Sail Rock

Interesting that in this and other topics concerning invasive species (Mediterranean fan worm) people seem to be fingering cruise ships. Surely these pests could have arrived by any type of vessel from overseas, e.g. container ships, fishing trawlers, warships, yacht transport ships, cruising yachts, etc.?

The little cove to the south of Matapouri is called Parangarau. I have anchored there overnight several times during settled SW / sea breeze conditions - nice and quiet and no problems. Only exception was one night with a launch there pumping out load C&W music!

Matapouri tends to be bit rolley with the ground swell. As Elly said, the cove immediately south is better.

My technique on a similar size boat is much the same as Knot Me's. In addition I have a bungy cord with hooks to hold the reefing eye onto the goose neck bullhorns while i return to cockpit to tighten the main halyard and leech reefing lines which lead aft. Lazy jacks help manage the drop. Tiller pilot to hold the boat on course. Jack stays running fore and aft plus safety harness are my insurance policy when leaving the cockpit.

When you replace cutlass bearing, also check for wear on the prop shaft which might be significant if it has been rattling around in a loose fitting bearing for a long time. Recently replaced cutlass bearing, prop shaft and shaft seal - all up, well north of a grand!

Here's a tip for the next time you are crossing Bream Bay: check the direction of any anchored ships. They normally lie to the current except around the slack with a strong wind. The current at either end of the Hen and Chicks is generally Northwards on the ebb and southwards on the flood.

Yes, it's for a yacht. Chico 30 so not a lot of real estate on deck and relatively low clearance below boom.

Decision made. I've purchased a Southern Pacific Puffin roll up. We'll see how that goes.

Spray

Thanks guys. BTW the epoxy coating was applied 12-15 years ago so it is pretty much life expired.

It's time to bite the bullet and remove the old epoxy paint from the top sides of my GRP hull and repaint it. The coating is at the end of its life and blistering (no osmosis in the original gel coat below though). Has anyone got some tricks on how to remove the old paint that might reduce the amount of elbow grease that I will need to use?

For what it's worth I have a Nexus wind instrument that relies on a wireless connection. It's great when it is working but from time to time this connection fails which necessitates a trip up the mast to bring the vane down to reset it - a pain in the arse! Next time I will avoid purchasing a wireless unit.

Hmmm, reliability and serviceability? i.e. what happens when the system breaks down, 500 miles offshore and you don't have a PhD in electronics and the spare parts to diagnose and fix it?

I also got my alloy mast (30' keeler) sand blasted and painted by Rudolph's a few years ago. They did a great job and the epoxy coating still looks great. Adequate preparation is the key to success for any coating system.

Thank you everyone. This gives me a few more options to consider. ????

It's time to replace my old inflatable dinghy that is falling apart at the seams. It is beyond repair!! What I need is a roll-up rather than a RIB, length 220 - 240cm, that is light enough for one person to lift out of water and onto deck. Inflatable keel seems like a good idea so that it would track better underway or when towed. Some research on line and talking to a couple of retailers seems to indicate German manufactured PVC with welded seams likely to be more durable. My current piece of crap (an old Aquapro roll-up) has glued seams but I will never go there again. Has anyo

Yep. I twisted the wires between the solar controller and house battery and also installed ferrite cores on both the +ve and -ve near the controller. It seemed to do the trick ????

I had a lot of problems with my Nexus Wind instrument during the first couple of years in use. Kept losing the wireless transducer link which necessitated trips up and down the mast to bring it down and do the reset. The instructions that came with it are bloody useless, with poor translation from Swedish and lack of clear diagrams and logical directions. On one occasion when I replaced the NiCad battery I couldn't figure out how to reassemble it, so had to take it into Kiwi Yachting where the guy showed me how to do it in a jiffy - doh!! The last time I did a reset of the transducer, I a

I have an old Aquapro inflatable (manufactured in China) that has had multiple repairs for debonding seams, leaks, handles and rollock holders falling off, etc., some of which have been done "professionally" several times and some that I have done myself. The dinghy is basically a piece of crap that should have gone on the skip years ago! I have used the repair kits at Burnsco which has the right sort of glue that works but they are rather expensive for a small quantity. Thorough preparation of the surfaces to glued is very important to getting a good bond, i.e. remove all old glue, degrease w

Thanks Wheels. Got me some ferrite cores (from Jaycar) and I will give them a go.

Thanks IT. I will try these easy solutions first and see what happens.