New Pictures

Hello All,
I am at a back packer resort using there internet. I have uploaded heaps of pictures to the New Zealand Album so take a look when you get a chance. It is another beautiful day here in Whangaroa. We will leave in the morning and head back down the coast about 40 miles to an old abandon whaling station. There are lots of hiking trails there so we will hang out there a few days.
Well my time is running out here so I better get going.
Talk to you soon.


PEACE

Whangaroa Harbor

hello All,
We had a very nice time at Waitepipi Bay, we try ed to climb above to see the bay but the trail was a challenge to say the least. I did get some good pics though and I hope to post them tomorrow with the help of a backpacker resort that has good Internet. We are now in the marina at the head of the bay. Everyone here is just awesome friendly and always wanting to help. We will be here till Wednesday morning then we will work our way back down the coast.
I got visited by 3 french travelers this afternoon, seems one of them spent allot of time in French Polynesia and saw the Hinano beer girl on the side of my boat. They came by to say hello and we visited for an hour. They all met here after arriving and got a van to tour around the Islands in. I gave them my web site to I hope to here from them again.
I am so blessed to meet so many nice people on this trip, I will remember this forever.
I will take advantage of having a water hose here and clean up a few things.
I hope to upload some pics tomorrow so keep a look out.


PEACE

New Anchorage

Hello All,
We made it up to Whangaroa Harbor today. We anchored in Waitepipi Bay which is not for from the enterance. It is very well protected and beautiful. We got to sail half way up here then had to motor from calms and a few head winds. It was a beautiful day and all went well. We will stay the night here then head on in to Whangaroa the town tomorrow sometime.
On a side note, I didnt have internet access for the last few days but when we headed up I saw I could check my email. What I saw made me so happy. I got an email from a guy in the Lau group, those are the most Eastern Fijian Islands. He got my email from a note I put in a wine bottle and threw it overboard a day after tobias and I left the Marguesas Islands heading for the Tuamotus, that was April 2010. I looked on the chart, the bottle drifted right through Tonga and ended up on the beach in Fiji. That is 2300 miles and 10 months adrift. I was so happy someone found it. I wrote him back and said hello. That was so cool, I still cant get over it, what are the odds.
Well anyway thats all for now so I will write when we got into town.



PEACE

Moturua Island, NZ

Hello All,
We are anchored at Moturua Island at the moment in the Bay of Islands. We have been here 2 days now and did some hiking today. There are trails that go around the whole Island so you get some really nice views of the Bay of Islands and the anchorages that surround the Island. The weather has been awesome so I have been working on my tan.
The wind is only suppose to be in our favor for the next 2 days for heading north so we will leave in the morning and go 30 miles up to Whangaroa Harbor. I am told it's very nice up there so we will take a look and I will let you know. I have been getting lots of great pictures so I will work on getting them to you when I can.
Well that's all for now and I will talk to you in a few days.


PEACE

NZ Earthquakes

Hello All,
I have been on the North Island in Opua for months and the quake that hit is on the south Island so i am a ok. We will be heading out for a tour of the Bay of Islands tomorrow morning and will tour the east side of the Island till we get to Auckland around the 23rd of March. After spending some time there we will head back this way to be back by the 1st of April getting the boat ready for the trip north to Fiji. I will try to take a week to see the part of the south Island but we will see, time is running short and I still have to make it back home so the boat has to be tip top.
I thought I would write this just so everyone knows I'm ok.
I will talk to you soon.



PEACE

Happy Birthday to me

Hello All,
I had a good birthday yesterday, or if I was in Alaska it would be today, Anyway, Mike and I got the boat all cleaned up, Projects are coming to a close so I put a bunch of tools away and you can actually sit down now haha. Last night we went to the beach and I was planing on either hitching a ride or getting a taxi to go to paihia for a birthday dinner. When we got the dingy tied up I ran into some cruising friends and I told them my plan, they said, just borrow our car and go to town. I know so many nice people, so we did and I had a really nice steak dinner, yummy. It was a nice evening and I had a great time.
We are all ready to go basicly, just waiting for weather now. We will cruise the Bay of Islands then head up north 20 miles and check out a few places up there. After that we will work our way to Auckland. I have concert tickets to "Stone Temple Pilots" on the 26th of March so we will be down there before that. They are an old 90's band I really liked and there still going.
Well thats all for now so I will talk to you soon.

P.S. Thank you to everyone that sent me a card here or sent an email to say Happy Birthday, it means allot so far from home.
kisses and hugs to all.


PEACE

New Crew

Hello All,
My new crew Mike showed up on Monday. We have been visiting and I have been showing him around the boat. We came out to a mooring yesterday to get away from the slip fees. The mooring belongs to my neighbors I was tied up by while in the marina. They wern't using it so they were kind enough to let me use it for as long as I need.
Mike and I took a hike to Paihia on Tuesday on the coastal trail. It was a beautiful day and the poor guy got sun burned. The sun here is allot more intence than in California. I guess we always learn the hard way. He has been laying low the last few days to heal up.
I am still planning on varishing somemore wood but the weather has not been very nice, windy and just enough rain showers to make it impossible. I have been with my sailmaker fixing a few little things on the mailsail, we just finished up today so I will meet up with him this afternoon and get the sail back on the boat.
We will spend about a week out here on the mooring so I can finish up some stuff I have started, then we will get out and do some sailing YAY!
Well thats all for now, I will talk to you soon.


PEACE

Making the boat look like new

Hello All,
Its been a while since I have been here. I have been so busy trying to get this boat ready. I got all of the caulking work done then I started a project that I have been thinking about for months. I started cleaning up all of the teak and I am varnishing it. I found some stuff they make here in NZ that they guarantee for 5 years so I am giving it a try. The teak was getting so weathered that the wood plugs that cover all of the screws started popping out and the teak is as old as the boat so it was wearing thin in spots so I am choosing the lesser of two evils.The choice was simple, keep the finish maintained on the wood and make it last for years to come or replace all of the teak when I get home. Its allot of work but it looks fabulous. The finish will also make the boat more water proof. I am doing the work in pieces, I am doing the cap rails and the rub rails around the outside of the boat, when that's completed I will do the wood on the deck and the rudder cheeks. It is way to much to bite off at once and we are expecting rain tomorrow so I will finish stage one today.
That's about all that has been going on here, I will take some pictures as I go and hope to post them soon.
I will talk to you all soon.


PEACE