Frank

http://www.sail-world.com/NZ/Seventh-race-sees-Swuzzlebubble-edge-ahead-at-Half-Ton-Classics-Cup/156455

yep,, carbon tow, lash n bind, then epoxy kevlar tow probably OK also. If you prime with epoxy that may prevent the electrochemical corrosion mentioned.

We had our labraspoodle on the boat heaps, he loved it, used to swim off the back too, their paws do not grip on hard surfaces.

Opua from about Novemberish and into the summer will be busy, some cruisers from the US and Europe terminate their travels there and put the boat with a broker. Not the langkawi prices to be fair but as discussed elsewhere on crew.org lots of costs to import, some obvious some not so much. Probably works out about the same in the end. If I'd had another 100K this would have been my choice locally http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/boats-marine/yachts/keeler/auction-1357570905.htm. Incredible boat.

Just had a random look at some yachts listed through Langkawi boat sales , some pretty sharp deals there, I like the look of this http://www.langkawibss.com/yacht/metalu-diam-40-altego/

Mmm that would have got tedious quite quickly

Yep that's her, Chrs for the kind words.

Well I know one person who wont have to worry about who will buy their boat because I just bought it, its a Wauquiez Hood 38. Sorry but I cant work out how to post a picture, should be an interesting vessel the idea is to take her offshore in about 2 yrs. So they do sell

I agree totally agree , I suppose you can get an unreasonable inspector , that's always a risk. On the other hand my wife's uncle did a 7 year circumnavigation in a 31 ft boat and spent a lot of time in the high latitudes. He did Cat 1 inspections for a few years, afterwards and you could not have a more experienced and reasonable person for that purpose.

There have always been derelict boats probably since Viking days. I guess in the pre fiberglass/ferro/steel/aluminium era there was only wood and they were bio degradable so they sank eventually or perhaps got burnt. Without hard data you cant say if the problem is worse that it has been in the past but I think what you can say is that you cant simply run them up a creek at high tide and abandon them anymore. Certainly fiberglass boats may deteriorate but they wont rot away in our lifetime and you cant burn em. This is a problem in the US as the boats of the production boom years of the 70's

Talking about sail power, while sailing back to the mooring on a stinking hot summer day (what happened to those ?) I was over the side getting a tow and cooling off The breeze was light,when I saw a slight puff moving towards the boat barely even ruffling the water. I figured with the boat towing a bucket (me) it would not lift the speed at all but as it hit the sails the boat heeled maybe another 3 deg and immediately picked up another knot like I wasn't even there. It left quite an impression on me as to the power the wind on your sails generate, even in light conditions and on a relative

The argument gets complicated depending on what you need the energy for and the rate of delivery of the energy (Power) Solar panels are remarkable, I Love em !. I use Lithium battery technology in another of my hobbies electric RC model aircraft. these electric model airplane motors are brushless and their power using Lithium Polymer (LiPo) batteries is staggering, You can see videos on youtube of electric RC cars putting out 13 HP. (remember in a small model car !) they are also incredibly efficient more than double that of the very best heat engine, plus way less moving parts, less mechan

The energy density of diesel fuel is 13,333 watt hours per kg . For the current best Lithium Iron technology it is approx 200 watt hrs per kg. So diesel can deliver 66 x more energy per kg than lithium iron, that's the brutal reality of the maths , you just cant store sufficient energy. Improved battery technology is aiming at 500 Wh/kg and that gets it down to 26 ;1 much better but still brutal. The electric motor is 90% efficient, the diesel perhaps 45% if using latest technology so that helps a bit. Diesel electric does not make sense, there would be transfer losses. The motor would likel

A Coronet rings a bell, that may have been the boat, he did it twice according to the article.

Cats have a good record offshore.

I think James Hatfield an English Heart Patient did a circumnavigation in a 20 footer that eventually foundered off NZ. From memory he finished the trip in a bigger boat. A fibreglass version of a Cornish Crabber I think.

Kudos to you ! have you written of the experience ?

Interesting , you wouldn't think of Ferro boats breaking speed records

Yes of course ! particularly the Mini Transat Boats at only 6.5 Metres, Chris Sayers Book is excellent !

John Guzzwell (Trekka ?) would have to be added to the list I found this on a google search http://www.tonygrove.com/boatbuilding/trekka.php. The chap who went solo to the three kings was in his 80's I think and If I recall correctly the article was in Boating NZ a year or three back. A chap I worked with in the Naval Dockyard built a Farr 9.2 that he sailed around NZ. He left the boat in Bluff for a few months before completing the circuit. The three kings will be one of the first trips when I get my new (old) boat.

Dreaming of going offshore in 2019 the (realistic) dreamboat is at least 44 ft , that not going to happen (44ft ) so I thought I would canvas anecdotes about small boats (under 31 ft LOA) that have done the offshore thing. I'm suggesting perhaps that it be limited it to "Mere Mortals" (MM's) in NZ boats and not legends like David Lewis or Andrew Fagan etc. so here goes a few I know of or have heard of. Marauder 28 that did Auckland Mooloolaba a few years back A Carpenter 29 that sailed AKL to New Caledonia 2 or 3 yrs back A Spencer 32 (ply) that went to Tonga back in the 70's (OK 1

Shocking ! .............sorry , couldn't resist

All these comments, its good to see people enjoying plain old mucking about in boats without exorbitant costs.

Yup, Panmure works !