Well crap...

Our genoa blew out again...this time I can see how though. We sailed out of our anchorage and had a pleasant sail until we rounded the corner tip of the bay  and hello wind!! It had been blowing a steady 20kts or so but we hit a freakin squall and hadn't reefed the genoa enough. I mean we had it reefed plenty! But then 22kts becomes 25 becomes 28 becomes 33 and then yeah 39kts just like that...We turned into wind as we should but just a few seconds too short... We are a couple hours from Opua marina where we will tie up once again and get some repairs done. Oh and the clutch that holds the furling line for the genoa blew up too. Guess sun damage made the plastic weak and it kinda exploded when there was pressure on it. I'm ready for this job to start paying off again so I can remember why I'm doing this. 

We already called the marine store to let him know we need another depth sounder because the new one is not working...again...and that we need a new clutch and we have the sailmaker on standby. He said he can fix it as early as tomorrow. And our mat comes in tomorrow too so the canvas guy is going to come and cut it to our cockpit size tomorrow morning. Maybe we will be outta here Wednesday maybe not who knows...there is still a shred of the genoa flapping way up on one of the shrouds...

We made it in to the marina and Ty docked nicely parallel in a somewhat tight spot between two other cats. :) now wine and a movie. Ah another day in paradise. 

Adios Tauranga

We finally slipped our lines and left Tauranga today. We are doing an overnight passage to get to Opua to check out and get some last minute stuff like the carpet we have been waiting weeks for....we ordered it so it will be there when we get there and then someone will just come and cut it to fit in the cockpit. We ordered it from Steve but it just didn't show up in time. There was another holiday this weekend so all these stores are shut down and everyone is off their game. Oh well. We should be in Opua tomorrow night or early Monday morning and leaving no later than the 3rd I think. Maybe the 4th. We are gonna leave after the next low pressure system moves through. Our neighbor Andy come over last night and brought some fish! And then he cooked us dinner! Then took us out on his fishing boat to haul in the nets he put out earlier. So we got fish for days now! I'm so glad. I was about to breakdown and eat a steak. I've only been eating veggies lately since we haven't been out and fishing. So it's our first night passage in a few months and we are motor sailing at about 5.5 knots. The wind should pick up tomorrow evening for us but hopefully not too much. 

Trapped!!!

So there was a cyclone that left the Solomon's last week that hit us yesterday. Glad that's over with! That was the windiest storm we have ever been in. We turned on the sailing instruments to see the top speed of the wind and it gusted up to 62knots!!!!! That's like 71 miles per hour or....114 kilometers per hour!!!! No worries though we were secured to the dock here in Tauranga still. It was pretty hectic tho and loud. I was surprised to see that the boats that are anchored right outside the marina didn't budge at all. Sometimes you get a dragger....  So,..lots an lots of rain rain rain....the rain is a real drag. We are still trying to dry out the top of the water tanks to finish dealing them but can't cuz everything is all damp n stuff...we have been trapped in this boat for too long because of this weather!!! We  have been finishing boat projects and watching movies and cookin up a storm. Made some baby quiche w spinach and mushrooms today with a side of hash browns...yum...and bacon for Ty...

Made eggs in a basket the other day. It's eggs inside a hash brown cup and on Ty's I added maple covered bacon

These are awesome w the yolk all runny. 

Also made some really good veggie curry the other night! Came out so good. Got the recipe from this good network app that I downloaded. 

Looks messy but it was good;) chickpeas n random veggies I needed to use before they went bad. 

We are waiting for the carpet to come in an then get binded for the cockpit area. It should be here Tuesday and the binding should be done by Wednesday and we will be leaving Thursday or Friday to go check out in Opua. We are getting all our supplies from Steve's Marine just on the other side of the bridge. Steve is awesome!! He's there every day and works with us to get us the best prices on everything we have needed. If we find a better price he will beat it every time. Highly recommend going to him if you are in the area;) he also lets us borrow his car anytime we need it. Which is awesome. Helped us out sooooo much with running around everywhere provisioning and all...

So there's a yacht race today from Auckland to Tauranga. Been watching some boats trickle in here n there. They look cold and...wet... Sposed to be a big party tonight at the yacht club;) ok time to get back to cleaning. A yachties work is never done.

Work work work

We have been buuuusy! We replaced the kill switch for the starboard engine. Replaced the steering cable which was seriously frayed!

See it barely hangin on!? The first cable we bought was just a foot too short so we had another one cut. When we tried to put that one on we realized it wasn't cut smoothly so it wouldn't feed through the hole so we had to take it back again and have him cut it again...finally success!! We can control our rudder again....We replace the buzzers in both key panels for the engines. The speaker now puts out this loud annoying buzz to let you know you left the key on....which Ty does quite often lol...;)

I just scraped of all the old glue from two of the engine covers to put new glue on so the insulation stays attached. That job sucked!!!:(

I took down the old outdated and moldy picture frames that were in 3 of the bunks and replaced them with photos we have taken of sunsets and the boat in Suwarrow. Bossman will wake up to this photo he took in Maupiti now! :)

We fixed the leaks in both water tanks and also bleached out both tanks really well to sanitize them. We replaced the floor mats at the entrance inside and outside and in both bathrooms so it looks much nicer! :) 

Don't mind the shoes...we've been walking a LOT lately trying to get around town...

Ty installed 2 accumulator tanks in the heads that fill with fresh water so when you turn on the tap you don't use the water pump every time. They also put out a steady stream of water which we have never had before. It makes such a huge difference and saves water and the life of the water pump. 

We got out steel work done 

New support keeps the Bimini from moving. We got 4 of these new bars welded on. 

and the main sheet traveller fixed with a proper line so we will see how that works when we sail to Opua to check out of the country. 

New green line moves it side to side. The new red line keeps it tightly down. 

Yep! It's almost time to move on!! We will check out as soon as we can and head to New Caledonia! Probably in the next 2 weeks or less hopefully. What should be the last cyclone of the season had already passed Vanuatu and new cal so hoping to leave here in a week but emotionally prepared to stay for 2 more...made a fresh batch of LaRues Brews today too! Got another lager brewin. Did NOT like the bock...blah! That's my opinion tho...we had our spinnaker inspected and all looks good and ready to fly! We just need to get to Opua to have them put on the bracket on top of the mast so we can fly it... We ordered a mat to go on the floor outside in the cockpit area. It will be much nicer than looking at the dirty footprints that NEVER go away...we are also having some outdoor shade covers restitched where they have become frayed. Also picked up another solar panel! We should be able to get more power from the sun now. We have always been one short as one blew off in a storm or something a long time ago so we got one to replace it. We also got another water pump to make an outdoor saltwater wash down so we can easily wash the boat and spray off the anchor chain as we pull it up and all that. 

Ty...In a moment of sheer genius...accomplished a huge masterpiece! ;) he installed the new chart plotter/fish finder but it wasn't syncing to the other instruments so after a day of hard work he hooked it up and it ALL WORKS now!!!! Lol it's huge. Trust me. The chart plotter syncs to the auto pilot, the depth and the wind indicator! We can basically control the boat with our iPhones now....ha!! It's all Bluetooth n high tech now... :) can't wait to try this puppy out!!! Well it's time for a sundowner now....

Randoms from March

Well we made it through April Fools day with no fooleries...Right now we are working on some last minute boat projects that have recently come up. We discovered a hole in the top of our starboard water tank which poses a huge problem..if we want water...so Ty has been letting it air out and dry for about a week now and we are going to the store to buy some fiberglass stuff to fill the hole and hopefully fix the problem so we don't have all our water drain into the bilge and go overboard. We also inspected the steering cable that controls the rudders and it has frayed so we are going to replace it. We are replacing the starboard kill switch cable as well as it has not been working either. Ty has to go into the cabin, lift the cover and kill the engine manually every time. We had the welder come on board and he quoted us about $500NZD to reinforce the bimini where its broken and also adding extra support so it doesn't move while we are sailing.

We got to hit up a rugby match last weekend! We took the bus to Auckland and met up with Gizmo who then introduced us to a few more people in the industry. We had the best night ever! We had free dinner and drinks included with our ticket purchase which was only $30NZ, our team won and then we went out on the town for some dancing and shenanigans...it was an awesome night. Next day we got up and found this little gem of a restaurant in the city. It was a really good Mexican restaurant with awesome micheladas!!! I have been dying for a good michelada lately and finally got my spicy fix. Of course the waiter thought I spoke spanish right away and started babbling something which only embarrassed me since I don't really speak the language fluently....oops....

Not the best picture but shows you how close we were....nothing like a football game in the nosebleeds!

Selfie at the beach while the boys surfed in the background

Hobbiton - hobbit hole...all the materials used to create the set were brand new so they had to do some major aging to the wood and stuff. They use vinegar to make it look aged. Oh and behind the door...nothing!

Was ready for the cold weather in the south island and packed all this warm clothes...it was hot every day....

Ty n Alec drank this beer that uses the yeast in this guys beard as an ingredient...ew!

This is as far south as we went. It is at Fox Glacier....The river runs grey here...glacier water runs grey!

More from Hobbiton

One free hobbit beer at the Green Dragon...good times...good times...

On our hike we probably crossed 20 of these narrow bridges

Awesome sunset from way back

See the monkey?!

Still goin strong with the vege thing

Heeey I love hiking!

Top of Devil's Staircase

At the vineyards they put roses at the end of the rows. Back in the days before technology, if there was something wrong with the vines it would show on the roses before it was too late to save the grapes.

Now that's Love...:)

Fox Glacier in the south island. 

I like this photo because it looks like we were photo shopped in haha....Thats the volcano from Lord of the Rings - Mt Doom in Mordor

Hobbiton with the party tree. They really have a big garden here. Even though its all props and fake houses and some trees are fake the veggie gardens are real and quite nice actually...

Dont jump!!!

Jordyn drew us a picture! We love it thank you! Its hangin on the fridge :)

We picked these mussels from a mussel farm on Great Barrier and had them oh so fresh

with this snapper that we also racked up on while fishing from the dinghy around the mussel farm

On our 2 day hike we would stop and eat lunch along the river like this

I think my favorite part of the whole trip was the wine tour. I have been dying to do a wine tour since south africa!

There is only 1 winery that still uses corks and it is because the owner is french and is loyal to the cork!....for now

Pinot Grigio grapes

Last winery of the day...nice view

Some river rafters rafting the river...we thought it was a nice view so we pulled the car over and took some photos

We touched glacier ice!

Big waves rolling through pounding these rocks to make them look layered like pancakes

We were in Frodo's bedroom!

Went to Rivendell to see if Orlando Bloom was still there...nope...

Sorry Alec...I had to...WEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!