9 March 2015 Whangarei, New Zealand
We had a strange medical day. Glenys went to the dentist to get a temporary crown removed and a permanent one fitted. The procedure all went well, but the credit card suffered with a £800 bill.
I’ve been having problems with stiff and sometimes painful fingers in the mornings. I first noticed it in December when I was doing a lot of work on the boat. I thought that it might be a combination of over work and some kind of repetitive strain injury from playing the guitar too much, but the problem didn't go away despite a three week rest while we were down in South Island.
I went to see a doctor who sent me off to get some blood tests and some x-rays of my hands to check for rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. The x-rays looked clear and the blood tests came back negative for arthritis, but he then wanted to do a few more blood tests for more in-depth checks for rheumatoid arthritis, so it was another visit to the blood test place. I’ll hear back about those tests tomorrow.
One of the blood tests that the doctor did was a liver function test which unfortunately came back showing that I've got a problem with my liver. I've been drinking far too much - four cans of beer and ½ bottle of wine every night, which is twice the recommended limit. So, it’s no alcohol for me for a couple of weeks and then another blood test to see if my liver recovers. Oh miser!
To make things worse, we don’t have any medical insurance or health care cover, so I had to fork out £250 to pay the doctor and the various tests - it’s enough to drive one to drink…
I managed to get on with a few jobs, the main one being to paint the radar bracket. I covered the walls of the front heads with some old sheets and made a spray booth out of a large cardboard box. It all seemed to go well and the painting was fine, but unfortunately, the overspray in the enclosed space has got everywhere and despite my best efforts, I’ve trashed a new pair of black shorts (that now have white streaks) and the teak grating floor is covered in tiny white dots. I need a beer.
10 March 2015 Whangarei, New Zealand
Straight after breakfast, I went to pick up the new window for our windscreen. It looked very good, but unfortunately, it didn’t fit because they’d attached the hinge at a slight angle, so I got them to come out to have a look. After a bit of discussion, we agreed a plan of action and they returned the window a couple of hours later. It fits perfectly and looks great, although it should do for £180…
Glenys went shopping and bought 23 metres of Sunbrella plus loads of zips and sewing stuff, so that she can make a new bimini and various side and back flaps to keep the rain out of our cockpit. The huge roll of Sunbrella has gone in the front cabin next to the other huge roll of Sunbrella that she bought two years ago to make a new spray hood. She’s going to be a busy girl soon.
I pottered about ticking a few jobs off the list and adding a few more. I fitted the window, but couldn’t get the outboard started even though I removed and cleaned the carburettor. I rewired the navigation lights on the pulpit, but bought two wheels for the dinghy, which I now have to fit. I tested the pressures on the fridges - one was okay, but the drinks fridge has lost pressure, so I’ve arranged for an engineer to come on Friday to look for the leak. We've resigned ourselves to an extra week in Whangarei and are now aiming to leave on the 21st.
11 March 2015 Whangarei, New Zealand
In the morning, I fitted the reconditioned turbo to the engine. It took me all morning to do the job because I was paranoid about doing it wrong and damaging the turbo which is an expensive beast. The job went well and the engine started fine. After warming the engine and getting the oil circulating to the turbo, I increased the revs to 3,500 and the exhaust looked clear - if the turbo was faulty then there would have been black smoke pouring out.
We've hired a van to go down to Auckland tomorrow, mostly to drop off our Apex dinghy and some other things at our friend Bob’s house. He’s kindly agreed to sell them on Trade Me which is the New Zealand equivalent of eBay - unfortunately, I can’t sell anything myself because you have to be a New Zealand resident to register on the auction web site.
I spent most of the afternoon writing the text and taking photographs for the Trade Me adverts.
The results for most of my blood tests have come in now and they’re showing negative for osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. There’s still one test to come in, but it’s looking good. The last test should be in the next couple of days, so fingers crossed. I’m on day 3 of not drinking alcohol and becoming addicted to Ginger Beer.
12 March 2015 Whangarei, New Zealand
We picked up the van and drove for two hours down to Auckland. The first stop was to pick up our life raft which has been serviced. They tell us that it inflated correctly and is in good condition, but most of the contents had expired and it cost us a whopping £650 to have it examined and repacked. It’s now certified for another two years, but we’ll probably get it done again in South Africa in three years’ time.
Horst from “Flow” met us in the Fish Market and we had a pleasant lunch catching up on the past couple of months. Later in the afternoon, we called in on Bob & Sian and dropped off our dinghy, our old AIS receiver, the barbecue that we never use and our 35lb CQR anchor. Bob isn't a boater and looked a bit perplexed about the stuff, but with my adverts and photos, he should be able to sell it all on Trade Me in the next few weeks.
We sat around chatting until six o'clock and then it took another two hours to drive back to Whangarei where, while we have a van, we stopped off at a supermarket to stock up on heavy items (3 cases of Ginger Beer) . It was ten o'clock before we managed to sit down with our Super Supreme pizza.
13 March 2015 Whangarei, New Zealand
It was Friday the 13th, but I had a very good day and ticked off loads of jobs. I first went up the mast and finally finished off installing the radar radome with its newly painted bracket. While I was up there, I cut 70mm off the top of the extrusion for the stay-sail roller reefing because it’s been rubbing on the halyard sheave when we’re going upwind and making it hard to reef. It was a bit scary using a hacksaw to cut it off because if I made a slip and nicked the inner fore-stay wire then it would have to be replaced, but it all went well.
Flush with success, I took the end off the boom and replaced the bearing wheels on the main sail out haul car and installed a new attachment point to hold the boom brake. This was a job that could have turned very nasty, but went very smoothly.
The refrigeration engineer came and managed to find a leak at the end of the dryer on the drinks fridge. He’s filled the system with Nitrogen at 100 psi and will leave it over the weekend. If the pressure remains at 100 psi, then we’ll know that the damn leak is finally fixed.
Glenys pottered about, continuing to paint the toilet cupboard doors, then various odd jobs before making a lovely Dal with a mixed vegetable curry for dinner. She’s really got into Indian cooking - this is the third Indian meal this week.
14 March 2015 Whangarei, New Zealand
A major cyclone is currently hammering Vanuatu, which is a set of islands 1000 miles to the north-east of New Zealand. Super Cyclone Pam has been strengthening into a monster since the 10th, when it rapidly intensified from the equivalent of a category 2 to a category 4 in under 24 hours. Since then it has slowly continued to gain strength, reaching category 5 status a couple of days ago. Recent forecasts suggest Pam’s central pressure is down below 900 millibars, with winds up to 177 mph.
Pam is forecast to run down the whole island chain and the prognosis is not good for the low lying islands which are expected to take heavy damage to the infrastructure and likely loss of lives. We were planning on visiting these remote islands when we leave New Zealand in April, so if we’re still able to go there, we’ll be loading up with supplies to try to help the Vanuatu people.
I spent all day working on our 15hp outboard which needed some serious Tender Loving Care. I cleaned it up as best as I could, installed a new friction brake and clamping disks, then removed the lower leg and disassembled the water pump which was a mission because one of the bolts had broken off. By six o’clock, I’d run out of time and the outboard is still in pieces.
15 March 2015 Whangarei, New Zealand
Being a Sunday, we had a lazy day. Cyclone Pam has gone through Vanuatu with massive damage to buildings and there are reports of dozens killed. It has now dropped down to a category 4 cyclone and is directly north of us moving in a south east direction. The forecast is that it will pass 300 miles to the east of New Zealand’s North Island, but will still bring heavy rain and gale force winds.
We’re tucked up in a river a long way from the sea, completely surrounded by land, so the impact on us should be minimal. Even so, we've lashed the dinghy on the front deck, put out extra mooring lines and made sure that anything on deck is lashed down. We might have a restless night.