For those not in the know we purchased a used sailboat called Sea Otter earlier in the year. Sea Otter is a 43ft long, Dick Koopmans designed, 2001, aluminum sloop (one mast). The sale went through in May and the boat has been lying in Auckland for the past six months awaiting the arrival of its new owners. I have stopped full time work and the plan over the next few years is to spend a considerable amount of time on the boat travelling to various destinations while we still can. This blog will be a running commentary on the trip both for our own record and to inform friends and family.
The start of our adventure is in Auckland with the first task of getting Sea Otter ship shape and ready to cruise.
Nik and I flew from Perth to New Zealand on November 4th with the intention of getting the boat ship shape. The vessel was berthed in Westhaven Marina and Nik and I moved onboard immediately upon arriving in Auckland. Some preliminary work had been carried out prior to us arriving to ensure all the "house" systems were working i.e. water, gas, toilets etc but there was still a lot of general work required to get the vessel ready to live aboard meaning the first few nights were a bit basic. We had to empty the whole boat and then sort through all the contents and separate the useful from the rubbish. The vessel had to be cleaned and washed inside and out. New linen/towels etc and a whole host of homewares and storage were required to be bought. All the vessel systems had to be run up and tested. Safety equipment had to be checked and if out of date either recertified or replaced. Missing equipment had to be replaced and any damaged equipment repaired. Both Nik and I worked non stop for the three weeks. There was a jobs list which just seemed to keep growing no matter how much progress was made.
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| Sea Otter alongside at Westhaven Marina |
About two weeks in we were looking good and the boat was coming together. Most systems had been run up and generally things were working as they were supposed to. I requested our sparky Jasper who had done some minor works on the AC system to do a health check of the DC system. The DC system appeared to be working fine so this was really just for peace of mind. Anyway the audit revealed the batteries were shot and the battery charger was not working correctly. After some discussion it was decided that we would carry out a compete refit on supply side of the electrical system. To cut a long story short we now have a state of the art electrical system based around lithium batteries and Victron hardware.
All in all Sea Otter appears to be a solid reliable boat. Most of the systems have, after some TLC or minor modifications, fired up and are working correctly. With the newly installed electrics we are in pretty good shape. The additional work delayed us and Nik had to fly out before it was completed. It was always planned for Nik to return to Perth for a brief spell before rejoining closer to X-mas. In the interim I will sail the boat to the Bay of Islands.
Its a shame we did not have more time to look around Auckland and its surrounds but getting Sea Otter ready took up all our time. We would definately recommend New Zealand for a visit though. People are very friendly and apart from Auckland traffic its a very laid back place.
On the plus side a friend of ours, Peter, joined me for the voyage up to the Bay of Islands. Peter is a very experienced sailor and apart from joining for the trip he will also be able to provide invaluable experience for me in setting the boat up for single handed sailing.
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| Auckland from Mt Eden |
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