Steve Pope

I guess you mean keel bolts? it is the condition of the ones currently installed that would be of concern as you cant see the shank without withdrawing one (or two) Check with the seller of any yacht you are interested in if they have checked / re-newed the keel bolts and when, if they have been done. It isn't a major to pull them , or it shouldn't be. re-sealing the surounding area with whatever is the recommended bog is important as well as using suitable strength bolts if you decide to replace them. Boats are holes in the water through which you pour money, but there are many worse ways to

Stick with what you have got. So long as it runs ok, why change it. A 20 year old outboard is not much different to the latest models. Motor turning a propellor, that's all. Go out sailing and see how good / or bad all the bits you want to change really are, (service them first) you might find you could have a better spend on a new main and, or, jib. If the ones you have are seen better days.

What you have are one of the better winches made in NZ. Yes they are old tech, but if serviced occasionally they will do another 30 years. Plus no cleats to add if you replaced them with a non self tailing winch. On a Tasman 20 they will cope with anything you can throw at them. A good scrub and "polish" will show them in another light altogether.

A bit like some on here.

Yep cheers Matt, I know sometimes it must have been similar to herding cats! Mind you some probably needing catering for longer than you did. I’ll keep an eye out for IT.

First question yes 2nd yachts are a hole in the water through which you place money, benefit, being able to shift your house, learn to love the sea. Hate is self explanetary, 3rd not a lot of choice, whangarei, marsden cove, Sandspit almost but really Auckland, Tutukaka, Opua, Keri Keri. Otherwise there are pile moorings and swing all around. No.4 budget minimum for a 35 footer + - on piles at kissing point Whg Minimum with comprehensive ins. And 1 x slipping anti fouling allow $5,000. Anything else is how long is a piece of string. Some Marinas are picky about live aboards and they are if

I have sat for almost complete tide off Cape maria Van Dieman when heading for North cape, owing to a mis calculation, theoretically doing close to 6 knots through the water but with a across the ground at a speed of 1/2 +- a knot for 2/3 of the tide.

Man doesn't change, NZ little bit of near equality lasted around 30 years, expiring in the 1970's it doesn't take long for the heirachical traits to re-appear. The only difference is "money " is the king. No different to the animal world except the big ones might eat you as well.

No shipping anymore, apart from the odd fishing boat.

the Dog clutches could be built up and be able to live another equally lengthy life.

all the wooden ones in WHG mooring area had plastic sleeves fitted over them with the gap between the pile and the plastic filled with (sand?)

toot seems to be fairly vulnerable, I was on the poles just inside the Marina entrance for a while, several boats including ours were damaged by the tail end of a cyclone.

Yeah it is supposed to be marine talk, Small talk is there for stuff like this, but some folk just can't help themselves.

Yeah they have been around for ever, I think before electric ones were invented.

You could just swap out the position of the existing v/v to after the regulator. If it's working fine why replace it?

Dave Molesworth, he is still around, a friend has 1 of his steelies, Pigiron a circumnavigator.

There are quite a few yachts "stranded" around NZ with their overseas owners unable to come to nz tosail them away.

I've got an old seagull you could use as main engine??

If you find what you want, buy a couple of spares so when the next one fails you can fix it asap.

Kiwiprop are good, (3 blade) in my opinion, reverse is like a brake! Going ahead, it is a little less efficient, compared to the Bronze one it replaced, possibly 1/2 a knot lost. Though in my case that is mainly due to the prop diameter being restricted by the small aperture size, therefore restricting the max prop diameter the engine / gearbox would be capable of using. Currently running a 14-1/2" would be much better with a 17". alwaays compromises. As IT says 5 grease points, plus adjustable pitch. Blade are tips more vulnerable to damage, being plastic. But damage one tip and you only ha

re speed, the average cruising speed over distance for "cruising" yachts under sail, without wings and swing keels etc. is around 4 1/2 knots, the further you go the closer to that it will be. Of course if you start up the motor it becomes irrelevant.

you can always do it yourself, lots of folk did their own back in the day.

Yep, I'm sure that you have done and are doing your best given that using bolts was not possible. It is just that although keeping the loads reasonable is the aim, the wind doesn't know that. Many is the time in my early sailing days and occasionally even now I have put off reefing because I decided that the puff / squall isn't going to be much, to realising that it was another underestimation. Of course you can always ease / release the sheet when needed, a flapping sail is better than a flying winch.

just try to ensure that no one is on the "flying" side of the winch when it is under tension.

definitely bolts and nuts, Nylock and washers.