View of Auckland Skyline at Night from Orcinius - it was a gorgeous night last night!


The pedestrian bridge right off our back porch is lit up beautifully at night.

Ok this is going to be a somewhat short blog but I didn't want to let anyone down since it has been at least a couple of days. As usual I am going to do the majority of the narrative and Lisa will change, add, correct and of course post the pictures if there are any. It really is a team effort.

So on Thursday I attacked the Tohatsu outboard. Pulled the carb completely apart and cleaned every last part I could. Put it back together and be damned if it didn't purr like a kitten. Took it for a spin outside the harbor and brought her back to Orcinius quite happy. Worked on some other little things. Lisa continued to sew and take care of some paperwork.

Yesterday I took a shot at the water maker again to try and solve the small leaks. Took me virtually all day by the time I chased down some high pressure pipe dope (not really a guy) to hopefully seal the high pressure side. Put it all back together and fired up the genset to give it a try. I think it leaks worse than before. Did solve one small leak but that is no consolation to the four that are slightly more troublesome. The issue is it is leaking where the pipe is threaded into the nylon end of the membrane vessel.

The sewing machine is still on the table so no we are not done with the sewing projects. We did some major repairs to the dodger fastening devices by replacing the snaps with the twist locks. Also patched some old sewing that has come undone but it should make it until we get somewhere near an Asian port where the sewing can be done by the real professionals.

(Lisa comment: what do you mean 'real professionals'??! I think my patch jobs look quite fine - thank you very much!)

Before...


After...


Other side before installing the twist lock


Many more to do - with all that Eisenglass in the way


The finished product - Nicely done!

I worked on replacing the snap parts and adding the twist blocks. That all done, I have chased down eisenglass polish and some bio treatment for the diesel for Orcinius and The Rose. Picked up other things The Rose needed and then attacked the dinghy. Re-wired the electrics at the console and added a new Hummingbird fish finder/GPS. Then it was off for a walk to the New World store with Lisa to chase down dinner for the next couple of nights. Lisa finalized the sewing on the dodger repairs and took care of most of the paperwork to get into Fiji.

And I guess the most important part of the last couple days is starting another brew yesterday. After the last batch taking off so fast I was expecting the same results on this one. This is a Muntons Midland Mild Ale but quite dark. Didn't see any activity late last night but this morning she was a bubbling. It is on it's way and should be done by next Wednesday or Thursday. By then should have enough empties to bottle the batch.

Our friends from Double Diamond will show up tomorrow, Sunday the 4th and we will probably do a dinner out somewhere on the wharf.

So that is all from me... Lisa will correct anything I have misstated and add the pictures.

Lisa:
Here are some other sewing projects I've been working on
(I know - it's all quite interesting...)

Sewing the new edge on the blanket before brother Walt gets here, so he has a nice cozy blanket to use at night. It is getting quite chilly here in the evenings!


New cover for the new grill.


New cover for the dingy motor.


New cover for the flag and flag pole.


My dinner creation last night (it came out of the oven late last night!) Chicken & Spinach Filo Wrap. Lots of leftovers.

Cheers

John & Lisa