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I was in Hokitika a little while ago and looking at some historical info. Apparently they use to lose around 1 in 10 vessels trying to enter. The whole coast around the Hokitika river is very shallow, and I would think that sailing ships would be praying for a decent westerly to give them plenty of steerage way.[ and a high tide!. The Grey is simply frightening when the river is running due to rain, with incoming vessels having to fight into about an 8 knot flow. Takes a long time to cross. I now realise why nearly all the fishing boats in the harbour were big ones! Mind you- I saw a skip

small correction to 'nobody listens to VHF on the west coast'- they certainly do, and if reception had been OK they would have been heard. Unfortunately, there are some real dead spots around Bethells in particular and also off Muriwai. Ch 16 goes through the Sky Tower and of course as we all know, VHF is line of sight because of the high frequency.

Obviously quite hard- The red can at the entrance to Islington Bay has been cast ashore for how many years now? I knew it was going to be a problem when they handed over from the Harbourmaster to Auckland Transport. Maritime stuff is actually different to roads. I think the Harbourmaster actually does a good job with the limited resources they have.

How much overlap have you got? ie from the inside of the cutout in the cabin side to the outside of the window pane? If you have 20-25 mm, then the best way seems to be to use glazing tape around the cabin side to hold the window on. Then, mask carefully level with the outside of the window, then fill the gap between the glazing tape edge and the top[outside] of the window - hope that is clear. The glazing tape not only holds the window on firmly, it provides a 5mm gap for the adhesive sealant. There appear to be plenty of different sealants about which would work, but the only one I have

Whichever product you end up using, the key here is to make sure that there is sufficient thickness of bead between the acrylic and the cabin side. This gives the adhesive some ability to move with expansion when the temperature changes. I found the best way to do this was to use glazing tape, available in rolls from Glasscorp, Fit the window to this lining the inside of the cutout on the cabin side. This holds the window in place firmly - really firmly, and then fill the gap with the adhesive. Glasscorp also sell nozzles for the cartridges which can be rotated and bent through various angles,

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.