Hello all,
Sorry for the lack of posts but I think you all know that that is the way it goes. My boat is in Auckland. I have been sailing aroung the Huraki gulf for the past month. I went over to OZ for christmas and am back at my auntie Laura's house right now awaiting my mom and dad who are coming on Friday. We will chill here for a few days and then head back to NZ. Lots has happened. I have been spending a lot of time at my girlfriend's farm on Waiheke Island in the Gulf. I have the boat all fixed up and clean for mom and dad. Amy and myself will be sailing together to Fiji in may. The volvo ocean race is coming to Auckland which is exciting. I have been back in Australia for a few days and it has been great. Kate (my cousin) Just yesterday raced in the 100th "Head of the Lake" ragatta and her school "Ballarat Grammar" cleaned up taking both the girls and boys trophies, 1st devision and overall which are all four of the honours. I have been doing projects around the farm, running, and offroading (see Pic). All is well with Secret Agent Man and I am working towards my RYA Ocean Yachtmaster License which is the best International captains license you can get. I hope you are all well and will put effort into keeping the blog fresh for you all.
Cheers
Eric
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Comments [2]
Just a quick hello, I see you're well and I wish you this license! I will definitely leave Polynesia to Indonesia (Bali), I think starting in May (via Auckalnd).
We keep the contact ...
Boats continue to arrive for the Bay of Islands Race Week which starts on Tuesday. There are lots of cool boats here including two TP52s that have been modified with kanting keels. There is a possibility that I can get a ride on a Regular TP52 if it is windy but either way Ill try and get some racing action up on the blog. Other than that everything is good. Some friends just got back in town, Ive been working on my boat, and I miss Amy. It will be really nice to see her again when I get down to Auckland.
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I did enjoy the racing photo with the hike over the gunnel during the heel. Did I get that sailing lingo right?
Should we go to the headsail?
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This is Wednesday night in Opua... Racing that is. It is so amazing to be in such a vortex of sailing. It is much like the scene in the Puget Sound, but there is always wind. Well, not always but more than Seattle. This weekend is the Bay of Islands Race Week. I have been fortunate enough to possibly.. (touch wood) sail on the new TP52 in town and follow that up with an offshore race up to Whangeroa.
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Elliot with Opua marina in the background.
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Racing
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This shot is taken from the top of the reserve on Motuarohia Island facing east. Secret Agent Man is down in the right corner. It is a popular day anchorage. There were lots of boats there when we anchored and they all left in the evening. I was worried for a minute thinking that they knew something we didnt about the weather, but a quick check confirmed nothing sinister and we had it all to ourselves.
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Betty with hedgehog
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Hello all
Im sorry for the lack of posts recently but I have been way busy the last few weeks. I went over to Australia and spent Christmas at Auntie Laura's house. It was awesome to spend the holidays with family and thank you very much Laura, Kate and Neil for your hospitality and it was fun walking your goats. I got back to New Zealand on new years eve and had only a couple of days to do some boatwork and my friend from Seattle Amy showed up to sail aroung the Bay of Islands with me. The major project was to replace the forestay and fix the profurler so that we could have the big furling jib to sail with. I got that done and we sailed around for five days. We meant to see a tallships race but that day there was a depression and lots of rain so we didnt see much. Apparently it blew 48knots in the race and we listened all day to some poor yachties on the radio who were dismasted off the coast. We did make it out into the islands after that and had some epic sailing. It is awesome that it is always windy here. It is very much like the San Juans big with 15-20 knots every day. After cruising on Secret Agent Man we took the bus down to Auckland and the fairy out to Waiheke. Waiheke is an island just east of the city and a 30 min. ferry ride. Amy is the manager of a "woofer farm" which is a permaculture farm where backpackers go. They can stay for free if they work on the farm. SHe has a Blue Healer dog named betty, a sweet house (here you would say "sweet as house") all the veggies she could possibly eat out of her sweet as garden, cool owners, and a wonderful community. And the place is full on sustainable with a composting out house, water catchment, the whole bit.
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Amy sailing in the Bay of Islands.
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...This is where her farm is. It reminds me of the shire in The Lord of the Rings. It has epic sunsets, it is really quiet, and the view is spectacular. I just got back to the boat and I really miss the place already. It was a really nice spot. I fixed the plumbing and made a new filter for the grey water biofilter on the outdoor sink which is a tub that has layers of rocks and sand and woodchips and bear grass in it. It then has a pipe that goes to the garden and the theory is that the plants and bugs break down the soap and food bits from the grey water enough that it wont hurt yuour plants. It was still a little too stron for the garden so it goes to the bannana trees. Anyway I had a blast. Amy rocks, the owners were cool (they were Americans), there were two backpackers from Chile and Argentina who were also very cool, Betty the dog was cool (I wish I had a picture of her) and all is all I have had a great few weaks of the trip these past few weeks. Now... boatwork... The list is long and Im keen to sail down to the Huraki gulf soon. Sorry for the lack of posts but Im back and Ill try to keep them coming.
Cheers
Eric
PS I saw Grant Dalton and said "Whats Up?"
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Putiki bay on Waiheke. Sweet spot to careen.
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