motorb

Then how would they charge thousands per spectator boat? (Seriously though I can see how that could be a problem with cheeky boaties just drifting along at a few knots, possibly spoiling the view for paid spectators or even causing race control issues if they leave the corridor)

Remember to check your strainers and replace the fuel filters! There will surely be a bit of fugitive water in the system being trapped there.

Perfect weather for a sail around Kawau Bay and a swim to finish the day off. Fish aren't biting though.... it looks a bit barren based on what we saw snorkeling the last few days, but that said we had a kingfish lurking under our tender this morning about as long at the inflatable is wide!

Yep your water strainers will catch the rest; just keep an eye on them and probably plan to replace the fuel filters after a bit of running. (I'm assuming you've already drained that part of the system, of course)

Is it possible to push air into the tank to force the water up the hose? All it takes is an air mattress inflator or tyre pump. You don't need much pressure so duct tape is all you need to seal mismatched hoses to holes. Edit: maybe try blowing back down the fuel pickup line?

Well we made it out past titiri and it was looking pretty good, but it quickly became apparent that I'd be single handed the whole day. Pulled into Kawau and will probably just chill here for the week and hope conditions are better when we try again early Feb. BTW, it seems the weather station on Titiri has been out of action since new years day.

I'm genuinely surprised this was someone moored in the river.... just the sheer audacity/stupidity of stealing from your neighbours and then putting their stuff out on your lawn....

I've been looking at https://weatherwatch.co.nz/maps-radars/wind/wind-forecast as it makes it easy to compare forecasts (and has the predictwind models, too). If more models start to agree on a break in the SW pattern I think we'll go for it and let the wind blow us out from Kawau on Monday or Tuesday, return to Kawau Fri/Sat.... either way, we'll be out on the water so it's not the end of the world if we don't make the barrier this time around.

Yeah that sounds like the best bet right now. Just me and the Mrs, but myself I'm not too keen on sailing 8+ hours into big swells and high gusts, and I don't think the Mrs is going to handle rough seas too well, either. What forecast models do you think work well for the Hauraki? Metservice tend to underestimate wind I reckon. I try to look at various options, and as you said, if they don't agree then things are generally going to be unpredictable.

What do you guys reckon for next week? Different models are giving very different answers and while I'd love to have an easy run out to the Barrier on Monday, I'm not so keen on fighting it for the return leg on Friday.... If I had to guess, I'd say more of the same SW 20kts gusting 25 until that high moves over and the wind eases up 10kts east maybe nor-east, but maybe I'm just being overly optimistic. Keen to hear your thoughts and preferred forecast models. Of course if it doesn't let up we'll just have to settle in at Kawau for the week, but I was hoping to finally ge

I know electric is a big challenge for general boating, but for a little tender to get to and from the beach or a mooring there seems to be some half decent options. My little Honda 2.3 is starting to reach retirement and I was looking at the ePropulsion eLite. Has anyone tried one of these? What's your use case and how far do they go? Back on my old mooring, I was looking for a way to not have a smelly/oily outboard in the car and the eLite was a far more manageable 7kg to carry up and down the pier. However, in my new mooring that's no longer the case as I can keep the outboard in

Just going to revive this one to say that knotted halyards have been great; easy to do and no complaints. If anything it's better as the old spliced ones could get stuck if pulled hard into a block or masthead sheave.

Well, it's been just over 24 months since posting this thread and I'm very pleased to say that I've moved my little tracker into a spot on the Weiti River. I'll save you all the rant, but the Westahaven poles literally have fist sized holes in them at the low water mark and westhaven has NO plan to fix this. Yes, they have been snapping off, and yes, mine snapped off last year. They're just gambling that nobody gets hurt while they wait for everyone to leave. They even mucked us around (again) on the dinghy racks, with a big step down in security, services and parking. Absolutely disgus