Gallery Entrance - at Last

 The old steps were getting a little dangerous, the lumps of wood that we had used as a temporary measure 'three years ago' were rotting rather badly.
This was a little project that I had been putting off, so as we had already purchased  the flagstones...
Mrs DIY decided that the time had arrived.
Didn't take to long to lay, like a lot of stuff that's waiting for our attention, you wonder why you didn't do this before. Another tick on the 'list'!
Boat tomorrow...

Boat Dog Training 101

The first step in getting Oscar to be a boat dog, a still a very nervous nelly, he at least will now walk down the marina to the finger that we are moored.
The journey is negotiated very carefully down the middle of the pontoon, legs apart for balance and carefully not going anywhere near the edge and the 'nasty' black swans that patrol the marina like B&W police cars..

Our Easter...

The Easter project - Mrs DIY and I spent the weekend building a wall to create a small study or new nursery... for the daughter and son-in-law's Wellington cottage, this was done while they were away on holiday.
It all went well and was completed on Monday.  Finished on schedule!

The plasterer (Mrs DIY) and painter (Mrs DIY) did a great job, 'following' the written instructions by our daughter. ( see following email instructions from the the owners, which cracked us up...)

"The door is double-white pointer. There's some under the house too. Please remember to sand the grooves before and after priming carefully, so you can't see the paint lines or drips, if you are going to do that too. XXXX is happy to do that when we get home.
Can you use the the small fine rollers for the oil based paint.
Also with the rollers, can you use the synthetic ones, called Hayden Genius microfiber, they come in a box. I think you can get them from M10.
With the bed, I am sure it will be wrapped but will you make sure the mattress doesn't get dusty in the van.
Maybe we could Skype to discuss if you want....."

I wonder what the weather was like in London!

To celebrate the holiday, we ate a dark chocolate Easter Bunny that I 'found' in the pantry. I wonder who it belonged to...?

Yes, we did get a ''few hours of sailing around the harbour, the weather was just perfect, hope it will be just as good next weekend.

KoBo eReader - Review

If anyone is thinking of purchasing a KoBo eReader, my advice is don't, for the following reasons:

• Their books are more expensive than Kindle (Amazon)
• Their website is slow and clunky
• Site is not user friendly
• No magazines
• Will only accept PayPal
• You can only purchase their eBooks (KoBo)
• Don't have full range, e.g. only 2 of the Millennium Trilogy (at time of writing)
• Only have about 50  'free' books but millions of them!

Sorry to be so negative but the eReader unit is a big bag manure.
The user experience maybe different in other parts of the world but in New Zealand we are forced to go through Whitcoulls (NZ Bookstore chain) that is hanging on by its fingernails.(financial probs)
The question is, why should a local retailer control what I can read or purchase?.

Sailing...

At last Duamara has 'hit' the water, and it sails well, we hadn't forgotten how to sail, what a relief.
The main pushes the boat along very nicely, the sail-maker said it had good 'bones' and with the new flexi battens it has a good wing shape.
The only thing that needs to completing, is the dodger and sail cover, the man has promised me that it will be done by next Wednesday.
The motor has done it's sea trials, we can get, just on 7 knots out of her into a headwind, the new three blade folding prop works well.
Our only challenge is Oscar (dog) he is absolutely petrified of just walking down the marina, we finally, after two visits, got him to venture down the finger that our boat is moored.
He was visited by 3 black swans that hang around the marina, normally they would be fair game but he just sat still and growled.
It's going to take a bit of patience to get him on board and be a 'boat dog' so it's slowly slowly.  

The End of the NZ Summer...

INSTALLING SUMMER in New Zealand .....

███████████████??????????????????

44% DONE.

Installation failed. 404 error: Season not found.

Please try again next year.

(source Kevin Crssley - facebook, thanks Kevin)

What's in a Name

Our boat is going to have a name change, from Thursday's Child of Lee to Duamara.
Firstly because TCL is a bit of a mouthful, so after much discussion Duamara was agreed on, the name is from the Assam tea plantation in India where Mrs DIY grew up, the plantation was cut out of the jungle after WW2 by her father and managed until his retirement in about 1965, when they returned to England to play 'golf'.
The tea company that he worked for was called James Warren, who I think are still in existence.

Still Getting There!

The motor and propeller shaft is now fitted, the new (Volvo D1-30) motor will be great, its compact size will make it relatively "easy' to service, the only problem (would you believe it) is that the water trap/muffler (new) doesn't fit, that's the $80 dollar one and we need to get a different one from Australia, we don't have the correct size in NZ. - Cost est at about $350.00!!
This is supposed to be the country that promotes itself as a great boat building repair destination, as the Tui beer ad says - "Yeah Right".
Truly, I try very hard not to be grumpy but I've heard all this before, in my past life I was surrounded by cost over runs and supplier excuses from, 'there's been a flood in the basement', to 'the freight forwarder has put the product on the wrong flight', I've had 25 years of listening to these 'reasons', and I must admit, contributed a number myself.. 
The launching has been delayed again by a further 'few' days, maybe next week, still the weather forecast for Wellington looks good.

Over the Hill

 

I thought I should include a couple of pictures of what I mean when I  say 'Over the Hill',  it doesn't refer to me!
These were taken at the summit of the road, not the top of the hill...

In Reflection

The yacht has been a bit of a mission but we will have ended up with almost new boat, the only things that are not new are the hull and deck plus the mast, 3 old sails, anchor and Furlex.
The rest including all rigging and halyards, wiring, motor, instruments, heads, prop, prop shaft, upholstery, internal bulkheads, galley, fitted furniture, interior deck lining's, and stove.
Outside we have a new dodger, jamb cleats and a repaint.
I've still to find out if the Wallas heater, and the fridge work, I've had a temporary work around on the fridge and it looks as if it still works, the heater makes all the right noises, we will know when we get the replacement fridge thermostat and the new switch for the heater.
The inside looks OK with it's new lining and deck fittings and LED lighting system, while I was doing the rebuild we insulated the hull with 40mm of polystyrene then lined it with Autex fabric, as all the portholes have been replace we have happily been able to install a owner designed double glazing system, using the remains of the old porthole frames, looks quite professional, still time will tell.