[Sail drive v Shaft drive]

Yanmar sail drives, the SD40 & 50, (not sure what the 60 uses) have a sintered bronze cone clutch that has never operated acceptably.

It needs sometimes frequent lapping, sometimes this lasts a season, other times a month or two before performing poorly again. 

Yanmar have never accepted responsibility for a poor design, and despite a couple of redesigns it never got much better.

Sad because the engines are amazing!

The little SD20 has a dog clutch, works great! 

[Insurance again]

I'm not gonna bite BP, don't really care.

1 thing I will throw out there is while we are constantly under attack by;

Council's, (removing facilities, price increases etc.)

Marina Owners (Price gouging) 

Fisheries (no take areas that allow commercial fishing) 

& everyone else that views boaties as rich pr*cks ripe for the plucking, we just make it easier by dividing up all the people who love & utilise the ocean as a playground into multiple groups.

Maybe recognise our common interests, and stick together as a decent size advocacy group?

Just a thought...........

 

[Insurance again]

52 minutes ago, Priscilla II said:

Not necessarily...

 

 

 

I'll treat that as a joke, someone that plays golf wouldn't give a sh*t if your leaner burnt to the waterline, but I bet it would upset you?

[Insurance again]

On 16/05/2024 at 1:41 PM, Sudden5869 said:

Very topical.
This just in,.... fire at a marina in Croatia has destroyed 22 boats and caused huge damage but no injuries.  
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/croatia-fire-medulin-boats-latest-b2545424.html

Jeez that's heartbreaking!

[Registration Offshore such as the Cook Islands]

15 minutes ago, Psyche said:

An update, my friends Polish registered vessel had no issues leaving NZ, entering and departing Tonga, and finally returning Auckland the other week.  The only issue was having drink rum while waiting a few hours for customs to turn up and do their thing.

There were numerous Polish flagged yachts at Savu Savu & around Fiji, so many that I was wondering if anyone over there worked, until I clicked that most were probably flags of convenience. 

[Registration Offshore such as the Cook Islands]

I think this will be a slow-moving train wreck until MNZ finally admits they are stuffing it up.

Or, they may just do their bureaucratic, live in denial thing, and ignore the reality of just how badly they are doing, play the "safety card", or the "minor inconvenience to yachties for a huge benefit"  

In which case it will be a never-ending train wreck. :-( 

Until all the cruising yachts are registered offshore, none have any safety oversight whatsoever, and MNZ can tell themselves how well they have done.

As for Yachting NZ, I think the only thing they did that has any relevance to the average non racing yachtie was Cat 1. So maybe club fees, that are really a donation for us, will cease to be an expense.   

[Starlink]

19 hours ago, Black Panther said:

Interesting,  I have done multiple trips to and from NZ with only a satphone. I have just done 1700 miles with starlink and I'm sold. In fact I tossed the ssb last week.

Yep, pulled ours out while in Fiji, Island Time has it collecting dust in his garage until he finds a user for it.

[WTB Yanmar SD60 saildrive]

7 hours ago, Black Panther said:

I miss mine, were I shopping for a boat saildrive over shaft everytime

What!! No way, mongrel things, never been happier to lose something!

[Starlink]

1 hour ago, Marshy said:

Has anyone pushed the limits of the new Roam plan? 
I see in about October they change the plans and now include this:
"Coastal ocean coverage (up to 12 nautical miles off the coast) where Starlink provides active coverage around the world for up to 5 consecutive days at a time and a total of 60 days over the course of a one year period"

Pretty keen to not get 5 days into our christmas trip and find it turns off..

 

Where are you headed? In Fiji it worked all through the Lau Group, 190 nm from Suva, It's only out of area once you're truly offshore?

I'd expect no problems at Gt Barrier, Mercs, Cavalli's, Poor Knights etc.

 

[Registration Offshore such as the Cook Islands]

2 hours ago, Jon said:

 

I’ve recently started “Pacific Cruising Coach” to help anyone with the whole process of completing an offshore cruise, get in touch if this is you or someone you know

Great idea, I hope it's well patronized Jon, first time is definitely a learning curve!

[Pacific charts, C Map or Navionics?]

16 hours ago, marinheiro said:

Where there was cell reception (before Starlink) I found Google earth a very handy check, particularly in the Yasawas where the charts are very patchy.

You can stitch google earth (and I assume other sources) to your nautical charts on Open CPN

Yep, the sat overlay on Navionics on the iPad, and google earth are all great tools. And between all the sources, you can generally find great info. I'm just keen to get the best charts I can on the B&G plotters, given I'm due for a chart update. The C Map is from about 2017, and the whole Somo Somo Straight & Taveuni area is a big blur!

 

[Pacific charts, C Map or Navionics?]

41 minutes ago, Zozza said:

I quite like the look of Time Zero, got their NZ charts for $30 0r $40 and the app seems easy to use with a good display.  Unlike some Nav Apps these days, the charts are for life once downloaded, but if you want the chart corrections it's a further payment every twelve months

Zoz are you using them on a plotter or a tablet/iPad thing?

[Pacific charts, C Map or Navionics?]

16 hours ago, K4309 said:

You should find out what the Manawanui were using and get the other one.

Word is there was no mechanical failure and just pranged it into the reef. Sounds very much like a GPS assisted grounding.

Ouch, I've heard whispers the other way, mechanical problems, but it's just Navy gossip. We'll find out something eventually, I guess.

[Pacific charts, C Map or Navionics?]

4 hours ago, Black Panther said:

Have to admit that made me smile. Sailing around with a sextant 5 miles was considered adequate. 

Main difference was going into tight passes, when you have the weather up the stern, and it's hard to see the 50 mtr wide pass, then a 400 mtr difference in charts is a little disconcerting.

And yes I get what you're saying, but we're getting used to modern nav now, 

 

 

 

[Pacific charts, C Map or Navionics?]

4 hours ago, Black Panther said:

Have to admit that made me smile. Sailing around with a sextant 5 miles was considered adequate. 

Huh! I'm surprised, figured you'd still be on an octant, or a davis quadrant! 

 

🤣

[Pacific charts, C Map or Navionics?]

Anyone familiar with both C Map & Navionics for Pacific charts? Fiji predominantly, but they're usually bundled.

Time for an update for the chart on the B&G gear, interested in which y'all like better?

We have C Map on the B&G gear, and Navionics on iPads & phones.

It's interesting (TERRIFYING) how much they can vary, and while one may be better for a few Islands, then it's miles out & the other is better.

Thanks, pic for reference! Lagoon at Ongea

 

  

[Registration Offshore such as the Cook Islands]

Anymore that people can add to this?

Polish registration is starting to look attractive?

 

[Fiji to NZ weather guru.]

On 2/11/2024 at 12:14 PM, LBD said:

We had a pretty good run, 8 days Vuda to Whangarei. We went further west than most, kept the Nelson option open for a while.

I heard others were not so lucky, a dismasting and an abandoment.

 

 

 

Any info on the abandonment?

[Fiji to NZ weather guru.]

So a couple of boats headed out of Fiji today!

 

[37th AC]

12 hours ago, Psyche said:

Its more fun if you use Rugby commentary;

He's got to back himself from there

Its a game of two halves. Full credit to the opposition

The real winner today was yachting

The team that’s behind really need to score next

Credit to the boys

Really backed themselves out there

You’ve got to earn the right to go wide

The team has been on a good run of form lately

Edge of your seat stuff!

It's really come alive in the past few minutes

You forgot to thank the Ladies for the after match spread?

[Fiji to NZ weather guru.]

Thinking 17th at this stage.

[Anyone headed to Fiji shortly?]

On 21/09/2024 at 9:22 PM, mattm said:

Hi BK, I know someone heading to Suva in a week. Transiting Auckland Airport. Is that helpful? I guess it’d need to be dropped to them at the airport, at the right time, and collected from Suva on arrival. 

Hiya Matt, thanks but we’re sorted.

Appreciate the offer though!

[Fiji one way flights]

50 minutes ago, Island Time said:

I've always managed with an appointment letter from the vessel, Stamped with the vessels stamp and signed by the owner/skipper, saying you are appointed as crew on SV XYZ, registration details,  from date XXXXXX as skipper/mate/deckhand whatever.

Vessel is currently in Fiji waters and expects to depart approximately XXXXXX.

Never been an issue...

Commercial Mariners do this all the time.

This, no problem, 

[Anyone headed to Fiji shortly?]

Long shot but our anchor winch has died. We’ve got a new one in Auckland ready to travel, and have guests flying in at the end of the month who can bring it. But if anyone is flying in the next couple of days, and will bring a 20kg box, I’ll chip in substantially for the inconvenience? 

Not the end of the world, we’re in a nice spot, but we’d love to get out of the Marina!

Thanks, Willy

 

[Sinking superyacht]

15 hours ago, K4309 said:

I think the stability requirements are the classification society requirements, not the requirements as per the laws of physics to keep it afloat.

I know it is only a song, but it does remind me of the esteemed and highly regarded data by one Mr Frederick Dagg, that the boat met the minimum crewing requirements, of one, and had very stringent design and materials requirements. No cardboard. No cardboard derivatives...

 

Jokes aside, the only plausible explanation I can think of for a boat like that sinking in a water spout is that it was laid flat, exceeded it's AVS and capsized. We do know (without reference to FB or MSM experts) that it had the tallest mast in the world, the mast was alloy (so not carbon, and comparatively heavy), and that of the 12 or 15 sister ships, the rest are all ketches, and therefore have lower C of G of the rig.

We know it is entirely plausible a water spout or down burst can lay a yacht like that over flat, cause we've seen it on CCTV from Westhaven.

The AVS data appears to come from the Chairman of Italian Sea Group. So it all adds up. The only inconguity in all of that is that the Chairman of Italian Sea Group seems to think an AVS of 73 degs is good, where as it couldn't even get Cat 5 in NZ, hence why the yacht his company built is 50m under water and we are all talking about it.

 

Superyachts use a different system for calculating stability, the boat would have had a full stability book, like any ship. It’s not a clear comparison to say “it wouldn’t meet Cat 3”