February 19, 2013
It was time to check out the marina and boatyard. There are actually two good-size marinas in Tauranga, the Tauranga Bride Marina and the Tauranga Marina, but we were specifically interested in the Tauranga Bridge Marina and its attached boatyard.
The Tauranga Bridge Marina is literally along the bridge between Tauranga and Mount Maunganui, about halfway between the two (and halfway between the two Starbucks). We first visited the second floor office of the marina and found they were very nice and would have room for us. We then went to talk to the boatyard. We had some issues to address on Legacy, some straightforward (painting the bottom) and some that would require some ingenuity to resolve (the mooing cow sounds the rudder makes when steering the boat). Bruce, who runs the yard, understood all our issues and had all right answers. Plus the price was right.
That evening we were invited to have dinner with our friends Colin and Jeanette (the couple we met in Samoa who told us about Tauranga in the first place) at the Tauranga Sport Fishing Club. It’s located at the other marina (the Tauranga Marina), which is where they keep their boat. That, too, is a very nice marina. We had a delicious dinner and talked about the yard, local boat stores and services, and Tauranga. It all sounded pretty great!
The next day, we went to check on some of the boat supply stores and were very impressed. There were lots of good stores, but Rich has written a post about his favorite, coming up next. –Cyndi
