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For a few years now, my brother Rob and other members of the Mana Cruising Club have been working to remove predators from Pickersgill Island in the sounds. Here is a video of some of their latest work. Its a 110mb file... 77207262_Pickersgill(1).mp4

120 years old today

Level 4 projects. Carbon prop struts for Bad Kitty.

Covid Project.

The trailer works!! September 11, 2021. Bundle the whole family into the car, hook the boat on the back, and head south. An hour and a tiny bit later, we arrived at our destination, Lake Ngaroto in Te Awamutu. Boat and trailer towed absolutely perfectly, not a wobble, no clunks or bangs, infact at one point I forgot it was there, and cut a corner very, very fine. Unfortunately, the racing wasn't quite as good, because bundling a bunch of kids into a car just after sunrise isn't quick. We Arrived in time to see the end of the first race, and after rigging, finally got on the

If in doubt leave the trailer lashed on.

new carbon/foam steering plank and new carbon removable prod . my mate Scott worked his butt off designing and building the rudder . The internal structure is very much like an aircraft wing with spars and ribs . It was CNC cut from a thin carbon/foam/carbon plate . When it was assembled and glued Scott put each end on blocks and stood in the middle and it only deflected a wee bit so it’s damn strong . The core is expanding foam and the skin is carbon . It’s not super light but it has positive buoyancy and it’s feckin stiff . the prod is a repurposed carbon spin pole we found ch

Oh good. If we are still in lockdown, there will be some good (slow moving) drama to follow in the news, other than covid. I do love the Americas cup for providing good, ongoing entertainment. Fulling the gossip columns and generally keeping the media busy. People may lament this is not yachting, but is is 100% first class Americas Cup

Finally made it back to the Fête des Canots in Rolle after a 6 year absence. Family Watson about to dock at Île de Harpes. Managed to pass all these guys - turns out the primary key to speed is light weight and massive sail area. This guy's first time on the tiller, took it very seriously and did pretty well. This guy spent his time practicing his knots.

But these are only some of the minor and most recent failings of our great leader. When he first got the job he apparently hadn't heard of NZ's great success in Olympic Boardsailing. And when it was briefly dropped from the Olympic program he blindly complied. It was quickly reinstated, but that didn't stop our great leader from failing to send the two boardsailers who had qualified to the Rio games. He likewise failed to send the Laser Radial sailors who had won NZ a slots at both Rio and Tokyo. Does he not know that young athletes need role models and expectations of a pathway to the O

Not looking likely to get race 3 but we are definitely looking at running a third race if at all possible, would be a standalone if we can’t run on the same weekend as originally planned I personally believe we will see many more cases before this outbreak started to improve

Two down thousands to go…… unfortunately.

Until I cleaned my glasses I thought you were only allowing fully waxed on board Yikes

My brother was inspired by David Lewis to do a trip to Antarctica on his boat Snow Petrel with my Dad and younger brother as crew. My younger brother did a documentary on it and my Dad wrote a book. It's a pretty cool story of a real adventure on a super low budget but my eldest brother is a master mariner and really left no stone unturned in his preparation. For anyone interested the documentary Snow Petrel downunder is now on YouTube in 3 parts and the book is available online(or I have a copy of the book and DVD if anyone wants to borrow them). Its best to watch the movie

I think the Piedys are talking to Yachting NZ directly about a class dispensation for lifelines, as the safety they provide can more practically be achieved with harnesses, tethers and jackstays. I think it would be awesome to have a fleet of Piedys sending it up each year. The bay will definitely know when they arrive!

Fitted the prod last night and tried it out today in first spring series race today . It has transformed the boat downwind and we have gone from a 40 something masthead m2 spinnaker to a 100m2 gennaker . boat felt great , heaps more power and speed and so nice to be apparent wind sailing again after 6 months of spinnakers only .

A quick mind dump of ideas to get the discussions starting. I would suggest to make it a 2 part event with a southern and northern fleet and the leg from auckland south be the main leg with all boats. Southern fleet starts a week earlier and stops over in Auckland (or somewhere else...?) and the northern fleet and southern fleet start together in auckland for a combined race south. Then the northern fleet races home. This will encourage a huge participation for the southern leg and all boats complete a full lap. Waikawa would make a great stopover and I think a decent length stop with a

So this wasn't exactly a weekend achievement but here's a rundown of our return trip from Brest to Jersey. Brest-Jersey Arriving late Sat night on the train into Brest, me and 2ic headed down to the Marina where the other crew member had already arrived a few hours earlier and opened up boat, fired up all the systems and loaded food and beer aboard that had been delivered to the Marina office a few hours earlier. He diligently loaded the fridge with as much beer as possible and cranked it up to max. A few hours of getting to know each other, the 3rd crew was a old acquaintance

Still in discussion. Dived boat last race weekend before race and no fan worm. Advised Council of this and that I was fully aware of my responsibilities in stopping spread of such pests. Again reminded them of fanworm all over marina. Reply was could I advise when boat will come out for antifoul and no mention of fanworm. Just sitting at moment - want to point out the apparent two faced Council approach - we don't like antifouling versus we don't like pests. Maybe suggest a subsidy from Council - to pull my boat out and antifoul is at best a 5 grand exercise.

Yeah, like this is only a 7 day lockdown?

Just saw this on another website, quite a cool map. https://twitter.com/val_brigatti/status/1438001292841033728/photo/1

At the online race clinic last night, they covered some draft plans for a virtual Cat3 inspection and possible temporary extension for recently expired certs. It will certainly help to avoid the mad rush that will occur when we come out of lockdown.

Have been Working with these guys over the last year on a sailing gear range . Have been using the prototypes for a year now and it’s very very good . It does not leak and it does breathe and it is also warm . At the nailing down the styling stage now so hopefully it will make it to market before the end of the year . Supply chain issues have slowed things down massively .

My definition of a blue water cruiser would be one that can come through 60kn in open water without undue concern,. After that it's all a matter of personal choice. But I do have some pet peeves. Dinghy storage. How can any designer call a boat a bwc if the dinghy hasn't been accommodated at the design stage? Not just toss it on deck or bolt on some nasty davitts after it's been built. At least 2 single bunks with leecloths parallel to the centerline and near the middle of the boat. A galley from which hot food can be prepared in bad weather. A toilet that can be used

After a few days research I've decided to go with ePropulsion (still deciding on the Spirit Plus vs the slightly newer Evo). I spoke to a few people who have used both ePropulsion and Torqeedo and they both seem to be good quality units with their own pros & cons. The Torqeedo fans will point to it's German heritage and longer track-record. Whereas fans of the newer ePropulsion point out that the company originates from the same (Chinese) incubator that gave birth to DJI Drones (the world's largest & most successful drone company). And whilst newer, the early signs of ePropul

The organising authority may need to consider allowing skipper declaration on Cat 3 to make this event go ahead, its a two year cert so half the fleet should have one ? And maybe safety checks at the finish for a large percentage of the fleet.

Whispers II was Geoff Stagg's yacht. Here is a short film about it: https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/the-hum-1974

But I'm pretty sure it got lonely.

oh pulease. Your boat is in a marina. It doesn't need you to tuck it in at night. The marina has security to ensure it is as safe as reasonably practicable and its no less safe during lockdown than any other time of year. Pretty sure your insurance agent isn't losing sleep over an increase in risk. In fact, its risk has probably reduced since you are not out there nudging up against rocks and sh*t. Baches get left for months at a time. Its a non-problem.

How you Aucklanders going keeping your boats at a lightly fouled level? Now that your all looking pretty dirty: approx 5000 boats, 2hrs travel lift each, 11 haulout / hardstands Thats only 113 days work for each yard at 4 / day. Better start applying for your resource consents now, maybe at least approach council for comment? My boats stuck in the yard now, sort of glad I got a spot actually, suspect there is going to be a bit of a rush coming up.

Our dyneema backstay vibrates a loud harmonic through our carbon rig right into the master cabin. A sharp dig in the ribs fixes it every time. (I get up and let the backstay off completely)

Tune it to a major chord, the minors sound too melancholy.

Looks like someone has been told to go home…

I think many will/would change their minds after the first few arrests...

Hooray, I just had a shower and didn't have to get on my knees with a sponge afterwards. Many thanks to Rigger and Fish. I just don't have the heart to tell Angela her industrial strength curls are burning out the pump.

Litter tray in the shower. They're fine. Lot cleaner than those Piedy guys.

Scenario I would enjoy: GD : HI, is that the NZ Government? Look I've decided to have the cup in NZ, can you give me $100m? NZG: Yeah nah. That was last month and we've got our hands full right now. But all the best. Cheers.

Yeah it’s now a 9.8 metre boat and had a couple of close calls on crosses cause I forgot it was there

Fancy/expensive foulies in rain = wetness. My theory is that it's the "breathable" nature of the material - as in it should let the fresh water leak out while keeping the salt water (bigger particles) from getting in. That may be fine but I have never understood what keeps the fresh water from getting in. I gave up on fancy wet weather gear many years ago. If you want to stay dry in the rain, wear a raincoat.

Brilliant. They nest on the beach next to our boat, so look forward to seeing them. Just wish the arseholes who think the No Dogs sign doesn't apply to them would piss off.

This is the 2nd time this year KD has made front page of sailing anarchy . The other boat was the Lyman-Morse 46 https://sailinganarchy.com/2021/08/26/new-33-for-thee/ https://www.lymanmorse.com/design/lm46-performance-cruiser/

There needs to be a total rethink on recreational fishing (and commercial) that focuses on maintaining the whole ecosystem. My suggestions: Permanently ban dredges and bottom trawling, due to the seabed damage Ban taking crays in the gulf until the cray population is back to 1950s levels. Ban recreational set nets, due to the by catch problems, and the inability to turn dead fish back, and ban longlines (untended, multiple hooks), same problem. Nets are also really bad when they end up lost. Massively expand the no-take marine reserves. Make them all much bigger

Reducing the cars people own would always be the best option. The idea we can mitigate our impact on climate without a major change in lifestyle is farcical. Families/households with two or more cars should be reducing to one car and adapting to meet that change. My household, with four working adult drivers has one car. I occasionally hire a Cityhop car or van (eg: to load up the boat), but otherwise get by with bike, walking and bus. Yes, some people have set up their lives around unlimited access to car travel. They need to adapt: live/work/play closer to where they work/live/play

My family farmed nearby Wharehunga on Arapawa Island for several decades - my mother grew up there. Wharehunga looks out at Pickersgill and it's a special part of the world. As a boy in the sounds my early memories are of a lot more fish but a lot less bush so it's great to see these projects restoring to how it should be. Another project is the peninsular in Picton Harbour, Kaipupu, where the locals work with DOC to restore native wildlife to Picton surrounds. It's a neverending challenge to stop predators swimming around the fence ends. For Aucklanders, if you haven't been to Rotoroa

Sorry for the thread drift. But NZTYA got it wrong in the mid 90s when they refused to recognise the only new boats getting built were fast ones. I wanted a remit where Cat A was (almost) anything goes as long as it was legal on a trailer. Then the Thompsons and 5.9s could have stayed in the fold with hiking straps, and the Magics could have joined in too. Bar takings would have gone through the roof. But no.... So I went off keelboat racing. Phil - I had it the other way too. RNZYS wasn't going to let me race when I shifted to Auckland because I had a T4XXX sail number.

Come summer I’m releasing myself whatever the govt is saying. As Thomas Jefferson (3rd president of the USA) said “A little rebellion now and then is a good thing.”

And two more hulls......

First comment from the photo… have you tried reducing diameter of the halyards? They look pretty big.

Well, its done, not perfect, but I learned some stuff, next one would be better;