Preparations for departing - finally

So much to talk about we hardly know where to begin. Since being re-launched we have been working on the boat and provisioning and re-stowing. This latter is no small task as it invilves stowing many stores and equipment and recording in the minuteist detail their whereabouts on the boat. A fair proportion of the stores are stowed under our bed in the forrard part of the boat and this involves the complete dismantling of said bed to load whatever is necessary. Thankfully this phase is now largely behind us. We have painted the coachroof and re-varnished the cabin coamings. We are getting a bookshelf made for the forrard cabin which will free up some other much needed stowage. That hasn't been finished yet and we then have to apply at least 3 coats of varnish which we are hoping will not unduly delay our departure. We also have an AIS receiver which gives early warning of commercial shipping in our vicinity.and we have been having trouble with the aerial. We fitted a temporary aerial and went down to Marsden Point to eyeball ships at the wharf and see whether they came up on our receiver. Glad to say all was well and we have now replaced the old masthead aerial which we are hopeful will solve the problem. Trials and tribulations and nothing with a boat is straightforward; it all takes so long to solve problems. But touch wood (and there's plenty of it round here!) all is now well. We had a visit from Keith (Jean's brother from Wellsford) and Eileen on the weekend and that was a pleasant interlude. At least they now have a visual appreciation of the boat. Our Swiss French friends, Michel and Marie-Ann have another double ender similar to the Tiare except that she is only two thirds of our size. They built her themselves and they have a house on the island of Elba (where Napoleon was first incarcerated) which they also built themselves.They sailed here from Europe about 3 years ago and have since been re-fitting the boat in between returning to Switzerland to be with family. They are now ready to leave to head back to Europe and will be sailing tomorrow. We hope that we may cross paths either in New Caledonia or Vanuatu later this year. They are in their mid sixties and are great people. We feel humbled to have met them. We haven't been anywhere yet (!) and have still met wonderful people; those who cruise the oceans are a special breed. Well, we are about to depart. We intend to leave Whangarei just after Easter and spend 7-10 days regaining our sealegs on a leisurely cruise to the Bay of Islands. Once we are there we will be clearing Customs at Opua and setting sail for Noumea as soon as we have a suitable weather window. Watch this space!!