On Land Again!
The 2018 Holiday Season was a bit discombobulated for us even though the disorientation was done on purpose. Our beautiful Old Growth New England Pine floors in the Telluride house badly need to be refinished. We have procrastinated long enough, and this year, with no friends or family visiting over the Holidays, we decide now is as good a time as it’s going to get for us to have the floors done, but what a job! Everything had to be packed up and all furniture removed. Thankfully, between the garage, barn and carpeted bedrooms, everything found a place. That done, we vacated and moved ourselves to our Scottsdale house for the time needed to refinish and seal the floors. We were out of the house, but close enough to make an inspection trip to ensure we were happy with the work.
Thus, there was no White Christmas for us this year, though we did celebrate Winter Solstice in Scottsdale with a group of “Telluride” Arizona friends around our small outdoor firepit rather than our traditional bonfire out in the snow. A winter Raclette dinner was served. Also, Berlin with her boyfriend Tate and Pam and Phil joined us for another festive Raclette dinner. We brought the Holiday spirit with us from Telluride and made it happen in Scottsdale, winter snow or not! On trips to and from the ranch to check on the floors, we fit in excursions to visit friends in Sedona, explored the Grand Canyon with its dusting of snow and finally visited Mesa Verde National Park. What a great way for us to spend some down time! Then, it was back to Telluride where we laboriously moved back into the house. The effort was worth it, for the floors are beautiful and, hopefully, will stand up to at least another 10 years of living.
Tuesday, January 8th – Today, Avante is being pulled out of the water and stored on land as we had arranged while we were still in Opua. The reason? Last year’s new engine demands a new propeller to best work with its increased power. The way to do that is to take the old one off and measure the shaft for the exact size of new prop needed. All that can only be done while she is in the yard where she will sit for the several weeks it will take for the new prop to be ordered and fitted.
She is scheduled to splash or go back in the water on January 29th. Do we stay home and wait? No, for sure not! The Captain has lots of other stuff he can do on the boat while it is on land. As he plans his projects, The First Mate is tasked with finding us accommodations and perhaps even a weekend activity or two.
Thursday, January 17th – Back now in New Zealand, we drive north from Auckland to Opua where Avante awaits our arrival. We climb up to the deck and begin unloading. Replacement and spare parts always make up most of our return luggage. That done, The Captain gets to work while The First Mate collects what clothes and other miscellaneous articles she thinks they might need in their homes-away-from-home over the next 2 weeks. She has booked several AirBnB accommodations. Two are right on the bay not far from the marina, and taking advantage of a long holiday weekend, a third is on the west coast in an area we have yet to explore.
What are the projects that consume The Captain’s mental and physical capacities at the moment? The biggest one is replacing a 16-year old watermaker that has been showing its age. A new CJD system, made in New Zealand, is purchased. and a number of boxes containing its various parts are sitting in the main cabin when we arrive. The Captain’s job is to remove the old system and figure out where and how to mount the parts to the new system. That done, then a number of wires and hoses must be threaded through and connected. Of course, this all has to be done in the lower extremities of the boat. The Captain designs new mounting panels, and a skilled woodworker in Opua fabricates them for us.
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New electrical wires are necessary because the new pump draws more current than the old one. This becomes the most tedious part of the job, as it requires running the new wires from the main electrical panel in the main cabin to the new watermaker pump in the bowels of the aft lazerette. These wires have to run through very tight openings that are hard to reach and behind wall panels which means painstakingly unscrewing all the panels. Finally, the job is completed, and a very pleased Captain surveys his installation job with satisfaction.
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Another job is to replace our aging inverter/charger, an essential part of our electrical system. This is one of the few items that we are motivated to replace before it starts failing, for we need a 110v system for Avante, and they are not easy to find in this part of the world which uses 220v. If it were to fail while we are out in the islands, we would be a long time without one. “Better safe than sorry,” is our thought. One is ordered, mounted in place, wired and set to go.
After 10 years of cajoling, pleading and whining, The First Mate finally put her foot down and insisted on this last large job. For years, we have stored our dinghy on the bow of the boat where upside down, she calls it the “wart”. Its location there on the front of the boat is an eyesore to her, for it breaks the sweeping lines of the boat. It is not just the look, however, that annoys her. It is that hoisting the dinghy and then its motor on and off the water is a time-consuming, laborious task.
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To lift the dinghy out of the water to store on the bow of the boat, we have to remove the outboard motor from the rear of the dinghy, lift it and mount it on a stern rail. If it’s windy or the seas are heavy, this can be tricky as one does not want the motor swinging into the fiberglass body of Avante. Then, the dinghy is pulled to the bow of the boat where we put it on a halyard, lift it onto the foredeck, turn its bulky weight upside down and lash it in place with multiple lines. If it’s windy or the seas are heavy, this, too, can be a challenging task. The reverse, of course, must be done to lower the dinghy into the water which is why many times coming into an anchorage late in the afternoon where a gorgeous beach beckons us for a walk, we remain sitting on the boat. To lower and then raise the dinghy just takes too much time and work. The First Mate wants to simplify their lives and get out on those beaches!
The answer? Dinghy davits! They get the job done with minimal effort and in much less time. Two ropes are attached to the inside of the dinghy, fore and aft. With the aid of a block and tackle hoist, the dinghy and motor are effortlessly hauled out of the water where the ensemble is stored neatly on the stainless steel holders or davits off the rear of the boat. It’s as simple as “Beam me up, Scotty,” and the job is done! Lowering into the water, takes even less effort and time. One person can do the task alone, though two people make the job a snap. This is all common, practical sense to her. Why can’t she make HIM see it?
One of the issues with putting davits on Avante is that there are no manufactured davits for J/160s. They have to be custom made, which as with all things “boat”, is both intensively time consuming, complicated and costly. In Opua, there is a stainless steel craftsman who is a real artist. Stainless Chris is his local nickname, and he has done exceptional work for us in the past, fabricating a hefty anchor roller for the bow of the boat. Last November, before we left for the Holidays, The First Mate had asked Chris to come by the boat to see how davits could be attached to Avante. Reluctantly, The Captain had agreed to at least talk about it. Chris executed a couple of quick sketches. They looked good. With his creative mind and the love of his craft, he understood that we wanted davits that were low profile, sleek and elegant. Most importantly, he understood The Captain’s desire that they could be easily removed, for The Captain is positive that no future buyer of Avante would ever want davits on a racer/cruiser like our J/160 is. Chris understands. Look at these drawings. How can The Captain not see? Finally, HE capitulates. It’s not an enthusiastic yes, but it is a yes nonetheless. Wow! Our custom-made davits are on order! Gloat she must not, but it’s all she can do to keep from crowing! Yee-Haa! Wo-Hee! Alleluia!
Avante will be out of the water in January, and being on land will make it so much easier to mount the davits. Chris readily agrees and says that he will have the davits made by then. No problem! Unfortunately, artists are not always good with schedules. Nothing, absolutely NO-THING, had been started when we arrived back in New Zealand in mid-January. The Captain just gives the First Mate that “I told you so look.” The First Mate feels she has been betrayed. Chris promised he’d have them done. He knew it impacted marital harmony aboard Avante. How could he, a married man expecting his second child, not understand that? However, Chris, our fiercely independent and somewhat temperamental artist, must be handled gently. She is told to stay out of it, swallow her feelings, for he, The Captain, has worked with Chris before and will do so now, “even though this is her mess, not his” thinks the frustrated Captain.
While The Captain works on his myriad of complex projects, The First Mate also has boat projects she wants to get into, but with the interior of the boat a jumble to make way for The Captain’s projects, she knows there is no room. Also, being very much aware of his feelings about “her dinghy davits”, she thinks it best to stay clear.
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Lying low, she occupies herself with long, contemplative hikes along the waterfront, yoga classes with friends, browsing around the stores of Paihia, but always being on call when he needs a third hand.
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Friday, January 25th – The Captain promises that he will wrap up his work so that we can take off for the weekend. Monday is a New Zealand holiday meaning it’s a 3-day weekend for the Kiwis and, by association, for us, too. A cottage in the bush on the west side of the North Island has been booked. The boatyard has just completed putting new antifoul paint on the bottom of Avante, and the only thing holding us up is the delivery of the new propeller. It was supposed to arrive yesterday. It did not. Today, we are told, for sure. With the 3-day weekend, if it does not arrive today, we may not be able to go back in the water on Tuesday as scheduled. After almost 2 weeks of sleeping in strange beds and eating out every night, we are tired of all that. We want our own bed and to sit down at our own table with our own home-cooked food and a bottle of wine to wash it down. Enough already!
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Finally, on Friday afternoon, the prop arrives. Screwed onto the shaft, it truly is a thing of beauty. Look at that shiny brass. Wow! Hopefully the engine will be as proud and work well with it. That we will only know when Avante is back in the water with the engine running.
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In the late afternoon, we take off for Kaiawaka where our cottage is located. One never fully knows what to expect with these rentals. How accurate are the descriptions and the photos? This place proves to be delightfully just as she expected: a private cottage nestled in the native bush yet near enough to other activities. We arrive in the evening and cook a simple dinner in the small kitchen. In the morning, a well-stocked breakfast tray of eggs, fruit, cereal, fresh scones and homemade jam gives us all we need to get going on the day.
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We hike the bush area on several trails around the cottage and then get in the car to drive a mostly graveled road toward the coast. It’s a beautiful countryside with pastureland vistas overlooking the water.
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We are not far from the wine country on the east coast north of Warkworth. How we enjoy the beautiful settings and the wonderful gourmet restaurants that many vineyards have! Luncheon reservations are made at the Brick Bay Vineyard whose famous Glass House Restaurant overlooks a picturesque lily pond. Bright yellow and soft pink lilies float on a sea of vibrant green leaves.
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Sunday, January 27th – Learning that we enjoy hiking, our hosts had told us about the Mangawhai Headlands Circuit Track. To do the circuit, one must plan on hiking the beach part when the tide is out, for with rising water, the northern part of the trail becomes impassable. The beach area near the town is a popular weekend retreat with the unique name of Surfers’ Beach. It has a steep sand dune for sledding and waves that break off a sandy beach. We check the tide tables. Low tide is early in the morning. It takes about an hour to drive to the trailhead, so we have to get going early. Hopefully, that means we will be walking the beach before much of the holiday crowd arrives.
Many families are already there when we arrive, but as we hike along the waterfront, we find ourselves leaving the beach goers behind. Only a few hikers are out here now. The view to Little Barrier Island is across an isolated beach strewn with ocean-ravaged rock.
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Arriving at the end of the beach and looking ahead as the path cuts across a field of those jagged rocks, we can see why this section of the trek can only be done at low tide.
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A small group of college students catches up to us. This gives us an opportunity to exchange photo-taking turns. Faster hikers than we are, they quickly leave us by ourselves again.
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Reaching Arch Rock, we walk through the opening. We have gone as far out on the beach as the trail allows. From here, it now turns away from the water to start an uphill trek back to the trailhead. Well-placed wooden steps take us over the steeper parts.
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At times, we are deep in heavy vegetation and shade-covered by the many trees. It’s a delightful walk with frequent vistas of the coast.
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As the path leads us back down to the beach trailhead, it meanders through an area we later learn is called Bream Tail Farm. Maybe a farm it once was, but now large tracts have been carved out of the area. The hillsides are dotted with spectacular homes many of which are sleek, low contemporaries with plenty of glass to take in the dynamite views. Ah, we could live here! Look at the ocean below, the green fields surrounding and the privacy.
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Tomorrow, we return to Opua and our last night on land. If all goes as planned, Avante will splash on Tuesday. She’ll be back in the water, and we’ll be back in our own bed. How wonderful!
Comment (1)
Georgiann Carroll
I sent a message, but must have pushed the wrong button. Hope this goes through. Anxious to see you in Telluride this summer. Hope to see Berlin there also.
Hugs,
Georgiann