Year End Update
31 December 2011 | Whangarei, NZ
Rod

Well, as many of you already know, we arrived in New Zealand last November, 2010. We had originally intended to stop here only for the hurricane season, but we got carried away in a torrent of boat projects and ended up staying much longer. Proximity has always suffered from a mild osmosis condition, and every time we hauled out, we addressed the blisters in the fiberglass that had developed since the previous haul out. There is boat building talent in New Zealand, and upon our hauling out at Norsand Boatyard in Whangarei, our project manager at Norsand told us that they routinely do proper osmosis treatments, and for much less $$$ than in the US. We looked at their work, were impressed, and decided to go for it. This meant that we would have to take the next cruising season off, but to have a new bottom with no blisters would be worth it. It was a huge job. We removed 4 millimeters of skin from the boat and left her to dry out over the next six months. Then, she was prepared for re-glassing, filled, contoured, and repainted. The result is a smooth new bottom of vinylester and epoxy, impervious to water.
Additionally, the early Swans. like Proximity, were originally fitted with a beautiful, but doubtfully secure sliding forward hatch. Since we had experienced leaks while sailing the 10 days hard on the wind from Fiji, we decided to have a modern clam-shell hatch installed. Norsand has a master wood worker many of us, including you, already know. He built the furniture in the movie Lord of the Rings, and recently the Hobbit. His name is Daniel, and he built us a beautiful frame for our new Goiot hatch from France.
We are not yet done with our projects, but almost. We installed a new roller furler and have a conflict with the anchor clearance. Stainless steel man soon to the rescue. We will then be sailors once again and will continue our voyages.
Back in April, we flew to California where we still have a house close to the San Francisco Bay Area. We took a nice 6000 mile road trip across the desert area, travelling only on small roads - no interstates. We did some research and found a number of obscure historic spots, one particularly moving place was where the Chiricahua Apaches had a victory over a group of Confederate soldiers. Very moving indeed. In one remote historical site, we hiked a couple of miles in, and encountered only two groups of people along the way. One was two young Apache men, and the other was a French family from Papeete, Tahiti. We love the French. From Papeete and they found this place! We drove the old Route 66 back from eastern New Mexico. Located the Bagdad Cafe (if you don't know this place, there is a movie by the same name, and is very worth watching - lots of fun.) and had lunch there along with two bus loads of French tourists. Hmmmmm.....we start to think the French know the cool spots in the US better than we do. But then, we encountered a group of about 30 Norwegians on Harleys while exploring old Route 66, so maybe it's not just the French who know where to go.
After the road trip, we flew down to Punta Mita, Mexico, where we have a condo on the beach. While there, we visited LaCruz, the little town where so many of us gathered to prepare our boats for the Pacific crossing in 2010. Some things have changed, but most had not. It was interesting to go to the marina and be recognized by the Mexican guys who work there. One security guard, Jose, called out to me before I saw him "What are you doing here?" he asked. I must say, that melted my heart. When I mentioned how unique it was for me that he recognized me, he grinned and just said "Of course I recognize you!".
I took surf lessons and we happy enough that I bought my own surf board (Elisabeth already had one), so we are now "stand up people".
Back in California, while at our house, we met some wonderful people who live very near us. We had never spent enough time there, so we hadn't really met many neighbors. Now, we may have visitors when we head back north to Fiji in May.
Our plans for the future? Ultimately, to continue west to Indonesia then Africa. For now though, we are not in a hurry to leave the Pacific. We may spend the whole season in Fiji then return to New Zealand again. Then again, we are considering travel back north-eastward to Hawaii, to do a tour of the line islands. Bottom line is that we are not in a hurry, and will not sprout roots and get stuck, nor will we hesitate to stay and explore somewhere we like for as long as it is fun.
We love to hear from you, and hope that this finds all of you well and happy for the New Year.