Back in the water on Monday, Tuesday slept, Wednesday went shopping and Thursday Lydia arrived. Lydia has been on Imagine several times before, this time with her engineering background she came to help remove the old steering system and install the new hydraulic system.
Thursday night we relaxed, chatted and played cards. This morning Lydia and I started. First the morning swim before breakfast. We then unbolted piece by piece the old steering system. Now we have no steering. This afternoon we measured up brackets for the new system. Tomorrow we will start to make them. B continued with the painting and then cleaning up our mess. None of it was easy as the northerly swell came in the bay and rocked Imagine all day.

We are back in the water! Ten days of hard work and Imagine is back in the water and looking great. Hull is antifouled below the water, above waterline is a nice clean white. The rubrail is repaired and the brass strip is shiny. The anchor chain has been replaced. We are just waiting for the new Gipsy (cog to match the chain) so we can use the new chain. The startermotor and Volvo electronics have been replaced (the motor starts now). More of the toe rail has been finished and the rear ladder glistens.

We had ten days of hot weather while we worked on her and today it’s raining.At least the rain has given us a chance to rest before we start replacing the steering system and keep going with painting and refit…so much more to do! ( B thinks that the “all done title is not quite appropriate)

Another early morning start. We had taken the brass strips off the rubrail yesterday, and B began sanding and cleaning it, so today she kept ongoing with that.I epoxyed into position the new transducer for the forward facing sonar. I had just finished when B found a surprise. Part of the rubrail was rotten. This ment a trip to the hardware store for some timber to rebuild it. It took most of the day but we cut out the 2.4m of rot, finish sanding and treat all the rail with wood restore product. On top of it it was a hot day with no wind and we had no option but having a cold shower middle of the day to cool down and keep working. Sometimes B had no choice to play contortionist to reach the rubrail and Andrew had to keep balance as he was most of the day on top of the ladder.

The warm water trickled down my back as I stood under the shower, not worrying about how much water I was using. Just letting the water refresh my aching body. It was the first time in quite a while that we were able to have a long hot shower. The marina facilities were nice and clean and a welcome necessity at the end of the first day on the hard.

We had Imagine lifted out of the water yesterday to spend 10 days on the hard stand. We have lots to do and today we got stuck into it. B started sanding the rubrail ready for painting. While I removed the damaged transducer and cleaned the hull ready for the new one.

By lunch time it was raining so we both started scrapping the remaining barnacles off the hull. We ended the day with me removing some of the name Imagine from the hull to make it easier to paint the white hull. B removed the skirt from the back of Imagine.

As we couldn’t do much work on Imagine we decided to go for a sail. I jump started the engine and we hauled anchor. It was a nice breeze and we sailed to Motohe Island where we had lunch. A bit swelly there so, we went across to Islington Bay on Rangitoto Island. This is where we spent the night along with thirty other boats.The wind was blowing 25 knots and the rain made us appreciate even more our sheltered cockpit.
It has been raining most of the day so we have just been doing things inside. When I went to start the engine to charge the batteries, it wouldn’t jump start. After a lot of work I traced the problem to the starter motor. Jump starting the battery it the last few days increased the current to the starter motor and it worked, but today even the extra current wouldn’t turn the starter motor.
While I was working on the engine, B attacked the wood cupboard and my tool draw. Now the wood is sorted into sizes and my tools are all neatly laid out. It looks wonderful. I wonder how long they will stay like that? From now on I have to ask permission to access my tools and make sure I put them back at the same place hahaha…Who said that we are living the dream life?
The rain has stopped just long enough to give us a beautiful sunset.

Boxing Day morning we headed into to town. The shops were packed. People looking for the Boxing Day sales. We found a vacuum and a small pump for the watermarker. All the places were closed that sold starter batteries.
We dropped the car back to Darren. He had given us a pump to try. Back onboard, I started replacing the pump. Of course none of the connections were the same as the old one. Tried Darren’s one it had too higher pressure, but finally the one we bought seemed to do the job.
Eager to go sailing, we jump started the engine and hauled anchor. We started the watermaker and I checked that it was making water. Everything seemed to be alright. After about half an hour I checked again and everything was working smoothly.
About an hour later, half way to Waiheke Island, we were both on deck enjoying the sun ( finally out there!) and dolphins sighting. I went down below to get some drinks and smelled something, a few second later the smoke alarms went off. I quickly turned off the power and saw the smoke coming from the cupboard where the watermaker is. Turning off the power stopped the wiring from continuing to burn and the smoke started to disperse. Thankfully the fire didn’t spread!
We decided to turn back to Whangaparaoa and as we anchored in Okoromai Bay the wiring had cooled and the smoke was gone. That when I could see the new pump had overheated and shorted out causing the wiring to burn.
Reluctant to put the same type of pump back in we have ordered one online. This means we are on tight water until it arrives. Luckily it has rained over Christmas and we have buckets full of rainwater that we can use for washing.

We have finished the jobs we have been working on, so that we can have a break from Christmas to New Year relaxing and sailing around the Hauraki Gulf. We started Christmas Eve with Croissants and plans to clean up ready for our week off. That went to plan till about 3pm. That’s when the vacuum died, then the engine starter battery died and then the prepump for the watermarker stopped. It was too late to run around the shops to buy new ones, so we went for a walk along the beach. 

Christmas day was great we spent it at Darren’s with other family members. Telling stories, reminiscing, eating and drinking too much before returning to Imagine.