Tag: New Zealand

Covid, New Zealand

2020 A Strangely Wonderful Year

I guess it goes without saying that 2020 has been an odd year at best with Covid, lockdowns and all that came along with the pandemic. Of course if you’re from the US as we are there’s the rioting and election issues that only added to the chaos of 2020. Here on Dazzler, however, we’ve chosen to reflect upon the positive things that happened because we believe there truly is a silver lining to every cloud. Here’s a review of how 2020 treated us and the blessing we found in each moment.

January 5th started the strange events of 2020 when at 1500 in the afternoon we looked outside and saw the most bizarre sight. In the span of twenty minutes or so the sky changed from a brilliant blue with puffs of white to the most extraordinary shades of orange and red. It felt eerie and surreal and even somewhat apocalyptic. The air was thick with tiny bits of ash falling from the sky landing on the deck of Dazzler. We closed her up to keep the smoke and ash from coming inside. I put a t-shirt over my nose and mouth when outside so as not to breathe in the particulates as I knew they would not play well with my asthma.

The source you ask? A giant plume of smoke traveled the 4000 km (2485 miles) from Australia to New Zealand. Australia had been suffering calamitous wildfires since September and the smoke was so thick that it finally drifted across the Tasman sea to the our shores. A reminder of the devastation happening in Australia, it did create a beautiful, even if a bit ominous, sky that day.

None of the photos here have been altered. This is exactly what we saw that day.

At the end of January we put Dazzler on the hard at Harbourside Boat Works so that we could go back to the States to see our family for five weeks. We spent three fabulous weeks in Florida visiting Jilly’s family and friends. Then it was back to California for a couple of weeks to see Dan’s terrific crew. As always there were too many people to see and not enough time to see them all but we had a wonderful time and enjoyed every second.

Fun times in Florida where Jilly saw fit to actually put a baby alligator on her head. Apparently you’ll only understand if you’re from Florida.

More fun times with our California family and friends!

We arrived back in New Zealand at the end of February and promptly began working on getting Dazzler’s bottom painted. We also picked up Sparkle after she had new tubes put on by Seafarers Inflatables. Our plan….spend the next two months preparing to head back to the islands. We’d finish up the bottom paint, do a few other maintenance items, sell the car and sail back to Fiji where we’d spend a month visiting small villages and handing out some of the 2000+ books we amassed for the children. After that we’d take some time to do a little more sailing in the Yasawas, head on to New Caledonia and Vanuatu and then end the cruising season in Australia where we’d spend New Year’s Eve watching the fireworks in Sydney Harbor. Oh yes, we had a banner year planned. But, as they say, “If you want to see God laugh, just tell him your plans.”

Less than two weeks after putting Dazzler back in the water and getting set up at the Whangerie Town Basin Marina New Zealand went into stage four lockdown. We now look back and remember how all us cruisers were talking about what would happen if we went into lockdown but no one really thought it would happen. Oh how wrong we were about that.

One day into the lockdown and I tore my calf muscle simply walking up the gangway to do laundry. Of course there is a bonus here….I did get out of doing laundry that day and for several weeks afterward! Just ten days later on my first day off of crutches I slipped in the marina shower and fractured several vertebrae. And while most people would look at this and think it’s awful, I choose to look at it completely differently. These two things could have happened to me anywhere, especially out at sea. Instead, they happened in a first world country where I have access to excellent doctors and facilities to help me. I learned through the process that I have Osteopororis and need to be on medication for it. And, since these issues were accidents that happened in New Zealand the vast majority of my treatment was covered under their ACC plan even though I am not a citizen. I literally received thousands of dollars in care for a few hundred US dollars. Now there’s definitely something good to be found in that.

New Zealand graciously extended all the visitor visas so we weren’t required to fly back to the states and leave our home behind. They were extended until the end of September. Not knowing if they’d do another blanket extension, in July we set about making a formal application to be sure we would be allowed to stay here until the end of cyclone season which ends on 30 April each year. 

This required that we both get complete physicals, chest X-rays and bloodwork. It’s not a cheap process to be sure but one that ended up being well worth it. We learned that Dan’s blood pressure is a tad high and he is in need of maintenance medication. Once again being  here and learning this while on land, not after he suffered a major medical event at sea, is a blessing. Just one more thing to be thankful for this year.

And there are more wonderful things that came in 2020. Once the lockdowns were over we took advantage of the extra time to explore the North Island of New Zealand by car. We took dozens of day trips from Whangerie to Opua over to Dargaville and down to Auckland. We visited some of the most beautiful parks and waterfalls we’ve ever seen and along the way we found some great restaurants and met some really wonderful people. (Be sure to check back as we upload photo galleries of our day trips. New Zealand is a truly beautiful place.)

We never cease to be amazing by the stunning beauty of New Zealand!

Speaking of people…being here for this long has allowed us to spend time really getting to know the locals. Traveling and meeting the locals is something we love but so often times we don’t get an opportunity to really know them. This year, however, we got our chance. We’ve actually made some very great friends here in New Zealand and for that we are truly grateful. One of our new friends, Jeff, a mate we met at our local watering hole, even shot three turkeys and delivered some wonderfully fresh turkey breasts to us. YUMMY! And, we even got to spend a more time with our Kiwi family. Being a part of their life which included a new baby, birthdays and a wonderful Thanksgiving there this year was such a treat. Had we left in May we would have missed all of these fabulous family moments. 

We took advantage of the great travel prices after lockdown and spent ten days in Queenstown with our dear friends from SV SuAn during the winter months. Even though we really don’t like the cold we did enjoy the chance to see snow and relax by some cozy, warm fires with a glass of mulled wine. 

Whangerie Falls

In July we were aboard Dazzler one evening as a terrible rainstorm went on outside. Low and behold it turned out to be what they called, “The 500 Year Flood of 2020“. We received 220 mm of rain in a 24 hour period. Even as the storm began to dissipate there was 40-60 mm of rain coming down an hour! It was crazy and yet here we were down below and never thought it was anymore than just a bad rainstorm.

We woke in the morning to find debris covering the top of the water in the marina and began to learn of the destruction. All across Northland trees were down, roads were undermined, mountainsides had slipped onto roads, farms, houses and businesses were flooded. It was absolutely crazy! And to think we never realized what was happening. What good came from that? Well, we looked out that morning and saw yachties from all over the marina gathering together in their dinghies to help remove the debris from the water so it wasn’t banging up on other people’s boats. People across North Island were helping each other. Everyone came together to help each other. And….the waterfalls around North Island were simply spectacular after the storm so Mother Nature turned devastation into beauty.

Farms were completely underwater meaning cattle had to be moved from low ground to high ground. Here you can see the tops of the fence posts which gives you an idea of how much water fell. Note that these photos of the farms were taken several days AFTER the storm went through.

A wonderful first happened for me this year. Dan took me to the Great Moscow Circus. Yes, I grew up in Bradenton, Florida just a hop, skip and a jump from Sarasota which is home to Ringling Brothers & Barnum Bailey Circus yet I never ever went to the circus. Dan made sure that was rectified here in 2020 when the circus came to town. What a wonderful treat this was for me!

Being here longer also allowed us to do some upgrades to Dazzler including the new cushions in the saloon and a brand new mainsail. Dan went into maintenance mode varnishing down below including the galley and nav station. We got new intermediate shrouds made and Dan installed them. He also serviced the mast, boom and line clutches. He rebuilt the head, rerouted the foredeck halyards, built shelves for my locker and reworked all the scarf joints on the cap rails. My man even dug deep into a few sewing projects as well. He sewed dinghy chaps, made two purses from our old mainsail and replaced a large section of our awning. Oh yes, he had a chance to do some deck work too. Being here longer has definitely turned out to be a blessing for us and for Dazzler.

As for me, I’ve spent months reworking our DazzlersWatch website adding lots of great stuff for cruisers and travelers who come behind us. There’s maps, charts, cruising guides, business information and hundreds of new photos. Currently I’m working on Phase II where I’ll be adding information on car travel New Zealand and cruising Fiji as well language pages with the common phrases that will help you get by in any of the countries we’ve visited. Seems there’s always something to work on even though we’re retired.

One of the greatest things to happen in 2020 is that some cruisers who actually did head out to Fiji took boxes of books with them and close to 1000 books did actually make it into the hands of children there. When the first set of photos came in to us I was in tears for hours. Just seeing how happy something as seemingly insignificant as a book could be to a child is beyond humbling. The books, distributed by SV Pogeyan and SV Archer made it from the Lau Group to the Yasawas bringing smiles to the faces of the grateful children of Fiji.

Yes, we’ve so many things to be thankful for this year and while it could seem like 2020 was a bust because we didn’t get to go cruising the islands, it turns out it was exactly as it was meant to be and for us….it was a fabulously blessed year.

What’s on the schedule for 2021 you ask? We’re going to head out after the first of the year to do a little cruising around New Zealand. Right now we hope to go over the top of North Island and then head south all the way to Milford Sound and Invercargill before coming up the east side. Fully circumnavigating New Zealand can be tricky but we certainly hope to get it done.

And, we’re certainly hoping that we’ll get a chance to head back to Fiji and then on to Australia as cruising season approaches in at the end of April. Of course there’s no guarantees so as always, we will write our plans in the sand at low tide and wait to see what happens with the surf rolls in.

Until next time,

Jilly & Dan

Maintenance, New Zealand, September 2020, Whangarei

A Dazzling Makeover

Sitting around watching the Kiwi world pass by one day at a time gives you time to ponder many things.  Spiritual, metaphysical, chemical, biological and interior boat design.  Where did that come from?  LOL  Well, Dazzler’s interior saloon cushions have been on board since I purchased her in 2003.  In fact, her saloon cushions may even be original making them 33 years old.  That’s really not bad life expectancy if you ask me.  In 2014 I did replace the seat cushion foam but not the fabric.  With the reality of seeing tread bare areas on some of the cushion surfaces it was time to consider having new cushions made for her.  

You can imagine all the possibilities to consider.  What kind of foam? What kind of fabric? What color fabric?  What style of finished cushions and so on…  If I need to fix something on the engine there is only one part that fits that one engine.  You don’t care about the color or style as long as it is the right part to correct the issue.  Cushion hunting is a different animal.  It’s not like buying a pair of men’s Levi’s 501 jeans.  No no no!  It has to be uplifting, add style and refinement to her interior with just the right amount of je ne sais quoi.

So, while being locked in New Zealand at level 2, we headed to one of the local canvas shops to look at marine fabric and ask enough questions to create another Spanish Inquisition.  We first stopped at Canvas and Covers here in Whangarei as we had bought some fabric from them for other projects on Dazzler.  Lynn at the front of the store was very happy to answer all of our questions and Jilly found a fabric sample that met her criteria for possible cushion fabric for Dazzler’s interior.  

We next needed to schedule a time for their cushion specialist, who by the way, has been sewing fabric and cushions since he was 15 years old.  He looks to be well seasoned with several decades of experience.  A day or two later Paul was on Dazzler taking measurements for a quote.  The quote was provided the next day via email.  It seemed reasonable but we wanted the get a second opinion, as you do.  We made arrangements with another canvas company here in Whangarei.  Their specialist was timely and provided his company’s quote within a day of being on Dazzler.  

The second company was a few hundred dollars cheaper but had too many restrictions on finished styling.  Plus, we both had a very positive feeling from Paul and his level of expertise as well as the personnel at Canvas and Covers.  All of which made our decision very easy.  We had a good Sunbrella fabric selected, a good finished style and a business that we both felt a high level of comfort with.  

We stopped by on a Friday afternoon to leave a deposit and went back to Dazzler to bask in our buyer’s glow.  About 10 days later Paul was back on Dazzler making patterns for the cushions. He was on and off in little over an hour.  The business did allow us the opportunity to take some photos of the manufacturing of the cushions along the way.  We even caught Paul behind the machine actually working.  LOL  Seriously though, from what we’ve seen he is an exceptional worker with a high level of experience and integrity in his work.

The saloon cushions would be removed during the process which would make it a bit uncomfortable.  We decided to be a bit more comfortable and decided to acquire an Air BnB that was about a block away from Dazzler during the cushion construction phase.  While off the boat, I decided to add a little face lift to the galley and navigation station varnish as well.  

Oh…the mess!!!!

The first day I started by removing all the hardware to make varnishing a bit easier.  Bells, whistles, cleats, lights, barometer gauges, wooden phallic symbols, I mean tiki statues, adorning the top of the navigation station.  Once all items were removed I started sanding.  We hadn’t moved up to the Air BnB yet so I made some plastic drop cloth curtains that separated  the saloon from the galley area.  I then started creating a white cloud of sanding dust.  The vacuum was running and the orbital and dermal sanders were whirring; followed by intermittent hand sanding of all the nooks and crannies.  

Day 2, we moved daily operations up to the Air BnB so Jilly could start binge watching West Wing with the provided free Netflix and Amazon Prime video along with full internet access so she could also work on our blog.  I walked down the hill and finished sanding and vacuuming and preparing surfaces for varnishing.  A long day, but a lot was accomplished.  Tape was put down, initial sanding done and I was ready for the first coat of varnish.  During this job there were several areas that did not require being sanded down to raw wood, however, many of the fiddle block edges needed a deep sanding to remove all the old finish from years of use.  Before heading back up to the flat on top of the world, I wiped the raw wood with some good quality teak oil as a wood sealer to help bring back some of the rich teak look on all of the raw wood.

Day 3, I was on board Dazzler early and started the electric heater to warm up the air.  I wiped down all the surfaces to be varnished with a wet rag followed by acetone in an attempt to clean the surfaces from any moisture and dust particles.  Varnish stirred and mixed at about 5:1 ratio of varnish to thinner for the first coat.  I was done varnishing by 0930 hours.  The varnish was setting up well so I added a second coat to those areas that had been sanded down to raw wood.  It was now about noon and time to clean up for tomorrow.  

Day 4, again I was up early and walking down the Vale Road expressway, LOL, at about 0700 hours on my way down to Dazzler for another productive day of sanding and dragging a wet brush of varnish across the boards.  Anyone who has done varnish work knows that preparation is about 90% of the whole job.  I personally find that scratch coating freshly dried varnish is much easier than grinding down those old finishes preparing for the first coats of varnish.  As is the case today.  I scratch sanded all the varnished surfaces and was ready for additional coats of varnish by 1000 hours.  I applied the second coat all over and in some cases a third and fourth coat on those areas that had been sanded down to raw wood.  By 1400 hours I was in clean up mode and getting ready to lock things up for another day completed.  

Day 5, I struggled with the decision of whether to apply a hand rubbed varnish finish or leave the gloss finish.  I finally decided to pull up short and leave the gloss finish in the galley and the navigation station.  Part of me wants to believe that it may be a bit more water resistant around the galley and the opened companion way.  Only time will tell if I have chosen wisely.  LOL

Day 6, early morning again and down the road of life to start cleaning up the mess I had created down below.  Pulled all the tape, re-installed all of the hardware, radios, electronics, gauges, phallic symbols, I mean wooden tiki statues, hula girls, Hector the fire breathing alien and other assorted doodads.  Next clean the saloon with the vacuum, and dust to get Dazzler’s interior ready for the new cushions.

Magic day!  The cushions were going to arrive.  We checked out of our Air BnB, loaded up the car and decided to stop by Canvas and Covers to check on timing of delivery.  We were given a mid afternoon arrival time, so we headed over to one of our local watering holes for an early lunch and then back to Dazzler to wait around the Tiki Statues for Santa Clause to arrive with our new cushions.  Funny that Santa in our case was Paul from Canvas and Covers with his elf, Brendan, the owner.  Just as I had to leave to pick up our floor coverings from the dry cleaners, I saw the Canvas and Covers truck pull up near the dock.  Oh well, I had left Jilly on board just in case they called while I was out.  Upon returning to Dazzler I found Brendan and Paul were still onboard.  A small measurement error and a few cushion backs had to go back for modification.  Knowing how boat projects go from living on board since 2003, we took it in stride.  Just a small bump in the road and everything will be just fine tomorrow. 

The final day.  We were told that it would be about noon for the cushion return.  Actually it was about 0900 hours when the phone rang to inform us that Paul was on his way.  The West Wing binge marathon had caught up with Jilly as she was still slumbering in the bunk.  Even after my attempt to be a human alarm clock earlier.  I’m not sure I have ever seen her move that fast before.  Grape Ape and I just stood back out of the way while the white tornado dressed, applied make up and did her hair in about five minutes flat.  So now the truth has been revealed.  It is possible to get ready to leave the boat in much less than 1-1.5 hours.  Note to self here.  And then Paul was here with our new cushions.  Push here, push there and snap!  Everything looked outstanding.  Dazzler’s interior is so much brighter and cleaner looking.  It is awesome and completely exceeded our expectations.  Color, style and function have now pulled her interior into a much needed fashion update from her time capsule era. 

Settee….Before and After
Table….Before and After
Jilly is a happy camper!

The finished product looks amazing and we are very satisfied with our choice of fabric, style and the upholstery services of Canvas and Covers in Whangarei, New Zealand.  A little varnish work completed along the way and we are now ready for our next project.  Something greasy I’m guessing!  Ha Ha Ha

Cheers!

Captain Dan

P.S. A few notes from Jilly:  I’m not going to address the West Wing comments because, well, he’s right. I did find myself completely immersed in a week long marathon of West Wing that kept me up until the wee hours of the morning. That said, I did manage to get a lot of work done on the blog for our Dazzler Approved Business pages and I got a nice new haircut!

Our Air BnB was absolutely perfect for us and the added bonus of being able to watch TV and movies we haven’t seen in years was even better. Susan and her hubby David live upstairs and were excellent hosts. The location, just up the hill from the marina was perfect and we definitely recommend their place for yachties or anyone who wants to be close to town and have a terrific unit at a great price.

My new friend, Paul. He’s certainly a gem!

As for the cushions…I’m beyond happy with them. Paul, Lynn, Brendan and the entire crew at Canvas and Covers did an outstanding job! I simply cannot thank them enough for everything. They were helpful, easy to work with and their work is top quality! I HIGHLY recommend them to anyone looking for canvas or upholstery work in this area.

Stand by though…the job is not complete yet. With the beautiful new cushions our old throw pillows simply don’t fit. They don’t match and they look old and ugly so now we are working on finding material to have new ones made. Of course Dan is enjoying every second we spend in fabric stores while I pour over swatches and samples. HA HA  Honestly I think he’s ready to fly my mother in to help.