Dtwo

The Baileys email said "Unfortunately they do see live aboards as a higher risk and therefore charge more and have a higher excess in this situation" Usual unsurprising insurance industry smokescreen bullshit. Very good at taking "their" money off you.... Anyway, I've emailed Baileys to clarify what our situation is. My understanding is that we are allowed to move for "safety" reasons, which makes sense as long as we know what "safety" they are referring to?

"Is your boat covered by insurance, if being used during the Covid-19 Level 3 & 4 Lockdown?" Coincidentally, just been through some hoops with Baileys, who have communicated very effectively and quickly during lockdown. I needed to renew my policy, fortunately they checked when I mentioned we live aboard and cruise around - discovered that I had not actually been insured for the last 3 years as the underwriter had changed, along with the policy. The new policy (that I didn't even have a copy of) said no cover for liveaboards. I had specified exactly what our plans were when

I noticed yesterday that there are a lot of boats that leave there AIS on when they are in the marina - there are even 2 boats up on the hard at GH with AIS on. I'm not aware of rules or guidance on whether this is desirable or not?

Successfully battled nearly 8 knot winds chugging around to GH yesterday for a fuel/water fill. No stone throwing locals observed. Quite odd around Tiri Passage and not seeing a boat anywhere... Did observe one ~40 foot motorist anchored at the entrance to Mahurangi (fishing). Didn't think that was in the spirit of lockdown. Funnily I could not see any name on the boat, almost as if he knew he was being naughty and didn't want to be reported....

Just a personal bitch about the "US$999" package from PredictWind. You have to pay freight US$40 even if you live in Auckland. GST on top of everything. A pet hate is hidden charges that you only see when you go ahead and purchase. You have to pay the US$40 charge, so the price is not 999, it is 1039 plus GST. And before anyone asks, yes I did complain to PredictWind, basically no interest in showing this up front. Not a great way to start a possibly long-term relationship.😢

My impression, after recently researching and buying a raft, is that the latest rafts are a step above. Most of them seem to be made of TPU which doesn't act the way the old rubber-coated rafts did. I believe one of the drivers behind servicing was to repack the raft so the folds were on previously unfolded material. Many new rafts now have a 5 year period to first service. Absolutely agree with the need for a well thought out and researched grab bag. I was very dubious buying a Chinese made raft - imagine jumping in and finding a brick in place of the survival equipment (hopefully a

Please for the love of __________(insert imaginary friend of choice here) take this to SmallTalk!

Awesome, thanks so much for that!

sh*t hot, thanks IT

Good point, I don't want to spend the next month tied up to the fuel dock in GH!

So, we've been anchored in Mahurangi for nearly a month. At some stage we will need to fill up with water, which I can do easily at Gulf Harbour. I don't want to take up valuable police time so I think I should ask someone for permission for the obviously perilous trip through Tiri Channel. But who? Harbourmaster actually has authority I think? Coastguard (prefer not to ask them anything too difficult)? Police? Maritime New Zealand? (joking) Does anyone know or are we all guessing?

Happy that I'm not in the Chathams, looks like a good snotting

mahurangi steady 30plus and i saw a gust to 47.... very happy to have 40m of chain out in 3m of water

What is the boat name?

Ha, you are correct I'm sure, although if I'm sitting at anchor or in the marina I turn mine off (we are on board at anchor now with AIS off). If you look at any boatyards with boats out of the water there are usually quite a few with AIS broadcasting, which seems a bit pointless to me.

We've been parked in Mahurangi, there's a little bit of coming and going visible. Wifey got back last Friday and we came directly to the boat. Quite a few calls from Police, texts for tracking and this morning we had a visit - well we could see each other with binos. All the Police we have spoken with have been a credit to their force and I have no complaints whatsoever.

didn't see them in mahurangi

No. Just no. Spend the money and get the right stuff or you are wasting time, effort and money.

I am a very average user with f'all interest in monitoring stuff 24/7. My lithium "monitoring" system is a small black box with 10 bars and an orange light that comes on when I need to charge. The glory of lithium is we charge until we get sick of having the generator running, then we turn it off. We are sticking about 130A in so it doesn't take long and we don't worry about 100% charge and all that old lead acid PITA stuff. If you get the system design right first, and use the correct gear when installing, you will be protecting your investment in multiple ways while keeping it simple to

Hey I was joking about the Paddle Crabs, but sadly it's closer to the truth than it should be! With regards to marinas - if you don't have fan worm going into Gulf Harbour, you'll have it when you come out. The place is crawling with it.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/biosecurity/news/article.cfm?c_id=500816&objectid=12310497 New rules have been introduced after Asian Paddle Crabs established a population in Tauranga. Prior to moving a boat from the area, boaties are now required to agressively treat their hulls to ensure that mature crabs are not clinging to propellors, hull transducers and P-brackets. Boats must be hauled out and any mature crabs boiled until tender. Biosecurity spokesman N. O. Idea says "It has completely bewildered us how these crabs could have arrived in Tauranga, a port with very frequent links

Hmmm, more info. I saw a note on Cruisers Forum that suggested disconnecting the wires for a few hours to give the capacitors time to discharge fully (might not have the electronic term correct) and then reconnect. I did that and it was working last night when I checked a couple of times. Matt with your knowledge is that a plausible scenario?

I have a Optolamp Amozonia Mirim 3 that is starting to give problems. Basically I just leave the anchor light switched on and the photo sensitive thingy turns the light on when it gets dark. Recently, it doesn't. Sometimes it will strobe. Sometimes if I turn it off, wait, then on, it will turn on but that has become a brief period of light, then nothing. Last night it strobed briefly then died. I was super careful when I wired it up (mast out of the boat). It has been working for about 3 years. The strobe is not wired, I just use the Tri and anchor light. Tri works 100%. Cou

Ulrich Aluminium - check them for a pole. Re-use the old ends because new ones a feckingly expensive.