Remembering Steve Southwood
I first met Steve on the radio. His was the voice attached to Dignity; always first to answer, always keen to help, always up for a chat. When we finally met in person, and I could put a human name to him, I think we talked about batteries. Then he invited us to go […]
Port Gore
Scream spent the first night of our Christmas holiday in Port Gore. We had intended to travel all of the way from Wellington to Guard's Bay, but despite a wonderful and long day flying our cruising chute we weren't traveling fast enough to make the distance before dark. We had a lot of bottom growth […]
Pelorus Sound
Scream spent two crazy weeks in Pelorus Sound, part of the Marlborough Sounds of New Zealand's south island. We anchored in seven places along Pelorus' 380 km of shoreline, which will get their own posts. Crossing Cook Straight Our friends on Clara Katherine have this amusing book entitled, My Dream to Cross Cook Straight Or […]
The cruising community made me a better and happier person
Community is important for my happiness. There have been times in my life when I didn't know my neighbours and a helping hand was far away. I think that a lot of people who live in cities feel that way. Too many people get mixed up in cults and other nonsense in their search for […]
Why is Wellington not windy?
One of the challenges of being a cruiser is understanding that because places differ with time, your experience of them may not be representative. It is hard not to form a negative opinion of an anchorage if the weather was lousy for the only night that you were only there. You can understand that it […]
Tilley Hats
I have been wearing a Tilley hat since before we started cruising. I wore my hat many hundreds of times in lots of difficult circumstances, like our Gallapagos shipwreck. My hat repeatedly was soaked in salt water and worn in harsh UV light. Recently I was in Victoria and was able to collect on the […]
Cruising Budget 2011-2012
Many people dream of sailing away to the tropics. One of the things that stops many of them are concerns about the costs. We have been tracking our expenses during the four years since we sailed away from Canada in hopes of informing and enabling others. Scream is a 45 foot sail boat with a […]
Electrical Warrant of Fitness
Every thing that is connected to the electrical grid in New Zealand, be it a building or a yacht, needs an electrical warrant of fitness. On the face of it, this is a good idea. I'm all for safety first. Like many things, the grand idea was lost in the implementation. Electricity supply in New […]
Napier
Scream spent two weeks in Napier. The city of Napier has considerable tourist infrastructure. The town center is quite pleasant to walk around. We had a great time at the National Aquarium, particularly viewing Kiwi's, Sea Horses, and their large pelagic tank with its diversity of sharks. We tied up at the visitor's dock of […]
Gisborne
Scream spent a week in Gisborne on our way south. While in Gisborne we visited the museum, a brewery, and the cidery. Gisborne's business district starts right at the marina. Gisborne is a large town and the regional centre, and as such has a fairly large commercial district. We enjoyed shopping and several good meals. […]