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Neil

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Posts posted by Neil

  1. 43 minutes ago, Bad Kitty said:

    Buy a better anchor is the first thought that comes to mind?

    Sorry not trying to be a d*ick, but there are such better anchors around now that I'd never use a plough again.

    No worries, this is the spare. We've got a Rocna up on the bow which is awesome. Just need to stop this one rusting while it spends its life in an outside locker and thought a re-galv would be an easy option. Maybe not so much. 

  2. I have a Manson plough anchor as the spare anchor on our boat and am looking at getting it regalvanized. It has a lead insert part in the plough end and I'll need to get this out - presumably by melting it - before it can be hot dipped as the lead would melt in the dipping process. So the question is does anyone have any recommendation for who might be able to melt the lead, collect it and then re-pour it back once the anchor has been galvanized?  Any companies who might do this? The closer to Kumeu the better? 

    Thoughts? 

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  3. Got caught in town Friday afternoon and the journey back to Waimauku was quite epic. Made it after a lot of detours, even got to within a km of home at one point before having to head back on a long detour to approach the village from the other side. Got home safe and as we live up a hill the house is all good. The scenes around the village the next day were quite something.

    Coming into Waimauku village and discovering the way ahead blocked:

     

     

    Then, having to come back out again:

     

     

    Here are some pics in the village the following day: 

     

     

     

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  4. A quick question for the group. Does anyone know a good boatbuilder type person in Auckland who would be able to do small jobs on the boat. Typical maintenance and repair issues really, small engineering things and fixes that come up from time to time like teak repairs, reseating/repairing windows, steering issues that sort of thing. Often things I could do myself if I had the time these days. I used to use a guy on my last boat but he's no longer around and I find dealing with the big guys hard as they are always busy with far bigger jobs and I don't tend to get a look in. Any thoughts? 

  5. 13 hours ago, Deep Purple said:

    Wet Racing, I always have this in my pocket. Loaded marine chart, with all my waypoints and marks set up. Impossible to kill and 2 AA's keeps it running all day

     

    Screen Shot 2020-05-18 at 10.14.55 PM.png

    Can't beat the etrex, indestructible and I always have mine as a backup.

    The only issue I had was that as I aged and my eyes slowly wore out I had to keep getting longer and longer lanyards for it :-)  

  6. Probably a dumb question but here goes. 

    Just before lock down we came back from a few days away and I did what I normally do and put the house batteries on charge. It's a decent charger, galvanic isolated with multi step regulator etc (from memory I think it ends up in a sort of "maintenance state" or something like that). 

    Ordinarily I remove the charger next time I go down knowing they are fully topped off... but...you know...COVID.

    Any issues with it being sat on the charger for months at a time? Or should the multi-step regulator keep it all in good shape? Thoughts anyone? I could get someone to switch it off at the shore end if needed but not sure it's a problem?

    BTW they are pretty new batteries, both same brand and 100 and something Ahrs each so they should be in good order to start with.

    BTW2 being at home all day means I get a lot of time to worry about stuff I probably shouldn't worry about!

     

  7. Ours was done in 2001 and even though I don't own the boat anymore the signage is still top notch (on both sides). Got a good price on the shade of blue as it was "Foodtown Blue" and they just happened to have a lot in stock at the time ;-) Happy to see the signage has outlasted the supermarket brand.

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  8. I am 6 foot 4 inches tall and own a Farr 1220.  Headroom not a problem in the saloon although I do bang my head sometimes moving through the cabin doors in to the rear and forwards cabins. 

    Headroom was certainly a factor in buying the boat, these days I need to be able to stand up.

  9. This summer we've spent some time exploring the places along the Northland coast that previously we've just raced past in the night doing the coastal. Last week we spent some time in Whangaruru and what an absolute gem of a place it is, great weather, lovely beaches and unlike the BOI hardly a soul about. 

     

    Of course, I had to do a little flying, so here's a few scenes and views across the harbour from Saturday.

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6WVXf5-vCk

    • Upvote 6
  10. Years ago we had a Southern Pacific roll up and it lasted well over a decade with no problems and most of that time it was left outside in the NZ sun. More recently we've had an Aakron which started to literally fall apart in less than 2 years, seams failing, rowlocks falling off etc. That experience meant our next one was a new larger Southern Pacific and am very happy with it. Also the SP was made just around the corner from us in Kumeu so not only are they good dinghies it's also supporting a local NZ business. 

  11. Probably somewhat over engineered. However, as testing consisted of me and my 100(and some)kgs jumping up and down on it I'm now happy it will be ok with a few litres of waste in it.

     

    There is still another piece to go on to stop any movement of the the tank backwards but had to plumb the pipes in before I can bolt that on.

     

    Now just need to put the boat back together again.

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    • Upvote 3
  12. Nothing really stick to cross link polyethylene. Repairs are normally made by plastic welding. 

    If it were me, I'd use a sheet of ply under it and two bearers to support that, with rods and nuts with large washers through the bearers.  Do it up tight, any movement will break it, that tank will be heavy when full. Remember the shock loading that can occur, and the hydraulic ram effect of the free surface. I'd also make a frame on the ply to prevent ANY movement fore and aft or athwart ship.

     

    Where will it go, and what will hold up the ply? It will have to be strong...

     

    This tank is replacing a similar sized old one that was held in the same way. Bolted to the fibreglass mouldings that form the underside of the forwards V-berth. If you look at the pic of the old tank you can see that the piece that was the attachment was also the top of the tank itself (sealed and bolted to it). The old tank was glass and the seal with the top was failing so decided to bin it and start again. This one never moved and the new one is the same size to am happy the fixings to the boat are strong enough. 

     

    I like your idea of just a bottom piece and then bearers with rods holding it up, I'll have a play in the shed later. 

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  13. Some basic boat building advice needed here. 

     

    I have a 50L tank (Polyethylene? I think) which is required to “hang” from under a thick sheet of ply as per the photos. 

     

    The question is how to attach it? The options I’ve considered are: 

     

    1) Get some brackets fabricated which will go around the tank and then can be through bolted to the ply – Not sure who would make these and how much it might cost? 

     

    2) Build a ply “box” under the sheet of ply that the tank can slide in to. For this I would made the box and reinforce the seams with fibre glass tape (round off edges etc etc) – Probably my current thinking is this option

     

    3) Epoxy the tank directly to the ply sheet and then reinforce the join with fibreglass tape – Not sure this is even possible with this plastic or not? 

     

    Any ideas on which of these is a good idea? Or any other options? 

     

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    PS. The ply sheet is symmetrical but it’s amazing how a phone camera close up makes it all look distorted!

  14. the first night out definitely was not fun  - we left same day as Close Encounters but from Marsden Cove, one of my crew spent so much time talking to his bucket that he named it!

    After that first night trip was OK to Nukualofa and after a few days there tonite anchored in a glassy calm bay in the Vavaus.

     

    Yep, that first 24 hours or so was a little queasy. Mind you, I think boats leaving the day after (Tuesday) got that front passing over Northland much worse than we did from the reports I've heard. For us though the worst was on the Friday (I think) when it was a fairly strong NW kicking up a short sea which had us bouncing and bruised for the full day. The rest of the trip was great conditions and we never saw anything of the bigger winds that were forecast to catch us up as we approached Tongatapu. 

     

    Great trip, enjoy the Vavaus.

  15. At the end of May I was part of the crew helping to deliver a Farr1104 (Close Encounters) up to Tonga. The owner has now headed off around the islands for the season while I, unfortunately, had to fly back to the NZ winter. Having been back for a few days I've made a couple of videos of our trip and thought I'd post them here if anyone was interested in seeing a little bit of our experience on the big blue yonder.

     

    Here goes.

     

    Part 1:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYuWj774pys

     

    Part 2:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLM5aFgSwLQ

    • Upvote 6
  16. This might be a dumb question and maybe I’m missing something but I have a query around battery bank set up.

     

    Imagine the following:

     

    A house bank and a cranking battery connected with a BEP Digital Voltage Sensing Relay which whenever it senses a charging voltage on EITHER side will operate and parallel up the two banks so as both receive charge. Thus, in normal operation when engine is off (no charging voltage) the two banks are isolated. However, start the engine and a charging voltage from the alternator comes on and the relay operates thus charge is a applied to both banks. All good so far.   

     

    Now imagine the same scenario as above but add into it a solar panel (with regulator) which is connected to the house bank. With the engine off and the sun shining the solar panel is applying a charging voltage to the house bank and as the DVSR works when sensing a charging voltage on EITHER bank it becomes operational, parallels up the two banks and charge is applied to both. Still all good I think.

     

    Now the question: In the second scenario (solar charging, relay applying charge to both banks) what happens if we put a large load on the house bank (ie. drawing a greater current than the solar panel/regulator is charging with)?  

     

    Will:

    1. The voltage reading drop on the house bank and the relay go off thus isolating the cranking battery or
    2. Will the load drain both house and cranking battery due to relay operating based on solar charging voltage?

     

    I feel as though I should really know the answer here but I’m a tad confused?

  17. According to a post on the Island cruising association the "repatriation" bit relates to return of a dead body and should be part of the travel insurance. 

     

    quote; 

    "Repatriation is the returning home of the body, remains or ashes of someone who has died outside of their country or their normal place of residence.

    For those who have died overseas and wish to be repatriated to New Zealand, most of the cost can often be covered by their travel insurance policy. Before proceeding, check with the travel insurance provider."

  18. Out in internet-land there are an awful lot of sailing related videos floating about some better and worse than others. However, I've recently come across Christian Williams and have found his posts fascinating and addictive viewing so thought you guys might be interested. He has an engaging and watchable style which combined with a rich lifetime of adventure from ocean multihull racing in the 1960s to solo sailing the Pacific makes great viewing. 

     

    Have a look at his channel but here are some of his (very many) posts:

     

    Multihull racing to Bermuda in the 1960s

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h-7TxVlkzM 

     

    Solo to Hawaii 2017:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5m9yT06Khg&list=WL&index=13&t=0s

     

    Long Island Sound 1961:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caUaPqEElV4

     

    He even makes the dry subject of sewing machines watchable:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9atUZ1656zg

     

     

     

     
  19. Awesome video - I talked to you on the beach just as you were setting up. Cool to see our yacht at anchor. It was an amazing weekend to be on the water and we had a lovely night parked in the bay. Thanks for sharing Neil.

     

    It certainly was a stunner of a weekend. Glad you enjoyed the video. 

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