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Nice design for first boat, good reputation for sailing kindly, plenty of room. But- please be careful and have the fibreglass hull properly surveyed, boats of this era did have some problems with osmosis. Also, from personal experience, read the above two comments re the vendor. Best first boat for me in all aspects would be a Tracker Good luck

I've done two sets of windows with Dow Corning 795. One stop stuff, gives a nice clean seal if you mask off properly and sticks to anything - be warned. I got mine from Glasscorp in Bush Road, who also sell the adhesive foam liners. These enable you to stick the window to [ a good] substrate, and then the goop is just there for the sealing. No problems after 5 years.

I used a platers in Parity Place, glendfield a few years ago, they were quite good. Nice job of polished chroming.

I agree with KA, whatever you do, do not use a recommendation from the broker.

It IS interesting about the units used. The masthead indications seemed to be in Kilometers, but even the commentators were caught out a couple of times. At one stage on day one a boat was said to be doing 72 knots! I guess they are aiming to hit a world-wide audience of non-sailors.

Devonport Yacht Club works well. It's true that you have to have been a member for 6 months prior, but if there is space on the hard after the members have requested haulage, I think they may well welcome new members. Two slips, and possible hire of cradle if there are spares. I think the contact numbers are on the web. dyc.org.nz

If it is a Maxwell - all the parts for those are still available I think. The contact for that is : Allen Hutton@Australian Yacht Winch Company. email: winches@attglobal.net. I have had dealings with him for the winches on my last boat and found him to be very helpful both as regards manuals and parts. If it isn't a Maxwell, he may well know what it is.

I think flares are really good on a dark night out of town. People notice them, In town, not so much, Coastguard did a flare test exercise about three years ago, to check visibility etc. They let 5 different flares - including handheld and rockets off. Positions a] Motuihe Passage b] Bean Rock and c] Orakei. Thought we'd get lots of calls from people reporting - I mean, 15 flares all up. Total number of calls coming in to the ops room on that night - 8, in a city. I think that around Auckland Harbour there's just too many lights. So - I carry flares for when I'm out of the harbo

The one I used in the end is part number 60099BL, it's a Narva brand, Repco have several different ones, and you should be able to find one which fits your cutout on the panel. cheers

Thanks folks- Repco had the deal, intermittent switch rated at 50a at 12v. Hopefully problem solved.

Common problem I believe. Intermittent start on button push on Yanmar 3GM. I've traced wiring and I already see a solenoid fitted. I by-passed the start button with a temporary switch and got starting first time every time, therefore likely the push button has corroded contacts. To replace it is around $110, but it is only an intermittent switch. Jaycar sell them for about 22 bucks. I can't find the characteristics of the switch though, so does anyone know how much current goes through such a switch? cheers

Given the usual expensive Yanmar parts prices [ that's if you can still get the part!]- I would remove it and take it to a stainless fabricator and get them to make you one. I'm also told that galv. ones last pretty well too. For future ref. I've had luck[?] getting mine to last longer by having a bypass on the intake and running a bucket of fresh water through the engine before leaving it. Hot salty water is pretty good at corrosion. If you are having trouble locating the part, Bill Falconer is usually a good source of info and/or supply.

Yep- I think TVNZ did a poor job compared to the fantastic commentary during the last America's Cup in Bermuda. Nothing beats commentary from people who know what they are talking about, rather than TVNZ celebs. Thank goodness we had some sailors in the room as well

can you comfortably put it on your back? If so - bathroom scales outside. Weigh you, weigh you plus dinghy.

I'm all for tsunami warnings to low level towns etc., and it's good to get people away from shore levels. But it's ridiculous that people get in their cars and drive to the top of the nearest hill, over 80m or more above sea level. The Aceh and Fukashima tsunamis were exceptional in their heights, and they were about5-8m above normal sea levels. This one was forecast to lift between 0.3 and 1m, so 20m above high tide would have been plenty it seems to me. Also, we need a likely time of arrival. If the earthquake was offshore, and the forecasted arrival of any surge was plus 6 hours, it

Thanks Wheels, I agree, I looked at a lot of diagrams yesterday, and they all had the valve on the bottle side. Good to have a reason for it though. Its also interesting. when you look up regulations. In NZ all connections must be crimped, but the UK standards say - no crimping, all connections must have hose clips.

Thanks to both of you, I agree it seems to be more appropriate to have the valve after the regulator.I do have a very good gas detector and switch inside the boat which controls the valve. This seems to be working fine and actuating the valve OK. I think after your info. that I'll get the Burnsco valve but put it in the line after the regulator. It would be under much less pressure that way. Thanks again

The gas on my recently acquired boat is a good one, but it is getting a bit [!] old and obviously due an upgrade. The solenoid valve is an Advance Fuel Components one, see photo, and getting one in NZ seems to be impossible. Burnsco have a shut off valve, as pictured, does anyone know whether all 12v solenoids are equivalent? or- do I have to pay over 200 to get one here from the US?

Yep - I likes a bit of prop walk too, which is what I had on my previous boat. However, it was so severe on this boat - Lotus 9.2 - transom rudder even, that it would NOT go to port on reverse at all. Not great for getting out of the berth in some wind directions. That was a bit too much. NOw I only have to worry about wind and tide.

Best tie coat I have use is Primocon- was recommended by a boatbuilder - seems to stick to anything. Went over the remnants of Micron [ I think] and then I used #5. Never had any probs with it around Devonport or Bayswater, but it might be a bit different in flushes of fresher water at Clevedon.

Yanmar 3GM with Kiwiprop. Had two blade Briski with HUGE propwalk on Yanmar saildrive. NO propwalk with kiwiprop, not loss of power compared to two blader, no drag when sailing. I'm very pleased with it, it is the second I have put on a boat, and even with a Yanmar 2GM on the last boat it worked well.

Thanks, that's could be a possibility - it's on auto at the moment. Also sort of nice to see that I'm not the only one!

I have a Garmin Echomap 65 chartplotter.. Nice unit, works as well as others I have had. However, it gets really hot. The screen is approaching 'too hot to touch' country. and if my computer was working at that temperature, I'd be concerned. Garmin have been contacted and insist there is nothing wrong. Has anyone else noticed this with Garmin chartplotters, or any other chartplotters for that matter?

Whoever is responsible for the organisation is a fail in my book. Many boaties do not read NTM anyway. I belong to 2 yacht clubs and coastguard, and there has been no notification of how to use the transit lanes, speeds, directions etc, and whether they are operating at which times of day. Devonport roads have also been shut down for all parking, even in Devonport village itself. So- you'd better be fit if you want to get to NOrth Head to watch- that's IF they are using that course anyway. I guess if you put the harbourmaster's dept under the control of AT, that's what you get.

Yeah- Northland are really into this stuff, aren't they. The bit that worries me is the idea of a "standard" to which your boat must be antifouled / " cleaned. Who decides what is acceptable? I reckon it is but a short way to only licensed operators will be allowed to antifoul boats, to make sure that they are done to a standard. So all those of us who haul out at our local yacht club yards and antifoul won't be licensed. So instead of about $250 for antifoul etc, it will be over $1500 per year. cl