Hi, We have moved our blog to facebook under the name 'Boat Marina' Come and see our latest adventures there.......

For New Year, Auckland friends Robert and Chris joined us on board and together we found that our outdoor table holds four maniacs dancing. Had a ripper of a New Year party at the infamous Furneaux Lodge at Endeavour Inlet, Queen Charlotte Sound. Chris had brought two sparkly tiaras for her and I, so with those, we were the undeniable queens of ..... everything! We met up with Don and Sue on their boat Thalassa, with their friend Jackie, and danced the night away with them. Young and old were there, great band, good fun. The free water-taxi service was a godsend – in the wee hours, Sue rolled off the side of the taxi on to Thalassa’s duckboard with such elegance and grace ...
New Year’s Day was just as cloudy as we were so we chilled for the day. The following day found us at Resolution Bay (how apt for New Year goals!) and walked part of Queen Charlotte Track there (a really small part, we were still in recovery mode after all). Anchored later at Flipper Bay, where we saw stingrays at the water’s edge and heard the tuis’ call in the surrounding trees. This may have been the highlight for Robert – he succeeded, by repeatedly whistling a different tune to the tuis, to have them change their tune to mimic him! What a trainer!
After dropping Robert & Chris off at the Picton ferry terminal next day, we spent the night in suburbia (the marina at Picton) – it felt strange to be amongst the bustle of a township mid-silly-season, and we already wonder if we could ever live a city life again. Thalassa was berthed opposite us so we caught up with Don, Sue and Jackie again.

Gin Label

For Christmas we received a very special gift from my favourite brother-in-law. Shane applied his extensive skill as a distiller and provided us with Marina's own brand of gin. The taste is as exquisite as the label. Thanks, Shane!

Merry Christmas to you! We had a great time anchored in Queen Charlotte Sound. Karen's Mum, Marie, arrived on Monday to spend the festive season with us. We had a nice breakfast with the ladies having a very healthy meal of muesli (all very "holier than thou") and Craig having a very unhealthy bacon and eggs. About lunch time, we were joined by friends Don and Sue who travelled over from D'Urville Island just to see us.... either that or it was the only break in the weather they had to get here! We managed to consume a copious quantity of their gin before they left about 7pm.... now that's what I call Christmas spirit!! We managed to keep a crayfish alive for Christmas dinner (until we cut him in half - we called him Cray Charles) so we had crayfish and scallop mornay, a wine and then slept like babes. I am now a big fan of Queen Charlotte Christmases.
We did get some exercise by taking the dinghy to the beach and having a stroll. The beach was about 20 metres long but it still counts, I reckon. We took this pic from the beach.

Yesterday we farewelled our first guests to stay on board with us. Craig's mum and stepdad, Marg and Ron, who had come with us when we first clapped eyes on Marina, and so had seen the state she was in then, came from Auckland to stay a week aboard the transformed Marina. It was a delight to show them what we'd done over the 6 months of her refit, and they couldn't quite believe the changes, even though there were photo updates along the way. Somehow she seemed bigger inside, and lighter and airier, and they said she was a comfortable boat to be on, solid underfoot, and that she is.

We spent nights in gorgeous bays around Queen Charlotte Sound and Guard Bay and fished around there, catching heaps of blue cod, 5 crayfish, and good-size scallops. Hard to say who was the keenest fisherperson but Ron was usually the first with his line out each morning. Twice we had a pod of dolphins frolicking alongside and playing at the bow, often swimming almost upside down to get the rush of water over their bellies. We wonder if it's the throbbing sound of the Gardner engine they hear that has them racing over to us. We've had a seal lolling on by, ducks with their ducklings looking for tidbits as we've moored in a bay, and watched wekas fossicking on the stony beaches.

Marina has been running like a dream and we're delighted with her.