tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3687273967806361472024-03-05T16:13:38.684+00:00 Impetuous TooSailing blog;
Bought a boat cheap. Made it work and look pretty, now we've gone sailing...Impetuoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17419178184715125383noreply@blogger.comBlogger103125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-368727396780636147.post-15889598227529008902019-02-10T00:38:00.000+00:002019-02-10T00:41:15.895+00:00Ten years on...Today it is ten years to the day since we bought Impetuous.<br />
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We've been meaning to write something for months but this has been the kick we needed to just get something, anything out there.</div>
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So ten years down the road and we find ourselves out of the water, on the hard, working away like nothing has changed. But of course things really have. We're currently in Malaysia, trying to complete some of the jobs we meant to do before leaving America but also trying to fix some of the scars we've afflicted on the old girl too. Of course now that we have two babies in tow we find our working day somewhat concentrated.<br />
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Here's some of the thousands of memories impetuous has helped us to make in the last ten years.<br />
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Looking forward to seeing what the next ten years bring...</div>
Impetuoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17419178184715125383noreply@blogger.com4Pulau Rebak Besar, Kedah, Malaysia6.2985351 99.6981892999999676.2827521 99.678019299999974 6.3143180999999995 99.71835929999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-368727396780636147.post-29606293296435600512018-04-04T17:49:00.000+01:002018-04-04T17:57:08.769+01:00Welcome to our world baby Hali!It was all a bit different this time round. We'd made an appointment so when our magical day came we were pretty well rested. We rowed ashore and got the bus (well that bit was the same) but then I was checked in by a nurse and shown to our enormous room complete with en suite wet room, fridge, kettle, air conditioning and nurse call bell. There was a phone and a tv too but we quickly unplugged those for fear of being charged extra for Ravi's transgressions.<br />
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They shaved me and gave me an enema (totally unnecessary but I went with the flow) then took me down to the operating theatre which was well looked after and well resourced. The anaesthetist proceeded to give me an injection into my spine (very competently) and then they tied my arms down to the arm rests.<br />
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I know! Like I was going to try to fight them or something? This was indicative of our whole experience at this private hospital in Phuket. It was well resourced, clean and new but the practices by the staff were old fashioned, not evidence based but rather entrenched. The doctors wishes were carried out unthinkingly; not the way we do things in the UK or for that matter in Fiji where Ravi was born.<br />
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So we took their rules and over medicalising with a pinch of salt and once Hali was finally delivered into our arms we didn't let her out again and treated it as a nice luxurious hotel. Ravi and Duncan stayed on the comfy sofas and Duncan furnished me with food drink and medication as necessary.<br />
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Anyhow importantly, Hali Rhiannon Fagg was whipped out safe and sound. She weighed 3.58kg; big enough but not as big as expected. She was very sleepy and so didn't feed much at first, lost a little weight before starting to gain again just in time for discharge. Hali is a Greek girls name meaning 'from the sea'.<br />
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She continues to be an incredibly calm soul who Ravi has welcomed into our family with unexpected enthusiasm. He doesn't have much language yet so we really didn't think he knew what was coming. So far he likes to include his sister in everything he does and squeals with delight and rushes over for a kiss whenever he remembers she is there.<br />
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Our bill was as agreed; the package price with no added extras so that was 59,900 baht, about 1,345gbp or around 1,920 usd which though a lot of money we felt reasonable for what was included. Would we chose the same again? Probably not, but we hadn't had long to research, plan and arrange having only cleared into Thailand four days earlier! We felt fairly content in taking the easy option for once.<br />
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Bringing her home was wonderful and we were treated to a lovely sunset. The rolling thunder clouds never amounted to much and we all slept well.<br />
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Thank your lucky stars you will surely think and we do, but after a week of her sleeping around 23 1/2 hours out of every 24, I thought I'd better get this rechecked. The pediatrician knew she was sleepy when we were discharged but a week on I had concerns. I asked for advice from some expert friends in Australia and we took ourselves along to the hospital for a couple of tests.<br />
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My main worry was that she might have a heart defect causing her to be so lethargic but there were other things that might cause it too. We went along, all the tests were fine and on the way there we found out an interesting fact... Put in air conditioning she woke up! Of course she'd been born into an air-conditioned world unlike Ravi but as an already sleepy baby, this heat is just a bit much for her. It will be interesting to see if her personality changes when we get back to the UK!<br />
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Since then we've all got used to life as four. We've sailed onwards; at first up and down the coast of Phuket. Happily we then explored the far more interesting and picturesque Phang Nga bay. All the limestone pillars, beautiful beaches and exciting Hongs (spaces hidden inside some of the islands accessed through caves from the sea) have kept us in awe. Whereas these spots can be exceptionally busy, we've also managed to find some secluded spots, paths less traveled and quieter, often Muslim cultured, islands such as the one Chris and Jean (Duncan's parents) visited us at.<br />
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Koh Phi Phi's famous Maya bay was a beautiful stop that we really enjoyed. It was heaving during the day with speed boats, long tails and the occasional small cruise ship but either end of the day it was relatively tranquil. With the high sided rock faces there was some much needed shade available most of the day and the water was lovely and clear for swimming with the many tame fish.<br />
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Rei Lei had been recommended and was indeed gorgeous but out on the water the noise of the longtails was too much to bare and didn't let up all day. It was like being anchored in the middle of a busy airfield!<br />
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Chris and Jean stayed in a bungalow at Koh Yoa Yai where they not only had air conditioning and a shower but also a balcony which afforded a nice breeze and views of wildlife. They spotted monkeys, an otter and many interesting birds.</div>
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Hali sleeps on giving a gorgeous smile whenever she has a happy thought...<br />
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Chris and Jean brought with them many gifts including this capsizing lifeboat which now tows around behind the dinghy.</div>
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Ravi is getting more and more confident in the water. Just in the time Chris and Jean were with us he went from clinging on and taking many mouthfuls sinking between his arm bands to splashing about on his own and enjoying being chucked overboard with them on. He can now propel himself around the boat and climb up and down the swim ladder; another reason to make sure it's always put away when not in use!</div>
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Oh oh... Up the steps, onto the cabin roof, climb the boom gallows, over the boom and bouncy bouncy trampoline/ sunshade. Oh my!<br />
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Lots of new family photos... And finally we made a Thai courtesy flag.</div>
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All the more nappies to wash and with water being bought and lugged about, they're getting washed in salt water until a final rinse in fresh.</div>
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Hali waking up for a stretch on the beach whilst Papa does a bit of yoga, and then back to sleep...</div>
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<span id="goog_1255571229"></span><span id="goog_1255571230"></span><br />Impetuoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17419178184715125383noreply@blogger.com1Ko Yao Yai, Ko Yao District, Phang-nga, Thailand7.9683559999999991 98.5830906999999577.7167719999999989 98.260367199999962 8.21994 98.905814199999952tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-368727396780636147.post-88823876966198988802018-02-16T09:21:00.000+00:002018-02-16T09:21:02.694+00:00Too posh to push? Hospital shopping in Thailand...We started looking at hospital options many months ago, back when it started to become clear that we were not going to have as much time to do research on location as we'd planned. We don't have health insurance, so though cost is not the main issue, we have a keen interest in getting value for money. After Ravi's birth being difficult resulting in an emergency cesarian section we knew we wanted a hospital with good facilities on standby in case something might go wrong again.<br />
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We started by looking up a few birth stories on expat websites. These were mainly centered in capital cities; Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Singapore, none of which we wanted to anchor at. We then looked at the maps and charts to find possible hospitals with sensible anchorages nearby. Then with a long list of hospitals we sent emails to them all giving a little information about ourselves and asking about the services they offer and possible prices.<br />
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The response was disappointing, we only got about four replies from around fifteen requests, one saying they do not have facilities to treat foreigners at present. We tried a bit harder calling and emailing a selection of preferred choices and in the end had a list of options as we sailed up the coast having left it all very late.<br />
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As it happened we had excellent conditions sailing north from Indonesia. For the first time in ages we had a lovely time sailing day and night. The current seemed to be with us much of the time, making sailing into the light to moderate north easterlies close hauled fast and pleasant. With the breeze being offshore the water was mostly pretty flat allowing us to make 7 to 10 knots much of the time. In the few patches of windless hours we motored happily on in calm water.<br />
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Our most favoured destinations had become Penang in Malaysia or Phuket in Thailand. Both heavily touristy busy islands; well populated with both private and government hospitals. The anchorages in Penang are not ideal and prices for cesarians were more so we decided to press on for Thailand where we dreamed of beautiful beaches and clear water in which to wait for the new babies passport.<br />
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Malaysia is very welcoming to yachts, clearance being totally free, the boat can stay indefinitely and we were given a 90 day visa as a matter of course. Thailand is a little trickier so we applied for our 60 day visa in Penang which can be extended once by a further 30 days which took two visits to the embassy and a small chunk of money.<br />
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So here we arrived in Phuket on Saturday and unwound our tightly coiled springs over the weekend at a nice Beach before clearing in and looking at hospitals on Monday. The first we stopped at could not help us; they either did not have a childbirth unit or possibly could not offer childbirth for foreigners. Our Thai is non existent so communication was tricky but they advertised obs and gynae services on the bill board outside so we're not sure.<br />
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The next was our first and most promising reply from back when we first started researching; the Siriroj international (private) hospital. We knew all the prices and details of their facilities and so were happy to have a check up and talk with the obstetrician. We didn't tell them that we were merely researching at that time; our due date being only 9 days hence at this point.<br />
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After a quick once over the upshot was that he would strongly recommend a c section. Not only because we'd had one last time only 16 months ago, but also because his ultrasound showed the baby to be on the big side and with its back to my back (as Ravi had been, though his main problem was a twisted head). We had expected this. Thailand in general and private hospitals in particular prefer cesarian births.<br />
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We had already decided that if it was recommended we'd go with that. When researching we found out that if we'd been at home in Bath (UK) they would have supported a trial of labour with close supervision but that if we'd given birth in Australia they would have strongly encouraged a cesarian due to the risk of rupture. So we left having paid for the consultation and with a date booked. (We were offered the next day but chose a little more time, it's wierd picking your kids birthday).<br />
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We knew we were happy with the place and thought the set price package to be reasonable. However thrifty to the end, I felt uncomfortable having not researched thoroughly every option. We looked down our list. The other private hospital was significantly dearer and since we were happy with this one we saw no point in visiting that. But there were two more government options. We'd already spent twenty five pounds on taxis, it was getting late and we were tired so we went home.<br />
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Duncan was very happy with our choice but I couldn't let it rest in my mind, so after we'd taken the boat back to a quieter much more protected anchorage I took myself off with Ravi into town on the bus. My reasoning was two fold. I wanted to find out the bus route and timings (there are no bus timetables in Phuket, supposedly to keep the tourists in the taxis) and I thought I'd take a look at the last hospital. By then I'd found out that one of the government hospitals would be a similar price to the Siriroj if we needed a cesarian due to rules about making foreigners pay so ruled that out.<br />
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The bus took hours! I went for it before 10am but didn't get to town until well after midday. The driver drove in first or second gear for the first half of the way, he only sped up once he'd picked up a few more passengers. It was a mile from the bus route end to the Vachira hospital so by the time we got there Ravi and I were hot and hungry. I bought him some rambutans of which he promptly scoffed the whole kilo. Again communication was a problem but I was able to speak to someone on the phone in English who gave me some estimated costs and said I would need to see the doctor in the private clinic at 5pm to see if they felt I needed a cesarian or I could just turn up when I'm in labour and take my chances.<br />
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The place appeared clean and well looked after. But it was also very busy and quite noisy with lots of old people being wheeled around in rusty wheelchairs and children getting underfoot. It's funny that in Fiji we'd liked that frenetic feeling in the hospital but there, they spoke English. Here it seemed a little intimidating and weighing it up I didn't feel the price difference to be worth it.<br />
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So what does it cost?<br />
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Siriroj hospital offers all inclusive packages which we are assured are much cheaper than if you were to pay an itemised bill (even if you get a cheaper room and stay less long, allegedly)<br />
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Natural childbirth package 46,900 baht about 1,060 gbp<br />
Cesarian package 59,900 baht about 1,360 gbp<br />
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But if you were to arrange a natural birth and then have to convert to c section like we did with Ravi they would whack on an extra 10,000 baht. Always read the small print!<br />
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Government hospitals quoted around 20,000 baht for natural and 40,000 to 50,000 baht for cesarian. These were just estimates rather than packages so we don't know if these are worst case or best case figures. The price for Thai nationals here would be much cheaper, we spoke to one lady who's sister paid 13,000 baht for her c section, I don't remember which hospital that was.<br />
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We weighed up the costs and the risks and plumped for a known cost in a nice place with much less chance of anything going wrong. If we'd have been able to have a natural birth last time we would have made a different decision, but in the end and after the last few months'trials and tribulations we decided it's time we gave ourselves a break!<br />
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<br />Impetuoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17419178184715125383noreply@blogger.com3เมืองภูเก็ต อำเภอเมืองภูเก็ต ภูเก็ต 83100, Thailand7.7743034000000009 98.306925399999955-17.7477311 56.998331399999955 33.2963379 139.61551939999995tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-368727396780636147.post-28510922255015381232018-01-18T02:27:00.000+00:002018-01-19T02:28:43.228+00:00Things are getting worse... Please send chocolate...I'm sure everyone experiences big highs and lows in their lives. Sailing is definitely always like that. For every perfect beach there is an imperfect one. For every easy check in there's a nightmare one. For every graceful easy passage there's a vomit fueled rocket ride or a slow hot humid slap about. Some days we're proud as punch of our beautiful boat but others the jobs to do are overwhelming and everywhere we look we see flaws and things that are in urgent need of attention.<br />
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At the moment we feel like our lives are more undulating than we'd like and that the lows are too much of the time. We've not had personality transplants; we still expect things to get better any minute; hopefully as soon as we get where we meant to be. However the problems have been compounding each other and it's hard to not let it get to you.<br />
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Engine troubles have always plagued us with a regular monotony. Pip was installed by us in a newly reconditioned state, but that didn't stop various peripheral parts failing or causing us trouble. Interspersed by dirty fuel and fuel bug frustrations. It's crazy to think how much trouble the engine causes when we use it relatively little.<br />
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Our sails, Aeries wind steering, rigging and hull cause us almost no trouble at all in comparison. However we're not sailing purists. We go everywhere we can whilst never turning to the noisy beast; sailing into and out of anchorages happily when we can; but we don't want to be without it. Many places we have been would have been untenable without it and we consider it a safety and comfort necessity. Though necessity is not the correct word since each time it's failed we've had to manage without.<br />
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There were odd minor engine hiccups as we crossed the Pacific; fuel bug problems, anodes going quicker than we thought, alternator belts not cutting the muster, the prop break being temperamental etc. More recently we've had to use it more and so the problems have followed on. The temperate clime's mean less reliable winds and more danger from just drifting about waiting for wind to return.<br />
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In New Zealand it was the starter motor which had us towing the boat by rowed Avon dinghy into at least one Anchorage and having a rather nervous time around Fiordland where there were strong tides, blasts of breeze and gales and calms in equal measure. In Fiji it was the injectors. Sydney to Hobart the raw water pump. Back in Sidney the injector pump needed a total and extremely costly rebuild. At the Whitsundays the prop shaft coupling sheared requiring new coupling, adding a flex and remachining the shaft all whilst in the water.<br />
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But now takes the biscuit.<br />
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We've noticed a few grumbling concerns whilst pip has been working stoically through these islands. We were smoking a lot at idle and using a little oil. We put it down to injectors again and resolved to have them serviced once in Malaysia.<br />
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Day after day she's been rumbling on trying to help us get up wind against the strengthening contrary winds and currents. We've had some really horrible passages and even had to give up a few times and go back. Then it all got worse off the south coast of Belitung. We still thought it was the injectors but the noise and the smoke had us unable to use the engine again. Our friends on Rehua were nearby so we knew we'd be ok and managed to tack into a reasonable Anchorage by nightfall on Christmas day. Merry Christmas!<br />
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On Boxing day Rehua came to find us and offer condolences and help. The boys found very dirty fuel again and got everything they could cleaned up and filtered, the oil changed and everything that could be looked at easily checked. She seemed OK though intermittently noisy so the next day we poked our noses out again.<br />
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It was no good, the noise and smoke got worse so off the engine went but there was not enough wind to sail. The current was pushing us back so really we were just treading water with lots of rocks nearby. We gratefully accepted a tow. Had our friends not have been nearby we'd have had to sail a different way. Over the next two days Rehua got us to the fishing town of Tanjung Pandan on the island of Belitung where we've now been for over three weeks.<br />
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Tyrii, their twelve year old helping us into a safe spot in the really well protected fishing harbour of Tanjung Pandan.<br />
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The first day seemed positive; we found ourselves a brilliantly protected position tied back into the mangroves and found the town to be more developed and more friendly than many we've visited in Indonesia. Duncan got straight to it and cycled off with the injectors to be serviced. They cleaned them through and pronounced that only one was a bit sticky. Back in the boat the same afternoon the news was not good.<br />
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'Noise as bad as ever. Major problem. We'll have to rebuild it; it must be the big end bearings'.<br />
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We looked into parts but noone was open until the 2nd of January. So off we went to immigration to explain our predicament. For many hours it seemed they were insisting we must fly out of the country to reset our visas (Singapore being nearest) but we were not at all keen to loose the three days or the extra cost of staying somewhere with the boat abandoned. In the end I said we'd just have to sail on which provoked a response. An emergency Visa option was hastily rustled up. It took two more days to organise the proof and paperwork for this but at least now we're legal.<br />
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It took more time than we'd thought to get to the nub of the problem but we wanted to be sure before the parts were ordered. We're lucky our engine is a Perkins 4.108 as the parts for these are cheap and available all over the place. We had trouble communicating with the parts dealers in Jakarta who thought our engine serial number was wrong and Singapore never returned any of our calls so in the end with time ticking we made our order from the uk.<br />
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'Watson, we have found our culprit'<br />
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It's a good thing we waited until we'd checked out it all as it wasn't 'just' the bearings. The crank shaft is snapped in two places.<br />
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It is 43 years old, but the very likely cause is overtightening the alternator belt over the years to get the most out of our oversize alternator. We shall be upgrading the pulley system for this once safely in Malaysia.<br />
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It took only three days to get both parcels (new crank shaft, full engine rebuild kit and some more spare mounts) totaling around 35kg to Jakarta. During those three days we spent most of our time in the customs office trying to arrange permission for the parts to be duty free (as they should be here as a yacht in transit). However since then the only movement has been to another island (admittedly near here but there are 5 direct flights a day from Jakarta to here so who knows why they went there) and dhl say they are awaiting us to pay tax and fees. A flurry of emails and phone calls and then it was the weekend...<br />
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So this week it appears we have to pay the tax even though it shouldn't be due. We knew the rules say you must ask permission before the parts are in the country to get it tax free which is why we went to customs before the parts were ordered. However they wasted two days giving us the impression they would give permission if only we had one more document... then one more photo... then one more letter... Then no sorry, we do not have authorisation for this. Arghhh so after a bit of a cry in the customs office we forward everything we've done with them to Jakarta. They receive them the next morning just as the parts arrive too.<br />
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This all means a whopping bill of 7.7 million rupiah! The tax due is 30% on top of the price of the parts plus the shipping costs. That's shipping for 35kg! We don't mind paying tax that is due but this massive expense should not be due and it's the customs fault. They even gave us the wrong email address for Jakarta wasting us another vital few hours... So frustrating!<br />
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Yesterday I was promised if we agreed to pay cash on delivery they would deliver this morning. Today there's no movement, the parts are still on the wrong island.<br />
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Always trying to look on the bright side at least we can do the work here. We are in an extremely well protected and safe position. Our neighbours are friendly, the island is positive and safe and we've made some nice new friends.<br />
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The machinists are very competent and very cheap. Having a puller made up to remove the crank shaft pulley.<br />
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And of course we're together and all healthy.<br />
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However the big down side to being in a very protected spot is that it's really hot and humid with no wind and the mosquitoes and sandflies particularly at dusk are unbearable. Poor Ravi has terrible heat rash that flares up during the day and goes down whilst he sleeps under a fan. I'm taking him out as much as possible, whilst poor Duncan slaves away sweating and filthy in the engine room, but it never completely goes.<br />
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The tidal water we're in is plastic and sewage rich, so swimming is out of the question. At low tide we sometimes have to wade the dinghy out through the thick mud amongst the mosquitoes and sandflies. Believe me this is not glamorous living.<br />
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Not the ideal dinghy dock when you're almost 8 months pregnant!<br />
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When we can, Ravi gets a dip in the nearest hotel pool. He has developed a voracious love of rambutan and mangosteans which are available from the market and he's devouring with relish the mainly chicken, fish and rice or noodles meals that are cheap around town. But doing these things cost money and take time away from working on our poor disheveled looking boat. It's a balancing act that Duncan is not getting an even deal at.<br />
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This is just some of the plastic that washes up every day on the windy side of the peninsular, where Ravi and I go to play to get away from the heat and the biting things.<br />
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Oh and there's a rat on the boat...Impetuoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17419178184715125383noreply@blogger.com4Tanjung Pandan, Belitung Regency, Bangka Belitung Islands, Indonesia-2.7416678 107.65299879999998-2.8685518 107.49163729999998 -2.6147838 107.81436029999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-368727396780636147.post-54393171680369712952018-01-01T09:42:00.000+00:002018-01-03T16:21:31.897+00:00Impetuous four....Here’s an interesting and novel tale,<br />
About a couple who loved to sail.<br />
They bought a boat made strong and stout,<br />
And proceeded to sail her West about.<br />
<br />
Of course there was difficult work to do,<br />
But that didn't phase our Impetuous two.<br />
Sanding and filling were most of the task,<br />
But in woodwork they found joy, <a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.co.id/2013/03/the-golden-rasta.html" target="_blank">even built their own mast!</a><br />
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Having a boat they'd rebuilt gave them confidence and style,<br />
They had pride in her lines and basked for a while...<br />
In frequent admiration over what they had done,<br />
Though lining up to do all that work there'd been none.<br />
<br />
From there to here, from here to there;<br />
Wonderful things could be found everywhere.<br />
Texas to Mexico, Belize, <a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.co.id/2013/09/sweetness-and-mountains.html" target="_blank">Guatemala</a>;<br />
Always in time, they found a safe harbour.<br />
<br />
Working betwixt their adventures was sure…<br />
To make them appreciate their life all the more.<br />
They found that hard work was what could be said,<br />
To bring about the ‘luck’ in the life that they led.<br />
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<a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.co.id/2014/04/sailing-in-cuba.html" target="_blank">Cuba</a> was a joy that could not be overstated,<br />
Though seasickness all the way there; Ruth hated.<br />
Panama beckoned; perfect islands, wondrous art.<br />
<a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.co.id/2014/05/pacific-bound.html" target="_blank">Through the canal they traversed; frugally every part.</a><br />
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Late in the season, the cruisers' boat party was downhearted,<br />
Stocked to the gunwales a few days later they departed.<br />
The Galapagos, of course, to visit would have been nice,<br />
‘Expensive', ‘uncomfortable', ‘over regulated’ came the advice.<br />
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<a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.co.id/2014/07/wewere-tearing-along-rather-than.html" target="_blank">So five long weeks at sea </a>they toiled,<br />
Two slow, three fast, faster still the seas boiled.<br />
There many young sailors, some with startling boat failures;<br />
Adventurous new friends, they found in the Marquesas.<br />
<br />
Jacques Brel; Gauguin; Herman Melville found a home,<br />
<a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.co.id/2014/09/archipelago-de-tuamotus-tummytoes.html" target="_blank">On these glorious rich islands,</a> which truly stand alone.<br />
Among waterfalls and mountains where dreams are fulfilled,<br />
Pamplemousse; mangoes; breadfruit; chillies all found in the wild.<br />
<br />
The Tuamotus and Societies could never disappoint;<br />
Iconic and exotic, their excitement was joint.<br />
Through the Cooks on to Tonga where whales could be seen,<br />
They made many firm friends at that party for Halloween.<br />
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The land of the long white cloud rose out of the grey,<br />
After a terrific New Year's party they decided to go play….<br />
Down the bottom where only the most Impetuous go,<br />
they found out just why when it started to snow.<br />
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<a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.co.id/2015/03/through-forties-to-fiordland.html" target="_blank">Into Milford</a> they bouldered the wind on their tail,<br />
All computers were damaged, but they'd weathered the gale.<br />
All around them the mountains rose out of the gloom;<br />
They thanked their lucky stars they were graced by the moon.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/"><span id="goog_50311213"></span>The Fiords are all beautiful <span id="goog_50311214"></span></a>and thrilling in their way,<br />
Ample fish when they ran low on food saved the day.<br />
The weather was wild with no folks to be found,<br />
But the scenery; untamed nature, could not fail to astound.<br />
<br />
Foveaux straits dolphins were worried and so were they all,<br />
When the wind was so strong, Impetuous started to stall.<br />
In the lee of Stewart island she could heave-to in peace,<br />
How they wished they'd found time to sew in that fourth reef.<br />
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Over the years they had sailed many atolls and isles,<br />
And always were met with genuine smiles.<br />
They learned much about both the lands and the sea,<br />
And started to think that they'd like to be three.<br />
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Money had to be found to fund all of their plans,<br />
So Impetuous; left again lonely, in far away lands.<br />
Ruth nursed; Duncan taught, so back they could go...<br />
With a bump in the tum; so happy they did know...<br />
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<a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.co.id/2016/10/first-week-in-life-of-newborn-sailor.html" target="_blank">Lovely Ravi arrived</a> in <a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.co.id/2016/11/wailea.html" target="_blank">beautiful Fiji,</a><br />
As mangoes dripped from the trees bright and leafy.<br />
They were sad to move on from all the friends they had found,<br />
But truly they loved to sail all around.<br />
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<a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.co.id/2016/12/blue-water-baby.html" target="_blank">His first Christmas was spent at sea</a> bold and breezy,<br />
Ravi never seemed fazed as he chewed his first lychee.<br />
The timing was perfect as round other boats they did weave.<br />
Arriving in Sydney amongst the rockets; New Year's Eve.<br />
<br />
They sailed on around Tasmania, to again feel the cold;<br />
People were friendly, and there were great mountains to behold.<br />
Then they sailed again north up the land of down under,<br />
When the seas rose up, poor Ravi would chunder.<br />
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On and on they traversed along the Barrier Reef Great;<br />
The Louisiades had to be postponed; they were late.<br />
Across the Arafura sea, and into Indonesia...<br />
With still many miles to go before the delights of Malaysia.<br />
<br />
But now our family are having a difficult time;<br />
The sun in Indonesia refuses to shine.<br />
The winds are against us and the currents inclement.<br />
Pip the engine is protesting with new problems fervent.<br />
<br />
Delay after delay has put them at odds with the weather,<br />
To be this far into the North West monsoon is not clever.<br />
But sailing is what these sailors do,<br />
Otherwise they wouldn't be Impetuous Too.<br />
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Whilst sailing onwards, we've kept a secret,<br />
With New Year's day, we thought we might leak it...<br />
Before too long there's going to be more;<br />
Before too long they will be the Impetuous four.<br />
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<br />Impetuoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17419178184715125383noreply@blogger.com3Jl. Tengah Tj. Pandan - Manggar No.235, Padang, Manggar, Kabupaten Belitung Timur, Kepulauan Bangka Belitung 33512, Indonesia-2.8697538 108.25190329999998-33.7429738 66.943309299999981 28.0034662 149.56049729999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-368727396780636147.post-57772905230823926312017-12-11T04:58:00.001+00:002017-12-11T14:22:50.980+00:00'Ere there be dragons...We had an unexpectedly nice time in Dili with its friendly harbormaster and lovely foods and then stopped in along the coast at Oe-cusse. Whilst looking this area up, we stumbled upon a guardian article about their political and economic situation titled <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/25/timor-leste-spending-big-economic-crisis" target="_blank">'Timor-leste's big spending: a brave way to tackle economic crisis or just reckless</a>?' Which really helped us understand what we then found there.<br />
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Oe-cusse is part of East Timor but in a separate enclave further west along the North coast of the long wriggly Timor island. This place really stands alone under the surrounding mountains and has a very strange air about it. Wandering around, it appeared mostly deserted. We couldn't find a veggie stall or anyone to chat to; but as the tumble weed blew, after it scuttled a uniformed worker diligently trying to sweep it up.<br />
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The busiest scene we found. A construction worker handing out raw meat from his handlebars at one of the many government investment sites. Out of shot is the big billboard saying what it cost and the security guard looking on. As you can see the streets were overbuilt and well maintained; quite different from neighbouring areas especially Dili. The orange people are the ever lurking ninja Street sweepers.<br />
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The cafe bar on the beach appeared frequented only by a few Europeans sipping their espresso with their heads deep in paperwork. They hardly raised a smile when Ravi went to town removing and replacing rocks from the fountain, creating quite the mud bath.<br />
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The less said about Kupang, our next stop on Western Timor the better. We were continuously hounded by touts with their 'hey mister' wanting to arrange everything for us: Fuel, water, taxi, clearance, drugs, women... By far the best policy was to give them all a wide berth and arrange things ourselves. We have since heard many stories of rip offs and bad experiences so our instincts served us well. Some form of transport was unavoidable since the offices we must visit were a long way. Taxis were cheaper as we walked away from the Anchorage and bartering was a must.<br />
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After long and tedious complications we managed to come out with not only the visa we wanted but it extended too. Customs, quarantine and the harbormaster were all easily done without interference from the agents who were unpopular with the officials we spoke with. They are trying to reduce corruption but it suits the touts and agents to encourage it so that visitors will feel that they need their services to negotiate their way through. So at the end of a day and a half of beaurocracy we were the happy holders of clearance and three passports stamped with 60 days worth of visa.<br />
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Duncan did many water and fuel runs both of which were much cheaper going in person to the vendor rather than through the offers of the touts. We caught a 'bemo' (minivan transport) to the mall, stocked up and let Ravi play in the ball pool as a reward for his patience at being dragged around all those offices then happily we could leave Kupang behind.<br />
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Kupang definitely looks better from the boat where you can't make out the heaps of rubbish, traffic and chaos...<br />
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Flat calm again we had to motor the whole way to Flores then were able to sail on to Rinca our first Komodo national park island. There, it wasn't long before we saw not only wild boars but the famous Komodo dragons prowling amongst the plastic. This one was about 2m but they can grow to three metres and 70kg. We saw at least two if not three different ones whilst at this beach and not again in the rest of our time within the national park.<br />
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The plastic on the beach, local boats buzzing around and unusually cold water conspired to make us disinclined to dive where our guide book said was good. I wish we'd been braver but we thought there would be many more opportunities. Of course we can only dive one at a time these days so our already conservative adventuring has gotten even more cautious. There are so many considerations when diving without a local guide; currents, depth, other boats, getting to and from the dive site without an outboard...<br />
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Our next stop was an enormous bay/inlet area with many little coves and long mangroved cut throughs called Lehok Ginggo<br />
where we had a lovely time. We explored by kayak and saw lots of unusual birds and monkeys. Ravi found his ideal beach; accessed through a cave usually by kayak it was shaded most of the day and had beautiful sand and modest waves.<br />
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We then met up with friends we'd last seen in Fiji. Two boats, a trimaran with a kiwi and Dutch couple and the other a family from Belgium, Scotland and London. These guys on the catamaran <a href="https://svrehua.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Rehua</a> (link to their blog) are still with us now and going the same way. Ravi loves having two big boys to play with, the space to scamper about and what we'd never realised; a lovely shady space to swim in the sea under Rehua's belly. We think they're fun too!<br />
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Pink beach, Komodo<br />
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Makassar reef, Komodo, too deep to anchor and possibly prohibited anyway so we drifted whilst snorkeling one at a time. (Photos by Rehua)<br />
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Gili Air, Lombok has no motorised traffic so was a great place to introduce Ravi to the joys of cycling. The Rehua crew hired some very cheaply too so we regretted putting ours through the wear and tear of the salty sand loose paths. The island is a popular backpackers haunt so our cycle ride inevitably turned into a pub crawl; half the gang preferring the cycling and half more focused on the the next establishment.<br />
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From Gili Air, we had a safe distance view of the volcano rumblings of Mount Agung on Bali. With an eruption forecast as imminent we thought we'd edge forward after checking we'd always be just out of the evacuation zone. Nothing came of it as it happens so we carried on unscathed.<br />
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Mount Agung, Bali from the Lombok strait with a fisherman from Gili Air in the foreground.<br />
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So on we've been sailing together, through the Komodo islands, along the top of Sumbawa, Lombok and on to Bali. We've been having much more difficult weather than expected, more about which in the next blog.<br />
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Sailing with Rehua between anchorages in Bali we had a rare nice easy trip and they were able to snap some photos of us in full sail with our big Genoa out for the expected light winds. We were going from Lovina to Teluk (bay) Banyuwedang, a lovely enclosed bay on the north west tip of Bali to avoid some more bad weather that was on its way.<br />
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Nappies flying and getting the odd salty splash, Ravi was inside having a doze.<br />
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Ravi is turning into the inevitable water baby he was always bound to be. This was a resort pool you could use if you bought a few beers.Impetuoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17419178184715125383noreply@blogger.com1Karimun Java, Indonesia-5.81917 110.45900000000006-31.3412045 69.150406000000061 19.7028645 151.76759400000006tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-368727396780636147.post-61577092426954028022017-10-30T09:50:00.001+00:002017-10-30T10:11:55.733+00:00Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore...<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;">We'd got complacent after renewing our Australia visa and temporarily forgotten that time and tide wait for no-one. We found ourselves in Cairns with the realisation that there wasn't space in the season to do all we'd hoped to. Our visa for Papau New Guinea had arrived but there simply was not enough time to go to the reputedly glorious Louisiade archipelago. Yet another thing to go on the 'next time around' list.</span><br />
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What's the rush? Well for one thing it's cyclone season in this part of the world from December. For another, the South East trade winds die off and once further North turn into a North West monsoon making our progress more difficult as we head towards the Malacca straits and Malaysia beyond.</div>
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So better late than never we are now rushing along. the barrier reef blurred as we sailed along inside it day and night. We stopped a few times for a snorkel and then for a few days at Lizard island where there were a couple of hills to stretch our legs and a marine research station to look around. Much of the outer reef had suffered bleaching and cyclone damage in that area so though the snorkeling on Lizard island was interesting with the biggest giant clams we've ever seen, we had perhaps already seen better around the Whitsunday islands and further South. We did miss some famous dive sites so can't comment on the whole reefs health but what we saw was nothing like what I (Ruth) remember when I visited in 2002.<br />
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We aren't going to win any awards for our underwater photography yet, but we've all got to start somewhere!</div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">It was here at the top of Lizard island that captain cook gazed out to sea attempting to find a way back
out through the maze of reefs. Having already stove in and repaired his ship he wanted to be free on the open sea again. We followed the now well trodden path for nothing more than some photos and exercise as the day was too hazy to be able to discern much of the outer reef.</span></div>
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Ravi sleeping as he so often does in the carrier both out on walks or around town.</div>
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Rounding Cape York and in to Thursday island was thankfully benign since we'd gone to the trouble to get the tides with us. Thursday and Horn islands were hot and blustery with a rather apocalyptic feel where bush fires were raging. Ravi had his inoculations and we sorted our paperwork to clear out and notify Indonesia we were on our way.</div>
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Since leaving Australia Ravi's route map has developed a few extra kinks. The passage started out with three days of fair trade winds but then all traces died out. For the next three days we drifted and tacked against all kinds of light variable winds before finally giving in and changing our plans. It was too far to be able to motor to our planned destination of Kupang so we decided to aim for Saumlaki on the nearer island of Yamdena. We motored the whole way there as the only wind that came was the lightest of North Westerlies (less than 5kn) so it was a good decision.</div>
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<a href="http://escapevelocity.mobi/aboutus/" target="_blank">Some cruising friends</a> gave us nylon for the job so now our flags are looking much more professional. Indonesian flag.<br />
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Saumlaki is a very different place. The entrance was a delight of traditional boats and big convoluted fishing trap/ stations. Even before we anchored we'd caused a stir with people in dugouts usually with outboards buzzing around the boat taking photos of us and shouting out. This continued around town where Ravi was particularly popular. Whole families would stop their scooter jump off and rush over to take 'selfies' with us and especially if they could hold him. He got pinched from every direction and whisked away whenever they could, so after a bit we needed to find a quiet spot to give him a break!<br />
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Saumlaki port with a Dutch influenced Christian Church behind in the early morning. This was the pretty part, the town itself was a hot, busy cocophony of rubbish, dust and scooters.<br />
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At the port captain's we found out eventually that all the officials we were waiting for had gone to visit an island and wouldn't be back until late afternoon. 'No problem, tomorrow'. But we knew that the officials wouldn't like us just wandering about without clearing in so we found a quiet spot in a hotel and let Ravi have a sleep. We had lunch at a street stall where Ravi, revitalised, enjoyed his attention and his satay mixed rice and veg. Lots of photos were taken to squeels of delight from the scarved ladies.<br />
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Then we endeavoured to find the immigration office which turned out to be the guys house who by then had returned from the island jaunt.<br />
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Here's where we found our problem. There are three visa options in Indonesia. A free 30 day non renewable one available to citizens of most countries, a visa on arrival which you pay for which also gives 30 days but is extendable once only - the one we wanted, and a cultural visa which must be applied for out of the country with an Indonesian citizen 'sponsor' who guarantees your good will and good character which is valid for 30 or 60 days but then extendable monthly up to 180 days.<br />
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However we had not realised that this middle visa is only available in seaports which are near international airports. Saumlaki's airport is domestic only and so though it is clearly advertised as one of the 19 available inward and outbound clearance ports of Indonesia's 16,000 islands, it is not possible to get this particular visa there (nor is it at the next nearest one Tual).<br />
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So we were scuppered. There's no way we could get through the whole of Indonesia within 30 days. It would be around 2,500 miles with wind and current against us for the last 800 and probably quite light winds all the time. Even if we checked out wherever we got to after 30 days, there was a high likelihood we would need to stop for water and fuel on our route onwards.<br />
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There was no budging the immigration guy though, he just couldn't give us the visa we wanted. Our only option was to take the free 30 days and accept that we had to be out after that. After a bit of deliberation we decided to get the issue sorted now whilst we had options of other countries to visit with Indonesian embassies. Darwin, Australia or Dili, East Timor. One was much more on the way than the other and according to a little online research should be perfectly possible.<br />
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We looked around a bit over the weekend, bought some water and fuel then cleared out on the Monday. Saumlaki was a difficult town to really like. The people were friendly and fun but the heat, poverty, dirt and noise were an assault on the senses. We found it particularly galling whilst nosying about to see tiny empty hovels with families living under incomplete rooves and behind broken walls whilst the cities' many churches towered above them opulent, air-conditioned; pristine.<br />
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The people living there not only have to buy drinking water but also have to buy in water which is unfit for drinking from tankers in order to wash with; that's those who have tanks. Most don't. Most have no access to hygeine nor space to breath with their tiny spaces squashed in. We see many different kinds of poverty on our travels but poverty of space with no access to drinking water is really basic need. For sale along the market street the fruit and veg supply was meagre. Onions were shipped from Java and so cost four times the price of those in Australia. We bought some eggs but they were almost all off. In the shops were mostly soap and biscuits. Life here for these people really is a daily struggle.<br />
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So on we needed to go to Dili, Timor Leste which is where we are now. We managed to sail much of the way here though the winds were often light we only motored when we dropped below 1.5 to 2kn. Mostly in the early hours of the morning when there might not be a breath. We had some variable northerly wind as we sailed along Timor Leste in the early hours of Friday, so it was nice to have peace and quiet to savour the sounds of the invisible whales nearby.<br />
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Ravi greeting the sunrise and another new place<br />
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Christo Rei overlooks Dili, Portuguese influences abound though Timor is certainly independent now and only the elite and older educated Timorese speak the language. The local tongue is a mixed dialect of indigenous language with some Portuguese words dropped in for words that were missing. Most can also speak the main Indonesian Bahasa language.<br />
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Harbour entrance mark at Dili with an early morning fisherman<br />
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Clearing in here was easy in comparison to Indonesia though we did have to pay $30 each for a visa though it was advertised as free for Europeans: UK and a few other European countries were not included.<br />
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The flag of Timor-Leste we didn't worry about hemming it since we'll be here less than a week.<br />
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We still haven't quite decided which visa for Indonesia to get here since there are costs and complications with each and we need to rush on in any case. We shall see what the weekend brings and decide on Monday. This afternoon we are enjoying a glass of Porto with some blue cheese and cured meat courtesy of the Portuguese influences here. Tonight there is Portuguese music in a nearby bar so Ravi is having a long afternoon nap under a fan to prepare for evening revels.</div>
Impetuoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17419178184715125383noreply@blogger.com1Díli, Timor-Leste-8.5568557 125.56031430000007-8.6824712 125.39895280000007 -8.4312402 125.72167580000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-368727396780636147.post-82421985164641377192017-09-24T23:55:00.000+01:002017-09-25T01:06:50.902+01:00Ravis' World at One... <div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">Wow,
Today Ravi turned one. A whole year old. He is currently fast asleep
after a fun and busy day as I write this blog at almost 10 o'clock at
night. Its been a year of learning for us all, as all new parents
know. Last night at this time he was still scuttling around our feet
laughing hysterically. The most recent lesson being 'don't give your
soon to be one year old the cake mix bowl to lick too close to bed
time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">Chocolate
brownies the cake in question. Just over a year ago we sailed past
and then later briefly met the <a href="http://logofdelviento.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank">Del Viento family</a>. Ruth was on the
verge of giving birth. Before they left the anchorage they kindly
made us some chocolate brownies. They left them in the cockpit of
Impetuous as we were out at the time. Infact we were out at the
hospital embarking on what turned out to be the quite lengthy process
of having a baby. So when I got back to the boat it was dark. Indeed
it was still dark when I left the following morning. </span>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">I'm
not entirely sure how long they had been there when I finally
discovered them. They had clearly been through a few melt cycles but
they were gooey, crunchy and delicious and it was quite an effort for
me to save some to take in for Ruth; for whom i'm sure they were
really intended, still languishing, knackered in hospital trying to
persuade the doctors and nurses that they were ready to come home. So
when it came to making some sort of cakey thing to celebrate Ravi
turning one the chocolate brownie came to mind.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">We
are currently in Cairns having just spent the last few days stocking
up and organising before we head up towards the remote Thursday
island on the North East tip of Australia. Of course as well as
provision we've been keeping an eye out for a suitable one year old
present. Suitable for a sailor. </span>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">We
stumbled on an environmentally conscious toy shop in Cairns thinking
a little wooden trinket or nice little book may be the thing. There
we were blown away by all the beautiful wooden toys, books, recycled
plastic toys but one thing after a perusal leapt out. '<a href="http://www.peacetoys.com/" target="_blank">Hugg a Planet</a>'. We turned it over marvelling at the detail particularly of
obscure islands; some we've been to, most we'd like to one day and
the lovely huggable squishiness of it. In our standard style we
resolved it was very lovely but a bit pricy, perhaps we'll have a
bash at making one ourselves and paid for the little dancing dinosaur
we'd chosen. </span>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">On
our way about town we discussed how we'd never manage the level of
detail and accuracy on the globe and it would take ages... hey what
about the money for Ravis birthday your parents sent. They'd love us
to splash out on something nice for him, so back we went and here it
is. Ravi's globe. </span>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">Last
night after we'd all finally gone to bed, Ruth sewed on his route
thus far; from Fiji, to New Caladonia and the east coast of Austraila
and Tasmania. We will keep updating it as we sail from country to
country. Lets face it, it's quicker and more fun than a traditional
log. Our next stop will be Indonesia so there will be a little more
sewing on passage as well as our new courtesy flag needed. </span>
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Birthday splashes whilst his parents felt apprehensive about crocodiles...<br />
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<span style="font-size: 23.4555px;">Wrapping paper Impetuous style...</span><br />
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Impetuoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17419178184715125383noreply@blogger.com3Bulburra Beach, Queensland, Australia-16.8750767 145.91763170000002-16.8769762 145.91511020000002 -16.8731772 145.92015320000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-368727396780636147.post-90640382397444270872017-08-13T02:14:00.000+01:002017-08-13T02:14:47.744+01:00Drifting up the East coast; migrating with the whalesActually it hasn't all been entirely laid back. Certainly we have had some enjoyable lazy days of slowly drifting along, hoping an offshore breeze might pick up later. But we have also had some stonking southerlies that have slalomed us up the coast.<br />
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The general run of the weather has tended to be against passage north, until, with some ferocity, a southerly change arrives. After an initial surge, the wind drops, dies and changes then the system repeats.<br />
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The trick lies in not being out when it howls with antarctic shrill nor still being out when the lumpy seas remain but all traces of wind have gone. Suffice to say our timing still leaves a little to be desired, but so, for that matter does the forecasting...<br />
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Kangaroo grazing with a seaview near Iluka<br />
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We see whales almost every day as they too migrate north, but have given up on trying to capture their feats on camera and have resolved to enjoy their displays instead. Sometimes they even come over after we've anchored and have a nosey around like snuffling huge but slow dogs.<br />
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We were sad to leave Sydney in our wake. Its a fantastic city which suits the sailor. We had made various friends in Tasmania and further afield who we could now meet on their home turf. The anchorages and public moorings are all over the city and free. Right at the end of our stay we found some amazing free hot showers laid on for the swimmers of Balmoral. If only we'd found them sooner the tourists at the fishmarket would have had less of an eyeful of us showering in the cockpit.<br />
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It's hard to explain what was so lovely about Sydney. Everything seemed to work and feel positive. Getting around to far flung suburbs for engine parts and services (boring fuel injection pump) was easy, speedy and affordable between google and our opal card (prepaid transport card). There was more cultural diversity than other parts of Australia and we felt welcome, interested and at home. Plus of course it's a stunning harbour where there is almost always some wind for a sail.<br />
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Whilst there we also splashed out on three very different treats. The first was a fancy feathering propeller which we'd heard about whilst at the wooden boat festival in Tasmania. George the boss had sent his apprentice Jake down to do a little touting and he managed to talk us round.<br />
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Since grinding our original fixed blade prop off on a reef in Fiji we have thought that this would be a good opportunity to buy either a feathering or folding propeller. When researching from Fiji however we couldn't find one that we liked which would fit in the space between our hull and rudder, so at the time we ordered a replacement fixed blade from New Zealand in order to get moving again.<br />
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We were therefore ripe for persuasion when Jake showed us their design which fits, is simple requiring little maintenance, adjustable in pitch and affordable. We are delighted with our find, made locally in Sydney by <a href="https://jbc-engineering.myshopify.com/" target="_blank">JBC engineering; the Hydralign</a>. They were extremely friendly, helpful and knowledgeable and whilst there we were able to introduce Ravi to the untold delights of engineering shops being shown around by guys who genuinely loved their jobs and were thrilled when we all showed interest.<br />
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The next came from a seed sewn whilst Sally was visiting us. She happened to mention the number of British acts on bill boards and that she'd even seen a poster with Billy Bragg on it. A few weeks after she'd left us that thought crossed my mind so we had a look at what was on... there he was, Billy Bragg was playing the main theatre at the Opera house and in just a couple days time. How could we pass that up? We urgently went on a baby ear defender chase since the ones we'd used in Hobart had been inadequate.<br />
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The third was not to be available in Sydney but we ordered ourselves an inflatable kayak online and had it delivered to our friends in the hills above Brisbane.<br />
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Just a stones throw up the coast and a gentle drift for us was the inlet of Broken bay, a confluence of estuaries, many surrounded by native bush. Quite the antidote to the city life we had been leading.<br />
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After a day of chundering crew, a stop in Port Stephens seemed a logical but unplanned choice. It also gave me the opportunity to catch up with an old friend I had gone to school with decades ago. Surrounded by our children, its sobering to reflect that some of the offspring were only a little younger than we had been when we first met.<br />
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After a brief pitstop in a horribly rolly Coffs harbour we pushed on principally under motor to arrive at the delightful Clarence river prior to another northerly change.<br />
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What has made these passages so pleasant has been the ever positive charm of the Australians; many like us making their passage north to the tropics as antipodean winter takes hold. Indeed we have always; since arriving eight months ago; been 5<span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: AppleSDGothicNeo-Regular, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif, 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', NotoColorEmoji, EmojiSymbols, Symbola, Noto, 'Android Emoji', AndroidEmoji, 'Arial Unicode MS', 'Zapf Dingbats', AppleColorEmoji, 'Apple Color Emoji'; font-size: 22.4526px; line-height: 29.6339px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 27px;">°</span>C too far south.<br />
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Bolstered by wine cheaper than anywhere we have known it, everywhere we go it is easy to find good anchorages with water available and when we need them, easy to find shops a nice walk away. In every mainland destination there has been another playground we can take Ravi to and now it's getting warmer the waterparks abound.<br />
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Brisbane offered us the opportunity to catch up with our friends from Fiji who had taken delivery of some books, toilet and gas parts and our lovely new kayak. They were pleased to show us their unusual and beautiful self built hilltop home so we spent a rare night ashore. We also met not one but two previous Alajuela owners; one having bought his when they were new years ago before setting off across the Pacific.<br />
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Ever conscious of the days ahead when we wont have shops close to hand, we stocked up from the Indian shops that we found within the city. We think this should last a while, semolina and dal being some of Ravi's favorite dishes, though to be honest he chomps on everything we feed him. Clearly a product of his parents.<br />
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Fortunately though we are now past Brisbane so with luck have returned to the trade wind belt. All whiffs of baby vomit have been vanquished from our pillows and bedding. We're looking forward to a return to trade wind sailing whilst nestled behind the great barrier reef.<br />
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We have pressed on up the coast visiting various anchorages behind the sand islands of both Moreton and Fraser. As well as Mooloolaba where we missed another friend from Fiji and her two children by a few days, they had returned to their floating home.<br />
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Wild dingos at Fraser island<br />
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Then it was on to the slightly odd sugar farming town of Bundaberg with it's wild west feel. One of the tasks we had set ourselves was to have our chain re-galvanised so it would no longer drop its rusting debris on to our foredeck. Getting it off the boat, ashore and in to the back of a hire car was the first task; fortunately its return was easy enough, everything being that bit nearer.<br />
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Google helps us to track down farmers markets at each stop. Plenty of pesto since Bundaberg!<br />
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For some reason our fishing in the colder climbs had been less successful but once more our freezer and bellies are full. In the last few weeks we've caught 5 tuna, one of them a prized yellowfin.<br />
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Next we commenced our barrier reef crawl at Lady Musgrave island which is a coral atol. Quiet, isolated and beautiful, though slightly busy with boats... until that is strong winds were forecast. Then we knew our two remaining neighbours were more our kind of people.<br />
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Lady Musgrave with our brilliant new inflatable kayak<br />
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Since then we've been creeping up and up and are now at the edge of the Whitsunday islands. Fringed by coral with sandy beaches these national park islands offer plenty to explore.<br />
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We are enjoying Australia so much we have extended our visas giving us plenty of time to explore just a small amount of the barrier reef and to get the boat more ship shape before pressing on. Ravi continues to thrive, develop and keep us highly entertained though we're determined to be stricter with ourselves and get some more boat jobs done whilst amongst the beautiful Whitsunday islands. <br />
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<br />Impetuoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17419178184715125383noreply@blogger.com1Whitsunday Islands, Queensland, Australia-20.1862425 148.72685460000002-21.1400185 147.43596110000001 -19.232466499999997 150.01774810000003tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-368727396780636147.post-16019187837015143522017-05-26T06:06:00.000+01:002017-05-26T06:08:56.764+01:00From Rags to Riches<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16pt;">There
used to be a time I floated around the Mediterranean and the Isles of
Great Britain on a small and leaky wooden Clinker boat. Pegged along
the aft safety lines would usually be an assortment of rags. Some
were my clothes, some tea towels and some rags. All ultimately became
rags in time. It was argued by some, that this time had long since
come; I simply chose to wear some.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16pt;">On
an old wooden boat there never needs to be a shortage of rags; to dry
the bilge and oil sodden hands upon. Having coaxed a recalcitrant
engine back to life or the almost constant struggle to keep two
mutinous bilge pumps and float switches functioning, a cloth must
always be to hand. In dire circumstances when a few remnants had been
lost over the side and I was elbow deep in grime, an old holey
t-shirt would be grabbed and the rag pile replenished.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16pt;">So
what's changed? Our boat though not wooden, has many of the
hallmarks. We're blessed with grubby bilges, plenty of varnishing to
do and an intractable engine necessitating plenty of time nursing it
to servitude and cleaning up afterwards. My t-shirts are still
purchased from charity shops and worn until bleached by the sun and
decayed by sweat they fall apart. I still very much dress in rags but
riches are now ours. Since Ravi recently hit the 8 months mark some
of his nappies are starting to be too small, to fade, fray and rip.
Yes, we're now becoming rich in rags.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">We've
become nappy origami pros. Our arsenal consisting of different outers; some bought and some homemade, different folds, fabrics
and sizes to suits different occasions. Most we bought whilst in Fiji
from the supermarket where they were cheap and still the norm. Some
are made from a bumper pack of microfibre rags bought in New Zealand
and some are made from cut up and hemmed towels. Adorning the safety
lines as they flutter in the breeze are always an assortment of
nappies. </span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16pt;">The
very notion of disposable nappies horrifies us. Of course they are
not degradable, so can't be thrown over the side. Imagine a week or
two's supply of soiled nappies festering in a cockpit locker,
stinking. Then imagine trying to find a receptacle to put them in.
Who would be willing for us to use their bin for this? Then they
either get carted off to landfill to not fully degrade or blow about
littering the beaches and scarring the countrysides we visit, where
people are struggling to cope with their new found 'conveniences'.
We're constantly trying to reduce, reuse and recycle so this was just
not an option.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16pt;">When
water is short we sometimes wash them in salt water then do a final
rinse in fresh. We've heard from a couple with a similarly young
stowaway who have had the forethought to sew button holes in their
nappies. Now they can be dragged along whilst on passage then raised
aloft where the spray can't soak them. Since we've fixed our third
water tank, water is often available onshore and it rains here
enough, we find we need to use less detergent and heat by using
fresh.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16pt;">Because
we're changing him frequently and only use water and cotton wool to
clean him, Ravi has never suffered from nappy rash. There's no doubt
it's pretty time consuming but with all the washing, our hands have
never been so clean.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16pt;">As
Ravi grows older we're already starting to reap the benefits of
learning when its time for him to go; often catching him before its
too late. If we stick him on the toilet at an oportune time we are
frequently rewarded. Cloth reared children tend to grow out of
nappies when it's time sooner than those using disposables. I think
its the advertised lock away pockets that does for them. When finally
that day happens we will be truly rich in rags.</span></div>
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Impetuoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17419178184715125383noreply@blogger.com5Coffs Harbour NSW 2450, Australia-30.298612 153.1093922-30.408279 152.9480307 -30.188944999999997 153.2707537tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-368727396780636147.post-36188820262437669822017-04-20T13:27:00.000+01:002017-04-20T13:27:27.805+01:00Tasmania<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16pt;">I
did recollect someone saying that it can get a bit blowy in the bass
straights as I pulled the third and final reef in to the main. We had
left sunny Sydney behind and were heading south to Tasmania. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">With
dreams of being reunited with winter jumpers and socks that had
languished in the lockers since fiordland, we were keen to investigate
this sparsely populated and scenic isle. It was also a choice
destination for all of Ravi's grandparents to visit him for the first
time; since they too like inclement weather. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">The first was arriving in
a few days time and we still had a little way to go!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16pt;">Watching dolphins on the bowsprit just out of Sydney</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp4rO7FuSOSxWWZ1ZIT5tp5dZOoYlYdaZsGUehtzVYx8Gz24EhleuCF3-j1QTKORh35_JnyD-lo_SVUpl_c6jRftsFknmINZUs4vztnPOEzU_-Cq_mGckwXwff3Z9FRZwcnbcxGfM5U6mY/s1600/DSCF4701.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp4rO7FuSOSxWWZ1ZIT5tp5dZOoYlYdaZsGUehtzVYx8Gz24EhleuCF3-j1QTKORh35_JnyD-lo_SVUpl_c6jRftsFknmINZUs4vztnPOEzU_-Cq_mGckwXwff3Z9FRZwcnbcxGfM5U6mY/s640/DSCF4701.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 21.3333px;">In between all the smiles Ravi's getting pretty chatty</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16pt;">Last chance for bucket photos since he doesn't fit anymore... We're gonna be needing a bigger bucket!</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLiwIuxkZ1mo1-PBRzuzed9ETFkrHzIt_wm1bn23ZJmzG0OX1hySGnfwiYcRSifgN6sAyLbcVTFManMCGwhu7-BMlRZRSU_eSOOCA941_5Jz26o2G7_RWCKDcCP7Z7_RrzR1NJQXkOpC2A/s1600/DSCF4720.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLiwIuxkZ1mo1-PBRzuzed9ETFkrHzIt_wm1bn23ZJmzG0OX1hySGnfwiYcRSifgN6sAyLbcVTFManMCGwhu7-BMlRZRSU_eSOOCA941_5Jz26o2G7_RWCKDcCP7Z7_RrzR1NJQXkOpC2A/s640/DSCF4720.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16pt;">We
weren't alone in the anchorage at Eden, the jumping off port at the
bottom of Austraila. There was to be a wooden boat festival in Hobart
the next month so we were joined by pretty wooden boats who would
frequently row over having spotted, or so they thought, one of their
own. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">We were welcomed despite our plastic hull as one of the bunch
and joined in the 'Eden shuffle' moving back and forth across the bay
with each wind shift. When the weatherman said there was to be a longer shift to the north everyone was off; keen to get across before the
strong westerly hit. </span></span>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span></span>
</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZQvhFAiA1Kp_M49XodyY6ZEiAW1sMX8cl4g26_Uprd12EoEeyfJSn3dqBxfMj3PgVdvoe8FmCuOzMTJUMwhGlpChjkwbhRO20z1x9Zxloc2p45AWkP_NCpvhMn4LLYjAo7UqjF7GnrKnE/s1600/IMG_20170117_191318.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZQvhFAiA1Kp_M49XodyY6ZEiAW1sMX8cl4g26_Uprd12EoEeyfJSn3dqBxfMj3PgVdvoe8FmCuOzMTJUMwhGlpChjkwbhRO20z1x9Zxloc2p45AWkP_NCpvhMn4LLYjAo7UqjF7GnrKnE/s640/IMG_20170117_191318.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16pt;">Early morning Eden with the noisy bell birds that sound like rusty wheels</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16pt;">We
took our time setting off after a long leisurely breakfast; sailing
off our anchor and tacking out into the Tasman sea. Our neighbours
had all, in their wisdom, up anchored in the calm around midnight. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">But
we hate to motor; the trade off was that we ended up in the blow. I
set the tiller to lee and furled the last of the jib. As the westerly
screamed over us; rather stronger than was forecast; totally blue sky
and a searing sun rounded off our situation nicely. </span></span>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Its
hard to imagine if you've never done it; the calm that comes over a
boat when you heave to. The lurching and pounding cease and an
altogether calmer motion takes over. You're still heeled over quite
steeply but the gentler movement lulls you. If only it weren't for
the wind howling in the rigging overhead. We all cuddled up in the
bow. Ravi was overjoyed that he had both of us there to entertain him
and squealed with delight at the sun glistening through the rainbow spray
that swept over the bow hatch. </span></span>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">We
arrived in Wineglass bay the next day; the day before Austraila day.
Owing to our recent exploits and new found chums in wooden boats we
felt we deserved the holiday off. So early in the morning we set
off to walk over a mountain and into town to buy some </span><span style="font-size: 21.3333px;">sausages</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">. Arriving back knackered after a tiring and hot hike interspersed by
hitching a lift along the road; why don't we
ever learn? </span></span>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16pt;">Wineglass bay on the Freixnet peninsula is an absolute stunner. We hitched both ways after scaling over to where the road reaches. Everyone was jolly for Australia day. We've found Australians to be an uncommonly positive bunch</span></span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">From
Wineglass we sailed a day and then motored through the night up in to a windless hobart arriving as dawn broke. We'd made it; just. Getting to </span><span style="font-size: 21.3333px;">rendezvous</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> on time is the dread of sailors. This totally mystifies
guests who just assume its easy to make a plan and stick to it. The
only real solution is to always arrive with weeks in hand so as not
to risk wrong weather or breakdowns. Unfortunately this would never
work for us; we're both 'last minute' people so when our efforts are
combined it tends to result in us being a 'last second' family.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16pt;">We
then had six weeks in the Hobart area whilst first Ruth's mum and
then my parents visited with a few days overlap so that they could
meet. Their main reason for coming was to see Ravi (and us?) but it
was nice to get to know the area and see many of the sights with
them.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">My parents Chris and Jean, Ravi and Ruth's mum Averil</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh45muy2gas3VG4BTiRJt1b2IaZryokn8GhqjrjdAQUlY3y75qwSWPgRF9k-T2Noqpr4OpmTXqgxcifBkC40A6_DSnJSzrj5xxKhzfOv24e-v6Y5MXrX6bKg9crAtUvwtVNZUEmdkw5m2AS/s1600/DSCF4744.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh45muy2gas3VG4BTiRJt1b2IaZryokn8GhqjrjdAQUlY3y75qwSWPgRF9k-T2Noqpr4OpmTXqgxcifBkC40A6_DSnJSzrj5xxKhzfOv24e-v6Y5MXrX6bKg9crAtUvwtVNZUEmdkw5m2AS/s640/DSCF4744.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Averil introducing Ravi to shore bound delights in her air bnb Hobart. She had a week there then another at a beautiful place in cygnet then we went back for the wooden boat festival all of which remains incredibly un documented in photos.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijjZi-IV4eabsTiUyc5h_xfd09RmWrwVWKOnBbdl0ZAQmXmMQuH6C2lp6Okoku4q7GirG8JSQkTfnNTOmK8CB_FUgkj1UrP3w4EnH2ZefZZaV84e58-v1DOsDm3KJ7WjsWx5WUvuq8BvS1/s1600/IMG_20170214_141648.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijjZi-IV4eabsTiUyc5h_xfd09RmWrwVWKOnBbdl0ZAQmXmMQuH6C2lp6Okoku4q7GirG8JSQkTfnNTOmK8CB_FUgkj1UrP3w4EnH2ZefZZaV84e58-v1DOsDm3KJ7WjsWx5WUvuq8BvS1/s640/IMG_20170214_141648.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Here's one of my mum getting to know her grandson</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVojG98U4hdji-fl3RmBcljk9LbMheZsayMDhYGJJj4tsFuPR-cGcrQAy7pUGZAoHQIfFWlt3qgMDFl_yhg0-lkWZZmGyk_yf5C0rvsP9fsPDccT0rXQ_mmQd5KufT-G4DFf-0xvZDQL2L/s1600/DSCF4841.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVojG98U4hdji-fl3RmBcljk9LbMheZsayMDhYGJJj4tsFuPR-cGcrQAy7pUGZAoHQIfFWlt3qgMDFl_yhg0-lkWZZmGyk_yf5C0rvsP9fsPDccT0rXQ_mmQd5KufT-G4DFf-0xvZDQL2L/s640/DSCF4841.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Our first ever squid made a beautiful paella! We now have a squid jig but this one snagged on the normal fishing line.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEictOkNqnltDtyckjrX88xw-YDdTjjGx6gxApBO6rGc4gwP9i8ckYNV2arZR1LUbGOgZ5WkKKNa11L2iMQ8DclA0hUl-Oe5RY3yl81cb9ZVuZIrKwYs8JcL7IP2ZwrRDWfGVSdsyN-foWjP/s1600/DSCF4848.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEictOkNqnltDtyckjrX88xw-YDdTjjGx6gxApBO6rGc4gwP9i8ckYNV2arZR1LUbGOgZ5WkKKNa11L2iMQ8DclA0hUl-Oe5RY3yl81cb9ZVuZIrKwYs8JcL7IP2ZwrRDWfGVSdsyN-foWjP/s640/DSCF4848.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Impetuous in Hobart</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjE8F6g0V8f_UxfAvSPSCEIUCtoCvqR-g_T2ouTtlVjVTIJEWCkAzxn-ThtJ4p1KYVPfczmY9Ac_tvbdE7xVssI78mrTEDuwm1eaeW5IIwt4v-oPxWUnbOrtRK_l9IPtMxzQ7kPqiX1ygr/s1600/DSCF4991.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjE8F6g0V8f_UxfAvSPSCEIUCtoCvqR-g_T2ouTtlVjVTIJEWCkAzxn-ThtJ4p1KYVPfczmY9Ac_tvbdE7xVssI78mrTEDuwm1eaeW5IIwt4v-oPxWUnbOrtRK_l9IPtMxzQ7kPqiX1ygr/s640/DSCF4991.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Where Mona is a highlight; a very unusual Museum of Old and New Art. This is hacked out of the sandstone and houses all kinds of unusual things. This display emits words in water which plummet to the floor in a second or so and are chosen from Google's most searched terms commenting on our transient attention and media. The next one combines sex acts and botany in tin can form...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkm-Se1f7XhgQkkoSy3auVylOIXSZM3dj_eEt6pcUeGIbi6u12sBZc1Cebu8xyQ2eGxcNE6UzSS0LlO80aC34LrKCwCV91Brt9wbpJ73Vg33qSKApBOYxzQ7CDRJWJTgl1SQIJ3zjcxuLP/s1600/DSCF5008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkm-Se1f7XhgQkkoSy3auVylOIXSZM3dj_eEt6pcUeGIbi6u12sBZc1Cebu8xyQ2eGxcNE6UzSS0LlO80aC34LrKCwCV91Brt9wbpJ73Vg33qSKApBOYxzQ7CDRJWJTgl1SQIJ3zjcxuLP/s640/DSCF5008.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrWB3t1AeasHBojMdJDozGXRbsFo_UpAUB1QaDJ1Jx3CMLU4j0S82fBliGpBJA2C5KrS1PlF4sm4ezB8iZ5qzb9ODx6cSN0kssyTZXpOB2Crz82EE_55S6MyYGhGw54Th532FVIXUworRf/s1600/DSCN0947.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrWB3t1AeasHBojMdJDozGXRbsFo_UpAUB1QaDJ1Jx3CMLU4j0S82fBliGpBJA2C5KrS1PlF4sm4ezB8iZ5qzb9ODx6cSN0kssyTZXpOB2Crz82EE_55S6MyYGhGw54Th532FVIXUworRf/s640/DSCN0947.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Caves near Port Arthur.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWTivurWPBFI8IN-_REnQ21q9Nb3CupVBFMY_wkinM0gBuaDObNLWfmKBPeYy_yB35qRMmukFhBdWJ_SOsmb6fojuLvBBiesBAvY912qBcWlDYzDJYeY_MPWO2LXD8JkQ4jXdk7rrZc5Jb/s1600/DSCF4914.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWTivurWPBFI8IN-_REnQ21q9Nb3CupVBFMY_wkinM0gBuaDObNLWfmKBPeYy_yB35qRMmukFhBdWJ_SOsmb6fojuLvBBiesBAvY912qBcWlDYzDJYeY_MPWO2LXD8JkQ4jXdk7rrZc5Jb/s640/DSCF4914.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Nappies fluttering everywhere we go!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtvAZOdrWTThVZP36fxZ8GkNzm26xUunsiDdxP0vcmlXlFkOB3-cpOJ6sdl1Gy6RGw8fuwAI-lJS19rPkg2d1nPmWu6ztZeM-J6_N5EpJp39vvcdpMcAB0tPGh3c28YZXOSqOc9zdgC8b4/s1600/DSCF4963.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtvAZOdrWTThVZP36fxZ8GkNzm26xUunsiDdxP0vcmlXlFkOB3-cpOJ6sdl1Gy6RGw8fuwAI-lJS19rPkg2d1nPmWu6ztZeM-J6_N5EpJp39vvcdpMcAB0tPGh3c28YZXOSqOc9zdgC8b4/s640/DSCF4963.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0R633HHHouiHCDB8mHsMofN8-4imvxG5m8F3qZbhCflAkAxZzcKjBWvf4QIHHZeA5wWTysK7RahUHIlPt7FCJC24t7wYVvsETPJ4QOWnVzcjte1BHOwJAJiWmR5awUiRVjYi4UdiW8sew/s1600/DSCF4969.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0R633HHHouiHCDB8mHsMofN8-4imvxG5m8F3qZbhCflAkAxZzcKjBWvf4QIHHZeA5wWTysK7RahUHIlPt7FCJC24t7wYVvsETPJ4QOWnVzcjte1BHOwJAJiWmR5awUiRVjYi4UdiW8sew/s640/DSCF4969.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Hobart views from up mount Wellington</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBe0IyafcCG0fOWpRz8jayU4L7o1pJA9A-F8NNCzxBsxLHluOJyfj_OE9zYGLh4txldVY5rXnS74Ql6SEufrdHjDdNSb1j7rxhSbzxhzEsRafugnMTMxNMEQAnNm86c0oWH0SA32rLkyfF/s1600/2017-04-16_09.52.28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBe0IyafcCG0fOWpRz8jayU4L7o1pJA9A-F8NNCzxBsxLHluOJyfj_OE9zYGLh4txldVY5rXnS74Ql6SEufrdHjDdNSb1j7rxhSbzxhzEsRafugnMTMxNMEQAnNm86c0oWH0SA32rLkyfF/s640/2017-04-16_09.52.28.jpg" width="586" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 21.3333px;">Pademelons, platypi and waterfalls at Mount Field national park </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIOElYWMuzKUJelR-XnsX05Ke1QYc675oO6lZ1CxqbZ_spYaBBXLNCR_hRStk2t3hDy-tChxYSj8NB4YVXmDFhdpjiyRdAoGnynviP5aUkGPIoSLUyhvAYh3ztk-Av1XhFDVyZpa07w0DN/s1600/DSCF5064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIOElYWMuzKUJelR-XnsX05Ke1QYc675oO6lZ1CxqbZ_spYaBBXLNCR_hRStk2t3hDy-tChxYSj8NB4YVXmDFhdpjiyRdAoGnynviP5aUkGPIoSLUyhvAYh3ztk-Av1XhFDVyZpa07w0DN/s640/DSCF5064.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHmtisK7tz_PkWpehiAo_ftKhDXYi_ByDSwdVYz2bVSoy2MU6hjxATgYxr_k-ixk-31L64xrnNXoC-d0R-S2aIbh6oYn6mt6VB4UHO7WZFhUHJyRkmUdrk82rbGy8tqy7zEcJcGyE6QC_H/s1600/DSCF5135.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHmtisK7tz_PkWpehiAo_ftKhDXYi_ByDSwdVYz2bVSoy2MU6hjxATgYxr_k-ixk-31L64xrnNXoC-d0R-S2aIbh6oYn6mt6VB4UHO7WZFhUHJyRkmUdrk82rbGy8tqy7zEcJcGyE6QC_H/s640/DSCF5135.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ravi likes the spoon I made him for his mini meals...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 21.3333px;">With grandparents gone and a high lingering over Tasmania with the promise of good weather, we headed off to the Southern Capes and on to the remote Bathurst harbour. Only accesible by foot, light plane or of course boat, we hoped it would serve us a week or so of isolated beauty before heading north again to meet a friend, warm up and press on towards Asia.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 21.3333px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgGjOHV-hkJUkUDq9CAODpeEuF7mrGN8TmhLJnjM8AaiS2UnYIX_hTX-0PDZPx0mn7XBXkED4mmpvU4_eftOCO4pKgqZV7j2EX_LNBzDXUqa5cc0BvDf_N3DCJ3DtpmgbznSyqj8Xp10E2/s1600/2017-04-16_09.47.54.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgGjOHV-hkJUkUDq9CAODpeEuF7mrGN8TmhLJnjM8AaiS2UnYIX_hTX-0PDZPx0mn7XBXkED4mmpvU4_eftOCO4pKgqZV7j2EX_LNBzDXUqa5cc0BvDf_N3DCJ3DtpmgbznSyqj8Xp10E2/s640/2017-04-16_09.47.54.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 21.3333px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Rounding South West Cape and it was chilly!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 21.3333px;">It was with quiet alarm that we rounded the last of the offlying islands, after dark, and headed for Bramble cove. The bay seemed to resemble a small town, with many lights illumiating it. 'Ruth, there aren't any villages here are there?' I enquired. 'There's no phone reception and everyone talks as if it were totally deserted'</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 21.3333px;">The bay was full of some 40 + boats. The following morning we recognised that many sported the flag of a rally that had left Hobart after the wooden boat festival; a month earlier, and circled Tasmania. We had arrived on their last night, by mid day there where only a handful left. With the new space and daylight we moved to the north shore and dug out our walking boots, with ideas of taking Ravi up a mountain.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 21.3333px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsRKChX7mGLxq5WD_sQ2DZKxxUYPK6JRM5LsTCKk8oUSFejsAoF485qA-_xWVy6CFO7F2FgQoekO7tJ8hUMjaCLT_BzSdNhjyeuioRKyntL_h_IlYGdCE0vGBqHiFOXeMkoJf6fGTZAG0I/s1600/DSCF5162.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsRKChX7mGLxq5WD_sQ2DZKxxUYPK6JRM5LsTCKk8oUSFejsAoF485qA-_xWVy6CFO7F2FgQoekO7tJ8hUMjaCLT_BzSdNhjyeuioRKyntL_h_IlYGdCE0vGBqHiFOXeMkoJf6fGTZAG0I/s640/DSCF5162.JPG" width="640" /></a></span>
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 21.3333px;">We weren't to be dissapointed. With still settled weather the views from the top of mount misery were spellbinding. Reminding us of why we choose to seek out these remote destinations. Over the coming days we were to enjoy some wonderful walks, making good use of the baby carrier that my parents had found in a garage sale in Port Cygnet. As well as sheltered sailing between secluded anchorages and the odd dip into the cold Southern Ocean seeking out shellfish.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Above Clayton's corner where there is an abandoned but maintained house and nearby a campsite and bird watching hut where we saw one of the most rare birds in the world. Only around 60 in the wild, the vaguely unimpressive orange breasted parrot.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">From Spain bay this ocean beach was an easy walk away, famous for its aboriginal midden</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKTaXB3jdztgREzonbsSo_WTbZW-65Jmo8HVfW5oPmKmkUdvaFNPnEPaFEM4FwP-94Z7OpfPmaVhS24tP0t1XiLbXFkjmg_mKtlbwc-P_uHLvlgBbLw2ZC-yw-Ai9P2KM8dcZaXBADtIO8/s1600/DSCF5323.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKTaXB3jdztgREzonbsSo_WTbZW-65Jmo8HVfW5oPmKmkUdvaFNPnEPaFEM4FwP-94Z7OpfPmaVhS24tP0t1XiLbXFkjmg_mKtlbwc-P_uHLvlgBbLw2ZC-yw-Ai9P2KM8dcZaXBADtIO8/s640/DSCF5323.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Without any interpretation boards it's nice to be left to find your own understanding of what these huge mounds of shells must signify and where they were brought from since the beach was otherwise completely devoid of them. We kept at a respectful distance since there were obviously sizeable bones intermingled with the shells.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 23.4554px;">When we heard (from fellow cruisers with a HF radio) that there were to be SE winds for the coming few days we realised that our time in this beautiful corner of Tasmania must come to an end. This was too good an opportunity to miss meaning we could sail up the usually rough West coast with fair winds and little swell. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 23.4554px;">By the time that the next strong westerlies came we had managed to get ourselves up the west coast and across the north to Flinders island. At times we even had to motor so settled was the weather. We stopped in the town of Stanley near the north west corner; trekked up the steep 'nut' and found the best ice cream in ages; dark chocolate chilli. Here we enjoyed the hospitality of the fishing harbour which was free and had great hot showers. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 23.4554px;">We briefly visited the sandy inlet of port sorrel where we got throughly soaked and the wind against tide conditions played havock with anything not strongly enough lashed down. This gave us a job of patching a batten pocket to do as we positioned ourselves at the top of flinders island, in the bass straights, a perfect jumping off point to return to the mainland. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Catching up with more washing in Stanley fishing harbour</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWZX_-qXLb10VxiG11PkPyE0hrcQv9MfzFyQ8lG4XZlvZFrELqMj_-3VXYMm_0MCKMQLhDMQAU8kzE_CgjU72EIrWfhgZp_71wv6BrO_yv0W3ft_1V1P5zRqGaFF-JKLy8D-ITCyPoo9Gf/s1600/DSCF5408.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWZX_-qXLb10VxiG11PkPyE0hrcQv9MfzFyQ8lG4XZlvZFrELqMj_-3VXYMm_0MCKMQLhDMQAU8kzE_CgjU72EIrWfhgZp_71wv6BrO_yv0W3ft_1V1P5zRqGaFF-JKLy8D-ITCyPoo9Gf/s640/DSCF5408.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 21.3333px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 21.3333px;">Heading North back up the mainland we were treated to a stunning dolphin display</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 21.3333px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 21.3333px;">It would be wonderful to say that we had a hitchless return to the mainland and back to sydney. Though the weather provided us with swift downwind sailing, we had a roly time with a current against us. On the only occasion we ran the engine it spluttered a new complaint. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 21.3333px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 21.3333px;">We are now back in Sydney and have had a lovely time with our friend's visit pottering around the harbour by sail and seeing some sights. The faulty engine slightly hampered where we could go; the latest ancillary part at fault is the diesel injection pump that has taken to kindly sharing the precious diesel fuel with the oil sump much to our displeasure. So we're doning our 'working on boats in exotic places' caps whilst allowing ourselves the luxury of a launderette wash every now and again for a few weeks before continuing up the coast. </span></span></span><br />
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Impetuoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17419178184715125383noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-368727396780636147.post-28711603242373054202017-03-10T03:01:00.000+00:002017-03-10T03:01:45.232+00:00A little something from New Caledonia and a big welcome to Sydney!Catch up time! Sorry we've been so slack. We've been having a lovely time; been sailing far and wide and visited by lots of grandparents. Back in December we sailed from New Caledonia to Australia. We had Christmas at sea and new year's eve in Sydney. Here's what we should have posted on new year's day...<br />
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New Caledonia is French. It's not Europe but there's no doubt whilst you're there what country you're in. There might be palm trees and hibiscus flowers but there are also cars driving on the right, baguettes, cheese, wine and a slight undercurrent of cool.<br />
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Whilst there, we really went crazy with the Vin, du pan, et du fromage. Paté de Champagne has never tasted so good, we even tried a paté du cheval!<br />
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Checking in was blissfully free and just entailed trailing around a few offices. They even let us check in and check out at the same time since we'd arrived Thursday and planned to press on on Sunday.<br />
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Nouméa harbour is busy and anchoring is only permitted in small well marked areas. Sadly these areas are chock full of Moorings so anchoring on the edge or picking up a mooring are your only options. We picked one up just outside the marina expecting to have to move on later so were pleased when a Frenchman rowed over and said we were welcome to borrow it for a few days, the owner was inside the marina for cyclone season.<br />
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We'd only planned on a weekend but we ended up staying a week as our visa for Australia had the complication of requiring medical examinations and chest x rays. We weren't seeing new Caledonia at its best since we only stayed in the capital where officials, phones and Internet are, but it appeared to be a troubled place. There was a palpable animosity between the mix of cultures there. Shiny buildings and fast cars with some of the people left behind and despondent. Alcohol can only be bought at some times on some days such are the problems.<br />
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Having said this, people were nice to us and we'd like to visit again to learn more, but next time sail around the island. However we were deep into cyclone season by now so on the 22nd December visas in hand we headed out again.<br />
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Christmas at sea was a blissfully low key affair. We had a good meal, a nice bottle of wine and watched a film. The sea was kind to us that day of a generally quick and pleasant passage. We'd worried that the trade winds are lessening at this time of year but we had no such trouble.<br />
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<span id="goog_1665841610"></span><span id="goog_1665841611"></span>Ravi with our Christmas roast. He had his first scrap of food on the day but it was lychee, not roast.<br />
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Having a chat about the weather...<br />
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Eight days at sea unusually for us clock watching all the way. And we made it! We had good wind until about 30 miles out of Sydney when it died, then so did Pip. Bloody engines! So we flopped about in view of our goal for a whole day and finally picked up the quarantine buoy as light faded on the 30th Dec.<br />
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We'd been reticent about visiting Australia; until it became the obvious thing to do given the changing season; because of stories about difficult check ins. Particularly those concerning their caution over wood dwelling insects. We had visions of being impounded, fined, our woodwork being carved up and our mast being carted off by over zealous bio security officers. Perhaps it was the season or that Sydney does not see many international yacht first check ins but the guys we had couldn't have been more delightful or reasonable. Once they heard that we only spend time at anchor and wouldn't be doing any modifications whilst in Oz, their concerns were allayed and we sailed through our inspections.<br />
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Then we had to sail off their dock! It was new year's eve morning and the wind had been picking up such that one of the officers had started to go green! It was hooning into the small bay with much gusto so an elaborate plan with dinghy and long ropes was implemented. We span round within a whisker of a beautiful moored wooden ketch, quickly getting in all the lines before tacking out amongst all the moored boats. It would have been a tricky manoeuvre with the engine but without it was nail biting stuff.<br />
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Ravi is used to having us both right there to attend to his every whim but at this time he had to be left to cry lonely bolstered up in the bow safely out of the way. He only cried less than 5 minutes before giving up and going to sleep.<br />
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We sailed out into the main harbour and found ourselves a good spot and waited.<br />
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We weren't disappointed. What a welcome!<br />
<br />Impetuoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17419178184715125383noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-368727396780636147.post-83228899224199406482016-12-16T07:54:00.001+00:002016-12-16T08:04:25.653+00:00Blue water baby...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Finally Ravi's passport arrived on Friday. We'd applied for it when he was 5 days old at the end of September, now he's a chunky 2 ½ months. Much to every Fijians surprise a Fijian passport was never an option since neither of us have citizenship. Apart from being a little pedantic about the background of a photo which is supposed to show authorities what Ravi looks like up until he is five years old, the delays were numerous but mostly not to do with the UK passport authority. Once a countersigned photo and covering letters for all our irregularities were received, the passport was sent on the 21st November. It then proceeded to take 17 days to get here. That was on DHL expedited documents service which estimates 4-5 working days. Customs was the main problem in the UK, apparently they always sit on passports for a bit before worrying about looking at them and sending them on. At every stage it seemed to need chasing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Anyhow back to Friday. We picked up the passport from the lovely marina ladies and then were sung out by an ad-hoc gang singing the Fijian farewell song ‘Ni Sa Lei...’ as we rowed back to Impetuous anchored outside. A sail north up to the </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">port had us checking out just in time on a Friday afternoon... Or so we thought. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiErXq82qQB7SW-RQF8gLqfYbkbHpMBae6kp3FtYT1ev11UxRUffZYarQUJyB_lnI66vTDnEDdUeymQdALOJb1iwA1SzBwJ09PUYFdEpAOFQsmCH6kzfyO5ow_dZ_uSXeH3xWzncWwiUlpC/s1600/IMG_20161209_130627.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiErXq82qQB7SW-RQF8gLqfYbkbHpMBae6kp3FtYT1ev11UxRUffZYarQUJyB_lnI66vTDnEDdUeymQdALOJb1iwA1SzBwJ09PUYFdEpAOFQsmCH6kzfyO5ow_dZ_uSXeH3xWzncWwiUlpC/s640/IMG_20161209_130627.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We’d visited the port twice in the previous two days checking details would be ok for our imminent departure and enquiring about overtime fees in case we had to leave at the weekend. At neither of these visits had Peni the customs officer felt the urge to inform us that we had to add Ravi to our crew officially with immigration. Their office is in town and only open during office hours. We'd already been to see them that week to ask for a few days visa extension since we were now over the 6 months readily allowed, but no one at that time had mentioned the need for this extra form either. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We quickly realised that we needed to stop arguing in frustration and find a taxi and get there, before the office closed in 15 minutes. We ooched and owed along the hot tarmac without shoes and flagged down the first taxi we saw. ‘Please straight to the immigration office and with the meter on please', there was no time for bargaining prices. For once no queue in immigration meant the simple and pathetically short form was filled and stamped in moments. Back at the port Peni was true to his word and waiting for us just past 4pm, his knocking off time, he didn't have the gall to charge us overtime and by half past we were free to leave. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Smug in the knowledge that all the port officials were heading to a party so there was therefore not going to be anyone around to notice us taking a bit of time. We went into town to spend our last few Fijian dollars and back to get both dinghy's stowed away.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As dusk fell on Lautoka we pulled up the anchor and main sail waving ‘see you sometime' to friends on ‘Eos' and ‘au revoir' to this Western section of Fiji we have gotten to know quite well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It was a gentle drift out towards the pass and a gentle drift once outside too. Still in the wind shadow of Viti Levu for many hours to come. A few squalls later then finally the SE trades graced us with their presence mid Saturday morning. Since then it has been a surprisingly rambunctious sail to New Caledonia. The forecast seemed to say 15-20 knots on the beam, ideal. However we've had the staysail stowed and the jib and main both double reefed getting sloshed by short steep waves until the last day when we've slowed ourselves to a gentle 6 knots with only double reefed jib. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1pNPaslPIOuAurXhYFa1lBQRHC1YOGBjU1Lfn1lJ21_s8CG8wMH6MON6zIenqQNRY1MwL2SdQvECA-UUC38TrEgASpfi-VrHeQtIOpsbwrDOX3CGCStSRj3Bwapx7oFX-92-bJAzdfNWW/s1600/DSCF4317.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1pNPaslPIOuAurXhYFa1lBQRHC1YOGBjU1Lfn1lJ21_s8CG8wMH6MON6zIenqQNRY1MwL2SdQvECA-UUC38TrEgASpfi-VrHeQtIOpsbwrDOX3CGCStSRj3Bwapx7oFX-92-bJAzdfNWW/s640/DSCF4317.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It took us just under 5 days to do just under 700 miles. Once inside the reef here in New Caledonia the sail round the island was a treat, 8 knots downwind sailing with just the jib and no more waves, Ravi enjoyed this all from his car seat. Until then we'd had to cower inside for fear of a frequent drenching from waves.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Like us all, Ravi has some places on Impetuous he loves to inhabit when on passage. Sprawled out on the leeward bunk, like everybody else is high up on the list. Fortunately he isn't too big so as not to share it. However, sharing a Lee bunk with a small baby isn't as regenerative as not sharing it; oweing to what we call the squish factor.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">On passage we still sleep in the bow more often than not. Indeed with a fan on either side it's quite a pleasant place to read a book. So despite all the sloshing of the boisterous sail Ravi spent a fair amount of time in the bow. With the simple addition of his dancing birdies mobile he can spend hours orchestrating them as they sway to the rock of the boat and he rolls from pillow to pillow.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We've jammed in a spare wind vane to the side of the pilot berth, covered with a sarong and padded by a blanket it makes a great leeboard. A neat addition to what has become his bunk; with his mobile frame at one end over his quilt and an enormous pile of nappies at the other. But on passage it wasn't where he wanted to be. As the occasional wave slammed in to the hull side cascading itself across the boat Ravi would be awoken; startled, from his slumber. We call it starfish baby. Arms and legs spring out as does a certain aura of panic. Ravi didn't spend much time in his bunk.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Perhaps his favourite place is his car seat that we've bungied on to the boat. From there he can truly embrace the wonder of sailing. Smiles always abound when he is placed in it, A happiness we're keen to foster. It won't be much longer before his wriggling turns to crawling and the car seat has buckles that still work, despite the salty years of service it provided for our friends on Eos II. We haven’t told him this yet.</span><br />
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All in all Ravi has taken the whole experience in his stride; noticing only that whilst at sea there's always someone awake to give his head a stroke should he open his eyes when a noise disturbs him. Also at sea his dangling toys never stop dancing!<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So we’re now in new Caledonia enjoying all the culinary delights a French country has to offer. The plan is to feast on baguettes, pate', cheese and wine for a few days before heading off to Australia. It will be Ravi's second blue water passage; they say that we can only dream of experiences we have already enjoyed, we often see Ravi dreaming of drinking as he sleeps. But now when he closes his eyes he has one more experience to dream of. Dreaming of blue water sailing.</span><br />
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<br />Impetuoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17419178184715125383noreply@blogger.com3Nouméa, New Caledonia-22.2558234 166.45052429999998-22.373381900000002 166.28916279999999 -22.1382649 166.61188579999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-368727396780636147.post-24668456929174694292016-12-02T23:28:00.000+00:002016-12-02T23:28:01.106+00:00Rubber Bucket<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16pt;">With
Christmas round the corner some of you might be wondering what boat
treats you can buy your sailing obsessed loved ones without shelling
out a ridiculous sum of money. The answer is a rubber bucket. Ruth
bought ours several Christmases ago before we had even launched the
boat. There was quite a bit of suspense as to what that big parcel for me might be, she assured me she hadn't spent much money but that I would like it. Ever since, it has been an indispensable boat item.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">They
can be a little tricky to track down. I bought my first in a builders
store in Spain. Ruth found Impetuous' bucket in an equestrian and farm
store. The beauty of both against anything you might find in a
chandlers is the price tag. </span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">The main attraction of them is that they are pretty much indestructible. With their heavy build and </span></span><span style="font-size: 21.3333px;">malleability</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> they wont crack when squashed in to the
locker or crushed by the tiller when you tack. They don't degrade like plastic does when left out in the sun, they can be lost over the side however. My first was swept away the day that my cooking hero
Keith Floyd died, a sad day indeed. So make sure you have a leash
and get in the habit of tying this precious gift to the boat.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">We
keep ours out as its pretty much in constant use. There is currently
a pile of clothes having a soak in some rain water caught by the
bucket. Ruth loads it up with her varnishing paraphernalia when she
goes aloft to varnish the mast; as it is soft it doesn't dent the mast
as it swings around. Though we recently finally got round to
connecting our saltwater washdown pump; intended for rinsing a muddy anchor
down; we did so to aid the washing of nappies, for which it excels
at. For rinsing the deck down once the anchor is up, the bucket is still our tool of choice. </span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16pt;">Recently we found yet another use for it. One that brought smiles to
all our faces. </span>
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Impetuoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17419178184715125383noreply@blogger.com3Lautoka, Fiji-17.6169957 177.45048880000002-17.6775302 177.36980780000002 -17.5564612 177.53116980000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-368727396780636147.post-3252508861859269522016-11-17T01:51:00.000+00:002016-11-17T02:48:46.459+00:00Wailea...<span style="font-family: inherit;">Wailea! Papa? How many months? 5 weeks? Ni Sa... Baby boy? Ni sa... Born here? Fiji baby? Wailea! Can I hold? Ni Sa... Bula papa!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It's hard to get anywhere in Fiji without Ravi causing quite a stir. Fijians love children in a way that's often commented on; even by people not trying to get across the market in order to catch a bus with a babe in arms. There's warmth and positivity towards all children here more noticeable than anywhere else we've been but common to all island communities. It's deep in the culture.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Wailea is a general exclamation word similar to wow. Ni Sa shows warmth and is added to lots of greetings but is used on its own to coo over Ravi. Papa is the Fijian word for baby. Fijians everywhere we go want to give Ravi cuddles. They pinch his cheeks, they stroke his arms and sniff his head showing affection similar to a kiss. Children come up and kiss him then parade him round their friends. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Any Fijian you encounter can be willingly entrusted with holding the baby if you're trying to do something. Where else would a lone man wandering past be delighted when a tiny one only a few weeks old is thrust in their arms? It means that dragging the dinghy up the beach or rearranging shopping bags is a breeze. Given half the chance they'll keep him as long as they can; no one's ever too busy to gush over a baby. In Fiji time everything else can wait.</span><br />
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The school kids and Lani the teacher at these boy's school would shout Ravi Ravi from the shore out to the boat for him to come and play<br />
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The ladies in this supermarket said they would baby sit him 'come back for him when he's 12!'</div>
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Tom the chief of the village of Yalobi on Waya, Ravi with Mary who, pleased to see we used cloth nappies gave us a big one from her boys 'all grown up now'<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">These kids had never ventured up the path scaling the hillside but scampered up alongside us if it meant they could hang out with Ravi just a little longer... </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">We're pottering along nicely here. We thought the passport might take some time and we weren't wrong... There have been several tedious stumbling blocks the trickiest of which has been getting the right background for the photo. Our first attempt was to use a photographer in town but not only was it rejected because the background was wrong, it was also technically too small and missing a border. Ridiculous we know, but it's not as easy as you might think finding a suitably coloured and clean sheet, then getting him to hold his head square on it without wrinkles. Hopefully we've finally found a solution and together with all the extra forms and proof required, the UK passport authority should be processing it any day now.</span><br />
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A few photos that didn't make the cut<br />
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Life continues as normal here in the meantime. Alongside handwashing around 15 nappies a day, we've still got boat projects and fixing things as they fail. In the last month or so we've been keeping on top of the varnishing and trying to figure out why the engine wasn't starting so well. In the end the culprit was the injectors which have now been serviced and in the mean time our exhaust muffler developed a leak and so we've re-designed that system to make it more convenient and less likely to fail in the future. Also our main halyard winch pulled out of the mast whilst sailing. It made a dent in the mast but could have been much worse. It's now through bolted to the staysail winch on the other side and all the old holes are plugged. Sitka spruce whilst being light and strong does not take fittings well. Thankfully we made the mast solid at that point so this is no problem and we're glad we already overbored and epoxied the mast track screw holes.<br />
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We had a lovely couple of weeks out at Waya staying by the village of Yalobi. We liked it so much we are wending our way back there now. We hope to give them our old main sail as we think the villagers will put it to good use as a shelter or for drying pandanus in order to make the mats they weave. It's quite an industrious village what with the big boarding school serving the surrounding islands and with visits from cruise ships most weeks. It's still very much a traditional village though with a chief and a laid back friendly feel.<br />
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Yalobi village, Waya.<br />
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Ravi enjoying the sunrise outside<br />
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We tried to encourage Ravi to look at the camera but he was too overwhelmed by the sight of his beautiful wooden mast so we went with that look instead. Along with Ravi's first photos we've lost our straightening program with our dead hard drive. A necessary tool when taking photos on a boat!<br />
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We're taking him for regular dips. Baby steps.<br />
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We lost the path on the walk up to the ridge so eventually had to abort, I was barefoot but the main problem was the mosquitoes and the sun getting higher.<br />
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Waya on the way out, we'll be back<br />
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Heeled right over he was oblivious... until we tacked!<br />
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Life never gets boring on a boat, if nothings happening you can just dance to the windscoop fluttering...<br />
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Or laugh at the clouds...<br />
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Our bright eyed boy is getting more interactive all the time...<br />
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So I'm sure some of you might be wondering how it's all going. Truthfully it's great. We can't compare parenting on land but there are loads of things great about parenting on our boat. The trickiest is probably how careful we need to be with him and the sun. He's fine around town or rowing about as he's quite happy to have a sarong flung over his head and generally goes to sleep or has a feed. However we've found that even just the reflected sun from the water out in the cockpit has to be carefully rationed and when going for a swim not only does he risk burning but also gets cold very quickly too. All part of the learning curve! Hopefully from the photos you can see how good a time we're having, probably the most important is that we have the time to really enjoy it. All those boat jobs can wait. We're on Ravi time.<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ravi in his carseat having a gentle sail back for his check up and immunisations</span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>Impetuoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17419178184715125383noreply@blogger.com2Malolo, Fiji-17.749444 177.169444-17.762687 177.149274 -17.736201 177.189614tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-368727396780636147.post-8866047222140973572016-10-07T09:17:00.000+01:002016-10-07T09:18:59.120+01:00First week in the life of a newborn sailor...<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">you read our blog for anecdotal and sometimes comical accounts of sailing tales from the high seas, then we apologise. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">On Saturday 24th September our lives changed forever for the better when our son was born. Normal service will resume shortly; our next big passage should be in around 6 weeks time or so but until then it's wall to wall baby pictures and gushy soppy prose.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ravi Arthur Fagg had a hard time trying to get out and in the end was born around midday by caesarian section 36 hours after my waters first broke. Fiji has a caesarian rate of around 12% as opposed to most of the Western world being in the 25-30% region and the USA even higher at 33% (WHO). They don't do them readily here but if it's absolutely necessary they can.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He was born uttering a lusty cry and continued to do so the next half hour whilst they cleaned him, checked him and sewed me up until he was brought to have his first suckle and relaxed straight in to our little family. Duncan and I have both never been so relieved.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS7gq2LbpTkB5WCNPOVD3pcuFGo13RxDjlGzZPSFWtZBecwFKDHHGpCgzWZxDErsYcMf2vC8uQthU17nXSX2D6wJtEDrmtI1KQjKXDMby8Y2oRmCRpp6bd6Fut_BbqxEz-QEov3FW_8NSt/s1600/IMG_20160921_143348.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS7gq2LbpTkB5WCNPOVD3pcuFGo13RxDjlGzZPSFWtZBecwFKDHHGpCgzWZxDErsYcMf2vC8uQthU17nXSX2D6wJtEDrmtI1KQjKXDMby8Y2oRmCRpp6bd6Fut_BbqxEz-QEov3FW_8NSt/s640/IMG_20160921_143348.jpg" width="640" /></span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Thus he began his lifetime of experiences. The world outside is a confusing and concerning place for a newborn and you can see it in their faces. The first touches they feel, the first smells and light; they react instinctively to begin with, moving towards or away according to preprogrammed responses.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We were lucky that I recovered so quickly from the operation most likely influenced by the extreme euphoria I was feeling to have him OK after those difficult hours. When visiting time was over at 7pm Duncan was evicted from our company by the severe maternity unit security guard. At this time due to the spinal I'd had, I was still wide awake but could not move my legs. Nevertheless I was left on my own with Ravi to take care of with no obvious way of summoning help. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Duncan was careful to make sure I had everything I might need within reach and got me comfy before he left. Had I had a girlfriend available to help that would have been encouraged, they just had a strict no men outside visiting hours policy despite there being posters about the place encouraging father's involvement... It was sad him heading home so early and alone.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">An hour or so later the nurse came to take Ravi for his first bath. Can I come help? I asked, keen to keep him near and learn what they did. Can you walk? She replied quizzically then looked back in disbelief as I slowly heaved myself after her down the corridor. My abdomen was still numb but otherwise the spinal effects had worn off. Later that night the doctor tried and failed to cannulate him so he had his first intra muscular injection poor mite.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ravi slept his first night only waking a couple of times and being given a suckle and lots of cuddles. We both had to stay in the hospital three days for antibiotics and monitoring then finally we were allowed to go home. He had his first taxi ride in his first thunder storm but as Duncan had left all the hatches open when leaving the boat at anchor that morning, he rowed out to shut them in the thrashing rain then we all stayed in a nice dry air conditioned bungalow for our first night together. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This was disappointing as we were desperate to be home for his first night as a family but Ravi had been suffering a bit from the heat and mosquitoes at the hospital so we thought the AC would be good where a hot soggy boat probably would not help his rash. That night at the marina bar he was the star attraction whilst we caught up with some friends. In the end Duncan went to find him to spend some Pappa time to find Ravi quite happy asleep on a Fijian lady. His first night out at a bar.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The next afternoon we rowed out and were finally home. Duncan pulled up the anchor and Ravi went for his first sail aged 4 days old. We were only going a few miles and the wind was at our back until we tacked into the anchorage; still only with our Yankee jib; to the whoops and celebratory hollers of friends there cheering Ravi in.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We had some photos from this sail however sadly our hard drive has failed and so they are lost. Thankfully Doug on Renegade snapped these as we sailed past him.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">And Ravi helping get the anchor ready on the foredeck...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">5 days old and it was time to start Ravi's passport application. We rowed in and caught the bus to the city and started the merry dance to get his birth certificate. As we're not married we were told Duncan's name could not be on it by the nurses. However, we found out there was a way; it just meant jumping through some hoops in various offices. Ravi managed this long day with aplomb. We were exhausted! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Ravi's first paperwork and passport photo; rocking the Ramones babygrow at 5 days old!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The next day we all had a very well earned rest. Ravi not only heard his very first Beatles album but was also subjected to his very first 'The Archers Omnibus', it was a pivotal one including Helens trial. We were a bit behind what with one thing and another...</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Grannie made him a lovely quilt to lie on at home and to take to the beach</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh21ySWh11WIQ0OHag9IFDZh3M2V2k0Em2KlDk7DlUzmwbL9e46Fm8lVDMciauDc1Jwpvj4L2QsqeJL9jKy03RthqJS3mvXa0Mteh75XYn9k_jKliPyv9kwmk_W8xKIw2SM4XYsX8Nyt2i_/s1600/DSCF3433.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh21ySWh11WIQ0OHag9IFDZh3M2V2k0Em2KlDk7DlUzmwbL9e46Fm8lVDMciauDc1Jwpvj4L2QsqeJL9jKy03RthqJS3mvXa0Mteh75XYn9k_jKliPyv9kwmk_W8xKIw2SM4XYsX8Nyt2i_/s640/DSCF3433.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Our sailor boy has a cyclone in the middle of his forehead!</span></span><br />
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Impetuoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17419178184715125383noreply@blogger.com6Saweni Beach, Fiji-17.6477426 177.39153829999998-17.6515256 177.38649579999998 -17.643959600000002 177.39658079999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-368727396780636147.post-34913932469902580172016-09-17T10:52:00.000+01:002016-09-17T10:52:17.244+01:00Ganesh Chaturti!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijZcYt8woIxp2dRznJS4vHUlwr0dCPvqn3xLV43uMzwanvWASa_8yRQ8SyWN1zvUXGqKcCV98UoIPTos4aX57aVQCZ8V6k2-yi9EWFtSd2oUrGWQdY-Mt-A1jeWDPEtkFxQTPGJqzHeoAF/s1600/IMG_20160904_131845.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijZcYt8woIxp2dRznJS4vHUlwr0dCPvqn3xLV43uMzwanvWASa_8yRQ8SyWN1zvUXGqKcCV98UoIPTos4aX57aVQCZ8V6k2-yi9EWFtSd2oUrGWQdY-Mt-A1jeWDPEtkFxQTPGJqzHeoAF/s640/IMG_20160904_131845.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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We hear this train every night and saw it yesterday whilst out for a walk, slowly rumbling along its track bound from the fields into Lautoka, sugar city. We too have slowed down, rumbling towards our momentous trip into Lautoka when it's time to become three. It won't be long now, as the mangoes ripen on the trees our precious load grows ever more ready.<br />
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With our due date just a week away now our check up appointments have been becoming more frequent and so we sail in ever decreasing circles; out away from the city and returning back. Last month we felt brave enough to venture to the top of the Yasawa Islands. Many of the anchorages were rolly up there so when we found Nanuya to be flat and calm we stayed longer, despite the resorts nearby. This was where 'The Blue Lagoon' film was shot with Brooke Shields back in 1980. It was surprisingly both quiet and convivial with beautiful water for swimming, lots of friendly cruisers passing through, a farm to visit nearby for veggies and nice walks.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir7C93F19007JsXlkmHXX0pX4cP9RTGDnjcPyFsb4dW5hyphenhyphenAzpvqzUe9N5cDMnboyXbahKwmkoJMm4sYq5EYl8q_1_cv26LOk7tA8gvRDTejCNP7wPair3nf-z5C-_NLKU1VPgk9w3VlgSs/s1600/DSCF3142.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir7C93F19007JsXlkmHXX0pX4cP9RTGDnjcPyFsb4dW5hyphenhyphenAzpvqzUe9N5cDMnboyXbahKwmkoJMm4sYq5EYl8q_1_cv26LOk7tA8gvRDTejCNP7wPair3nf-z5C-_NLKU1VPgk9w3VlgSs/s640/DSCF3142.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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Sailing Fidget on the Blue lagoon<br />
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We spent a couple of weeks anchored off more remote villages where it was saddening to see and hear how much damage had been done by cyclone Winston earlier this year. The crops are not fully recovered and people were obviously struggling. It must be so disheartening re-cultivating, rebuilding, and re-roofing knowing that it may happen again each year. <br />
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Somehow Fijians still manage to be welcoming when you go to pay your respects to the chief asking to be granted 'SevuSevu'. This is a traditional ritual where a visitor presents an offering; usually Kava (in Fiji called Yaquona) a mildly narcotic root which is prepared and drunk in a ceremonial way. In return the chief then extends the welcome of the village to share in their space.<br />
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When the supply boat from the mainland came the whole village came out to greet those returning with goodies. Very possibly this is more of a highlight than usual with such little food available locally.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjevwgRctqByMDcrkC6TkbAT50zGPeW6K63GMDuTml33Yn4XNB-y4eJpR7u-QX58_w1iVJzORq4MY0Z7PxCcZYN81vWF0yzg6rZRH7i8jU_savYW_7DzPuNqs-8_Kyb-zuXW1tzxGxtDeQp/s1600/DSCF3171.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjevwgRctqByMDcrkC6TkbAT50zGPeW6K63GMDuTml33Yn4XNB-y4eJpR7u-QX58_w1iVJzORq4MY0Z7PxCcZYN81vWF0yzg6rZRH7i8jU_savYW_7DzPuNqs-8_Kyb-zuXW1tzxGxtDeQp/s640/DSCF3171.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPNsFY4HT76ZF6fDsh2hmjFNdwwrJGfq_Tsv0651SEmZ5mvjbnuT55LB3Lh0SjYNLaGRAsY2H59I6ROrOij3y8npW1zN27Lpavqm5JkSxmg9SABlD_pLLAwz5cAP4SrhIp0Lxez8w4ErCN/s1600/DSCF3170.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPNsFY4HT76ZF6fDsh2hmjFNdwwrJGfq_Tsv0651SEmZ5mvjbnuT55LB3Lh0SjYNLaGRAsY2H59I6ROrOij3y8npW1zN27Lpavqm5JkSxmg9SABlD_pLLAwz5cAP4SrhIp0Lxez8w4ErCN/s640/DSCF3170.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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Closer to home (or more importantly hospital) are the Mamanuca islands, we stayed at Yanuya and it's nearby 'Tom Hanks Island!' where we were told much of the movie Castaway was filmed. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi483djQ1MJs10g0bax28_420bmi19jl4qLwm6J6cbyCW-WzoVVzkXmaqWZUrWdxZlbbzG0jtO1AYk2rfs55I-8O6OIqeLIlLoCJFYIP3UHFjRaoMH3xFcZH3DioZ3WQHB1Mn0-Hr0LHiwi/s1600/DSCF3216.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi483djQ1MJs10g0bax28_420bmi19jl4qLwm6J6cbyCW-WzoVVzkXmaqWZUrWdxZlbbzG0jtO1AYk2rfs55I-8O6OIqeLIlLoCJFYIP3UHFjRaoMH3xFcZH3DioZ3WQHB1Mn0-Hr0LHiwi/s640/DSCF3216.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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Also nearby the very beautiful Monuriki. Not an easy anchorage but worth it when the weather is right.<br />
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One of the absolute delights of Fiji is that as well as the rich Melanesian culture of the indigenous population there is also the charm of the other half of the population who were originally from India and have kept their cultural, religious and traditional practices alive. We have met people whose families were originally from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan but most were indentured from rural Northern India back when Fiji and India were part of the British empire. It seems they were mostly brought to work in the sugar business originally and are now third and fourth generation Fijians.<br />
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Fiji is a little like stepping in to a wonderland of India nestled in to the South Pacific islands. We've met only one intermarried couple in our time here, mostly the Indians and Melanesians maintain a slight distance whilst apparently getting along pretty well. Politics has been a problem. At 37.5% the Indo-Fijians mostly live on the main islands and are inclined to vote for Indo-Fijian parties. When they get into power the Melanesians and Polynesians have risen up and forcibly changed the government. The last of four coup d'etats over the preceding twenty years was in 2009. Peace appears to be reigning at the moment with a Fijian Prime minister who is a champion of equal rights for the ethnic Indian community and a president who is of a minority outer island descent.<br />
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As anyone who has ever experienced the joy of a Hindu festival will know its an explosion to the senses. Brightly coloured powder paint are daubed on all, coupled with intricately decorated gods and vibrant sari's. Burnt incense adds to the aroma of roadside food stalls. Then there's the music and general cheer. Its hard to mistake a festival for anything but.<br />
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We were on our boat when we heard the cymbals crash and the Shehnai players start to blow a welcome for the first of many clay gods to arrive. Ganesh Chaturthi is the festival celebrating the God of knowledge, Ganesh. He is prayed to at this time so any new pursuits one embarks upon flourish. Which for us is rather appropriate.<br />
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A few days prior to us joining in on the festivities a clay model of Ganesh would have been placed in places of work, homes and temples where they are worshiped, made offerings to and entrusted with wishes. At the end of the festival the model is immersed in a body of water where it dissolves over time signifying the circle of life. We were welcomed to join in; powdered paint daubed on our faces and we were given sweets. At the close of the festivities the idols with offerings were loaded onto fishing boats, taken the other side of the reef and pushed over into the tropical azure.<br />
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<br />Impetuoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17419178184715125383noreply@blogger.com0Saweni Beach, Fiji-17.6477426 177.39153829999998-17.6515256 177.38649579999998 -17.643959600000002 177.39658079999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-368727396780636147.post-63450154817711136392016-08-11T01:10:00.001+01:002016-08-11T01:10:42.188+01:00The bump and grind of sailing...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We all know that life is full of ups and downs but the sailing life can often feel like it's even more dichotomous. Apart from our <a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.com/2016/06/impetuous-three.html" target="_blank">good news</a> we've been quiet for the last two months for a reason. We had a very boisterous sail from New Zealand to Fiji. 1,100 miles in 8 days without any motoring. Then we had a little accident.<br />
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I was sick for much of this journey to Fiji, mainly due to the short cross seas. We were on a reach to beam reach most of the way. Australia was getting pounded to our West with floods and high winds but we suffered from very few squalls, just plenty of wind. So we arrived both tired, and I, particularly energy depleted.<br />
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We had a few hours sleep just inside the reef before a blissfully gentle sail over to Lautoka. Here we started the check in process and were able to contact Sally, our friend. Sally had arrived the previous day to visit us and was waiting with bated breath at a hotel near the airport.<br />
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Checking in took longer than we thought and once checked in we then needed to apply for a cruising permit in order to be allowed to leave Lautoka port area. Since it was now too late in the day we arranged to apply for this at a marina nearer to Sally and went to see her, arriving at her beach in the dark.<br />
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The next day the correct officials were not to be where we'd been told, so it was another day before we could apply and finally get our permission to sail to the islands. Once we were finally permitted it was late in the day. We were feeling pretty bad for Sally at this point who had already spent four days of her short holiday, waiting for it to start. Two days at not particularly comfortable anchorages and dinghying in less than ideal circumstances.<br />
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So we finally set off, poured ourselves a G and T and headed over towards an island about 15 miles away. There was a lovely breeze and we set sail with just our jib rolling along. As dusk fell so did the rain which gradually turned into a squall. We were sailing along at somewhere between six and seven knots when it started to dawn on me that I could hear and then see breaking waves then SCRUNCH.<br />
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Duncan hurtled out and rolled away the jib with eyes wild with panic. I was still holding the tiller not knowing what else to do.<br />
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We were well and truly aground with waves breaking into the reef and the boat banging up and down in place. <br />
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We tried motoring off in reverse. Wondering each time we were lifted on a wave if this might be the time we might just move backwards only to come down with a sickening crash each time in the same place. The engine stopped a few times, was restarted, then eventually whizzed away clearly with no resistance.<br />
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'We've lost the prop!' shouted Duncan against the crunching and the wind and waves. Despite the bilges at this point still being dry we decided it was time to call in a mayday as with every crash we worried for the hull.<br />
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Sally has just completed her VHF course in the uk so she was set doing this whilst Duncan and I battled about with ropes, anchors and the dinghy. Frequently checking Sally was OK and reassuring her that yes we needed help, preferably a tow but at this time did not want rescuing off the boat.<br />
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It was at least an hour and a half before we finally freed ourselves and got some water under our keel. Not before sustaining a few minor injuries each whilst deluged in adrenaline and rain.<br />
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It was our second anchor which got us out of trouble. After our main anchor, set with 100m of rope behind us hadn't succeeded we got all our available ropes out. I proceeded to tie them together and feed them out through the forward fairlead whilst Duncan rowed out against the wind as far as he could perpendicular to the boat.<br />
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As we took turns winching at the mast bringing in rope after rope we thanked our lucky stars that we had all the stuff we needed, a strong boat and each other. The tidal range is only about a metre here but we were helped by this at least going in our favour.<br />
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Once we were afloat again and still had no water in the bilge we double checked that there was enough of our huge rudder left to be able to steer. Though clearly it had been damaged and was stiff at its outer limits it appeared sufficient. Here's a picture from when we were lifted in Texas to demonstrate why we were concerned. Since our propeller was gone we envisaged extensive damage to all that lower section of rudder and weren't sure if the bottom hinge (gudgeon and pintale) remained.<br />
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Though things were still far from peachy we agreed to cancel the mayday and say thanks but no thanks to the tow which had been arranged but was standing by at the nearest marina. They had been unwilling to set out to help us until the bad weather had passed which worked in our favour as salvage rules mean that if they'd helped, they would be entitled to charge whatever they liked. Up to the entire value of the boat possibly.<br />
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An option would be to stay put where we were. Since both our big anchors were out on rope we were too concerned that either the wind might change or a rope might wear through on the coral. Our particular squall had now passed but there was still plenty of weather rumbling around the sky to make it unpredictable. Duncan and I agreed that this wasn't the best thing to do tonight. We agreed that we would sail back to the marina entrance we'd left that afternoon.<br />
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This wasn't a particularly easy option either since the weather was unsettled with very light wind at that time. We also weren't at all sure we'd be able to get either anchor back onboard. Whilst deliberating our options poor Sally was outside trying to recover from all the excitement and feeling very sick.<br />
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As suspected we couldn't get either anchor up and it was too dark to go looking to see why this was. Without use of the engine we only had one direction of pull and we were still nearer the reef than was conducive to much messing about. We agreed to buoy them with fenders with our contact details on and leave them. We still had all our chain onboard together with a tiny Danforth and big aluminium fortress anchor which we'd never used before but should technically be ideal for the soft mud conditions we knew were outside the marina entrance.<br />
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Duncan enjoyed his sail back across the bay. We were very careful to keep to our outward track. Once I was confident he was OK and that the adrenaline was dissipating Sally and I had a well earned rest. I couldn't really sleep but lay still with my eyes shut trying very hard to calm down. It had all been a bit much!<br />
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The next day Duncan went to survey the damage done and came up with pretty good news. The damage was limited to surface scrapes, a gnarled up edge of rudder and a ground away propeller. Nevertheless we arranged to get pulled out at the marina. The rudder is plywood wrapped in fibreglass and would be soaking in water and we were pretty sure we'd need to order a new propeller as the chances of finding one in Fiji were very slim.<br />
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Somehow that small list of jobs became almost 6 weeks on the hard. It was hot and dusty and hard work in the heat. We had to wait for the new propeller to be made and sent from New Zealand and more bottom paint to come from Australia but mostly the time was taken up cutting back the rudder to splice in then fair in the repairs and lots of other jobs we took the opportunity of doing whilst we had chance.<br />
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The stem was probably the worst damaged but was still ground back and patched up within the first week.<br />
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The plywood of the rudder feathered out where we'd tried to reverse back over the coral.<br />
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Scratches were all pretty shallow in the hull and mostly on the port side as that was the way we'd between heeling.</div>
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Not much left of the 18" diameter propeller<br />
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We cut out much more of the rudder than was damaged so that the repair would be strong. Quite deep in we found bits of coral that had been rammed in.<br />
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With offcuts of wood spliced in reshaped, filled and fibreglassed it was all ready to be painted again.<br />
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So we made our new staysail (cut down from an old bigger sail we'd acquired along the way). We finally fitted our new lexan in our centre hatch and cut and shaped our new Corian kitchen worktops. Both these jobs much better done on the hard so we could gather up the plastic shavings and dust rather than risk them going in the sea.<br />
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We were so pleased with our limestone tiles when we first fitted them only three years ago but they have not survived well. It was a constant struggle to keep them clean and the mould and cracks were winning so when we found Corian very cheap for offcuts in New Zealand we jumped at the chance.<br />
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We scraped back and varnished our toerails and rudder cheeks. Also with the force of pounding up and down on the reef and possibly when trying to get off backwards we'd somehow managed to seriously bend Beryl (our Aries windvanes) stainless mount. Thankfully Beryl was fine so we got a local welder to cut and replace some of the struts. It's still not quite straight but much better and seems to work.<br />
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Beryl's mounting got a bit bent from the force on the servo which also was damaged and repaired with foam filler and fibreglass...<br />
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Now we're back in the water and the whole ordeal slips in to the past we've had some time to reflect on what we have gleaned from the whole affair:<br />
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We are amazed at how little damage there was given the severity of the incident. Our boat is strong and well built and we now have even more confidence in it.<br />
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In retrospect it was a mistake to try motoring off when we had sailed on at such a lick. When the engine had stopped once we should have moved to a different tactic. We've had cause to pull ourselves off and through things a few times now (though nothing like this before) and it works really well. We should remember this in future and not let urgency cloud our thinking. It's easy and quick to turn to the engine and if it works early on all well and good. However when you're really aground pulling the boat towards deeper water using an anchor and winch is a clear winner. Had we done this earlier the rudder would have been less damaged and we'd have still had a useable propeller.<br />
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We're embarrassed about the whole affair as we just shouldn't have been there. Various things conspired for us to make poor decisions but we're moving on with much more caution.<br />
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The reef we hit was on the paper chart however when we'd tried to buy one earlier that day the shop had been out of stock. Our open cpn cm93 (freebie) charts are not at all good for Fiji, and asking around cruisers there are no charts of Fiji which can truly be fully relied upon. We were also being blasé, having been in the well charted New Zealand for a while. The way to navigate around the coral is well known to be always to move early in daylight hours keeping a constant vigilant look out and to also use satellite imagery to help see where the coral is. To that extent as soon as we can source some suitable timber we shall be making ratlines to climb high to look out as the view up high makes the water colours and breaking waves easier to spot.<br />
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We've now got Google earth downloaded for Fiji and will be getting it for wherever we go in future if possible. What we have is not all high resolution but in time we'll figure it out and when it is in high resolution it's massively helpful.<br />
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The yard wasn't an altogether terrible experience. The staff were really helpful and friendly. Whilst there we met person after person who had similar tales to tell culminating in hearing that on the 15th July the Fijian navy embarrassingly <a href="http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=362952" target="_blank">ran a ship</a> onto a well known reef outside Suva.<br />
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We've gained a new pet. This is midnight rambler (because he has sticky fingers) who must have come aboard whilst we were on land. We're welcoming him and hoping he'll help us deal with all the bugs which plagued the marina we were doing our repairs at, particularly the cockroaches and ants.<br />
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Now we're eventually out sailing the Yasawa islands as intended. I've finally finished sewing our flag for Fiji and we're enjoying frequent swims and gradually getting things ship shape.<br />
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This is a Waloo or Spanish mackerel, since getting away from the busy areas the fishing had been great!</div>
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Impetuoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17419178184715125383noreply@blogger.com1Nanuya Levu, Fiji-16.9666667 177.3833333-46.7605142 136.0747393 12.827180799999997 -141.30807270000003tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-368727396780636147.post-70864686081893979222016-06-26T02:02:00.001+01:002016-06-26T03:00:59.797+01:00Impetuous three...Once upon a time in a land very far away there lived a handsome young(ish) man named Duncan who dreamed of setting to sea. He bought a little boat and repaired all the old wooden parts so that he might have many adventures and learn about the ways of the sea in the great Mediterranean. <br />
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He sailed his little boat far and wide through many different countries and across the great Mediterranean. He visited all kinds of lands and met lots of interesting people but always he felt a little bit lonely. When he looked up at the stars he wanted someone to share his marvel with and when he walked in the mountains he wondered if he’d find anyone who loved to travel as much as he did. When he discovered the delights of wonderful local markets he wondered if he would find anyone who enjoyed the simple pleasures of a really good meal and who would love drinking and being merry with as much gusto as himself. He knew that not everyone likes to sail and that lots of people get frustrated with living in the small space which a sailing boat affords. He also knew it takes an unusual kind of person to be happy when you're always needing to fix things and make do with what is available in far flung lands.<br />
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Then one day he was chugging his canal boat up to a mooring spot and a young(ish) girl called Ruth bounded out of the boat next door to help him. He didn't need any help but was glad to meet an enthusiastic friendly boater.<br />
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He wasted no time in getting to know her and they discovered they had lots of things in common. Ruth had never been sailing but was very excited to find out all about it as she loved living on her narrowboat and relished the challenges and joys which that life gave. She'd traveled by land to many places but never dreamed that it would be possible for her to own a boat that could cross oceans. They started to dream of making a strong safe home together which could have the freedom to go wherever the wind would take them and stay as long as they liked in their own home.<br />
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They read lots of books and learned what they could but alas they had no such vessel to set to sea in. As luck would have it they heard of a boat that might suit in a far off land so they packed up some food and trudged off through the virgin snow that lay on the ground on the start of their journey to Impetuous.<br />
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When they found Impetuous it was very clear that she would need a lot of work before she could take them upon adventures on the high seas. Lichen and algae adorned her dulled hull. A strong wicked wind called Ike had swept over where she lay and stolen much. They thought long and hard about whether all this work would be worth it and took themselves off to New Orleans to glean some wisdom from the wizards of Jazz. As the clarinet and trumpets weaved their positive notes through the afternoon sun they could see that though the journey would be arduous, Impetuous would indeed be worth it.<br />
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Undaunted over the next few years the industrious couple breathed life back in to Impetuous. With the <a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.com/2013/02/its-stuck.html" target="_blank">help</a> of a kindly man, an old wise man and the <a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-golden-rasta.html" target="_blank">magical golden rasta</a>. Every <a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.com/2013/05/jazz-sundays_14.html" target="_blank">Sunday they listened to the wizards of jazz</a> to help prevent their enthusiasm from waning. Like a flower in spring time she rewarded their toil by revealing her beauty once again until the day came when they finally <a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.com/2013/04/splish-splash-splosh.html" target="_blank">moved her to the water</a>. A few months later she finally got to <a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.com/2013/06/just-perfect-day.html" target="_blank">sail once more</a> and when the couple listened to Impetuous through the sounds of her lovely mast that they had built and shaped with their own hands they could hear that she was thrilled to be back where she belonged and she promised to take them far in safety in return for all the work they'd put into helping her.<br />
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They had a <a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.com/2013/07/welcome-aboard.html" target="_blank">party to show people around</a> and say thank you for all the help they'd been given by their neighbours and friends. Eventually all was ready and they <a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.com/2013/07/so-long-texas-and-thanks-for-all-shrimp.html" target="_blank">set off</a> upon their journey to explore the world in the only way they knew how. By boat, using the graceful power of the wind.<br />
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And so it came to pass that the couple went exploring. From their <a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.com/2013/07/first-impressions-of-offshore-voyage.html" target="_blank">first big passage</a> to the <a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.com/2013/07/just-one-of-those-big-blue-blogs.html" target="_blank">big blue</a>, to the great <a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.com/2013/09/sweetness-and-mountains.html" target="_blank">sweetness and mountains of Guatemala</a> they explored a corner of the Caribbean. Even once they had <a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.com/2014/03/aventuras-sin-impetuous-tikal.html" target="_blank">aventuras sin impetuous</a> amongst the Mayan ruins at Tikal. A big highlight was when they visited <a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.com/2014/04/sailing-in-cuba.html" target="_blank">Cuba</a>, they learned much about different ways of finding happiness and heard much more heavenly music to spur them onwards. They lived their dream and Impetuous rewarded them with being a beautiful vessel that looked after them as the seas rose.<br />
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Before long both themselves and Impetuous felt as one and they were ready for adventures anew. And so they intended to pass through a narrow canal that separated the continent of the Americas into a different sea and venture again.<br />
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But there were trolls who guarded the entrance to the canal. They threatened to set loose the hungry crocodiles that patrolled the canal on anyone who didn't abide by their laws. Our impetuous travellers bargained with the trolls giving them <a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.com/2015/05/panama-canal-without-an-agent..html" target="_blank">pieces of gold</a> and agreed to take three elves who had been stranded on the east coast. They also took a clever pilot who knew the deadliest stretches of the canal; past the Dungeons of Noriaga and the rapids where the two oceans meet. With the help of all four they weaved themselves <a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.com/2014/05/pacific-bound.html" target="_blank">through the canal pacific bound.</a><br />
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Once through the canal they set off on their Pacific crossing. For <a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.com/2014/07/wewere-tearing-along-rather-than.html" target="_blank">five whole weeks they sailed towards the setting sun</a> with only themselves and their friends the stars for company. They caught fish to eat, listened to the wizards of Jazz on Sundays and were very very happy. They dreamed of the islands to come, scattered like their friends the stars above, throughout the Pacific, that they would visit.<br />
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Above the ocean spray the cliffs rose steeply and they realised that they had found their way across the biggest stretch of sea they might encounter. Eager to discover these beautiful wild new lands they meandered the <a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.com/2014/07/wewere-tearing-along-rather-than.html" target="_blank">Marquesas</a>, <a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.com/2014/09/archipelago-de-tuamotus-tummytoes.html" target="_blank">Tuamotoes</a>, <a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-societies.html" target="_blank">Society islands</a> and <a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.com/2014/11/spring-clean.html" target="_blank">Tonga</a>.<br />
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They knew there would be a time soon when a viscious wind would streak across the tropical isles and to escape from it they would have to <a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.com/2014/12/last-big-passage-of-year.html" target="_blank">venture south</a> to a land of snow capped mountains and fjords where though it would be cold, they would also be safe. They looked around the <a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.com/2015/02/back-to-bay-of-islandsor-why-we-love.html" target="_blank">beautiful bay of islands,</a> visited a <a href="http://www.landlpardey.com/march-2015-newsletter.html" target="_blank"><span id="goog_389620263"></span>wise retired world sailor<span id="goog_389620264"></span></a> and celebrated the new year with many of the young adventurers they had met along their way who gathered together in Auckland.<br />
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But somehow Impetuous still whispered to them, her mast spoke of more adventure and the couple were not a bit tired. <a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.com/2015/03/through-forties-to-fiordland.html" target="_blank">Down further and further</a> they sailed deeper in to the roaring forties where the wind howled like an angry wolf and the sea boiled like a cauldron. But they were safe in Impetuous and she looked after them just as she'd promised.<br />
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Together they sailed all the way around New Zealand; visiting the magnificent<a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.com/2015/03/fjordy-wonderland-part-1.html" target="_blank"> Land of Fiords</a> and <a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.com/2015/04/fiordy-wonderland-part-3-dusky-sound-to.html" target="_blank">Island of Stewart</a> before they headed north again to tuck Impetuous up for a rest amongst the Great Sounds of Marlborough.<br />
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After some work and visiting their friends and family in <a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.com/2015/07/in-englands-green-and-pleasant.html" target="_blank">England</a> they were once more ready for more travels. Since they'd learned much during their adventures, they now knew that they <a href="http://impetuoustoo.blogspot.com/2015/02/budget-bonanza.html" target="_blank">needed less</a> to carry on as long as they wanted. The time had now come when the two travelers were so happy with their lives on the ocean that they thought it would be fun to have a family on Impetuous.<br />
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The next time they saw one of their friends; a star, falling to earth, they made a wish upon it; that the last of its light might spark a new life with them. And do you know what, that's just what happened. So very soon there will be Impetuous three exploring the world.<br />
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To be continued...<br />
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<br />Impetuoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17419178184715125383noreply@blogger.com8Lautoka, Fiji-17.6169957 177.45048880000002-17.6775302 177.36980780000002 -17.5564612 177.53116980000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-368727396780636147.post-2416007495753068612016-05-28T11:37:00.000+01:002016-05-28T11:37:36.122+01:00A Conspicuous Lack of Logic...<div class="western" style="text-align: left; widows: 4;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">We're
back in Whangarei town basin, having now sailed all the way around
this beautiful and sometimes windy country. Whangarei is a convenient
place to stock up and get parts for the boat before we head back to
the pacific islands. The town is quite small so all shops and useful
businesses are close by. We've been doing an awful lot of ordering
and buying around town, a job made significantly quicker, easier and
more fun with our new folding bikes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">We
have been pretty busy getting Impetuous ready for the off as well as
finding a little bit of time to have fun with some friends who like
us left their boat in New Zealand whilst they went back to Europe to
earn some pennies. So busy infact, that we haven't written a new
blog. Fortunately we have a story from the last time we were here
that we never got round to posting. Now that we have our new foam
mattresses, various pretty, hefty and useful bits of bronze and new
kitchen worktops ready to shape and fit at a later date its time to
go. We set out towards Fiji on Sunday.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">There
are some facts in this watery life upon a boat that need no
explanation. Why a boat floats or for that matter why they sink. How
altering a foil in the water; the rudder, affects the direction a
boat travels in and why rocks are bad.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">There
are other details that though they may take a little pondering over,
are essentially perceptible. The ebb and flow of the tides and their
relationship to the moon and sun or the necessity to trim sail to
take best advantage of the wind direction. </span>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">But
occasionally there is a phenomenon which evades all reason! There is
a conspicuous lack of logic. For example, How the concept of sailing
to wind, can usefully be explained by the analogy of squeezing a
dried pea between a thumb and forefinger, why some people motor when
they could be sailing or why boat hooks are not always made to float
if dropped. </span>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">There
was undoubtedly a look of disbelief as the pole that had slipped
beyond the tentative grasp of Ruth's outstretched arm fell in to the
harbours still, murky water and didn't float. Petulant with
frustration Ruth muttered a number of choice expletives, which
basically boiled down to 'why doesn't that float'. </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">Everyone
has dropped a boat hook at least once in there life, surely.
Undoubtedly, more often realised that they were lucky not to have
dropped it. Before long I was cynically pottering around town looking
at potential replacements and it dawned on me that perhaps there was
a conspiracy amongst boat pole manufacturers. Deliberately
manufacturing them to sink, thus ensuring future sales.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">The
pole in question was a particularly fine example. Telescopic
stainless steel tubes, a handle that the designer, clearly capable of
having lucid thoughts, had riveted on; Its usually the handle that
slips off the pole, that results in the poles loss. And a variety of
interchangeable heads to collect: hook, brush, mop etc. Giving one
all the enchantment of a child collecting a Worzil Gumage toy. But
best of all we kept the boat hook head in a drawer, so when, and
admittedly rarely was I asked, 'where is the boat hook?' I really
could legitimately say 'Second drawer down of the chart table.' </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">Still
with an edge of cynicism and melancholy about our loss I tried to
look on the bright side. Several years ago I had bought Ruth a bronze
boat hook head, maybe now was the time to marry it to a pole. Now
you're probably thinking one of several things. How lucky Ruth is to
have a boyfriend who buys her pretty pieces of bronze, perhaps, Or
maybe. Bronze, lovely alloy, great for marine applications, not
generally known for its inclination to float. </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">As
it happens it was I who was lucky to have Ruth as a girlfriend, for
whilst I searched listlessly for a replacement pole, Ruth searched
stoically for the lost one. With mask and Fins she scoured the drop
zone until triumphant she emerged from the murky effluent rich depth
clutching her very own Excalibur, complete with detachable head. </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" class="western">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">So
now we are a two pole boat. There, lashed down amongst the dinghy
mast detritus, are the boat hooks. Poking out like twin exhaust
pipes, But somehow poles apart. One made from buoyant wood, the other
a product of a different age, a salesman’s dream, with its multiple
sell 'head variations', contractability and its negative buoyancy.
Safely stored away is the boat hook head in the second draw down of
the chart table ready for me to tell an unsuspecting guest where we
keep our boat hook. Or rather the spare, because now we will use the
one that floats. </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibpz3BtkaT2H9Xds9dmSSI_aPcdecp3pQfEa5wMW3LwEvdQs04eQqCFnQ3KzR-U1HC9bTLLunHO86aQJniFhjEuve6vbIQ06444W8WGQSwcIeCbEOFHv1lXN3GvHVFOtdy5PnjQR6olTbv/s1600/DSCF3057.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibpz3BtkaT2H9Xds9dmSSI_aPcdecp3pQfEa5wMW3LwEvdQs04eQqCFnQ3KzR-U1HC9bTLLunHO86aQJniFhjEuve6vbIQ06444W8WGQSwcIeCbEOFHv1lXN3GvHVFOtdy5PnjQR6olTbv/s640/DSCF3057.JPG" width="614" /></a></span></div>
Impetuoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17419178184715125383noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-368727396780636147.post-30641547312043798202016-05-12T04:34:00.002+01:002016-05-12T04:34:50.844+01:00We've Turned our Dorades Around...<div class="western" style="text-align: left; widows: 4;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; widows: 129;">Dorades
are those funnel shaped protrusions you sometimes see adorning the
coach roofs of boats. The idea being that they funnel air, but not
spray, down into the boat keeping it cool and ventilated. As the sun
set early after another beautiful but cool day in the Abel Tasman,
we thought it was time to turn ours around. They were wafting us with cold air that sent us scurrying for our jumpers and thinking with
more urgency that we must head north.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">We'd
had our shake down cruise. We'd seen a little of Pelorus Sound
including Duncan Bay; listening out for the mating calls of the deer.
We'd transited French pass and had spent a few days in the Abel
Tasman national park, meeting with friends new and old. But autumn
was here. </span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhOgN4spr6OReLgKGxrI2fLF9R9engQyAf9c5cQHQLDW6a5Wypj-dX03KCtxyW6Zf3Uo-JMW6PsdPYCxvPEKbZVggaqLJiPA9cbPCYSwm1PM6Pvlf29GFocKu594DrjCX93_vfCgpon9kj/s1600/DSCF2833.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhOgN4spr6OReLgKGxrI2fLF9R9engQyAf9c5cQHQLDW6a5Wypj-dX03KCtxyW6Zf3Uo-JMW6PsdPYCxvPEKbZVggaqLJiPA9cbPCYSwm1PM6Pvlf29GFocKu594DrjCX93_vfCgpon9kj/s640/DSCF2833.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
Duncans bay
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLaAmR65GvPdS1jDlJexzF6OQzNWOlvF1p0czhylrATyaN1JE0BXOAfXhmAnB0dNBZ-OdBspjwSg-CcCeanQkJkVvTndQksMHUUhU8gxx8D8UPIEnfZRw6WYZSKD1qcftAtMXvI8KeslN2/s1600/DSCF2873.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLaAmR65GvPdS1jDlJexzF6OQzNWOlvF1p0czhylrATyaN1JE0BXOAfXhmAnB0dNBZ-OdBspjwSg-CcCeanQkJkVvTndQksMHUUhU8gxx8D8UPIEnfZRw6WYZSKD1qcftAtMXvI8KeslN2/s640/DSCF2873.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9-fxvJVYZ71ej49EP4Z02fwR-pbIe_eMhCmcLhv5ATxgFtlB1aJq0anGK9xALfEGqlmc4PY_nI8ZZO3aE_97sFw85KTfCTQbf6dCOb4_aYfGEDWyJoTzLplhk6QhzOGNhLNHnACSTt2nA/s1600/DSCF2876.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9-fxvJVYZ71ej49EP4Z02fwR-pbIe_eMhCmcLhv5ATxgFtlB1aJq0anGK9xALfEGqlmc4PY_nI8ZZO3aE_97sFw85KTfCTQbf6dCOb4_aYfGEDWyJoTzLplhk6QhzOGNhLNHnACSTt2nA/s640/DSCF2876.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
Sailing in the Tasman Bay</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimpygcMMGouFZclvBYQAMzTM_lqKo8dWdQ_4EDBR0d3XaXMB5U_9fDps75_iHswZRi5df1bdwDsZpnWyc6FjsznTKAR0SekKMJC50mc5Wio9RlyksHWEXdqQI-HDfmkObnUHK-x_dVdd-g/s1600/DSCF2881.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimpygcMMGouFZclvBYQAMzTM_lqKo8dWdQ_4EDBR0d3XaXMB5U_9fDps75_iHswZRi5df1bdwDsZpnWyc6FjsznTKAR0SekKMJC50mc5Wio9RlyksHWEXdqQI-HDfmkObnUHK-x_dVdd-g/s640/DSCF2881.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
Mending the depth sounder by Adele island, it's co-ax socket had pulled off</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn_M3ow21Gf-SfwAeHFxD5dVcTTSxMUR59xnt_sNf98oflC7kJK2fDFt2-wgABe3Z06ixSda-qE1KpDTIjha0p0K90koTaRYHtRebamUqhG0AAMPeIKLghpLjmZn1T5ESKv1WTUcCtRHHN/s1600/DSCF2889.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn_M3ow21Gf-SfwAeHFxD5dVcTTSxMUR59xnt_sNf98oflC7kJK2fDFt2-wgABe3Z06ixSda-qE1KpDTIjha0p0K90koTaRYHtRebamUqhG0AAMPeIKLghpLjmZn1T5ESKv1WTUcCtRHHN/s640/DSCF2889.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjffTVUFlCRR2fRFpiC0O0a-1IRU6CF4Jw5EVX39KpSQl2u3uNdFpeKm0qgvfDob7awrsWHD7GgEUkX0cd1ng5iCMeb2iCfEaV8bOW-rj6kK2gcu94x6WTzoGuDRNDq36UPCIB3eXELNYv2/s1600/DSCF2890.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjffTVUFlCRR2fRFpiC0O0a-1IRU6CF4Jw5EVX39KpSQl2u3uNdFpeKm0qgvfDob7awrsWHD7GgEUkX0cd1ng5iCMeb2iCfEaV8bOW-rj6kK2gcu94x6WTzoGuDRNDq36UPCIB3eXELNYv2/s640/DSCF2890.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
Torrent Bay and the Anchorage, Abel Tasman</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">After
spending a quiet night in D'Urville island, with a light and </span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">favourable forecast we set off for Wellington. Wellington has an
infamous reputation as a wind factory but we both had fond memories
of the city so we wanted to pay it a
visit. We were also running perilously low on eggs!</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Windy
Wellington certainly lives up to its name; it took us fourteen tacks
to beat our way in under double reefs. Then after our brief visit we
were whooshed out by a forceful wind; fortunately it was behind us
this time. The forecast had been for 15kn but the gale we encountered
was strong enough to break another of Beryls (our Aries
wind-steering mechanism) wooden vanes. This one had barely been used
but probably snapped because we were hand steering so it was held still against the wind. Good job we're
not short of spare ply to make more. Certainly, New Zealand's South
island is beautiful but it has cost us dearly in these vanes. </span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhx3YZqOjghVD_gAPpM4VMazkoQZWD-mVDVSRPrVNA-2hzI2AGqHAE1AEjTAmBEWpuYNEkbirITOoyMSCF1uouu9KgsKxGuT26JeZ0D2_oMh0BZYT8mxlzn4UYF_bvWDxU0pMmBKz4ynE_/s1600/DSCF2912.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhx3YZqOjghVD_gAPpM4VMazkoQZWD-mVDVSRPrVNA-2hzI2AGqHAE1AEjTAmBEWpuYNEkbirITOoyMSCF1uouu9KgsKxGuT26JeZ0D2_oMh0BZYT8mxlzn4UYF_bvWDxU0pMmBKz4ynE_/s640/DSCF2912.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
Shock horror, one night in a marina in Wellington. Very nice showers!
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">We
find it easy transitioning between our lives on Impetuous and back on
our narrowboat. We never particularly miss anything whilst in either
one of our homes. But there are some things you forget how much you
enjoy. When I let the fishing line over and within minutes saw the
huge splash behind the boat as an albacore tried to free itself from
our hook I instantly remembered the thrill of fishing. It got off
unfortunately as did the next two; both about a meter from the boat, but we
did land two more. One weighing in at around 15lbs which I know is not
gigantic but certainly fills our fridge and has now filled our
bellies for over a week. </span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYSQIxXyTeJEyfNBCsxcguSlZReNstB43pqsW-2Q9gmDhZa8rvRZDHUkbJzbsHbRvNiDs7HqS1GG72WdpISgKp1_bBQg2qJ-O5RKUAn0PXdS31ow2bk7uU92BN058w2mHUKCiVVkHoJ14r/s1600/DSCF2930.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYSQIxXyTeJEyfNBCsxcguSlZReNstB43pqsW-2Q9gmDhZa8rvRZDHUkbJzbsHbRvNiDs7HqS1GG72WdpISgKp1_bBQg2qJ-O5RKUAn0PXdS31ow2bk7uU92BN058w2mHUKCiVVkHoJ14r/s640/DSCF2930.JPG" width="490" /></a></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">The
next destination was Napier, where we spent a couple of days meeting
up with a childhood friend who has emigrated there and his family. We
also enjoyed lots of walking along Hawkes bay and around the art deco
neighbourhoods. We stocked up at some of the fantastic speciality
shops that both Wellington and Napier have to offer us keen cooks, in
preparation to head back into the South Pacific.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Despite
crossing back from the sub 40° S the dorades are still facing the
wrong way. We have a 'to buy' list for jobs we'll be doing over the
next 6 months or so, and a few little jobs to complete before leaving
New Zealand in the next couple of weeks. We're spending the weekend
on the lovely Kawau island then we'll press on to Whangarei back to
the metropolis and other boaters. Its amazing to think that in all
the six months we have spent down in southland we only met one other
foreign couple.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="widows: 129;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJvibXHSJWyNZvOPMyyd0CCn5ETuBcOs4L8wH9r57X8DRUKNqcO152cHxrjYJoEdmkeMU0EGlFBB-8bUJprcNcBEgkQkFYcfhqv-tHkn9v6oKkHHE-_DWTDapGW7ifivml0_OwnTqd6_wI/s1600/DSCF2956.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJvibXHSJWyNZvOPMyyd0CCn5ETuBcOs4L8wH9r57X8DRUKNqcO152cHxrjYJoEdmkeMU0EGlFBB-8bUJprcNcBEgkQkFYcfhqv-tHkn9v6oKkHHE-_DWTDapGW7ifivml0_OwnTqd6_wI/s640/DSCF2956.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
Impetuoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17419178184715125383noreply@blogger.com1Kawau Island, Auckland 0920, New Zealand-36.4180983 174.86200540000004-36.5203158 174.70064390000005 -36.315880799999995 175.02336690000004tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-368727396780636147.post-36149257906309482542016-04-18T08:28:00.000+01:002016-04-18T08:28:46.739+01:00And We're Off...<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sailing 2016 got off to a flying start today. </span><div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We've very much enjoyed our last week back afloat in the Waikawa bay. Sailing Fidget in to get the last spares and stores, varnishing the mast and making new friends. Yesterday we headed out along the Queen Charlotte Sound under a brilliant blue sky with the gusts always on the beam and rested overnight in endeavour inlet. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This morning under a threatening sky we ventured out into the Cook Strait. It was a perfect sail on a beam reach with a good force 5, at times 6 hefting us along as the skies gradually cleared. We caught a fish as the line was still paying out so enjoyed a lunch of fish soup and Kawai sushi for dinner.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For the next couple of days we shall explore Pelorus Sound before the Abel Tasman. We must catch our own Blue Cod which has eluded us thus far.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKIJMuTu72ikCDz6sQGEKpAVkQodmypAD8Us9H0eZ4vWDEWKIWexbmycVV9lsoWlARKlIft2QSOcE-ir9CvEO9OnshVyCF1vo63HV6fkfa8huzLLwlIH3BBCOJLjaBQkcJFhkAqUgupB-m/s1600/DSCF2813.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKIJMuTu72ikCDz6sQGEKpAVkQodmypAD8Us9H0eZ4vWDEWKIWexbmycVV9lsoWlARKlIft2QSOcE-ir9CvEO9OnshVyCF1vo63HV6fkfa8huzLLwlIH3BBCOJLjaBQkcJFhkAqUgupB-m/s640/DSCF2813.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></div>
Impetuoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17419178184715125383noreply@blogger.com0Pelorus Sound, New Zealand-41.162789 173.86320649999993-41.5452525 173.21775949999994 -40.7803255 174.50865349999992tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-368727396780636147.post-36384047761203848712016-04-06T10:45:00.002+01:002016-04-06T10:50:21.379+01:00The New Zealand List...<div class="western" style="text-align: left; widows: 132;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">We're
back. Actually we've been back almost a month. Impetuous weathered
her solo nine moths well and just this afternoon we splashed back into the water.
Our plan is to enjoy the last of New Zealands' autumn; sailing a little
more in the Sounds, the Abel Tasman National park, back to Northland,
then head further North to the Pacific islands in May.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Its
been a long month on the hard, working away at the jobs list, but
nothing compared to last time. The last time we were out of the water
the boat was where we bought her. It was Texas and it was early 2013.
We were at that frantic, exciting time of Impetuous' renovation where
we felt very strongly that this was when we had to go and that
Hurricane season was coming all too quickly.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Four
years is a long time to spend behind the dull side of a paint brush,
it was time for a sail; to reap the rewards we'd been working towards
and to avoid the entrapment of the never ending project. There would
have to be some things we could live with unfinished, undone, or
untackled; for a bit. We'd do odd bits and bobs and maintenance as we
went but next time we stopped for longer, we'd tackle the big jobs
left over. No doubt there would be more jobs by then anyhow. So in
our scrap book we wrote 'The New Zealand List' </span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">We're
delighted that we got this far without incident but the list grew as
we found foibles with what we'd already done. Our waterline was way
off; the kitchen tiles though beautiful at first, do not stand up to
the rigours of salt water and keen cooks. Also having a sprayhood on
this boat is a necessity keenly felt after the third wave has dumped
into the galley and all over the chart table.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">We'd
learned an acute distrust of elderly stainless steel whilst still in
Texas. This was only heightened as we met people along our way with
various rigging and gear failures; stainless in a salty hot environment does not last as some would have us believe. We'd made new bronze chainplates
all round after finding corrosion in our originals but had put off
the bobstay and staysail fitting until now. </span></span>
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">The
bobstay was a particular concern having been encased in fibreglass
some forty years ago. Its charged with holding up the mast and was unavailable for
inspection. To give an idea of the forces involved, the wire that
links this fitting to the bowsprit should be strong enough to suspend
the boat from. Imagine that 13+ tons of Alajuela just suspended in
space from one wire. One wire attached to a bit of rusty old
stainless.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Then after we'd sent off the pattern we gave it a bit of a polish up and found this, the beginnings of trouble.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Job
number one. The last few weeks have seen us set about learning a new
skill; pattern making and getting the bobstay fitting cast. We have </span><span style="font-size: 21.3333px;">nicknamed</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> it the ice breaker, which caused a little confusion on facebook. In our defence it is what would hit ice first and is
certainly going to be strong, but we're heading back to the tropics
for now. </span></span>
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">New
Zealand is a great place to be doing stuff like this. People have
been very helpful and everything we've needed has been available.
We've also been sorting out our starter motor, renovating the anchor locker, mending one of our water tanks, replacing the cutlass
bearing, replacing the bearings in the rudder (which meant removing
it). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">The list is by no means complete and plans are afoot for replacing the worktops, building a new staysail and a sprayhood, but once we've got the materials we need we can do these jobs somewhere else. Very soon we will be sailing again.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglMFe2KM9nuy_U53tXzqcSJ5zNnKf-FgsdMHLMmpX8MTdZZbxA7YNFvRSa-gu_Xs3Gid-C4FGrryrfSy8bEOaYZ4-EErqGJRtGW9IqcE3Ur9UmBc5LVWAADcwzdAkk4s-cKAXpbo1RFsKi/s1600/DSCF2798.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglMFe2KM9nuy_U53tXzqcSJ5zNnKf-FgsdMHLMmpX8MTdZZbxA7YNFvRSa-gu_Xs3Gid-C4FGrryrfSy8bEOaYZ4-EErqGJRtGW9IqcE3Ur9UmBc5LVWAADcwzdAkk4s-cKAXpbo1RFsKi/s640/DSCF2798.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Impetuoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17419178184715125383noreply@blogger.com2Waikawa Bay, New Zealand-41.2570909 174.04811570000004-41.2809639 174.00777520000003 -41.2332179 174.08845620000005tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-368727396780636147.post-56835983359149061412015-07-13T00:12:00.000+01:002015-07-13T00:12:09.709+01:00In England's green and pleasant... <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
So here we are in England. First things first, we did lots of visiting in the first few weeks. Sadly the only photo either of us thought to take is of this Scottish village my friends have moved to. Duncan has been to Cornwall twice, visiting his parents, siblings and working on his beloved wooden sailboat 'Starshell'. Whilst I was in Scarborough visiting my mum there was a surfing competition, a marine festival and a jet ski race where they did very noisy big laps around the bay, view-able from my mums front room window for a very long time... but no photos. Sorry. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn4gK-4Ag2vjHjbyFGXwAF48nfWkU1XmWQhJ2i2c9N5PfcJ3WgcGHDk3WmuCDbpAe305hVItqc_o6BdXL51Uf-kM0cgrLd5rGM2WULt6TWUwOiF8lZC2oYSKope9F-tLWGeaYykA4yNzEY/s1600/WP_20150603_05_37_33_Balmalellan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn4gK-4Ag2vjHjbyFGXwAF48nfWkU1XmWQhJ2i2c9N5PfcJ3WgcGHDk3WmuCDbpAe305hVItqc_o6BdXL51Uf-kM0cgrLd5rGM2WULt6TWUwOiF8lZC2oYSKope9F-tLWGeaYykA4yNzEY/s640/WP_20150603_05_37_33_Balmalellan.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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So where in the world are we when the dust settles? Back on our Narrowboat just outside of Bath.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv03fNyb_gnWz3Sg-8fltD2JwozNH_urSzaFSQVfQQkQU0Z3c9Vj3oNL91mTAooo5eZIufCjiR-xe4XQcKnp0ZB6ZK_MXK4LOZ92qwbujpnER3409udXQY942YOhIy_1wt1bbhLnb2JfkP/s1600/WP_20150617_19_37_57Seth+at+diggers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv03fNyb_gnWz3Sg-8fltD2JwozNH_urSzaFSQVfQQkQU0Z3c9Vj3oNL91mTAooo5eZIufCjiR-xe4XQcKnp0ZB6ZK_MXK4LOZ92qwbujpnER3409udXQY942YOhIy_1wt1bbhLnb2JfkP/s640/WP_20150617_19_37_57Seth+at+diggers.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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We're here to work but not just for money, we also really need to try to get our boat fitted out. Seth on our second day back; more chaos than ever and lots of really big spiders!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYnxinJZCpER2afKo_fO9cLkpVSlfJtKESOMyGTKiE4kUng0eoUHgmjDCrkfAD92tLf6bemMRs7r1zW0HZxxzJKlnnU-QAJqcFVtHftX7ENhBuIuySPMz8My01DDfXPnBknIG3FjolKpAK/s1600/WP_20150604_15_49_48_Spider.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYnxinJZCpER2afKo_fO9cLkpVSlfJtKESOMyGTKiE4kUng0eoUHgmjDCrkfAD92tLf6bemMRs7r1zW0HZxxzJKlnnU-QAJqcFVtHftX7ENhBuIuySPMz8My01DDfXPnBknIG3FjolKpAK/s200/WP_20150604_15_49_48_Spider.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglmtKlp7WEpBoyWk5xi6Zkto5rCct2S4ZlFaTCFojzNXLo0-1zP7MctrTrTFwpgBehJsHQbBen9HdXsAabImZVn-4XK6yxPr7RkJG7qGv8i9MmNdJg8-gjVQOn3Vg5N30C5VI7Cm2jhnte/s1600/WP_20150604_12_33_01_messy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglmtKlp7WEpBoyWk5xi6Zkto5rCct2S4ZlFaTCFojzNXLo0-1zP7MctrTrTFwpgBehJsHQbBen9HdXsAabImZVn-4XK6yxPr7RkJG7qGv8i9MmNdJg8-gjVQOn3Vg5N30C5VI7Cm2jhnte/s320/WP_20150604_12_33_01_messy.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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So work starts with building a work bench...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv7wYW0RJI3skTVBOOX1sCzn6_J7b4e1oQHO73ieQs2twUW9V07edTfbQB1zCF5mFluWhQUpzcj8eoOgNVmijRQj7UcjIGrIKF3LZEHV0raVPjz6_GSiuiH3h2IjY69q8SgqoXu4mj2zr8/s1600/DSCF4511+%25282000x1658%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv7wYW0RJI3skTVBOOX1sCzn6_J7b4e1oQHO73ieQs2twUW9V07edTfbQB1zCF5mFluWhQUpzcj8eoOgNVmijRQj7UcjIGrIKF3LZEHV0raVPjz6_GSiuiH3h2IjY69q8SgqoXu4mj2zr8/s320/DSCF4511+%25282000x1658%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Setting it up in a shady spot, and getting cracking...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6OlBs31PnuSO07TsAFPHswn49ofMhqkq2NPDYBV-eYd8aus8MSFG_rQmiu-HRkjSkHPyI14mbJdjwTgFnnBbFEo48MVS79BlqWV3fJSwNfdLN2KX30Q9RAI7nuN_GtTK38VOyvlFzM8oZ/s1600/WP_20150617_10_30_23_Workspace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6OlBs31PnuSO07TsAFPHswn49ofMhqkq2NPDYBV-eYd8aus8MSFG_rQmiu-HRkjSkHPyI14mbJdjwTgFnnBbFEo48MVS79BlqWV3fJSwNfdLN2KX30Q9RAI7nuN_GtTK38VOyvlFzM8oZ/s640/WP_20150617_10_30_23_Workspace.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The key is to try not to get too sidetracked by the fun that goes on here, such as pig moving day...</div>
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It took ten of us to guide the pig down a chicane of pallets and on to the trailer. She was going to a better place but not the kind that she feared; to a new pasture down by the stream where she can wallow to her heart's content and root around new ground.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirMIioy36ySFJlW3p8zRyfBW1Aei7HdJzmeMFfGsPs3-L_6yN1J9wHuxKxO9O7tEguRPpJ59MTtfAWcJ_0fYadMqFTYil3wKV0oXNfd-2kOQRhrScvSlXQeeLN2AWG1dzjtHFNHwQN_HTT/s1600/WP_20150606_12_26_13_Fatties+new+home.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirMIioy36ySFJlW3p8zRyfBW1Aei7HdJzmeMFfGsPs3-L_6yN1J9wHuxKxO9O7tEguRPpJ59MTtfAWcJ_0fYadMqFTYil3wKV0oXNfd-2kOQRhrScvSlXQeeLN2AWG1dzjtHFNHwQN_HTT/s640/WP_20150606_12_26_13_Fatties+new+home.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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and our big procrastinator... Our patch of garden.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwoI3sRr9xL1DDjYhzD3PvbMiD7yES8_9buXF1kJzgML6HRZLlZuYxw0htVm53RtrOT1Vx7egzSWkqRgCm5t9TdDpZusR_mRCC4Mf4wdFC7ZbkRtY6_GN9kOIkgNpAZp6lJKg3tpFkoQIV/s1600/Garden+plot+preplanted.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwoI3sRr9xL1DDjYhzD3PvbMiD7yES8_9buXF1kJzgML6HRZLlZuYxw0htVm53RtrOT1Vx7egzSWkqRgCm5t9TdDpZusR_mRCC4Mf4wdFC7ZbkRtY6_GN9kOIkgNpAZp6lJKg3tpFkoQIV/s640/Garden+plot+preplanted.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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All in all we're having a splendid time here. Duncan is off delivering boats/ instructing, so far I have not been to work since they deleted me off the database. I've reapplied but am in no hurry to rush them since I know there is plenty of work once it is sorted out. For now I just want to dig the garden and feed the pigs, ducks and chickens. And ermm... work on the boat...<br />
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<br />Impetuoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17419178184715125383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-368727396780636147.post-71158650616026097622015-06-07T22:47:00.000+01:002015-06-07T22:47:28.532+01:00Travelling with boxes part 2...<span style="font-family: inherit;">It was with heavy heart that we had to finally succumb to our plan to leave Impetuous in New Zealand. We'd put it off for the last five months but now the weather was getting wintry and our visas were on the cusp of expiration. Once we'd chosen our place and yard we set to; getting Impetuous ready for immanent abandonment. Most of the windows got rebedded and all manner of varnished teak prettiness got covered in rosy red jackets. Impetuous is now adorned with multiple Fez'.</span><br />
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Though she's mostly stood up extremely well to what we've thrown at her this last 15 months, the interior oiled walls were looking rather forlorn. The problem started whilst crossing from Panama when not having any sprayhood (dodger) meant that whilst we were thundering along at 8 or 9 knots the occasional wave would break over the boat and soak the interior which was left open for ventilation. This then got much worse when we hit colder climes and suffered from condensation. Both these things will be resolved in time. We plan to make a sprayhood on our return to Impetuous next year and improve our insulation and add a heat source before we go to the next cold country.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh483rltpVzIcNfO2SFXSKp0qW7caxqBP-Bgsa3oTwG1RW0andX6sOe3BcvCnQ2jzxYULQ5S1Y2wK6iWV2Qb38bhgYOHkA5cIUAIzjX1E-BB3a8yp-2ZfUWr-rouWy7SaOGN8ddpXeCl59S/s1600/DSCF4127.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh483rltpVzIcNfO2SFXSKp0qW7caxqBP-Bgsa3oTwG1RW0andX6sOe3BcvCnQ2jzxYULQ5S1Y2wK6iWV2Qb38bhgYOHkA5cIUAIzjX1E-BB3a8yp-2ZfUWr-rouWy7SaOGN8ddpXeCl59S/s320/DSCF4127.JPG" width="320" /></a>We've still got three more windows to pull out and rebed when we get back. </div>
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The Marlborough sounds was a pretty area to stop and do some work. We still moved every few days. A short sail, a little fish and a change of scenery is a great refresher. The walking and foraging was brilliant too. We managed to find a few dry days and so gave the mast a light sand and two more coats of varnish. It was very pleasing to see how well the varnish has held up. Keeping on top of it this way should mean that a strip down won't be necessary any time soon.</div>
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We raised our anchor for the last time, got pulled out by the Waikawa marina travel lift and put up the road in Clint's yard. <br />
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We managed to get our rental down through negotiation to half price and we think she'll be nice and safe there. <br />
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Then it was time to set off again, travelling with boxes. Of course we still don't have any proper cases or bags for the plane. The bits and pieces we want to work on and fix from the boat, and tools to use on the boat in England all got crammed into cardboard and wrapped up in tape. <br />
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We hitched a ride to Picton where we caught the ferry across to the North island. Then we hopped on to an overnight bus to Auckland. We just had time to visit our one remaining friend in Auckland whilst most had already headed North towards Fiji or Tonga then got the bus to the airport. Then it was just a matter of a flight to San Fransisco, then another onwards to London before a bus to Bath.<br />
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A little dazed and confused after 65 hours travelling we staggered off the bus and round the back of the train station with our boxes to be met by our good friends Nic and Becs. It took a little while for the news to filter down into our addled brains that the 8 month old baby Becs was holding was in fact theirs. They had kept his whole existence a secret from us and everyone had been sworn to secrecy. What great news to be welcomed back with! And just the start of learning what has been going on and what has changed since we've been away. <br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We bought return flights from New Zealand so we are booked to return to our Impetuous voyages in March 2016. Our plan in March is to do some minor work on her including building the said Sprayhood, explore the Marlborough Sounds a little more and visit the Abel Tasman and Nelson. We will head North when the cyclone season is over around May towards Tonga, Fiji, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Papau New Guinea and then on to South East asia. There is a lot of sailing to look forward to. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Until then our main priority here is to finish fitting out our narrowboat 'Seth' so that he can be a) a more comfortable home for us whilst in England working and b) hopefully be rented out so that someone else can enjoy him when we go away again next March. In the mean time we will also seek </span>remunerated<span style="font-family: inherit;"> employment, though with the beautiful British summer breaking out all around us, we're in no rush!</span><br />
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We plan to carry on writing the blog whilst we're here in the UK, though we're going to be busy so it won't be too often. If you'd like to hear whenever we post an update rather than having to check the site, you can enter your email address in the space on the right. As far as I know you won't get any spam from this; blogger will just send you an email of any new posts we publish and you can unsubscribe easily by following the link at the bottom of the email.<br />
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We have plenty of stories we never managed to get around to telling from our travels and we may also write a bit about our lives here in England. If you'd like to hear more, feel free to get in touch. It's always nice to find out that we're not just talking to ourselves!Impetuoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17419178184715125383noreply@blogger.com0Claverton, Bath and North East Somerset BA2 7BJ, UK51.3694746 -2.309864999999945251.3595616 -2.330034999999945 51.379387599999994 -2.2896949999999454