darkside

Infinity always appealed to me. As for RH powercats I prefer Mahimahi. But then I am a bit biased on both.

Headsail. Very good.

Haven't been up there for a while. How about the store at Totara North?

There was a similar event in 95 when we were in Vavau. It even formed a small island for a while which they were going to name after Lomu which is referenced here. https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/south-pacific/65103454/ The raft we sailed through going to Fiji was much lighter than this years however. Don't underestimate the gases however. There is an exclusion zone off Grenada around an underwater volcano called Kick'em Jenny. We asked the locals about the exclusion zone and were told if it belches, you sink.

To get performance sailing out of a cat my list would be in order: 1. light weight 2. long skinny hulls (if there is a double bed in the hull, the cat better be over 60') 3. bridge deck clearance 4. powerful rig to overcome the extra drag in light airs 5. last of all dagger boards A well designed mini keel can work quite well. However virtually every cat with boards also ticks the top four points as well so the boards get all the kudos, not sure they deserve it. To get a cat big enough to carry the weight required for cruising on those skinny hulls, I think a minimum of 45' if you want

The speed advantage of a lighter cat gets old pretty quick. We were faster than virtually every mono cruiser when we went around but what's the point? We got beaten in the Musket - Vila by 90 minutes by a 60' composite Warwick from Hong Kong with eight blokes on board. We were a 46' relatively light cat (Grainger) with me, my wife and two sons aged 6 and 8. We were first boat in in the Darwin - Bali, having been roughly last when the wind started on day two. Not sure if we ever really tried after that. To go fast downhill on a Cat you have to charge off at big angles and cover a lot o

See the lights coming on on the big powerboat as the crew wake up?

Ah yes the propeller above the dinghy in the sounds. I'm a member of that club. Got it going again but it sounded like a concrete mixer. That aside a nice cruising area. We had a 36' keeper in Waikawa for four years and never picked up a mooring once. Anchoring is fine, just takes a bit more thought than in the Gulf

Have a look at the Game Sail boat down at the viaduct. It can be done.

Saw four whales in the past couple of days close inside Great Barrier. Just assumed they were Bryde's and didn't pay much attention. I did think having three in sight at one time was a little unusual.

Wheels which companies are building hydrogen cars using anything other than a fuel cell powering an EV?

Wheels I was quite keen on hydrogen as well until I found this article. The Hindenburg reference is just silly but the efficiency losses in distribution are quite a problem. https://thedriven.io/2018/11/14/the-ice-age-is-over-why-battery-cars-will-beat-hybrids-and-fuel-cells/ The main graph

Tied up by the lift at HMB this morning

That's very bad news. Been a while but same impression for us, very friendly locals. Mind you we bought a lot of molas.

Used ours in Alaska last year. Not easy to set up, other than that, very good.

The electric trucks I import have them.

Get WindDan as well for real time info if you haven't already. Always good for go/no go calls to see what is actually happening.

Quite interesting. I met a boat dealer from Kentucky last year who was foiling in the 90s. (not for AC of course) I think it was probably the Hobie Trifoiler but may be something similar. He said he broke it pretty regularly but a lot of fun.

Actually it's wonderful. Keeping the good folk of Palmerston North and Foxton Beach at the epicentre of expedition super yacht production. You couldn't make that up. I dare you to even try.

Is that Lanakai? Been around the Barrier a lot this summer.

We had a 60l but bought it in 2001 so no doubt they have moved on since then. Very low power consumption, a bit noisy clunking away but overall pretty happy. Back then they were hard to deal with for parts, quite reluctant to ship to remote locations. It would pay to get some good contacts at the factory before you set off. The pre filters were off the shelf buy anywhere items which helps. Yep they were located near Naples. We had to get the main pump rebuilt and I ended up flying there (from the Canaries) to pick it up when completed.