darkside

Yep Conrad painted our 46' catamaran and did a great job. I removed/replaced the hardware and that's all. The final price charged was less than the quote (by several thousand) Never encountered that in the marine industry before or since, so I also would be sorry to see the yard close.

Can I ask why you are repainting? If it is to sell the boat, no point spending money on a poor outcome. We knew our boat needed a repaint before we set off on a 5 year cruise. I touched it up with single pack with a brush and didn't have to get too worried about the odd canoe bumping up against the hull or whatever. It cost us $50k or thereabouts to paint it at Robertson's when we got back, but that was 2005

For full time cruising I'd keep the SSB. Informal cruiser scheds used to pop up all over the show, particularly where other support was scarce like the Red Sea. There were even two boats playing chess during our Atlantic crossing. With the newer Pactors, Sailmail was pretty good as well. That RNZ link brings back memories, I listened to AB's vs Lions in 2005 between the Galapagos and Tahiti.

Roger that.

Alloycats are building a 12m for me in Tauranga. Leave them alone until it's launched please.

I doubt Dalton will want his legacy to be the guy that took the cup away from New Zealand. He is at that stage of his career. My guess more negotiation to come. I did quite like the one off defence in the UK to pay the bills, then back here regardless of outcome.

Not a fun day for the seven cargo boats anchored off Tauranga today. 4.5m beam sea with peaks of 6.5m...

Tonga, Bequia and off Yemen

Love a good anchor thread, choose your weapon.

No we didn't but there are plenty to hit. More in BC where they harvest than in SE Alaska where it is more parks and wilderness. The ones floating on there side are populated by seagulls and much easier to see than the vertical "dead heads" We did hit a few lumps of ice as we got close to the tidewater glaciers but nothing serious.

We swapped to a powerboat as the destination is more important to us than how we get there (diving and fishing the Barrier and Mokes mostly). If we were heading offshore again it would be on a sailboat for sure. I have thought of a daysailer just for the purity of the sailing experience, rather than the compromise of a cruising yacht. We chartered in the PNW three years ago and that is powerboat country for sure. We were there a month and only two days of that would have been enjoyable to sail.

It was a joke Fish. If you boat long enough you will help people out for sure. The Tobago Cays one was interesting however as all the Kiwis and Ozzies yachties rushed to help, and, no one else. They just watched.

Love the "freezing waters" comment. However I take offence at Fish's slight on the abilities of crew.org'ers to effect rescues. Here's my list and I bet there are plenty on here with more than this: Unmanned yachts drifting out to sea, 3x, Gt Barrier, Whitianga and Bodrum. Tow in of broken down power boats, 3x, Arid, Motiti and Coromandel Rescued swimmer in trouble with the tide, Tairua (I did that on a windsurfer) Rescued windsurfer with gear failure drifting out to sea, France, (she was gorgeous, no hardship at all) Rescued dinghy with one occupant heading

This was track was on a jet boat doing about 6kn. Aiming East no problem, heading down to Spirits Bay and no progress at all.

So is a forecast for light winds for LR. If it was forecast 18kn over the weekend would they be quite so keen?