Articles about 'New Zealand'

On a sailboat the term 'Hollywood Shower' refers to being able to run the water continuously while you are showering and not worrying about how much water you use. Usually this is done by guests who bring this habit onboard from how they shower at home and don't understand that every drop of water is precious and has to be produced onboard.

Well, it’s been 3-4 years now enjoying a much reduced bill for use of the Inmarsat FleetBroadband internet service. In another article I detailed how, using prepaid data, you could cut way back on your cost to use this vital service. However, some changes from Inmarsat have dropped a bombshell once again on small vessel users and prepaid data users.

We had to pass through 'Man of War Passage', a narrow (30m gap, the narrowest we've ever gone through!) with 14m of depth to get into this bay but it was worth it. You do have to plan to do this in slack tide and with little wind to make sure you can get through easily.

Great Barrier Island is about 45nm north east of Auckland, a four hour ferry ride or a 20 minutes airplane flight. However, it's a world away from the hustle and bustle of the big city. We headed over here on the leading edge of a front and storm system that would have made anchorage in Waiheke not so comfortable. We spotted this bay as an ideal location to wait out the 35-40kt winds...

So, another year went by. For many around the world it was one they’d rather forget. The world is erupting into chaos on all fronts no matter where you live and so far, 2016 looks to be worse. However, for me it was one that I will forever treasure as it was the first year of our world circumnavigation in a sailing yacht.

After waiting out three days of stormy weather on the south side of Waiheke Island we motored around the corner to this lovely anchorage close to the Man of War Winery. Of course we had to do a wine tasting and brought some more wine back to the boat! The holding here is excellent in contrast to the Man of War Bay which we tried six times to set the anchor before giving up and coming...

After breaking free of the marina we escaped to this lovely anchorages off Waiheke Island about 14nm east of downtown Auckland. Here we are sheltered from the wind and swell coming out of the northeast and nestled up against a beautiful island. What a contrast to the busy life in Auckland!

After 'roughing it' in the Bay of Islands in the Northland, we came down to Auckland to start getting some work done for next season. As Orams is on the North Wharf, right downtown Auckland, it seems like an ideal place to set up for a while. As it turned out, it was a fabulous location with access to all the best tradesmen for engine, generator, rigging, sails, watermaker, etc.