Tuesday 17 May 2011

Weatherbound and frustrations

Hi,
Well, we're still here - rang Customs at 0730 this morning and cancelled yet again! Nothing works properly in this place - we haven't been able to get 7 day forecasts because the local internet is down and no-one has any idea when it might be fixed, the power connection didn't work because they didn't have any adaptors, and with the general bleakness and exposed nature of the place it is next to impossible to leave the berth, much less get alongside the fuel jetty. Anyway, this morning before the wind got up too much we decided to give the fuel jetty a go. We had some help from another boat to get out and so had an inadvertant extra crew member across to the fuel jetty! We berthed without incident but when we went to use our debit card to authorise fuel delivery it wouldn't work. Much swearing and gnashing of teeth then. Imagine if we had just cleared Customs and then couldn't go because we couldn't get fuel. Fortunately at that point just as we were getting ready to go to the office and have a rant at them, a woman who works in the cafe said good morning to us. We replied that it might have been if we could get this f........... machine to work!!! Well, she said we could walk up to the fuel bowser in the carpark (at least 200 metres away) which is linked to the fuel jetty. So we did and hey presto, it worked and we got our fuel. But what a performance and it typifies the whole place. They have spent a lot of money here and the facilities and berths are of a high standard but it is let down in small ways - although not being able to get fuel just before an ocean passage is no small thing. And it is so bleak and windswept with very little development so far; it must be eating its financial head off. There are no service facilities here and even just access to provisions is non existent. There is a mediocre cafe, a liquor store whose prices have to be seen to be believed (we tried to get duty free from there last time and their duty free prices were more than Super Liquor's retail prices in Whangarei!!!), a hairdresser for God's sake, and a few empty retail spaces. And very few berths sold so we were told. Before we came in here they said we could berth where we liked as there are a huge number of empty berths unsold and unleased.
Anyway, the last long range weather forecast we have seen indicated winds dropping rapidly towards the end of this week and then a fierce low pressure system advancing across the Tasman. So we have decided to head up to the Bay of Islands tomorrow (which had always been our intention in any case) and then clear out of Opua when the next window presents. We will probably lose a week or two but can't be helped. We've sat around here waiting for the much promised W and SW winds which have only materialised today but really too late before the next nasty hits us and we could see ourselves becalmed 100 or so miles north of North Cape right in its path perhaps as the present winds diminish to variable 10 knots on Saturday. Lovely for being out in the garden but not so hot for keeping a yacht moving fast enough to escape the next bout of bad weather.
More from the blogsite in due course!
Cheers,
Jim and Gina

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.