lebleaux

Well ... its been 4-5 months since I started this thread and it would be fair to say I have been somewhat absent since day 1. It has been a tough winter. However, a lot has happened to Auriga in the interim and we are close to leaving the marina. We will be taking part in a Friday rum race before the end of September, we should be in the fleet for the Squadron opening day and we have decided to enter the boat in the Coastal Classic. It is the 40th anniversary and we think we should be a part of it. So ... who is keen. I think 5 boats and we can have a division of our own. We will not be taking

I have a 930 for sale please PM me and I will give you the details

PM me your contact details, the Mahuramgi regatta is something we would readily embrace.

Have sent you a PM

Are you still looking, I may be able to help, I know of a Ross 930 for sale.

Auriga is on H Pier at Westhaven. Topsides have been painted back to original yellow. Some rot removed from the deck in the forepeak and over the main hatch. The cabin has been painted and we are waiting for a fine couple of days to get some deck paint on.Still very much a work in progress - we are not trying to make it pristine and pretend its new, but accept it is an old boat with a proud history and just give it a bit of a refresh. Drop by if you are in the neighbourhood - the fridge will be recommissioned soon-ish ...

Out there in sailboat land thee are something like 70 Chico 30s. Our Chico, Auriga, will soon be up and running (well ...soon-ish) and I am wondering if there would be any interest in something like a Chico Rally - I am thinking of maybe a 'race' from somewhere to Motuihe on a Saturday with those who need to go home go, and those that can stay, stay for a bit of social. Maybe 3-4 'events' over summer, whatever. Let me know if there is any interest and I will/may attempt to organise.

I am one of the new owners of Auriga. There is a story to be told. Let me know if there is interest and I will start a thread

I might have some bits and pieces, will have a hunt. I should have some paddle wheels as well.

Biggest disappointment for me was yet again the apparent disinterest in the event from Russell. Nothing happening on shore on Saturday morning. Not easy to get breakfast. Yet again we bugged out to Paihia on the ferry and then made our way home.

Very interesting. I have done several thousand miles in a Chico 30 called Auriga - Suva, Vila, across the Tasman and back for a Hobart race and numerous Akl-Gisborne and White Island races. At that time there was a large number of 30 foot ocean capable yachts in Auckland. A well founded Chico 30 would be about as good as you can get in that size if offshore is where you want to be ... and you can park them close to the settlement at Lord Howe island for the Friday Night Fish Fry ... if the fancy takes you.

A day in the life of Urban Cowboy Thanks for all the well wishes in the thread and yes, all are safe and the boat will live to fight another day. We started with a blast down the harbour with the fractional chute, managed to get 16.9 knots indicated for a few seconds. After turning at the bottom mark we decided to go to a second reef during which the main unzipped for the third time this year - main has had 7 years of tough use and may have had its last sail. A new one was ordered a while back and we await delivery. So we decided to sail back under jib only and finish the race. While w

I was in the vicinity as well, on board the Chico 30 Auriga. Was not much fun.

Best wishes from the Urban Cowboy crew - light it up!!!

I have a Brookhouse Mux setup on Urban Cowboy, took the NMEA feed direct from the H3000 processor - very quick and easy to do. Have also written some quick and dirty code so that my PC at home can pretend its a mux so that I can test stuff and have built a data collector so I can play with Polars. Happy to help if you go that way.

There is another aspect to this that i would like to raise - that is the role of 'crew'. The Westhaven website referes often to Berth Holders and 'their Guests'. The crew of a yacht are neither, they are Crew, part of a team without which I can not use the yacht for its intended purpose. Sometimes they take the boat out on their own, sometimes they carry out maintenance. In many respects they treat the boat as if it were their own. They are not 'guests', they are part of the team and I think that any parking restrictions must acknowledge the fact that if these people can not easily do they thi

Latest Westhaven newsletter says they have imposed a 2 hour time limit for parking in the white spaces. If you need longer then you have to go to the office and get a pass. Are they mad. How are they going to handle the volume of people on a Wednesday night who are struggling to get there in time. What happens at 7.00 qm when we have an early start so we can go race down the harbour. These guys will kill yacht racing at Westhaven if we let them.

Yep, this new security arrangement is just plain dumb. We have crew members pop down to the boat from time to time to tidy up, do maintenance or whatever ... and yes we too have to wander to and fro to let people in. There has got to be a better way.

Yep, it wouldnt work for me either. If I understand things correctly Easter always has a full moon and that makes navigation down the coast easier at night, and then there is plenty of time (3 days) to get back. November is too close to the Coastal (sometimes we dont bring the boat back until weekend following), Gold Cup, thoughts of the White Island race, all at a time when many of us are ramping up for year end. November would kill it for me.