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Yesterday was hectic. Putting the boat back together and cleaning up ready for the new crew that arrived late afternoon.

Fabian and Silke weren’t on Imagine long before they jumped in the water for a swim. We then had a “welcome on board” drinks and a long chat over diner.

Today after our early morning swim we had breakfast, followed by the traditional safety briefing. We then hauled anchor and set sail to Waiheke island. Fabian took the helm for part of the way. Four hours later we were having lunch in Onetangi Bay. Straight after lunch we were back in the water snorkelling around the nearby rocks, not much to see but enough exercise for the day and make lie down on deck in the sun and rest. Holiday started!

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The first job this morning was to fit the new Gipsy to the anchor winch. The lite rain didn’t help but it went on easy. We had just got everything ready for starting the hydraulic steering when Greg and his daughter Elo arrive to help. I checked the piping was connected as per the instructions and started to fill the system. B turned the the helm to port as Greg poured the hydraulic fluid into the helm. I was in the back releasing the bleed nipples. The port one was open but nothing happening? So I closed it and opened the starboard one. Big mistake. The fluid was under pressure, resulting in me getting a shower of fluid.

We stopped and checked. There was a misprint in the diagram. So I swapped the port and starboard pipes over and we started again. After filling the system and fixing a couple of joint that leaked under pressure we had steering.

Next we set up the Rockner Anchor on the new chain and Gipsy so it could easily be deployed. Then B drove Imagine forward while Greg and I manually pulled up the rope holding temporary anchor we had been using. Once up we headed out into the bay to do a few maneuvers to make sure the steering was working.

We then returned to our place of anchor and was able to use the winch to deploy the anchor with the new chain.

B and I spent the rest of the afternoon tidy up tools , cleaning the mess everywhere, reconnecting everything … A lot to do still before the arrival of some new crew this week but we are looking forward to it so we can stop working and get some sailing holiday.

Sorry no photos we were too busy.

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B went back to Sydney (Austalia) for a week to see here daughters, the oldest being pregnant with the first grandchild. I carried on painting and changing cupboards on Imagine. 
We have nearly  finished the v-berth and it’s cupboards, painting, varnishing, and adding storage doors; made changes to the galley and changed the nav station. We are now recovering the seating in the saloon. 
Everything takes longer on the boat. We are governed by the weather. Cutting, sanding and painting timber for shelves has to be done between the rain and high winds. Getting things from the hardware shop or groceries takes a day each time. There is still lots to do, but we are slowly getting Imagine back into shape, ready for our next adventure.
Also, in between B is working on her new fashion jewellery Collection all based on natural and recycled materials. 

The weather hasn’t been great but we are back into the habit of early morning swim.
Cousin Linda and family came for a visit. A few other friends have also called in to see what we are up to.

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Tuesday 14thWith rain coming, we finished up the jobs on deck and headed to Kawau for a rest. We have anchored in a nice sheltered bay that we hadn’t been in before.
After dark and we had just finished dinner when there was splashing and rocking of the boat. We rushed up on deck to see two Orcas cruising past and out of the bay. They must have been after stingrays for dinner.
This morning started with a swim in 15 degree water. We did a few jobs. Then we lowered the dinghy into the water and went fishing. B caught two and I caught one snapper. Fresh snapper for lunch and this evening B prepared snapper pan fried in butter on a bed of shaved zucchini with a side of rice. 

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Sunday 12th

By the time we have dinghied ashore and either gone to the supermarket or hardware store, the day has gone by the time we return to Imagine. After several trips and having purchased a lot of things for the boat we have now started to work on Imagine. We have painted and relined the Vberth. B has sanded and painted the storage chests on the foredeck and sanded and painted part of the toe rail. I have emptied the chain locker, sanded and painted it and I mounted cleats in the chain locker to make it easier to get the mooring lines out.  B cleaned the fenders. The old vent horns have been replaced with new ones on the fore deck. The stove has a new aluminum surround.
We have been busy and there’s more to do.

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it’s been 6 days since we have posted a blog, sorry.

We only spent a day in Deep Water before the wind changed and we could head south. We sailed as far as Whangarei where we spent the night. The next day we sailed all the way to Whanaparaoa, seeing dolphins on the way.

On Wednesday we fueled up in Gulf Harbour before sailing around to Tindalls Bay. Wednesday afternoon and Thursday we borrowed a car from my brother and did some shopping for groceries and parts for the boat.

As there is a big storm coming on Friday we sailed across to Kawau Island. We anchored in Two House Bay next to Mansion House Bay. We weren’t here long before two other boats anchored in Mansion House and a third joined us this morning. All three are the same boats that we sheltered with back in February when the cyclone hit Auckland.

Today we have been busy fitting new parts to Imagine. Replacing the Vberth vents with sealeable ones. Replaced the Vberth hatch, as the old one leaked. B was busy cleaning the ceiling panels and cleaning up the mess as I was working.

Everything is calm and silent. The calm before the storm.

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The fuel pump at Opua has been out of order since we got here, so we have been busy, doing the laundry, buying boat parts and fitting new main halyard. We checked again today and it’s still out of order and we have been told that we may have to wait next week  for reopening. The anchorage in Opua is not very comfortable (particularly when the tide is against the wind, being in the middle of the river channel), so we hauled anchor and moved to Russell. We aren’t able to get Imagine into the fuel dock here, instead we have reverted to filling our 20ltr jerrycan. We have already done several trips back and forth with the dinghy today and we will do more tomorrow. We only need 750ltrs to fill up Hahaha… We will only put a little more fuel in and fill up when we get to Auckland.
The weather looks like we will be able to head to Auckland on Tuesday.