aardvarkash10

The admiral at the helm. Her nickname is Araldite. Motutapu in the background as we head to Matiatia last week.

Obligatory sunset shot through Governor's Pass / Man of War Passage, Gt Barrier

Survey response dataset has been updated, 43 respondants so far.

That last one. Can't recall the last time I watched linear tv.

Race fever

Interesting how the technology of the search part of SAR has moved on with PLBs, EPIRB not to mention far better comms and forecasting.

Clevedon will be under water by the time it's a problem

Beyond reasonable doubt. Which is why the issue of relative culpability will be important.

The jets in those carbs are tiny ( ours is worse, it's the 2.5hp version) so even invisibly small crap can block them. Fresh fuel less than 3 months old helps. TBH, if it hasn't been serviced in a while just drop the whole thing in to Ray Bryant and let them sort it. Then you are good for another year.

Legally there are levels of culpability. Let's put it in an everyday setting. I stop at a stop sign, check for cross traffic, don't see any, and so I pull out into the main road. A motorcycle hits me on the right side as I pull out. I have deliberately acted, pulling out from the stop sign and prima facie causing an accident (failure to make sure the way is clear, failure to give way to the right). Was I careless? Only if it can be shown that I should reasonably have seen and so given way to the motorcycle. If, for instance, it turns out that motorcycle was travelling at

Hi K. You have repeatedly stated that there was 17 helicopters.... Your continued statements gave me the impression that you understood 17 different helicopters were or should have been available to be directed to the search. If that was not your intended sense, please let me know what you were meaning to say. The reality is set out very clearly in the report. There are almost no dedicated, marine capable, SAR helicopter units nationally. Those units that are available are primarily medical services and aggregated they operate 95% of the time in that configuration. T

I think we should always debrief incidents to understand what happened and why, and to identify opportunities for improvement. Part of that should be identifying what resources exist and why they were chosen or not chosen for deployment. To me, one of the issues is that ALL rescue and response bodies are not fully govt funded. They are therefore independent and make their own decisions on how and when they deploy. The coastguard, Westpac rescue, nest, st John's, surf lifesaving, even FENZ, are all in the same situation. They all rely on volunteers and donations to perform thei

Expect it to get worse, not better. By definition, the planning roles you describe are not front line. To keep with our apolitical approach, I'll allow you to join the dots.

They can co-ordinate all they like, if the operator doesn't have the capacity to respond, no response will happen. It's the operator who makes all the logistics arrangements. MNZ basically asks if they can do it. If the operator deem they can't, that's it. It may well be that they have run the scenarios. It could well be that within the funding and operational limits that are ultimately set by budgets, they decided that an Encounter-type event was not a high probability. In short yes it is a fact that people die in New Zealand because we decide we cannot afford the cost to as

That's everywhere. Brooklands on the Clevedon (Wairoa) river has just added about 20 pole sets. Total now is 115 moorings. I'd estimate 25 active boats.

Sunshine capital

Because that's not where the money is.

On the upside... https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/517050/63-point-6m-for-surf-life-saving-and-coastguard-in-budget-2024

For crew? That implies all rescue helicopter crew are millionaires

Uninformed response here, but in all likelihood the difference in response is the result of: the locations; access to crew and appropriate equipment; risk assessment; time of day. The cost of operating a rescue helicopter service is significant. Crew alone (pilot, medic and winchman) would run around $3k a day if you assume 24 hour cover with provision for training and credentialing. This from a Stuff article in 2015 "The trust operates rescue helicopters out of Christchurch and Greymouth, costing more than $10 million annually, with $4m of that covered by operational payments

That would be great but, life. Also, Clevedon River. So nutrient rich, you can grow potatoes in the airspace over the water

That's our approach for cookware and plates. Does silver tarnish in salt water?

We are tired of rust-spotted cutlery. We wash dishes in sea water so really should have 316 or plastic I reckon. Ok, maybe not plastic. What steelware are you using to get food into your face, and where did you get it from?

Just got back from 9 days sailing around the gulf with the filthiest sails this side of a Pirates of the Carribbean franchise. Headsail UV strip is green like it's been rubbed with lawn clippings, and the main has brown stains from nesting wildlife. What's the bet way to deal with this? Is there a sail drycleaning service? Do they iron them as well? Or do I break out the wet n forget and spend the afternoon with a water blaster?