Time out

With coming to New Zealand foreign vessels are able to stay in NZ for a maximum period of 24 months so we decided to take the opportunity to enjoy some time off from sailing, get some boat projects done and visit family and friends in NZ, Australia and North America.

Before NZs winter set in and while the weather was nice we decided to tackle the 2 biggest time consuming projects; repainting the interior of the boat & extending the length of our hulls by 4ft with Maverick (our manufacturer) hull transoms, which we brought in from South Africa.

The hull transom extensions were a big project and thankfully Neville from Norsand Boatyard was keen to work on this project for us.

The last step of our hull transom was cut off

John (my dad) so kindly helping by sanding & painting the interior hull transoms

Neville from Norsand working on the new fit of the hull transom

The extra length extends our waterline so will be interesting to see the impact in the upcoming sailing season.

The final result

Even though the boat can stay 24 months Brett being a foreigner is only able to stay in NZ 9 months in an 18 month period, so we were also limited in the time we could be in NZ.

We used Australia as a base, which was warmer than NZ and great for catching up with my sister; Louise and family.
Ruben & Daniel my nephews are a lot of fun and definetly keep Louise & Stu busy.

These birds are as big as Ruben & Daniel

Trying to get fit we cycled and went hiking. Springbrook National Park in Queensland has lots of different hikes. Beautiful area. The beaches in Queensland are great for building sand castles with my crazy nephews and getting exercise on the what seems like endless white beaches.

The Gold Coast has lots of events on to bring tourists in which while we were here included 2 free concerts and the GC600 Supercars racing.

Ruben & Daniel trackside

Time off the boat also took us to North America to see family and friends and of course an excuse to pick up boat parts in the US as they are expensive downunder.

The Screw in Panama City is always an impressive building.

We then hired a car in LA taking a road trip up to Canada.

Of course a stop at a fun park for the day could not be missed and given we’d both been to Disneyland and Universal Studios we chose Knott’s Berry Farm in Los Angeles. No crowds as we were there on a week day, what a blast!

Hang Time one of our favorite rides

Las Vegas with all its glitz is along the way. Guess who planned this part of the trip to get his poker fix.

Even caught up with Razina & Taz friends from Calgary at the Venetian

We took a walk through the Craters of The Moon Park in Idaho, which was really impressive and a good stop on the way to Canada. The lava fields are between 15000 & 2000 years old from repeated volcanic eruptions across the river plain in south central Idaho. After the molten rock cooled huge lava fields with lava tubes, caves and volcanic cones remained and you are able to walk amongst a select few as the area here is huge.

It was great to catch up and reconnect with family and friends in Canada given we’ve been off sailing for 5 years. Plenty of time for hiking, golfing and mountain biking, getting some exercise and hence feeling muscles we haven’t used for a while. Lots of good Alberta Beef too thanks to dinner with family and friends.

On arrival Doug took Brett out for his favorite; wings & beer

Golfing in Fernie, Canada with friends Dave & Jen

On return from North America we had help installing some electronics and completed some more necessary projects.

resealing front windows

Our 10yr old main sail couldn’t be patched due to sun damage so we had a new one made by Calibre Sails in Whangarei. Nice & shiny white.

Whangarei, NZ has definitely been a good place to do our boat projects with lots of marine services available and no tax on marine purchases / services 😉. Seismic Wave is looking great and after the winter season off we’re looking forward to summer sailing in NZ.

Merry Christmas and all the best to everyone in 2019. 🤗🎉

Catching up in Calgary, Canada

Decided to return to Calgary, Canada to see family and friends for the month of July. It was great to catch up with everyone that we could see so sorry if we weren’t able to touch base.

Started in Calgary at Audrey & Grant’s and were fortunate to see most of Brett’s Mums side of the family. Yes I even made them gather for a family photo.
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Made a trip down to Whitefish, Montana with Larry, Brett’s Dad via East Glacier Park, which has amazing views of the rocky mountains. West Glacier and the “Going to  the Sun Road ” was too busy for us this time given it’s summer, but is absolutely spectacular if you are ever in Montana.
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In Whitefish the big event was Scott & Erin’s wedding where we were able to see all of Larry & Carey’s side of the family. The wedding was on the lakefront and they couldn’t have asked for a better day.

Scott Erin

Wedding

The trip back to Calgary via the Crowsnest Pass and highway 22 shows the beauty of Alberta, so different to where the boat is at the moment.

The Rocky Mountains are amazing

The Rocky Mountains are amazing

Frank Slide was a rockslide that buried the mining town of Frank in 1903.

Frank Slide was a rockslide that buried the mining town of Frank in 1903

The canola fields along the foothills are pretty

The canola fields along the foothills are pretty

We saw lots of our really good friends and old work colleagues while in Calgary, which was great to socialize and catch up. I think everyone thinks we don’t eat well on the boat as they sure fattened us up with good food and plenty of alcohol. Good times as usual but we need to go on a diet now. Thanks!

The Calgary Stampede was on so we caught up for chicken wings with Doug, Todd, Dave & Bob

The Calgary Stampede was on so we caught up for chicken wings with Doug, Todd, Dave & Bob just like old times

Alberta beef (yummy) with Tim & Kathy

Alberta beef (yummy) with Tim & Kathy 1 of the many good meals we were treated to

Party at Jen & Dave's to see lots of friends

Party at Jen & Dave’s to see lots of friends

Dave, Jen, Megan & Tyler took a trip to Ontario so we were fortunate that they asked us to house /dog sit for 2 weeks. Max, a generally pretty relaxed lab who likes to rough house with Brett made sure we got our fair share of exercise every day walking up and down Nose Hill, even after a few big nights out catching up with friends. Going for hikes is something we miss so we will have to do some road trips when we return south.
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looking after a home means yard work again

forgot about the yard work that needs to be done….No rest for the wicked….

Max even came with a house in Fernie so we made a trip west to enjoy the outdoors golfing, walking and of course to have a break from all the good food & wine in Calgary.
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27 degree weather had Max laying down in the river to cool off and admire the views

27 degree weather had Max laying down in the river to cool off and admire the views

Well it’s time to head back to our floating apartment (with 2 extra big bags of shopping!) and we’ll see where the winds take us. For all those that said they want to come and visit we hope to see you soon.

Back In Canada

Well it’s been a whirl wind trip to Calgary and very busy with visiting family and friends. It was nice to enjoy a few BBQs outside again chatting like we had never left. Brett got his fix of Alberta beef, wings and dark ale. He was in heaven. It definitely has been fun catching up with everyone. Sounds like we may even have friends coming to visit us at the boat this coming season ,which will be great to catch up again and enjoy some fun together on the water.

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We got out and enjoyed the great weather Calgary put on for us.

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The weather in Grenada at the mo is about 32C but feels like 40C so Canada has been a little more pleasant for us given its a lot cooler. Time to start heading back south and adjust to those warm nights and humid days that turn my hair into a frizz ball!