May 2007
Are we really Ready ?
Well, of course we are not. We are still in the '100 Club' !!! according to the list of jobs still outstanding.
A list that reduces and then increases in the blink of an eye. B is making sure we leave absolutely nothing to chance whereas P is inclined to err on the side of 'she'll be right on the night, or day'.
B decides we need more anchors and chain and high load shackles for joining said chain, so that involves another series of forays into deepest industrial South Auckland.
As a result we now have 5 anchors and half mile of chain and rope warps. We agree anchors are to the cruising yacht what oxygen is to a diver and given we cannot control the varied conditions we will be anchoring in its a no brainer to be prepared for the worst katabatic winds. With this extra kit aboard Musketelle is now starting to settle distinctly down on the waterline we had only adjusted during the March haulout.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Monday, April 30, 2007
More Ups and Downs - Apr 2007
April 2007
More Ups and Downs
Next we moved up the Tamaki River to our pole mooring in front of the house so that we can remove from our adjacent boatshed the remaining gear required aboard.
At this inopportune time Musketelle's refrigeration system decided to die, which aboard a yacht is tantamount to disaster if you are filled with frozen supplies. Luckily we were able to find a temporary home for our supplies. We then had a thoroughly unpleasasnt experience where we chose the wrong "refrigeration engineer" when what should have been a simple 230v re-installation turned into a fiasco that necessitated us requiring the services of the engineer we should have selected in the first place to make remedial adjustments.
23 April
Cat 1 Day
No nothing to do with felines. We have our NZ Yachting Federation Inspection to get the necessary "Category One" (Cat 1) certificate required for all NZ registered yachts sailing offshore. This certification requires that all safety gear is correctly installed and stowed and documentation is 100%. If not it can be a nightmare. With B in control of this task we flew through in 30 minutes with the inspector congratulating us on our presentaion and systems. A bloody good feeling which augers well for us...we think !!!
We are now legally certified to clear NZ shores, but are we ready ?
More Ups and Downs
Next we moved up the Tamaki River to our pole mooring in front of the house so that we can remove from our adjacent boatshed the remaining gear required aboard.
 |
| Boatshed at bottom of garden, Pole mooring out front Musketelle's homebase in NZ |
23 April
Cat 1 Day
No nothing to do with felines. We have our NZ Yachting Federation Inspection to get the necessary "Category One" (Cat 1) certificate required for all NZ registered yachts sailing offshore. This certification requires that all safety gear is correctly installed and stowed and documentation is 100%. If not it can be a nightmare. With B in control of this task we flew through in 30 minutes with the inspector congratulating us on our presentaion and systems. A bloody good feeling which augers well for us...we think !!!
We are now legally certified to clear NZ shores, but are we ready ?
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Musketelle Out of Water - Mar 2007
March 2007
Boatstuff
After Februarys hiccups we continued with our plan (albiet now behind sched) to take Musketelle out of the water at the Halfmoon Bay Marina TravelLift for a final bottom job to antifoul, service thruhulls and prop etc.
Boatstuff
After Februarys hiccups we continued with our plan (albiet now behind sched) to take Musketelle out of the water at the Halfmoon Bay Marina TravelLift for a final bottom job to antifoul, service thruhulls and prop etc.
 |
| Musketelle on the hard at Halfmoon Bay |
This was planned to take a week but ended up taking two and then we moved into the marina to complete a series of rigging, deck, mechanical and electrical jobs which took another two weeks rounding out the month. So.... we had to get another rental car as we were not achieving things quickly enough.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Let the Adventure Begin - Feb 2007
The Adventure Begins
Sunday 18 Feb the adventure begins as we finally unshackle from the relative luxuries of house and home, queen size bed & en suite, lazyboy & halogen reading lamp, home office & broadband, bbq & sundeck, swimming pool & peaceful garden....for life aboard a 16.00m long by 4.40m wide yacht.
The die was cast some years before when we jointly agreed three core things :
* doing a 360 by yacht is still the ultimate way to see and experience the world
* allow a minimum of 5 years for the circumnavigation
* do it before you lose the muscle and the head.
So here we are, having got all our ducks in line ready to fulfill our dream, (and thats a story in itself). There is absolutely no turning back now. Our home is rented and tenants shift in tomorrow.
Tonight we move aboard Musketelle at Westhaven Marina with the feeling that a 16 metre yacht has 2 metres for its crew and requires 14 metres for gear. B declares we have no chance of finding a home for everything ....and we still have more gear in the boatshed to come aboard. With cars disposed of we have a rental car for running around for those last minute things, more food, travel doctor for remaining jabs, (10 different innoculations each at last count), spare parts etc etc and the list goes on!!.
Hiccups
We spend the next 2 weeks living aboard tied up to the marina berth and time just flew by, impacted by the following major hiccups that were not on the radar :
1.Major sewage system blockage and health hazard overflow at the house. To cut a long and expensive story short the tenants have a newborn baby and "the nanny" was simply putting the dirty diapers down the toilet....impacting result predictable !!!.
2. As if this was not enough P went to the doc for a strained elbow ligament and the locum inadvertently prescribed Voltaren even when reminded of intolerance for Voltaren. The locum doc insisted a slow release doseage would be no problem.....wrong !!. A few days later P ended up in an ambulance going to Auckland Hospital bleeding internally. He literally ran out of gas and could not even ride our new form of transport...the boat bicylce without stopping after 50 metres, never mind sailing round the planet. B was silently very worried her skipper was failing before the start line.
Sunday 18 Feb the adventure begins as we finally unshackle from the relative luxuries of house and home, queen size bed & en suite, lazyboy & halogen reading lamp, home office & broadband, bbq & sundeck, swimming pool & peaceful garden....for life aboard a 16.00m long by 4.40m wide yacht.
The die was cast some years before when we jointly agreed three core things :
* doing a 360 by yacht is still the ultimate way to see and experience the world
* allow a minimum of 5 years for the circumnavigation
* do it before you lose the muscle and the head.
 |
| Pre-Departure 2007 |
Tonight we move aboard Musketelle at Westhaven Marina with the feeling that a 16 metre yacht has 2 metres for its crew and requires 14 metres for gear. B declares we have no chance of finding a home for everything ....and we still have more gear in the boatshed to come aboard. With cars disposed of we have a rental car for running around for those last minute things, more food, travel doctor for remaining jabs, (10 different innoculations each at last count), spare parts etc etc and the list goes on!!.
 |
| Musketelle at Westhaven Marina |
We spend the next 2 weeks living aboard tied up to the marina berth and time just flew by, impacted by the following major hiccups that were not on the radar :
1.Major sewage system blockage and health hazard overflow at the house. To cut a long and expensive story short the tenants have a newborn baby and "the nanny" was simply putting the dirty diapers down the toilet....impacting result predictable !!!.
2. As if this was not enough P went to the doc for a strained elbow ligament and the locum inadvertently prescribed Voltaren even when reminded of intolerance for Voltaren. The locum doc insisted a slow release doseage would be no problem.....wrong !!. A few days later P ended up in an ambulance going to Auckland Hospital bleeding internally. He literally ran out of gas and could not even ride our new form of transport...the boat bicylce without stopping after 50 metres, never mind sailing round the planet. B was silently very worried her skipper was failing before the start line.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)