Fogg

Ok but Cat 1 is a different non-Covid issue. But if you had Cat 1 then surely you can depart NZ? What law is preventing that? They can prevent entry but they can’t prevent departure if you have no legal responsibilities outstanding here eg unpaid fines or tax or a criminal sentence?

True. Although there was undoubtedly a decent load delivered to both the boot and gasket as the mounts moved to their extreme positions to absorb a few tons load.

This sounds like you’re on the receiving end of some dubious tech advice. A bit like the wide boys who think they can do a better job of redesigning their car suspension in their driveway than the manufacturers with their $millions R&D budgets. I was always a bit unsure on the strength of a SD boot until one day - to my horror - the haulout crew accidentally lifted one of my previous boats out of the water with the rear lifting strop positioned under the bottom of the SD leg (skeg). It was inspected and found to be fine even after lifting half the weight of the boat. That convinced me

But surely you can depart NZ by boat anytime regardless of status? Sure, it might be discouraged and it could get messy if you need to turn around and return. But surely the NZ govt cannot deny your right to travel and stamp your passports out of the country even at L3/4?

Yes it's nuts slippery. I got a bit of overspray on the mast around the gooseneck and I couldn't even grip the mast to hold myself on until I wiped it clean. No wonder the mainsail loves it. As a rough guess thinking about the before vs after effort I reckon it has reduced the load to hoist the main by at least 50% possibly more. Of course that's reduced load on everything - not just me - but halyard, blocks and mainsail head itself.

I checked. It’s “CRC 808 Silicone”.

For me personally this isn’t an option but I can see the appeal for those able to go. But if it was me then I’d want to do 2 weeks in isolation anchored somewhere secluded in the Gulf before weighing anchor in case I had an incubating case of Covid onboard. You wouldn’t want to get sick underway to Fiji and it would be hell to arrive there crook and probably unwelcome by the local health system. Could be a grim scenario.

You could well be onto it with that. Especially if the stanchion is a leaker. Diesel meets water and all that...

Trying to engage gear? Is it saildrive? Slipping clutch cones?

Yup. And slippery!

Mine was one of the CRC silicone sprays “lubricates & waterproofs etc”. Can’t recall exact version but will check. In the past I’ve given the cars a good spray by standing at the mast as the sail is hoisted but you can only reach up 2-3m. So this time I invested the energy in climbing the mast and spraying all the way down. Difference was night vs day.

The theory of lubing the mast track obviously makes sense but I could not believe the difference it actually makes in reality. Yesterday I went up the mast and sprayed the whole track plus the cars. Then hoisted. Previously I started by hand but had to resort to winch by about 1/3 way up. After lubing yesterday I literally pulled the whole mainsail up by hand until it went ‘clunk’ at the masthead. I only put it on the winch for some final tension. This is a 42ft boat with a 15m hoist so not tiny.

Maybe you’ve got Covid-diesel bug and it’s coughing? You are in a hotspot in Europe after all. Do you think Volvo have considered this?

Have you got a holding tank? Could it blocked? Maybe every 14.3 engine rotations it tries to clear a stubborn blockage and gets a blowback?

Haha! I think you’re right the honest answer is that we’re all pretty clueless and hopeless and helping you aren’t we? Be v interesting to see what the verdict is.

Please move this thread to the gutters of Smalltalk where it now belongs.

I don’t think they do which is a shame. I think their nearest operation is AUS.

DrW — did you send video to Volvo for their assessment?

If Indonesia can find a way to offer safe haven why can’t ‘innovative’ NZ?

Sadly I think you’ve got an uphill struggle arguing this point with most of this crowd here. Meanwhile my contacts in the film industry tell me 100s if not 1000s of film crew have snuck in last few weeks from Amazon, Netflix and others. Because making movies is more important than offering a safe haven to cruisers.

Have you watched how the engine behaves when you shift from neutral into gear? Does it look & sound the same? My previous sail-drive set-up used to jump incredibly every time I engaged gear, As the others suggest, it does almost look like the engine is trying to jump into gear itself causing the clunk?

And dangerous yachts. Fastnet ‘79.

I know for a fact that the POA pilot boats exceed the speed limit. I haven’t gone public with this before but due to a unique error in the AIS system commissioned by POA last year I have been receiving excess speed alerts to my boat that were meant for other boats, namely the pilot boats. Think of it as someone sending a text message but it goes to a different number due to a bug. So I was seeing speed limits alarms going off every hour of day meant for pilot boats which were sent to my MMSI in error. i could predict when it would happen - if I saw a ship approaching Auckland I knew a pil

The issue of the delivery crew not owning the boat is the same whether they are paid or not. But it’s true I’d prefer to have a delivery crew who I already know & trust - and they might even get a little bonus on delivery for no new scratches! 😊

Sorry no I’m wrong. The quote I got a couple of weeks ago for shipping a 50ft boat from Europe to NZ was $70k USD. So that’s over NZD$100k.