Following a link from andrewsulivan.com, I entered our blog for analysis. Here is the result:

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The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves.

The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions.

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Right on the money….in fact we just got the cockpit cushions recovered!  And as for the floozy at the cocktail bar?…….pretty much sums it up this trip, does’ nit?

All are well…………avoiding conflict and confrontation!

   After a most satisfying day watching election returns on Wednesday, Jonathan
and I set out to see some of New Zealand. After stopping in Auckland for a
few errands we headed south and east to the Coromandel Peninsula.

We stopped the first night in Thames which is the gateway to the area. We
stayed at a B&B called the Chartre Manor (Shar tray)where our hosts Pauline
and Dennis gave us good information for seeing the peninsula. In the morning
we headed out for Coromandel Town after stopping at Rapaura Water Gardens
enroute. This attraction is a 200 acre reserve of natural and manmade water
spots. It was purchased and developed by a couple in 1960 and features a
natural waterfall followed by large and small pools, ponds and fountains
nestled in by small paths through an amazing botanical collection. There are
Zen gardens and Maori sculptures, discreet jets of water, unexpected
rivulets. It was nearly empty and we had the place to ourselves, hard not to
feel deep peace after a walk through.

After the water garden the landscape suddenly blossomed. Miles of bright
green rolling and folding hillsides, dotted with puffed up sheep and lazy
cows. Valleys leading to inlets by the sea with tree-covered islands just
off shore. The peninsula has been a place of great activity for 200 years.
Early ships of discovery landed here. Captain Cook observed the transit of
Mercury on the south side of the peninsula in what is now called Mercury
Bay. Gold was discovered in the mid 19th Century and Thames was a typical
gold mining town. The main street is one mile long and once sported one
hundred saloons. Lumber was also ( and is still today) a major commercial
venture. The Kauri tree has been harvested here for 200 years and New
Zealand lumber planked and framed many British sailing vessels in that time.

We had lunch in Coromandel Town where the last original gold mining and
stamping outfit is still run as a tourist attraction. Unfortunately, closed
on Friday! We then headed over the mountains to Whitianga on the south side
of the peninsula. The drive was through beautiful mountainous terrain,
pastures, and clear cuts. The upside of the clear cuts is that you do get to
see the topography of the land.

We spent the night in another B&B in Whitianga and left early this morning
to drive to Rotorua. It was another nice drive but the terrain was more
gentle and the primary activity farming. At one point we came around a
corner and say a fellow standing by the side of the road, one shirt tail
out, holding a banjo, hitchhiking…sorry, seen that movie………. Vrrrrrrrom!

After stopping to watch a few overs of a cricket match along the way, we
arrived in Rotorua at 2:00PM. Rotorua is the center of a great deal of
geothermic activity and you know that right away because the town reeks of
sulfur. We had time to have a quick walk about the lake and town, make
reservations at the main spa and find a good restaurant for dinner.

More tomorrow.

All are well.

The trip down from Opua to Auckland was pretty tame considering that we are
in the Jurassic Park of weather systems. As we left Opua, the wind was
astern (as advertised) but as we left the Bay of Islands and rounded Cape
Brett the wind came around to right on the nose….in about 10-15 seconds.
Our leisurely beam reach to Auckland suddenly looked like a long beat to
weather. Jonathan heated up some Lasagna, threw together a spinach and blue
cheese salad followed by the freshest fruit we have seen in a long time.
Earlier that day we found that creme fraiche is available in NZ………….
so life can continue.

Throughout the night the wind ranged from 3 knots to 20 knots. Reefs
in—reefs out, jib in, jib out. But also as the night progressed the wind
angle improved to ultimately put us on one singe tight reach to our
destination. We arrived off Gulf Harbor Marina mid morning and were soon
tied up to our berth. Gulf Harbor, as you can see on the Google map is a
large Marina with a boat yard/trades complex on one side. Each trade is a
separate entity so we will deal with each individually. This, at first,
seemed like it would be chaotic……and anywhere else but NZ it would be.
But here all of the trades get along well, work closely with each other and
it seems that with just a little oversight all of our work should get done
on time..even with both of us away for January.

New Zealand! When was the last time you heard someone bad-mouth New Zealand
(outside of America’s Cup circles, that is)? Well, being the curmudgeon, I
just knew that I wasn’t going to like it. Not a chance! These people don’t
even give you a chance to dislike it! The physical beauty is amazing and we
haven’t even see the good parts yet and the people are universally and
genuinely friendly and helpful. Customs, which is notoriously thorough, does
its job in a most genial fashion. They steal your sprouts for
contraband…but do it in a most friendly and apologetic way. They don’t
come on board for a fight. They come on board to help you comply with their
stringent rules about bringing fresh foods, meats etc into the country….
such a welcome change from many of the tin-horned bureaucrats we have dealt
with since Antigua.

It is also great to be back in the First World again. Jonathan gets teary
when he sees a 25 foot bread rack…or a 15 foot display of lettuce..green
lettuce…to say nothing of yellow bananas…ready to eat bananas..not green
stalks that must hang in the forepeak for two weeks! Restaurants, lots and
lots of restaurants. Movie theatres. IMAX..we will soon see the new Bond
Flick ..in IMAX. We were both ready for a break. Psychologically NZ is the
half way point in the circumnavigation. A few months of being tied up to a
float, getting power from a cord and water from a hose is exactly what we
need right now…and the “ol’ girl” needs a couple of months in the yacht
‘beauty spa’….so we will all be refreshed and ready to continue in March!
Justin, the “Atlantic” mate, is joining us in February so it will be great
to have third set of hands. This is a great boat at sea but two are just not
enough to handle it safely..at least not upwind…reef in, reef out, jib in
jib out, staysail up, staysail down!

Ship Chandleries..OMG! Viaduct Basin is the sailing “village” built for the
defense of the America’s Cup. It is in downtown Auckland and though no
longer a base for that show, it is the most incredible yachting center I
have ever seen. Surrounding the area is as large a collection of yacht
support services as imaginable. Multiple huge ship chandlers, yachting
boutique stores, dive shops, safety equipment dealers, sail makers, spar
builders, RIB manufacturers, a gigantic “Super Yacht” ship yard. It is all
here…..and all within walking distance. Newport may be a yachting
town…..but it is a far cry from Auckland!

On our first trip into the city we had lunch at the top of the Sky City
tower that dominates the cityscape. In this revolving restaurant at 190
meters ( 600 ft) we sorted out the city. It was a great way to have a first
glance at Auckland…..that is…. until someone jumped off the building
right outside the window by our table! But don’t fret, this is New
Zealand…s/he had bungee around the ankles! I swear these people will jump
off anything…attached to bungee!

The logs will get pretty sparse here for awhile. We’ll be back up and
writing full time by March 1st at the latest. It is just as well…you know
you have to start those Xmas cards soon!

All are well.

We left at 3:30 PM this afternoon for the 120 mile jaunt to Auckland.

The wind is crazy. We have reefed and de-reefed about 4 times in 6 hours. I
am coming to believe that NZ is the Jurassic Park of weather.

Hoping for a noon time arrival.

The produce here is amazing..and there is creme fraiche. I am never leaving!

All are well

Safely ashore in Opua waiting for customs.

A long slog in. Arrived at 10 PM

More to follow

All are well.

We survived the low. Commander had threatened us with 30-50 kts of wind over
night. We saw 18-20 with one gust to 25 kts. The conditions were blustery
though. It is cold dense air rushing into fill the low and it is quite
unlike the usual “fair weather” 20 kts of wind. We did, first, two man
watches, alternating pairs. Two hours on one off. Around 4 AM I told Jonthan
to go below, give Mike an extra hour and hit the bunk himself. At this point
we knew that one man watches would be sufficient for the conditions. This
morning JL went back on watch, the rain started (naturally) and when it
stopped the wind had clocked from NNW to SSE. We were (are) still 50 miles
from the entrance to Opua (port is 10 miles further inland). During the lull
between the shifts, we tried the engine and the running gear seemed OK .for
now. Once the wind came around into our teeth, we shut it down and started
beating to weather which is what we are now doing. We won’t make Opua by
sunset but it is nestled in the region called Bay of Islands so we will
probably find an anchorage in the lee of one of them tonight sometime and
head in to clear in the morning. When the wind shifted I was tempted to head
to Auckland but the wind was nearly as bad for that fetch so we are sticking
to our basic plan. I also would rather have a questionable propulsion system
in Opua where we have friends who could tow us or help out if we have a
problem. Having the prop shaft give out in the port of Auckland is more
worrisome. If we clear in Opua, we can then head right to our marina north
of Auckland and get a tow in there if necessary.

This has been a mentally challenging passage. Right from day one everybody
knew about this possible developing low and contingencies occupy your brain
for most of the waking hours ( and a few sleepless nights.) Had we had the
engine we would have gotten in last night before the blow so when that went
new contingencies had to be made..like switching ports to Opua. When the
wind didn’t fill in yesterday ( and we couldn’t power) we were handed 24
hours of the storm rather than the 12 we had resigned ourselves to. When
this morning the wind came from the south instead of the west we resigned
ourselves to beating into Opua and making land fall at night. I have given
up making contingency plans..we will get what we get! I used to understand
this concept in the old days ..before I had mechanical propulsion…and
completely bought into the David Millet 5 kt made good rule!!

But we are safe, in good spirits..and we will get to NZ
eventually…besides, I think that there is one more good salad left before
we have to throw every organic item away for NZ customs!

…….but wait..we just got a break….Mike just came down and announced a
favorable wind shift. We tacked and are now at least vaguely headed toward
NZ…rather than ..say…Fiji!

At 0500 this morning I located the constellation Antlia..the final of 88
constellations ..bagged!

All are well.

The cutlass bearing repair lasted for about 14 hours yesterday powering
through light air. The crash and rumble returned between roast leg of lamb
and salad. At 7PM with a little daylight left, JL went overboard for a much
quicker repair job. We were afraid that this morning would be too windy for
the repair and we were right..17-22kts this AM. This time he put three hose
clamps in a row along the shaft. We tried propulsion for a couple of minutes
and the drive train is working again…but we’ve decided not to use the prop
until we need to which will be Opua tomorrow sometime. We have changed our
arrival destination to Opua from Auckland to avoid some of the storm.

Unfortunately, our track and timing puts us right under the approaching low.
30+ knots predicted with intermittent squalls…just ugly!

It is now 0900 local time. We are in 20 kts off the stern with more
expected. The worst of the wind should occur around 1 AM tomorrow morning.
Our wind files look somewhat benevolent but Commander’s Weather has a more
dire opinion…we will just have to see who was correct.

Our sail plans are made with reefs and staysails at the ready…and

All are well.

The wind backed and abated over the night. By this morning it was in the mid
to lower teens and off the beam. It was a nice calm relief and we all slept
well. Unfortunately it wasn’t fast enough to keep our arrival on time in
Auckland (and the developing low seems more likely) so we turned on the
motor to add a few knots to our speed. Everything was going well for a
couple of hours. We enjoyed grilled ham and cheese sandwiches in the aft
cockpit…and then we heard a rumble from down below. It was quickly evident
that something was wrong with the propeller. Thinking that we might have
caught a stray piece of rope or other seagoing flotsam, I tried putting the
gear in reverse to dislodge it…same sound and rumble in reverse and no
better when back in forward. Mike thought that it might be the cutlass
bearing. The propeller shaft goes through the hull braced within a rubber
cylindrical bearing. It then passes through a second similar bearing which
is located in a hanging bracket just before the propeller. Well, all eyes
turned toward “Dive Master” Jonathan and he good naturedly went off to find
his wet suit, fins and mask. It was blowing around 14 kts, the sea was
calmer than it had been and worse weather is expected so this seemed like
the right time to try to sort out the problem. Using the staysail and
mainsail, we hove to and stopped our motion in the water. Jonathan donned a
safety harness which Mike had tied to a rope and over he went. He was soon
back on the surface complaining that not only had the air gotten colder
down here south of the tropics but the water had as well. It was 68 degrees
(20C),temperate for Maine and Nova Scotia but a long way from the high 70’s
(25C) we have become accustomed to.

After his first dive below, he surfaced to report that there was a loose
cylinder hanging on the shaft between the bottom thru-hull and the hanging
bracket..cutlass bearing! His second dive report was that it was the bearing
from the bracket not the hull. It had slid forward out of the bracket onto
the shaft. He asked for tools and we could soon hear him rapping away under
the hull. After a few attempts he reported that he was able to slide it back
into position but that one of two set screws was missing from the assembly
jacket. He then descended with an Allen wrench and tightened the remaining
screw. Mike and I devised a plan to secure the cutlass bearing by installing
a metal hose clamp around the shaft just forward of the bracket as a brace
against which the bearing will not be able to slide. This was accomplished
and the mate hauled back aboard.

All told he was in the water for about a half an hour. The boat wasn’t
completely stopped in the water so he would dive down and then on the
surface Mike would tow him back by the safety line, he would rest a few
seconds and then dive again. Twice the boat came into the wind and came
about ( which is not supposed to happen when you are hove to.) On each
occasion Mike would hoist JL back on board while I heaved the boat around
again.

It was a long, physically demanding task. Cold water, diving under a hull in
3-4 foot waves, manhandling the bearing back into position and then fitting
a repair. There are few who could accomplish it with such finesse. Of course
he had various requests immediately on exiting the water but these were
entirely ignored and he was given espresso and encouraged to have a long hot
shower!

So, will it work you want to know? Well, we do too but the wind is back and
we are just taking advantage of that. We will try it later……. even
saving it for our final approach into Auckland if the wind continues. Even
if our repair doesn’t hold, we’ll run the engine to our final
destination..Gulf Harbor Boat Yard..and deal with the mess during the haul
out in December.

The “dive master” is cooking roast pork for dinner. Damned versatile that
fellow!

All are well.

Today is my sister’s birthday. She is a grand supporter of this and all my
other adventures…always sure to ring Savoyard Cow bells at each
commencement and conclusion! Happy Birthday, Deah!

We have had a rough day but it is now midnight and the wind has abated to
the high teens and swung back to a more favorable angle. It may be harder to
get our 175 miles in today (ends at noon) but we have a massive supply of
diesel to keep us charging toward the NZ coast if it turns light.

Yesterday we sailed out of the tropics. Capricorn is now to the north.
Underwoolies and watchcaps are the new dress code…It has been a year
almost to the day…since we stowed them! If it were not for cyclones in the
tropics, I would have just stayed up there until it was time to go home!

All are well.

Too much wind. 25 kts gusts higher.

3 reefs, staysail, no jib.

First two days 173, 175 miles..that’s a lot of miles.

Same today. We are trying to outrun a low coming over from Australia by the
weekend. It is looking OK.

At least we should be in the lee of North Island, NZ when the westerlies
begin.

Boat and crew holding up well…just tired, bruised, wet and aching all
over.

We are very grateful for our third, Mike Raoult. I have signed him up for
Mauritius-Cape Town next year!

More when I can sit at the lap top without getting thrown around. Dots on
Google map inserted at midnight our time.

All are well.