ex TL systems

thanks, that satconnections place looks ok, downloaded the predictwind app but my computer avg virus program saw it as a threat and removed it and so I gave up, the unlimited data looks good but 1100 us to set up is not what I am looking for at the moment. All this computer mumbo jumbo is verrry annoying! What happened to getting on a boat and being out of communication with everyone anyway.

Hi wanting to hook up a iridium phone for a month , have gone to 1 site ,in America I think and asked questions but no reply. Anyone have any suggestions or recommendations, not needing heaps of minutes just the daily position txt and just in case emergency use from Australia to Akl.

Hi I see a guy offering a conversion for vhf radio to receive ais data andconnect to open cpn is this legit or to good to be true

well I really should be there but working tonight and 5 hours drive away! Have managed to set up 2 laptops with open cpn for the trip so far though.

I have a Mustang survival / flotation suit. Bit warm for the tropics but was pretty happy to find it for $12 at a local garage sale,

Yes thanks for that I have spoken to customs in Bundy and they were pretty good they clear you out at the river mouth , easier than up in town. but will check with Southport also before I go , much easier to get everything sorted while still at home with easy internet etc.

Thanks for all that , just spent today organising funds and insurance cover,

Yes I have a stick somewhere with open cpn all the world charts on it but not sure where it is at the moment, was looking on Trademe as there used to be people selling a stick plus a GPS usb plug in for 60 odd $. Was also told an Ipad with navionics app was a good option? but have used open cpn before. Would want to have 2 computers plus hand held gps and paperchart as backup. Will open cpn go on an Ipad at the moment? thanks Again Lord Howe would be tempting for a night but unless we are close or needing a break from the weather I may prefer to just carry on towards home. Is it a hassl

Southport could be good , if there was a few northerlys to get there, October pilot charts suggests less SE wind as you get more south and nothing over strong. Boat will be in Hervey bay so its a day in the wrong direction to get up to Bundaberg anyway , A few calm days behind Fraser could be nice and then possibly taking the inside route through Moreton Bay to Southport. Coffs Harbour may be easy too with the current pushing down the coast, but I think if the weather was OK I would tend to want to just get on course to NZ which could be annoying if you still had to come back in to clear cust

Thanks for that, down through Fraser and over the Wide Bay Bar I have done before , only trouble would be having left Aus at Burnett heads I would say the Aus authorities will not want me going the inland route behind Fraser as you would be anchoring at times to wait for tides., Otherwise travel down to Brisbane first to clear out there which seems like a lot of hassle ,and maybe 3 more days, but I will have a look. Hopefully customs checks you out at the river mouth not up in Brisbane City.

Thanks, all, for that info.Nov looks good there. are the pilot charts for October available on line as I am still hoping that then may be OK to go although I could wait a month to early November if required by booking another month in the marina. Would want to stay well away from Middleton reef etc , hopefully pass to the north but that will depend on the weather, Dave

There was 2 attacks in 3 days while we were in Aus recently in an area we often surf, 2 guys bumped off boards and another guy lucky to live with major leg injurys, I bought a bigger board so my legs were further out of the water and avoided surfing alone or at dawn or dusk.

erice , thats the one in 2004 when it was previously named Josephine , Farrari, the video is a sister ship that has a much more plush and heavier fitout, ours is more basic and probably lighter. Romany, seems there is plenty of moorings available in Auckland , swing or pile moorings are cheap, marina would be expensive here , but I was surprised how reasonable marinas are in Aus. around 800 a month or less if you pay for a year in a very flash marina in Hervey bay.

1988 Shuttleworth,Advantage 44, built in England sailed to US then cruised mexico and Pacific by American owners for at least 7 years then they left it in aus as they returned home in their 70,s, lots of room and probably, hopefully, a little better sailing than some of the big production cats , have some photos but seems they are too big to put up just now. Probably a 140 to150 mile a day cruiser although it apparently won some atlantic crossing race back in the day.

Hi looking at a passage home from Bundy, was hoping that end of Sept early Oct could be a good time, over there they start getting a few northerlies then and from memory we get a lot of NW winds in October , November, Anyone got any ideas/ comments, realise it will be still cold here but should be avoiding cyclone season.

44 x 28 ft cat in queensland, foam sandwich , diesel motors, single daggerboard...not the whole retirement fund to purchase.

Looks like I am taking the plunge with a boat in Aus.

Worth a try in the engine space as alarms are very cheap to buy, if the the motor is not fuming into the boat it should work, we don,t normally install in garages but only because of false alarms from exhaust gases. I would definately recommend having more than 1 alarm even if they are in the same area .As with anything electronic there is always a percentage chance of one not operating correctly. If you had one velcroed on the cieling in the main saloon area it can easily be moved while cooking. Smoke rises so an alarm in a forecabin with a lower height cieling may take a while to operate i

Hi just heard on the news of a crew of 3 escaping a burning boat around midnight last night 300 miles south of Niue.They managed to activate an epirb and get into a liferaft and were picked up by a freighter. Highlights the need for easily accessible safety gear but also I doubt if they would have had smoke alarms on board and wonder if the outcome would have been the same if no one had been awake at the time or if alarms may have given them a few extra minutes early warning if they had been fitted. There is likely more chance of a fire starting on your boat than in your house? S

Hey BP, you have asked what every one is planning/hoping to do, but unless I missed it we haven,t heard your plans for the big black pencil ?

TC Trips that I have done on on other boats I was always looking at the sea and thinking how would Catabatic go in that and with a lighter mast it would have been fine and a lot of fun to scoot along in the daylight hours and back off at night. Good to have a boat with simple systems that is not going to mean all your time in port is spent fixing things too.As long as you have enough room/ bouyancy to carry all the cat 1 requirements! With your skills you should be able to strech your boat by a metre or so each end , which would perhaps be good on Catabatic too. There are people that have sail

Sure, IT at first it would be Fiji for the winter and that maybe all we ever need to do. And when I say maybe the Pacific circuit one year I don,t mean in one year necessarily. But I did read an acc of a Family that sailed a Wharram cat back to Canada from Fiji and they said it wasn,t that bad, and when you look at the distances NZ to Fiji is around a 1/3 of the distance to Hawaii, but sure it would be a lot easier to just go there on a 2 week package holiday and relax. And it could be easier to pick up a boat in the US and come home from there rather that sail up there from NZ. First I ha

An annual winter cruise of the Islands is in the plan in 2 to 4 years time, need to finish work first,seems my current boat has just sold but I have my eye on something more suitable and will go see it next month, if it works out I would bring it back to NZ and spend 2 or so years with it in Akl before a trip north. I would like to think we could cruise mainly Fiji as well as the area of Tahiti to PNG and Australia, possibly even north to Hawai and back again via US ,Mexico, Marquesas one year. I think if we wanted to cruise Europe I would consider buying a good value boat up there and then

Well looks like the Aussies have stolen my idea already , Cat 1 for racing, skippers responsibility for cruising! Its not really about not taking any precautions. many of the boats that leave NZ every year do not have cat 1 , they are not all death traps, with no safety gear. They are prepared by the owners / skippers . with the equipment that they feel that they need , rather than forced to have. I would have , emergency steering , parachute sea anchor , bungs for the sea cocks , storm sails , ideas for a jury rig, fire extinquishers, sat phone, multiple gps, extra water etc etc, and perh

$830 nz reg for 5 years, 410 pounds Jersey reg for 10 years but you need to get a tonnage survey and pay someone in Jersey to be an agent, NZ seems way more straight forward, not much to it, not even a photo of the boat , in fact hard to see how they would stop someone registering a boat they don,t even own?