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rossd

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Posts posted by rossd

    Grief

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    Thank you Kevin and Bad Kitty. Yes thinking things out in the head is not much use until the hearts there as well. We do have some good people for help and counselling so will forge on. 

    • Upvote 1

    Grief

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    I know a few on here read my post from 1 Dec last year called. Raglan to Whakatane. Crew were my 43 year old son Shae and a mate, Shae was a tower of help and strength and he regretted not being able to do the full trip. Then on March the 10th this year tragedy struck our family when Shae was killed in a vehicle crash on the Kaimais. The other driver crossed over the centre line and hit Shaes ute at speed killing him instantly. We were plunged into a very dark place and after the funeral struggled to leave the house for 3 months. It wasn't till the 6 month mark that we really started to engage with society to any extent.  I have been to the yacht a few times for maintenance etc. but finding it hard to find motivation. What I am interested in here is if any others on here have lost children and how it has effected your yachting in the short and long term? I am to a degree a different person now and have spent sometime wondering if it is likely that I might regain my passion for yachting at some point. Thanks Ross

    Sailing La Vagabonde

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    Yes there are comments that Gone with the Wynns boat is not fit for purpose. I think  a Cat 1 inspector would have cracked a fit. Cracked windows, let alone storm shutters. Wondering if good luck or good planning that got them to Opua. Bit of both maybe. 

    Sailing La Vagabonde

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    Have followed La Vagabonde on and off for a few years. Their stats are impressive by any standard. Coming up 7 Years, 2 kids now, 70,000 miles, 1.6 million subscribers on You Tube, half a million views per episode, 6000 subscribers on Patreon. As someone said in a previous post they are to upmarket now for the average yachty. Take Patreon, subscribing per episodes is from $3 to $200, so say average of $5 and an episode every 2 weeks thats $30.000 a fortnight.  And no I have never been a Patreon to anyone, to miserable for that. They can sure play the internet, they put in the work so good on them I say. What is pathetic is some of the followers and their criticizing  comments. A few months from the beginning some were saying Riley and Elaynas  relationship wont last, there were big cracks in it and Elayna will soon see the light and bugger off! Then the idea they had wealthy  parents supporting there lifestyle took a while to go away. some left when they started endorsing yacht products,  and when a professional camera person was used at times. And the classic ,Just because Elayna could sail, dive, spear fish and cook they thought she some kind of Godess, for Gods sake, these following guys are pathetic. Living their life through someone else adventures.  Anyway the latest news is Riley and Elayna were in the Gulf recently test sailing a Rapida 60 carbon Tri. The orders in and the plan is to go to Vietnam for the build. Good luck.   

    Raglan to Whakatane

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    50 minutes ago, Sail Rock said:

    Great story, thank you for sharing.

    (I don’t think I would attempt any of the west coast harbour entrances without someone with excellent local knowledge on board!)

    At least Raglan has leading lights. Years ago i went on a bar day wirh the Coastguard, well worth it, but was so calm I could have rowed the tender over it.

    Raglan to Whakatane

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    10 hours ago, DrWatson said:

    Did you call the number?

    Yes called the number. A temperature sensor, evidently monitoring a marine heatwave thats coming. Double boeys so maybe not destroyed. Was surprised at the sheer number of boeys around the coast. Can understand fishing nets cray pots etc. But all the others. There was just a mass of them in the marine reserve at Leigh. I probably could have been further off shore , was at about the 20 metre depth line at the time. 

     

    9 hours ago, Steve Pope said:

    Did the Kaipara coast guard give a reason for refusing you entry? Was it for just the southern channel or the Northern one as well?

    Great effort, a feather in yours and your crews caps. It is an interesting piece of the west coast, Besides the Hokianga, Whangape harbour is also accessable, given a rising tide and -1m swell. "Sealegs" work for me until I do get my sea legs, no noticeable side affects.

    I think the last straw for them was when they asked max speed under motor. 5 knots didnt cut it! Didnt get to discussing channels

     

    9 hours ago, Island Time said:

    The coast guard have no Legal Status. They can only advise. A harbourmaster can close a port. However, if you go against the advice of either, then have an issue, its unlikely to go well for you in the courts!

    Well done, the NZ coast, esp the W coast or south of Napier/New Plymouth, is not to be taken lightly. Drugs for the first few days to combat seasickness is pretty common - BEFORE you leave, so they have time to work and are not vomited out immediately! Sealegs can make some sleepy, there are lot's of options.

    They advised not to attempt it and if we did , we would do so at our own risk,  I thought that an odd comment as I consider all my boating totally at my own risk.

    Then again I suppose if they are talking someone through a situation they are taking on some responsibility 

    Raglan to Whakatane

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    We motored from North Cape to Mangonui incalm seas so Shae could get a bus home for work. James and I carried on day sailing. Stops at Cavalli Is. Bland bay, Tutukaka, Omaha, Tryphena, Whitianga, Waihi Beach, and then this”

    After Mahoe did a sterling job in allconditions and a last day from Waihi beach to Whakatane , within 10 miles of home there was a clunk from the driveline and viabration. Towed in by the Coastguard  at 2 am. On temporary swing mooring in Whakatane river.

     

    Raglan to Whakatane

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    This would be no big deal for a lot of you guys but for me my biggest trip as skipper. 
    quote from my facebook  page for non boaties so bare with me:

    “Big thankyou and gratitude to my crew James and Shae, couldn’t have done it without them. For example ,the Raglan bar was no problem,not even breaking, then the wind got up higher than forecast and sea built up and I was seasick . Eventually Shae made a correct call too take down the genoa and put up a smaller jib. I was still capable of steering at that point so pointed into wind and waves while Shae and James went forward. I had rigged 2 jack lines from the cockpit forward around the mast to the anchor bollard to clip onto. So with short metre long tethers its “impossible” to go over the side. With the bow rising and falling at least 2 metres you cannot really stand up so have to kneel,sit or otherwise stay low. James told me later that at one point Shae was thrown on his back and didn’t bother getting up but clawed the sail down from there. Eventually the smaller sail was hoisted and the action of Mahoe was somewhat tamed. The same couldn’t be said for my stomach! I had been dry reaching for some time, was getting weak and couldn’t help at all. The crew decided after I had been sick for 24 hours I needed to be put ashore to recover, easier said than done. We were nearing Kaipara harbour entrance by now so Shae radioed coastguard and after some discussion back and forth they basically refused us entry. They suggested Hokianga harbour as a possibility. We pressed on , up to now even a sip of water would come straight out again. So was rather excited when water stayed down and I started eating. Nearing Hokianga entrance I was eating like a horse so Shae radioed coastguard to tell them we were all good and carrying on. So your work much appreciated Shae and James.As we neared Cape Reinga we were greeted with this so all was forgotten!”

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    • Upvote 2

    GME MT403 EPIRB

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    On 30/11/2020 at 3:37 PM, ex Elly said:

    Thanks Rossd.  Where did you get the new batteries?

     

    Simpower in Auck. They only had 3  at the time so maybe they  dont carry much stock, same brand and identical to original. Have safety vents in bottom And 50mm soldering tabs top and bottom 

    GME MT403 EPIRB

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    After looking at battery replacement costs for some time i thought stuff it. So replaced the  batteries myself. Pretty simple as designed to be user opened for decommissioning. Batteries easily obtained in NZ $52 each and there are 2. New O ring off the shelf $2. $106 total parts Old batteries were way out of date but were the same if not slightly higher voltage than the new ones.

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    • Like 1
    • Upvote 2

    Tips on Inflatable Dinghy purchase please

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    On 27/02/2014 at 6:30 PM, Pumbaa said:

    If you can find a hypalon dinghy in reasonable condition,

    Pumbaa you sound like a person that might point me in the right direction. I have a Avon hypalon but need an Outboard  mount. I am up to the Mark 3 plywood model now but believe a factory glass one was made. Any ideas where to find one?

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    Circumnavigating NZ.

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    Making a break for Breaksea

    Wed Sep 23 2020

    It poured with rain last night but that meant a blissful sleep as it heralded the end of the relentless wind. I was woken by the sound of a helicopter landing at the Blanket Bay “Hotel”. This is the name given to a rudimentary shack on a little island about 200 meters out from where I am moored. The crayfishing boats moor up there and transfer their catch to the helicopter. When I finally poke my head up through the hatch the half dozen boats have all gone and I am once again alone. I motor over to the “Hotel” and tie up. There is a permanently running hose on the dock, sourced from a stream on Secretary Island and I fill my tank with what is reputably “the best drinking water in New Zealand”.
    Watered up I am on my way out through The Gut to the open sea. I am taking advantage of another short weather window to get down to Breaksea Sound.
    Behind me the steep walls of Doubtful Sound, wrapped in fleecy white clouds, recede into the distance in ever darkening hues of purple grey until they are lost in the mist.

    Circumnavigating NZ.

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    Latest instalment:
    Well that was not a restful night. The wind was like a fearsome beast prowling around the boat all night. It howled and screamed in the rigging, it shook the mast and banged the halyards, it shoved and rocked the boat and tried it’s best to pluck us from our mooring. I was worried the line might chafe through and break at which point we would be flung off into raging black night. To that end I prepared as best I could. I had the anchor cock-a-bill, ready to drop and the radar on all night to give me eyes in the dark. The plotter cannot be relied on. When entering the bay in daylight yesterday it showed me tracking along the rocky shore. The charts are at least one hundred meters out here and this cove is only two hundred meters wide. (If you switch to the satellite option on the tracking page you can zoom in and see the location).
    I slept (badly) in my clothes, boots and coat ready. I figured in ten seconds I could be up the campanionway, starting the engine on the way, and get control of the boat if we broke adrift. Hopefully I would have enough power to turn against the wind and then feel my way ib the pitch dark with the radar and sonar (which gives me a lovely 3D rendition of the seabed around me) and anchor in a spot I had already marked on the radar. I would then run out almost all my 85 meters of chain and hope the anchor would hold.
    Thankfully I didn’t need to do any of that and the mooring line, although showing signs of chafe, is still holding. I eased the line to “freshen the nip” as the saying goes and declared a hut day. The Sound outside the narrow entrance of this horseshoe cove is still a churning mass of white water and I have no inclination to go out there until it calms down.

    Circumnavigating NZ.

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    PredictWind shows 30knots off shore but  a large part of the weat coast at 15/20 on the coast or just off. Thats not likely I would have thought! Haven’t actually used it much so not to be taken so literally maybe?

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