Kevin McCready

I once saw a newly purchased old steel boat come up onto the hard at The Landing in Orakei Auckland. The washdown hose pierced the final bit of rusty metal that had stopped it from sinking. The new owners were devastated. It says something about negotiating who pays for pre-purchase inspections too.

Elephant in the room is still Tiwai. https://thespinoff.co.nz/business/29-11-2019/a-modest-proposal-for-the-future-of-tiwai-point

Why would that be?

Yes please. I'm around the corner from you. I sent you a DM the other day but didn't hear from you.

Do calisthenics on deck and run on the spot for 10-15 minutes while telling funny stories then jump overboard. The first time I did this on the Spirit of NZ I wasn't looking forward to it. But it's surprising how enjoyable it is even in very cold water. We jump in and swim to the landing nets pronto - the more hardy swim a lap around the boat. On warm mornings it's hard to get the kids out of the water.

I noticed the pic seemed to be dated 7 April. But when I zoomed in on places I know the pic was much much older. Eg it still shows boats moored in Okahu Bay which were moved out years ago. Edit: it tells you at the bottom that the image is no longer live but doesn't tell you the date of the image.

It will do for now. I'm amending my start up instructions: 1. Check the high tech ruggedised return installation on the fuel solenoid.

And I forgot to say, keep your safety knife attached to your body at all times and be able to use it single-handed. I have a nice Wishard. I reckon our young Optimist sailors should be trained for that habit.

Just to clarify, crotch straps should be on all PFDs, not just inflatables. You can buy suitable straps with buckles for about $10. The last time I sailed on Spirit of NZ they had some very very nice new PFDs with dual legstraps but I can't remember the make and model. When I went offshore I rigged up a sprayhood, strobe and a matchbox sized PLB into my PFD. Following Matt's useful post I checked the Maritime NZ website again. I still think, although it's improved, it is severely lacking. I downloaded their Life Jacket Guidelines and it's also deficient. For heavier people

FWIW Whatever you get, get crotch straps. https://kmccready.wordpress.com/2014/01/15/lifejackets-lifejackets-and-sissies/

It's no fun unless you say what's on your joblist. On my joblist I only have one job: make a joblist.

Yeah big thanks to Wheels and to Ashton. Ashton also wins the prize for diagnosing a dicey deck switch for the anchor winch. Thanks again for your company Ashton; I owe you one.

Thanks wheels. It sounds like the solenoid set up isn't working. The lever feels very sticky. I'll try to get it working freely. I'm gonna kick myself if this whole saga is a broken spring on a solenoid. Grrrr. But just to get it clear on my head, when the black button is released, the spring should pull the lever back?

At idle it ran smooth enough but blew a bit of smoke at high load. I'm not sure where the stop lever is, but to shut down I press and hold a little black button on the ignition panel for a couple of seconds. I don't actually know how the little black button works. When I first got it started on Sun 27 March it conked out under load but started immediately when I turned the ignition again. Perhaps the gold lever with the boot on it is the culprit when I moved it back and forth it was a bit sticky. Would it run fine for over half an hour if there was a fuel/air problem but fail to start seconds

UPDATE I got the engine started again yesterday (had to use ether and pump the little blue lever). I ran it under load for 30 mins. Then I thought I'd turn it off and try to start again. It wouldn't start normally. So now I suspect it might be the glow plugs. Do I need a special plug socket spanner to remove them? Any more tips would be welcome.