 years and launched in 1979!) to "Tiare Taporo III" after the original Tiare which was a 110' trading schooner and which had been built in 1913 by Charles Bailey in Auckland for Jim's great grandfather for his island trading businesses in the Cook Islands and Tahiti.

Since then we have lived on the boat both in the water and on the hard while further work was carried out. Living on the hard was a somewhat unique experience with climbing up and down via a ladder with the deck some 12' above the ground. When one needs to visit the loo at 3 in the morning climbing down the ladder in a dressing gown with a gale blowing it up around one's ears and raining as well is a character forming experience!! The bathroom (head) on the boat cannot be used  when out of the water of course!

We launched again in May this year and berthed at the Town Basin Marina while completing preparations for our forthcoming voyage to Vanuatu and New Caledonia and in fact were within 2 days of leaving when we received the sad news that Jim's Mum had passed away on June 1st. in her 90th. year. So, we were of course then involved in all the things that must be attended to in these sad situations and have only recently been able to see the end of all this. Then there was the earthquake in Christchurch  a few days ago where Jim's youngest daughter lives with her daughter and husband. Fortunately their house appears to be undamaged and they weren't hurt but the damage is widespread with the repair cost estimated to be over $4 billion. The yacht has been ready for months but we are now only just ready too and are now waiting for a weather window to depart. Ideally we need to leave on the back of a low pressure system to get a lift from the southerly quarter winds which usually follow. The trick is to find a gap behind the low of around 3-4 days to give enough time to get clear of these southern waters but right now such a gap is looking very elusive. But we live in hope and next week looks promising.........!!

When we leave we will go down the harbour (about 12 miles) to the Marsden Cove Marina where we will top up our fuel, collect any duty free booze and clear Customs. Then it's a short distance out past Marsden Point Oil Refinery, around Bream Head and we will then be on our way. Because we are so late leaving, we have decided to just go to New Caledonia because we will only have 2 months available before we have to return due to the risk of tropical cyclones from about 1st. Dec. onwards. Course to steer on leaving  is 330True and we can't wait. The distance is under 900 miles so we should be there in 7 - 10 days depending on wind srength and direction.

We'll let you know when we are leaving and hopefully it won't be too long now.

With lots of love

Jim and Jean (Gina)