1paulg

I imagine she is sailing into some boisterous conditions about now...

Pleased with my Hydranet - still plenty of life after 28000nm -had the stitching re done as the cloth had outlived the stitching but was well worth it. Know of 2 friends who had hi tech cruising laminates that just lasted 4 years (full time cruising)- both have gone to Hydranet . Would definitely be top of my list for replacement if I were needing to do so.

I found Pantaenius Australia a right pain - wanted a survey before they would even consider - Topsail (via Baileys ) did the trick but is getting harder each year - I think the International market has taken a hammering with hurricanes in the Carribean and it will take a few years for Insurance companies to claw their losses back - meantime they sting everyone hard each year ....

All the above plus when furling keeping some tension on the leech will help

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12273168 This is really interesting - huge change potential for Auckland waterfront and huge benefits for Whangarei.....

Last year when I was offshore our masthead tricolour failed so I used our deck nav lights at night and on the few occasions we had boats nearby in a 2-3 m sea I felt that we were definitely less visible ( we still had AIS) - it was one f the first things I fixed on return.

https://rayc.co.nz/multisport/?fbclid=IwAR0l3JFORS43113Wl84BolY2DiiAvUC6xAYyzX37Wml6lNU7jhJOrXcUmxo A New fun event coming up on the w/e of Sept 14/15. Comprises of a 20 km paddle to Waiheke, 8 km run ,and 20 km bike to Man o War for a bbq that night . Next morning a race back to Auckland. Check out the details on RAYC website -great to start the Spring season . If you are short of a paddler RAYC can probably organise one for you ....get your crew members training and enter !

That was on a generous handicap !

I think one has to bear in mind that probably around 70% ( I am guessing here but probably not too far off the mark) of Cats are production Cats whose main purpose is to provide a "comfortable environment" at anchor which they definitely achieve above Monos (plus more anchoring options with shallow draft) often with modest sailing - most non performance cruiser type cats will normally be around same speed (or slightly slower) reaching or running as a similar sized mono but slower upwind. Although a different motion which can be uncomfortable for some it is probably less stressful doing activit

Is hard to imagine the force required to upend that Schionning - it is a big boat. I heard that one of the superboats was just about laid on its ear .... Freakish forces involved .

Dont think anyone looks forward to that day unless it is brought on by Health , divorce etc when it is the only option forward. Saying goodbye to a boat that has given one a lot of good memories is always going to be a tough day... Sympathy

I saw a Cat in Tahiti last year that had a lot of custom additions for serious game fishing including outriggers , a custom steering station right at the back of the hard top overlooking the cockpit which gave them great visibility , and rod holders galore . They were hardcore fishers and had spent quite a lot adapting their boat for their passion and to be honest the extent they went to would probably limit their resale options. Generally - yachts are at a reasonable disadvantage compared to a motor boat -(especially in a breeze) when hooking up but with a rehearsed drill you can increas

The article in Boating NZ was notable for its lack of research and poor journalism . My brother has an agreement with the Trust ( John Street) that owns Rainbow and did a 12 month renovation which basically consisted of modernising her interior , freshening up the exterior and general maintenance . She is more cruising friendly now and did a 3 week trip up to the Bay at Xmas but with the goal of minimising any increase in weight there were limitations but she certainly is looking better for it and still is a delight to sail .

If there is anyone here who knows a bit about this design I would love to hear from you Cheers

No - not all Cats have escape hatches - those that don’t need an effective plan for cutting through the hull in designated areas where there are no obstructions to get through and appropriate tools to do the exit with .Escape hatches themselves can be a potential problem if not looked after properly and securely locked

This is a big problem on Waiheke - I assume one of the reasons why it has been left to get so bad is the cost of removing them is so much more than on the mainland

It used to held at Easter

The BEP sensors are a major pain - any moisture at all will kill them . Have had them fault for no apparent reason too so yes press the override for 12 secs but if you are in a remote place you may need to keep doing this until you replace the sensor if they dont reset on drying out. When replacing my sensor- rather than re route the new cable that come with the unit which was going to be a major as it goes through some very tight , unaccessable spots I cut the cable near the sensor and soldered the new sensor and sealed . Outcome - it still alarms !!! It cant be the wire and BEP told m

Welcome Bluesail - you certainly have had a bad run . I hope the health issues come right soon. Firstly it would be unrealistic to expect to buy a boat , get Cat 1 and head offshore relying on help until you can get enough experience to manage yourselves. Ideally you need to sail on someone elses boat ( and poss an offshore passage) to get an idea of what works and what to look for in your own boat. If your shoulder issue doesnt resolve entirely that would also represent a weak point that you would need to manage as best as you can ie get a boat that is set up to make things as easy as poss

We did that passage last year ( to Australs rather than direct to Papeete)and although normally you would expect some off the wind with the westerlies for the first part then hopefully slightly eased sheets as you turn north with unsettled conditions which seem to be prevalent these days in May our journey was 2300nm on one board - ranging from slightly eased sheets to hard on the wind with wind strength generally in the low 20 ‘s and max 37 and sea conditions from 2 m up to 4 m which made it a pretty testing trip . Our steering bearings and autohelm gears seized so we ended up doing 400nm on

lol hadnt noticed that bit !!

Going to be a lot windier in Invercargill and Stewart Is !

to Seven Seas Cruising Association 3 hrs · I was saddened to see Glen Tuttle's post on the "Cruisers Network", about the Murder in Guna Yala, San Blas Islands, Panama. We cruised that are in 2012 and 2013 and thought it was a real treasure. According to the post it was a on board robbery gone bad. The owner was killed, but his wife and children were unharmed Apparently it was a Kiwi -dont have a name but above is a copy of the post -am sure the name is out there somewhere. Terrible situation to be in with your family aboard - bit reminescent of Peter Blakes scenario....

That still applies - also if you have an EU passport ( I think a British one will still qualify -once Brexit is finalised who knows) there is no 3 month time limit ie you can stay indefinitely and obviously don’t need air ticket out .If you are entering on a NZ passport and want more than 3 months you will need to apply for a visa extension from the French Embassy in Wellington before you go - this process will require you making a booking and flying down to Wellington with relevant info and you need to allow at least 8 weeks for it to come through ( the application goes to Paris and back !)