gert

Good luck!

Nope, looks like something's unhappy on their server. No doubt their IT people are receiving alarms and emails with the errors, so I assume someone with elevated stress levels is trying to figure out what the hell is going on.

I can also confirm that baby nappies are great (I never had to look after babies, so I didn't know this), and liberal spraying of Simple Green and cat urine odor neutraliser did a lot to make my boat smell nice again.

I haven't had a chance to look into that yet, but that's a good point. The (glass) tank is inside the port cockpit locker. It's been 2/3rd full for months without a trace of diesel anywhere in the boat, so I don't think the tank is leaking. The fuel lines in the engine compartment and the bottom of the fuel filter are all dry, so I know it's not leaking there either. The filler hose goes straight up from the tank to the filler cap, and there's a breather tube next to it. There's also a large round cap on top of the tank. Filler hose, breather tube, and fuel tank cap all had diesel on it, s

Thanks very much for your suggestions! I'm a bit of a newbie in terms of boat ownership, so your advice is much appreciated. I'll try nappies and dish wash detergent.

Hi all, I did something stupid and overfilled my fuel tank. After sailing around/heeling, I found diesel in my bilges, sigh. What's the best way to clean this up, and how do I get rid of the smell? It's quite unpleasant to be in the cabin at the moment... I'm prepared to use a lot of elbow grease, but is there something (detergent, or some other stuff) to break down the fuel and neutralise the smell? Cheers!

I love this forum. Thanks heaps for your tips!

Thank you for your good advice, and encouraging me to go out and learn! I'm a pretty careful sailor — I always like to give myself plenty of searoom. Learning to sail my own boat singlehanded, I only want to get out in calm conditions and slowly work my way up from there. I'm sure I'll build up my experience and confidence, and a couple of years from now I hope I can help other new boat owners with some salty nuggets of practical wisdom! But getting in and out of the berth is still the most stressful part of the journey, especially on my own. I've only done it a couple of times, and even

Haha! Sounds good to me, I like a cold beer or two myself as well.

Thanks for the advice, that sounds good. I've sent an email to the Waikawa boating club, and I'll stop by to see if anyone's around next time I'm over there. And I'm grateful for kiwipilgrimnz's offer as well!

Awesome, thank you! I'll be in touch!

Hi everyone! A little while ago, I bought my first sailboat, a beautiful 1986 Sadler 32 called “Honey”, currently in Waikawa. I have only sailed her once, because she’s out of the water right now for repairs, and I’m replacing the rigging as well. But if everything goes according to plan, she’ll be back in the water before Christmas! I’ve been sailing on friends’ boats for a few years, and I’ve done some sailing courses (including a "cruising skippers" course), so I’m not a complete novice, but I still have a lot to learn, especially because I’ll be sailing singlehanded most of the

I just bought an epirb for my new boat, and I placed it at various positions and distances from the compass. Once I got within +/-30cm I could see the compass move. I decided to mount it on the other side of the companionway.

Yeah I love his videos!

Hi everyone, by way of an update: Since my last post, I've met the owner, who has been really great and helpful. I've had a first look at the boat, which was a very positive experience. Since then I've made an offer, offer got accepted, and had a wonderful day of sailing in the Queen Charlotte Sound as a sea trial. Thanks to your suggestions, I've been in touch with both Richard Clausen for a survey and Matt from Hurricane rigging, and they're going to check out the boat next week. I've probably fallen in love a little bit, so I really hope the survey works out! The boat is a Sadl