Two At Sea

March 31, 2014

We just got back from another great road trip.  We drove from Tauranga to Wellington and stopped at Greytown and Napier on the way home.  A wonderful trip with one little (or not so little) hiccup: Our Audi died!

About an hour and a half from Wellington, we heard a thump.  That was the transmission self-distructing.  We limped to Wellington with third gear only and no reverse.  Since the quoted $16,000 for a new transmission was not in the cards, we took the scrap man’s $300 for the car and grabbed a rental for the remainder of the trip.  Back in Tauranga, we now have a $26/day rent-a-dent type car.  It’ll get us by until we leave for Fiji.

Here’s our route…

And here’s what we saw…

If you go to our gallery page on Google+ (here), there are captions for the photos.

Now, it’s back to boat work as we’re hoping to leave for the tropics in early May.  OK, maybe one more road trip to Gisborne first. -Rich

March 18, 2014

We have a new neighbor just outside our marina here in Tauranga: A piece of the Rena. The Rena, a container ship, hit the famous Astrolabe Reef in October of 2011. The clean up’s been going on ever since. They lifted this accommodation block about a week ago and towed it here where it’s being cut up for scrap metal.

Here are some links for more info…

Wikipedia entry
Rena Recovery

More:

I am just wondering what chance we have out here. I mean, if the professional crew of a huge cargo ship can hit Astrolabe reef on a clear night in calm conditions, how do we expect to survive thousands of miles at sea, unscathed?

I just can’t understand how they could have hit it. I get that they were in a hurry (ah, the deadly “schedule” strikes again), but still, it’s well marked on the charts. Here it is on one of my charts – one that should be very similar to what they had available…

This was in 2011, not 1911. Didn’t they have a chartplotter? People make mistakes – I get it. I just want to know how I can avoid making a mistake like this. I guess I won’t feel so silly when I put a mile between me and an obstruction – even if it makes the trip a little longer. I guess I’ll just keep up my paranoia concerning navigation. That and continue to keep my fingers crossed! -Rich

March 14, 2014

As evidenced by this incredibly dangerous (and fun) theme park on New Zealand’s Coromandel Peninsula called The Waterworks.

Cyndi had scrapes and bruises at the end of the day.  I didn’t – I held the camera!  We both had a ton of fun.  This place is great!  We could never have this in the states.  I’m sure that last scene would have produced a 10 million dollar judgement against the park.

Our visit to The Waterworks was at the end of our three day road-trip to the Coromandel. We’re back now, sitting on the boat at the marina as the remains of tropical cyclone Lusi hit us.  So far, we’ve seen a gust to 49 knots.  Wow, it’s good to be tied up in a slip for this! -Rich

March 9, 2014

We bought a new smartphone (Nexus 5) and its camera and software create photospheres – panoramic pictures that you can move around in.

Click on the links below to bring up the pictures. Click on the photosphere with your left mouse button, hold the button down, and move your mouse around. Keep clicking and dragging – you can pan around 360 degrees, as well as looking up and down.

This is of Legacy in her berth at Tauranga Bridge Marina. Here are some others…

Blue and Green Lakes (Lake Tikitapu and Lake Rotokakahi) near Rotorua.

Whakapapa Ski Resort on Mt. Ruapehu (or you can just call it “that New Zealand ski resort”)

We’ll post these from time to time. We also plan a post soon touting the benefits of a smartphone while cruising. -Rich

March 4-8, 2014

Pictures from our most recent road trip…

See the previous post for a map of where we went. Pictures above are in more or less in chronological order. You can click to enlarge and scroll through them. –Rich and Cyndi