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Seems like I have been leaving things a little lax on the update front, and that is because all of the things have happened recently, in the last month or so since I last updated.

Usually I prefer video updates, but there have been too many things to video.

A short list:

Megan arrived from the UK

We prepared to go sailing

We began our sailing adventure!

Preparation for sailing was an amazing task, and had we not had a car would have been impossible. The amount of things that need to be located, purchased and moved from place to place was staggering. We had to beach, scrape and antifoul Esprit between tides. We had to purchase all of the gear we would need, waterproof bags, water containers, cutlery, fridge, spare battery etcetera. We stopped short of buying another solar panel because we have nowhere to fit it permanently. On top of the boat (3000), the dinghy (400) and the engines (1400) we had to get another sail (300) a fridge and battery (1000), water containers (100), anchor, antifoul, waterproof bags, ladder, drill, depth sounder, fishing rods, kitchenware (800) and probably a bunch more stuff we can’t remember right now but use on a daily basis.

So the preparation for sailing concluded with us, at the end of the lease on our accommodation, emptying our room either into Esprit or into storage and moving full time onboard. We are now homeless vagrants. It is much nicer than it sounds!

Our first attempt to get out of Auckland had us tacking into the wind and waves for four hours until we were within reach of the mouth of the harbour when a rogue wave jostled our dinghy free from the deck. As it had been recently repaired I was waiting to reinflate the dinghy, little did I realise that I had also left the valves open, so I was hauling it in and wondering why it was so heavy. Turns out it had begun to fill with water…luckily I got it onboard when I did! This is a rather benign account of what was a rather stressful incident and saw us motoring back to the calm waters on the far side of the Harbour Bridge and going for a swim instead.

Our second attempt the day after was a success however, and since then we have been to Rangitoto and Oneroa Bay, where we are presently stocking up and considering our next options. The swimming is good and the weather is lovely!

Esprit is the little boat just above the tree.

My mission for last weekend was to antifoul Esprit to some extent. Seeing as she has bilge keels is was possible for me to stand her on a beach when the tide went out. I was not expecting the mass of creatures that were living in her unshaven butt beard! You think that is a disgustingly excessive comment?! Wait until you see the pictures!

Yeah…it’s not so funny when you realise I was not exaggerating. It also explains why my fuel consumption was so high that I ran out of petrol and had to get a tow…

So some metal paint scrapers, a broom handle and about an hour later the collection of mussels, oysters, barnacles, sea squirts, sea weeds, crustaceans, anemones and filter feeding worns were drying out on the mud and Esprit had a rump to be at least semi proud of.

She is now rady to sail. Stand by for my first sailing video tomorrow!