Nov. 21, 2007
Welcome to Opua.

This was a gift from the Opua Business Association... handed to us at the quarantine dock...by the Customs agent! You don't get that treatment just any 'ol where. These Kiwi's must be pretty friendly. We are SO glad to be in New Zealand.

Note: Thank you Dave for the comment. For some reason, sailblogs isn't letting us add a note to the comments right now, so we'll answer it in the text.

Re: The Tayana 37 - Angela here: When people come aboard our boat for the first time, they usually say something like, "Wow! You guys have a lot of space", or "It's nice down here", ... or "it looks like a home."

We think the Tayana 37 is a great boat; especially for two people. With Malou - she gets the quarterberth for her bedroom, and that works out fairly well, but could be better. Steen is 6'2", and there is plenty of headroom, and a very large v-berth for sleeping. We have no separate shower cabin, which I think would be nice to have...but we also have no hot running water unless hooked up to dock power...which is not very often. Compared to other similar boats, the Tayana 37 is also a good buy. Most similar double-enders, with the traditional feel and interior teak joinery, cost more than the Tayana. If money was no object, we would still at least consider buying the Tayana.

Other boats we like:
Panda 38: one of our all-time favorites
Hans Christian 33
Allegro 33
Najad 34
Mason 43 (44?)
There are others I can't remember now. Maybe Steen will add his thoughts later on.
All for now.
Angela