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Made up a new much longer carbon prod for the Sun Fast. Prod is around 15mm think carbon with a foam core and a full length horrozontal bulkhead, we got this engineered by a mate of ours and stuck to his layup plan. Didnt vacuum bag it as we dont have technoligy like that but Dave Faulkner who made up the original blank/mold shape for us vacumed bagged that (huge thanks to Dave for his help witht he project). We had to extend the hull flange attachment an extra 150mm past the hull resess to get enough shear strength and go from 3 to 5 bolts. Decided to make up some low stretch bobstays

As far as Auckland tides go, the thing to remember is that the 'sink hole' is actually the firth of Thames not Auckland harbour so the incoming and outgoing tide is relative to that rather than Auckland harbour itself. Therefore the current in Tamaki strait runs the oposite to what you think, ie outgoing tide has current running towards Auckland and incoming tide it runs away from Auckland.

Ah yeeaahhh sorry bout that racket.

Matt, I might come up and come for a sail with you guys sometime.

People all use their boats for different things. For some its a quiet weekend away, others its family time but there are a lot of people who go out to socialise and some that party pretty hard. If you go into a crowded anchorage then there is a good likelihood of coming across one or more of the later type of cruisers. I have done all of the different types of cruising, plenty of partying but more of the family cruising these days. I'm not going to be a hypocrite and tell other people they cant party on their boats just because my priorities have changed with 3 kids on board (and at the a

Went Caving, Abseiling (yes even me...) Rope Bridging and Rock climbing with my 2 older boys (4 and 6) at Waipu caves. It was an epic weekend. Damn cold in the tent overnight though! Anyone wanting a cool caving experience that's totally free let me know and I will fill you in on the details. Its only 1.5hrs drive from Auckland and family friendly (if you don't mind a bit of mud!). My 4 year old LOVED it.

Here is a video of our cruise on the Pork Chop this year. Big Thanks for Tom and Emma for letting us use this awesome boat while we wait for the new boat to arrive (big news to come soon). The Pork Chop really is the ultimate boat. perfect for family cruising with all the cruising extras and also a very fast race boat. Nice to be able to motor everywhere at 7.5kts with the super quiet and smooth new engine!

Places in the hauraki gulf that I have been to that are good for kids. Kawau - -Mansion house bay, beautiful grass area with a cafe (ice creams..) and peacocks. Our kids always talk about the peacocks there. Perfect place for kicking a ball around and having non sandy fun. - -Kawau island boat club, so glad this has been started up again. Perfect for rainy days too as there are heaps of games and toys(haven’t been there this season yet but I hope its the same!). kawau burgers were legenary too! - -Comper mine, good for exploring with older kids. Some nice walk

These days our kids(2, 4 and 6 year old boys) actually (most of the time) put their own life jackets on before venturing out on deck as they are well aware of the dangers the ocean presents. We have the rule that when outside the cockpit (or on deck at all in rough weather) they have to wear lifejackets, not the 6 year old as he can swim around the boat twice without a life jacket but the 2 younger ones for sure. We will make the 6 year old wear one if its a bit rough because its much harder to swim, but in flat water he is fine. Downstairs or in the cockpit we don’t enforce life jackets at a

I thought it would be good to share ideas to make it easier and also places to visit that are good for kids (or just cool places to visit even without kids) Cruising guides seldom have any of that type of information on waterfalls, swimming holes, caves, Wrecks, glamour beaches and lagoons, walks and anything else that worth visiting. I know for us we simply have to get ashore once a day or its just not much fun with 3 young boys. Maybe if we get enough information then it could be published or something? Im sure there are many people that would love to get there hands on that type

Cordite has sold now so im currently boatless. Tom has very kindly offered us the Pork Chop for the holiday as he is not using it. Pretty stoked with that as she is a minta. We are heading to the Mercs and outside of the barrier if the weather cooperates. Hopefully getting away christmas day or boxing day to the corromandel or bottom end first.

I am the "stupid person" you guys are referring to. I have sold all my boats this way and it works. The boat sells and I move on. I think its stupid to list your boat for the same price for over a year and then blame the state of the market. I don't go boating to make money. Sell your boat for what someone will pay you for it and move on. Life is too short. +1

To me that just looks like a normal spinnaker tacked to the bow but with a photo take with a fish eye lens.... Nothing special there. But this is an unnecessary thread drift.

John B, you are spot on. Its about priority and how much you want it. Some people have established that they are boating people and will always have a boat. Just like us, we could never be without a boat and have a good % of our net worth tied up in a boat and always will. We have never been on an expensive family holiday or spent any money on luxury items. We own probably the worst house out of most of our friends (but on a good street) and a house full of second hand stuff (mostly kids toys) but we have a boat and we love it. Both of us were brought up on boats and spend all our holiday

I agree with everything you are saying Craig. Owning a boat within your time/budget constraints is the key. I would love a 1020 but sadly it will never happen as I couldn’t afford the 12m berth needed at Westhaven. My next boat will be under 10m so I can keep it in a 10m berth but I want it to pack as much punch as it can for 10m. I have my eye on a lotus 950 which ticks all the boxes for me but need to move mine first. I know the value of being a cashed up buyer in this market which is why I need to sell mine before going to the next boat. I don’t have to sell and am quite happy cruising

Well on the positive side, its a good time to be upgrading. That's why my boat is on the market!

I wonder if the biggest issue in the boat market is that there are just simply less buyers in the mid range 25-40ft boat market. Its just getting harder and harder for people to afford boat ownership. I have been watching it for a long time deciding what boat to get next. I reckon there is a big train wreck about to happen in the boat market. Just so many of each class on the market. Look at the popular designs, marauders, whiting 29s, davo 28s, lotus 9.2, lotus 10.6, F1020, Y88..... there are literally hundreds of them for sale. 2 years ago there were zero marauders on the market, now there

I heard of a 1020 selling for 40k. Are you thinking of the 1104 that sold for 15k?

Nice post Matt.

what time friday and where abouts?

Got the bottom of my boat scraped faired and primed. Also got a new boot stripe on(still got to take off the old top stripe and signwriting) and then got the most of the bits bolted back on. A BIG weekend..... Oh yeah and also had another baby boy (#3) last week.

Finally got the first coat of paint (interprotect) on the transom after all the modifications. Its come up pretty good.

No they are just glued and carbon'ed on there. They have the big support on the bottom and should be pretty grunty. I grinded right back to bare glass and also put a carbon patch under bottom of the support to make sure it doesn't push the bottom corner into the foam transom. Havent had a chance to really give them a booboo bounce test yet but did hang off them the other day with no movement at all. The boards themselves are 80kg foam, with a layer of 800gm glass on the top and 600gm on the bottom with carbon and extra E glass taping around the aft edge.

Big weekend.... Poker on friday night (didn't win), early start for the simrad on saturday and a late arrival home, sunday another early start for a drive down to Tauranga for the winter series race on the Mumm 36 'Whatever' with Colin an another very late arrival home last night just before 10pm and back at work this morning. Didnt see much of the family this weekend. Last weekend I managed to get my new duckboards glassed on the back of the marauder, turned out good, just got to sand the bog and paint the transom now.

I did a mission down to Rotorua to take my 3.5year old to rainbow springs and the luge. We camped with my brother and cooked dinner in a natural thermal oven, lamb shanks and veges, tasted like a hungi, it was great. Highly recommended. Needed a few hrs to cook though. The young fella loved it. Then back just in time for the SR nationals.