Two At Sea

February 13, 2016

We found a pretty good way to get parts and goodies to NZ – You Shop by the New Zealand post office.

We normally use a mail service in the States called St. Brendan’s Isle, but they seem to have some kind of special pricing arrangements with UPS, FedEx and DHL where they are charged about five times the going rate!

Enter You Shop. You sign up for free and get an address in the States, England and China. Have your orders sent to the appropriate address and You Shop consolidates your shipment and delivers it to NZ at a very reasonable price.

Down Side (or Upside?):

FedEx, DHL and UPS handle customs clearance for you. You Shop doesn’t. But You Shop also doesn’t charge you for handling the customs clearance like the others do – usually about $50. We had to go to our local customs office, present invoices for the items, along with a copy of our Temporary Import Exemption form. There was no fee as most items were for the boat and those that were not didn’t total more than $400 in value. Doing the clearance ourselves was just as fast, or faster than having one of the big three do it.

You Shop has a very good website that is totally functional (kind of rare these days). The communications were excellent as they kept us up to date with the status of our package throughout the entire process. I have no complaints and only praise for the service. -Rich

You Shop’s Website

By the way, for big stuff, look into Kiwi Shipping. We’ve never used them but we’ve heard good things about their service.

February 12, 2016

Legacy is back in the water, where a boat belongs. The bottom has been sandblasted (water and garnet actually), blisters ground and filled, new bottom paint (Hempel NCT 890M – we’ll let you know how it does), and a coat of wax on the shinny white parts.

It is so nice to be back aboard! -Rich

Here’s the full story.

February 7, 2015

We were out for a stroll on the docks when we ran across this guy…

It’s a Leopard Seal who’s kind usually live in Antarctica. It wasn’t a total surprise as there was one hanging around on another dock a few weeks back. We never did get to see that one. Cyndi almost got to step on this one. That wouldn’t have been fun. They’re pretty dangerous.

And by the way, this is the view from our little “hotel” room next to the marina office…

We’re staying here while Legacy is out of the water. The mast up in the yard that’s furthest away is Legacy. That’s Mount Maunganui in the background. -Rich

February 5, 2016

While there haven’t been many new posts on the blog recently, that doesn’t mean we haven’t been making changes.

In the past couple of weeks I’ve been busy updating our existing Cruising Info pages and maps, adding in new places in Savusavu, Suva, New Caledonia, Tauranga, and North Island New Zealand.

Plus, we’ve completed our Vava’u (Tonga) Anchorages page, complete with an interactive map, descriptions and pictures.

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What’s more, we’ve finally completed our All-Posts-Map!

Our blog has not been the easiest to use for research as, for reasons explained at the top of our blog, the post dates are pretty erratic. This should make things much easier for those who just want to see what info we might have on any given place.

This blog (and cruise for that matter) has been a learning process. We’ve gone from posting short paragraphs and a few photos in French Polynesia to mastering photo galleries and interactive maps, and most recently have added a new feature: our actual routes and anchorage waypoints in western Fiji.

In the coming months, I’m hoping to add to the Cruising Info Pages, including more on Fiji, the Hauraki Gulf in New Zealand, the Ha’apai in Tonga, as well as Australia.

For now, it’s time to go pick back up where I left off in Fulaga, Fiji, 2013. –Cyndi

February 5, 2016, filed under Cruising Frustrations…

I need to call the US to make some banking arrangements. It should be easy, right? I’m not expecting easy… It’s never easy (am I creating my own, difficult reality?).

• First, I’m sick of bad Skype calls. I’ll use my mobile phone.
• I  need to research international calling rates – it could be $2 a minute!
• I can get 300 international minutes for $10 from 2 Degrees Mobile.
• Does that include the US? (research, research, research) Yes.
• Add the International Chat Pack.
• Not enough credit.
• Add credit.
• Add the International Chat Pack.
• Not enough credit.
• Wait.
• Add the International Chat Pack. Success.
• Dial, but wait, how? Any special codes?
• (research, research, research)
• I still don’t know, I’ll try dialing +1 then the number.
• Didn’t work, call wouldn’t connect.
• Enough of this, I’ll call customer support, but what’s their number?
• (research, research, research)
• Still can’t find the number to call from my mobile, but here’s a toll-free number (but it uses up 5 minutes of my talk time anyway). Call.

Minutes navigating the automated phone system pass, then “Welcome to 2 Degrees, how may I help you?”

“What do I dial to call the US?”

“I don’t know, why don’t you try 001?” (That’s basically what she said.)

I do it… it doesn’t work. Call support again.

I explain again. Guy says “+1 should work. I don’t know what’s going on. Why don’t you try again, maybe after rebooting your phone?”

(30+ minutes have elapsed. It’s now lunch time in the US and the guy I’m calling is probably away, eating his quiche.)

Finally, after reboot and another try, the call goes through.

“Hi, can I speak to Don?”

“I’m sorry, he’s away today. Can you call back tomorrow?”

Oh, the joys of the cruising life! -Rich