New Plymouth

Tar ball on the beach. After extensive research, I have concluded this is the result of the BP oil spill and not Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, or anywhere else. While diving on our hull, I scraped a lot of tar/oil off the keel. The first intake filter for our watermaker was also full of an oily substance.


The inevitable happened. The head pump was jammed. Fun fun fun. I traced it to somewhere on the intake where seawater is pumped in. This critter was wrapped around the ball which is in the red pliers. The black ball is activated by a spring to open and close a water duct depending on the setting of the pump. 

My research team has positively identified the culprit as a shrimp, a squid, a piece of lobster, or something else entirely.

Contrary to what you might think, real men do wear gloves when they work on the head.


8 apples a day keep the doctor away.


New Plymouth. Should have been called Newest Plymouth. Of course, then we should have called ours New Plymouth.


A couple of weeks ago, we had a nice squall (preceding a front) move through. 

A good 4 days out Chris Parker had been calling for winds in excess of 50 knots in the squalls. He is really amazing. Once again, he was right on. We had one extended gust that was way way over 50, but it was brief. There were 2 other boats anchored in our vicinity--one had his roller furling main partially unroll during the big gust (it was of the retrofit type that is mounted behind the mast not inside it). The front, with it's clocking winds followed immediately afterwards. At this point we had to move to the other side of the cay for protection. This was just before dark which was wonderful. Usually the wind clocks at 2 am.