It's terrible out here...

In other news, I am a certified world-expert at Fall Down Paddle-boarding.

Beaver on the port stern.

Boxing Day Sailing

Merry Xmas, yadda yadda.

Today we headed out and had a great reach down to the east end of Waiheke under reefed sails, averaged 9 knots. It's blowing a bit (25 knots) but otherwise (or therefore) really great out here, but there's no one else around. Harden up.

Accidental selfie.

Behold, Frankenladder!

So our beautiful, amazing teak & bronze boarding ladder gave up the fight. To be specific, the lower half that goes into the water fell apart; the constant wetting and drying does not do the wood any favors. Close inspection showed that it was a bit of a no-hope job to repair, so I had to come up with a solution quick, since we are heading out straight after Xmas.

One must use the materials one has available. And the talents of your engineering staff (thanks guys!).

So here she is, fusing old and new.

That will do the job for now.

A Stunning Day

Headed out to Motutapu Island yesterday for far too much food and drink. A stunning day, but not a lot of wind around (as usual, it seems) but we did manage to get a very pleasant sail in on the way back. Roll on summer!