Farrari

We were dived on at BOI this year while anchored at Urapukapuka. We had a clean bill of health and received a certificate saying so.

2 boats finished of the 12 starters with a revised course Karaka to Kawau. We chose not to race this year due to the very wet weather forecast. It's always a good event. Hopefully the conditions will be better next year.

Here's an example of a launch that reportedly sunk up Northland in 2006 after a suspected whale strike within 10 minutes. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10364398

Is this the same stuff? http://www.trademe.co.nz/home-living/outdoor-garden-conservatory/gardening-landscaping-supplies/pest-weed-control/auction-1267542239.htm Listed as 99.9% Orthoboric Acid. 1kg for $9.95 plus shipping.

He's also very low on power so has all non essentials turned off. He's doing 3.1kts VMG at the moment with 278nm to go with an improving forecast. Inspirational stuff. Go Conrad!

Conrad is sponsored by Oceanvolt and also has/had solar cells sewn into his mainsail. I'd suspect the cabin top solar panels are custom made by the look of the angles but it's hard to tell from that picture. http://oceanvolt.com/conrad-colman-vendee-globe-2016

I paid $275 (including shipping) for my semi flexible 100W solar panel about 18 months ago and it was distributed from NZ. I only use it as a nice to have and am not relying on it for anything important. It's still working fine.

I normally anchor in the light blue bit (I draw 1.8m) and dinghy in. There is a well marked channel to follow in but be aware that it dries out and can become to shallow even for the dinghy so you need to watch your tides. Also make sure everyone is wearing their life jackets to keep the HM happy. There is an area just before the bridge that you can pull the dinghy up on and you are pretty well in the township. As IT said, it's worth the trip on a good day.

Try this

An easy way to tell the Mk1 vs. MK2. The MK1 had a hydraulic lift centre plate whereas the MK2 had an electric winch.

The woodwork/finish on the old gaffer looks stunning. I do like the ladies sailing atire They obviously weren't planning on getting wet.

Holy Horse hocky Batman That's a lot of sunbugs you are catching there A quick calculation puts it over 30A @ 12V on a sunny day. You planning on subsidising your marina berth by selling the power back to the local power company