southernman

With our trip planned to the South Pacific next year I'm on the hunt for the best knowledge out there and what people are using these days for cruising guides as we sold our last boat with all our old copies on board (mistake). Can anyone tell me what the best guides are today for Tonga and Fiji? Appreciate a pm from someone if they have a location of some pdf copies of the older usual guides also as I've lost mine. Can pay with beer/rum etc.

It's not all Euro boats though, there are plenty of good ones. You really can't compare a mass produced boat with a short production kiwi boat though. Having recently been in the market I did see some kiwi 80's and 90's boats that were poorly built in areas also or at least had major issues with how they were built which limited ability to maintain them. Also poorly repaired ones. There are some well built Bendy boats around built in the 80's and 90's before mass production that are pretty good and well built. How many boats

Cool agree coms have been great and my God the pricing is amazing and the spec identical to what I've been offered in NZ and the same fabric. I just hate not supporting local.

Anyone got any update on Far East Sails? Considering buying some sails off them. My mate bought some for his boat and they are really good sails. Thoughts? Anyone got any recent experiences good and bad?

Interesting news from Predict Wind today: http://us6.campaign-archive1.com/?u=d5dbbe0f26fe7f4565891071a&id=ded22931ba&e=889c4810d9 It seems that Predict Wind will be even more accurate. Just had a conversation with a mate delivering a Catana to NZ and due into Opua on Wednesday next week, be interesting weather I think and a fast passage looking at the wind coming.

I had an eWOF just done for my boat as quite straight forward really but required 2 electrical inspections one for DC and one for AC. Was actually quite good as it identified some problems all to do with the plug in the cockpit and cable. Had to change out some Euro plugs and that was that. All up cost me $400 or so.

Tongatapu is not bad these days although facilities are much the same as they have always been. I remember we dragged in the harbour there last time we were there and nearly put the boat on the bricks, pulled anchor and we dragged up half a concrete block wall and reobar. However I do think you can actually buy half decent food there these days. I was there a few months back for work. We are going to do this race and then sail south to Tongatapu through the Haapai Islands, drop the crew off there pick wife and kids up from airport and head North again. It's quite doable in a Mono, ye

Good grief we have a resident tooth expert in the house!!! I'm in my 40's and been to a dentist 3 times in my life since leaving school, only have 1 filling and I love sugar.

Disperser, never said I rely entirely on GRIB's only that they are a useful tool, one of many. I think there is a huge focus on technology on board boats these days over skills and experience, but I think back to my first offshore trip I did when I was 18 and had zero skills really. I still survived, had no SSB, no 406 EPIRB, a VHF handheld and some freeze dried food and water. I had no idea what I was doing rather relied on learning off other sailers around me, reading about weather and using the good old 101 eye. Saying that would I do that today? No way, if technology is available

Gribs are probably one of the best tools out there that we have, why not use them? I'd rather spend more time sailing and yes like all tools use them in conjunction with your own analysis and knowledge of the area. At the end of the day spend the time ensuring your vessel can handle the weather that may occur rather than spending time reinventing the wheel.

Disperser considering that most shipping traffic relies on GRIBS, that is a huge call you are making. I've found them to be very accurate in the majority of cases and getting better all the time. Also I'd have to say the pain of using a Ham / SSB getting good propagation and the time make this tech on the decline. The initial investment cost of a SSB/Ham is higher than an Iridium, the extra abilities to actually call anyone in the world, suppliers of parts, pre planning and entry into countries I think make it a no brainer.

Two things, don't get ripped by buying filters from Bunnings. PM me if you want a good deal and I'll sort you out. Secondly Crypto according to the DWS of NZ, 0.1 Micron will remove Crypto so if you want to ensure this is gone would recommend this rather than 0.5, make sure it's an absolute cartridge rather than what is usually sold. You will find these quite expensive. The smaller the micron the more the filter will block. It's a good idea to use two filters. One for large particles and takes most of the load i.e. 5 or 10 micron followed by a smaller size i.e. 0.1 or similar.

The Iridium Go is a LOT faster if you install an external aerial and more stable. That's a big factor in getting the max connection speed I've found.

Whoops need to learn to spell proper English! I already have an OC tender, but we have the 3.5m one and it's too big. I use it down this way for Opti training etc. It's just too big for the foredeck. I can confirm they row well and need very low HP to get onto the plane. Great build, great look, price is high but quality is also very high.

BP, all valid points if you don't have kids, gear and have to go long distances. I've been down that route previously with a lightweight dingy that could row and had a small outboard. Only problem I found was we never went places i.e. out to that awesome reef for a dive because it was too far etc. Anyhow I'm going to take a look at the truekit when in Auckland next time and decide from there what to do. Ah the joys of having a smaller boat, you have stowage problems! With the cat we simply had a big 3.5 RIB and davits on the back!

Bugger I've got the Merc but I can lift it. It's the American version so maybe different spec and lighter, however it goes like a cut cat. We have the Tohatsu previously great engine and yes a bit faster. Looking at the True Kit https://truekit.nz/products/true-kit-navigator?variant=27273772934 The 3.0 metre version looks interesting and they look a bit stronger to me than the Takacat.

BP what will you replace it with?

Yeah a 15hp is just so versatile, I can lift it onto the boat or use the main halyard, and once you load a dingy up it enables you to stay on the plane with a big load on. 2.8m is about the smallest you can fit the 15hp onto however I saw some nutter with a 15hp on a 2.5m once, it was very fast! I'm looking at the Takacat Sport seems no one has really used them as a long term dingy. My concerns are coral attack, the novelty of putting the wheels on and off will wear off pretty quickly, and of course with an open transom, I'm guessing a wet ride and having to secure things. However plus

Right I need to find the ideal dingy for the yacht, needs to take 15Hp engine which I already have, needs to be suitable for the Islands, kids and hard use. I started looking at the usual alloy bottom RIB's which we have always had but I really don't like them sitting on the deck when offshore. That got me looking at the Takacat or the TrueKit advantages being they can be bag packed away and don't seem to have a soggy floor like the other pump boats What are peoples thoughts here? Anyone used a Takacat long term and are they any good?

Totally agree the polls are plain dangerous. Also putting the boat back on a trailer in a Southerly - forget it - too risky for a bigger boat. The last 3 times I've paid my $6 the bloody hose and wash down facility (if you could call it that) didn't work or the hose or tap was rooted. The wharf had large parts that were cordoned off as they were broken, a complete joke. They obviously don't water blast the ramp either try walking down that at low tide so slippery. I use the Starks ramp now in the inner harbour, free and pretty useable unless it's dead low tide. We launch a 7.5m

With LPC involved it's likely to be another cock up. The harbour at the moment is a joke. The launching facilities for power boats is dangerous, the facilities for over 10 years have been rubbish. Let's hope I'm wrong.

Smithy, the failure was not actually due to the steel quality, more the welding. My point was more that people are very very quick to blame the chinese for poor workmanship, however I've seen some pretty shitty welds on pressure vessels made in NZ. The vessel I'm talking about was a pressure vessel that was built by a NZ company that was apparently pressure tested and passed that lasted one day in service. Analysis we did (when in doubt always blame the water treatment guy) showed the welds were of very poor quality.

Fair enough on that vessel failing but I could also point to a NZ built vessel that failed in much the same manner a few months ago. No doubt about it though quality can be an issue but most of the boilers made these days are from China, Thailand or India. The issue is mainly around false independent testing houses issuing test certs that mean nothing or are downright false.

The other issue being that many modern boats it seems it quite hard to put a trysail track onto the mast apparently. Not enough room etc etc.

Agree in all cases, however with modern forecasting how often statistically does a try sail actually get used? The last 3 boats i've owned all had try sails, had all sailed from Europe and none had ever been used. Saying that I have set one between here and Fiji mainly due to a baggy mainsail having sailed from Europe. It took me an hour to set it and then only had it up for a few hours. If you consider the extra risk of going on deck, the potential for the boom to toss you around etc etc i'd rather have a very keep 3rd reef me thinks personally.