reading list

Probably my number one pastime (based on the amount of time spent) since getting off the hamster wheel is reading--especially when I'm sailing. Here is a partial list of what I've read since departing Southern California in April (since I haven't kept written record, I'm sure I've forgotten a few things). More or less in reverse chronological order:

The Greatest Show On Earth: The Evidence For Evolution by Richard Dawkins

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

Eirik Raude by Preben Mørbak

The Island of Desire (The Story of a South Sea Trader) by Robert Dean Frisbie

Stories Of Hawaii By Jack London

The Ministry Of Special Cases by Nathan Englander

River Town: Two Years On The Yangtze by Peter Hessler

Life by Keith Richards


Brain Bugs: How The Brain's Bugs Shape Our Lives by Dean Buonomano

Hell's Corner by David Baldacci

1900 Morgenrød by Gunnar Staalesen

1950 High Noon by Gunnar Staalesen

1999 Aftensang by Gunnar Staalesen

The Forgotten One: And Other True Tales of the South Seas by James Norman Hall

Home from the sea: Robert Louis Stevenson in Samona by Richard Arnold Bermann

An Island To Oneself by Tom Neale

Madam Bovary by Gustave Flaubert*

The Life And Adventures Of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe* (I must have read an abridged version when I was a kid. After he's rescued, it goes on and on about his newfound religion)

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Breakfast Of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut

“Why I Am Not A Christian” by Bertrand Russell

Following The Equator by Mark Twain

“Walking” by Henry David Thoreau

Between A Rock And A Hard Place by Aaron Ralston

Guns, Germs, And Steel by Jared Diamond*

The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint Exupéry

Wind, Sand, And Stars by Antoine De Saint Exupéry

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

*Did not finish

Waiheke Island

Today I'm cruising over to Waiheke Island, only ~12 miles from Auckland. The plan is to anchor in Huruhi Bay (sheltered from the north-easterlies which are forecast to continue for several days). Many locals have encouraged me to visit Great Barrier Island, but as the prognosticators are predicting crappy weather for the next week, I'll save it for January. Another Twister is said to live on Waiheke Island. It belongs to Miles Hordern who sailed his Twister from NZ to Chile and back and wrote a book about it. I'll let you know if I run into him or his Twister (to clarify, Twister is both the name and the model of my boat. You can read more about Twisters at The Twister Class Association).

made it with one tank (and two jerry cans)

Today Twister and I putted over to the fuel dock to fill up in preparation for some cruising around NZ (I've also read that it's a good idea to keep the tank full to minimize condensation). Expecting to fill many gallons I was surprised when it overflowed after only 2.2. Back in the slip I sat down to calculate my fuel consumption for the Pacific crossing (I had topped off the fuel tank in American Samoa). Turns out I used almost exactly 36 gallons from San Diego to Auckland which is the amount of diesel I left San Diego with (25 gallons in the fuel tank and 11 gallons in two jerry cans).

Yesterday I gave the deck and the shrouds (steel wires that support the sides of the mast) a quick scrub with concentrated hydrochloric acid (aka muriatic acid). Sounds like a bad idea, right? Well it's great at removing rust and rust stains. Now Twister has white decks and sparkling shrouds. Anybody have any thoughts on the use of HCl on boats?

what makes me nervous

Occasionally I am asked if I get scared out there in the middle of the ocean. I'm sure I will when I finally encounter some bad weather. But what scares me now and always is navigating the boat in and out of tight spaces with lots of other boats around (like a marina). A couple of days ago I was on Twister installing the new throttle control when the guy at the helm of a powerboat, trying to avoid bumping the dock and other boats, cranked the wheel, floored it, and slammed into a piling and another boat. Amazingly a minute or two later they found themselves in the same situation and responded in the same way and with the same result. With a lot of help they finally got the boat into the slip.

The reason they were having trouble parking (aside from lack of experience) was a strong wind perpendicular to the slip they were trying to park in. This has caused me many nervous moments parking the boat back in San Diego. Twister has a long keel, but it ends well before the bow, so that end of the boat tends to slide off when the wind is blowing on the beam (this is only an issue when the boat is not or barely moving). That power boat has very little in the way of a keel and a lot of area above water for the wind to push.

News From The Bilge

The last week I've finally started seriously doing some maintenance on Twister. The engine came out Monday giving me unhindered improved access to the propeller shaft stuffing box (seal that lubricates the propshaft as it spins but keeps most of the water out) and the automatic bilge pump (and the float switch that should turn on the pump when the water level in the bilge reaches a couple of inches). I replaced the stuffing (teflon-treated thread/rope) and discovered that last time I had only pulled out two of the four rings of stuffing. I re-did all the (potentially) underwater electrical connections to the bilge pump and float switch. Amazingly the pump and float switch had worked before even though the person who installed them had simply wrapped the soldered connections in black electrical tape. Then a check-valve or non-return valve was installed in the hose through which the pump pumps the water out. Previously the last couple of liters of water would always drain back down into the bilge after the float switch had turned off which would turn the pump back on resulting in a dead battery if left unattended (so far the new check-valve is working as planned). The engine throttle and gear-shift control had to be replaced which turned out to be relatively painless. Calibrating the barometer turned out to be ridiculously simple. Removing the air bubble in the compass was also pretty simple. The whisker pole is now almost good as new. As anyone who has spent time on Twister can attest, the toilet has not been problem-free. I had intended to replace the valves, seals, etc, but they were not be found in NZ. Also I spotted a crack in the pump housing. So Twister now has a shiny new toilet. I've left the engine work to the professionals . Sorry for all the jargon.

NZ trivia

This year, NZ had a net loss of a few hundred people from immigration and emigration. Most Kiwis move to Australia where wages and salaries are higher. It seems NZ IS in need of skilled labor in several areas--construction and the medical field are high on the list. I've met 3 doctors from the UK and one paramedic from the US who work here. So if you're interested in moving to NZ, now might be a good time. If you're under 31, you can apply for a working-holiday visa which is good for one year, I think. Bats are the only native land mammals.  Now there are ~40 million sheep, ~10 million cows, ~4 million humans, and lots of rats, mice, dogs, cats, and I don't know what else. Everywhere you can see signs of or signs warning of rat poison and other eradication efforts as the Kiwis try to keep some nonnative mammals under control and native species alive. My nonscientific survey indicates that Germans constitute the largest percentage of foreign tourists in NZ.

our NZ camper car

Opoutere Beach

Tongariro Crossing

Adrianna was kind enough to come for a brief visit to New Zealand. We had considered sailing around Hauraki Gulf--Great Barrier Island in particular--but the weather forecast did not look ideal (it's never ideal in New Zealand as far as I can tell). So we rented a Nissan hatchback set up for camping (the camper vans and cars of NZ deserve a post of their own) and set off down the road. On day one we drove around the coast of the Coromandel Peninsula where we saw penguins standing on a rocky beach. We camped by idyllic Opoutere Beach on the SE end of Coromandel. The following day we made our way to Tongariro National Park and hiked the popular Tongariro Crossing, a ~12.5 mile hike along volcanoes, snow, steaming rocks, and lakes.
We made our way down the SW coast of the North Island and ended up in Wellington where we only stayed for a few hours while I checked out the anchoring/mooring/berthing options for Twister. We did see the local Occupy Wall Street protests there as well as in Auckland. Neither has been evicted as of today. Our next stop was in the just appropriately quaint town of Martinborough, popular for its wineries. We stayed in NZ's wine region as we continued towards Napier in the Hawke's Bay region. On the way we stopped at Pukaha Mount Bruce National Wildlife Center where we got to see a couple of Kiwi Birds (in captivity) as well as some other cool NZ wildlife (shrieking eels). We also stopped at Junction Winery and had a few samples. We camped on the beach in Te Awanga just south of Napier, known for its art deco architecture. We returned to Auckland via Tauranga, where the container ship Rena is stuck on Astrolabe Reef 12 miles off the coast.

Road Trip

Mount Ruapehu

Yesterday evening Gary and I returned to Auckland from a 4-day road trip to Tongariro National Park and Raglan, a small town on the west coast, known for its left hand point break(s). We had planned to take advantage of the reduced lift tickets on the last couple of days of the ski season on Mount Ruapehu. Unfortunately the lifts were closed both days we were there due to high winds. We were joined by four of Gary's friends from Wellington and stayed in a lodge in the quaint mountain town of Ohakune. We did have a nice 3-hour mountain biking expedition in the national park. Later that evening at a bar we bumped into many of the actors from the movie "The Hobbit." They were having a crew party (I guess to celebrate completion of filming?). Both Gandalf and Bilbo were there (I don't know their real names) along with a bunch of other soon-to-be famous actors. After two days in Ohakune, Gary and I drove to the small town of Raglan where we had  nice evening surf session at Manu Bay. Gary's friend, Laura, was kind enough to let us spend the night at her (and her roommates') place. The next day we had another surf session at a beach break nearby and hit the road back to Auckland. Here are some photos.

Kiwi phone

Hi everyone. I've got a New Zealand phone. The number is (country code 64) 0221346789. please call (you may have to leave off the first zero).
Oh, I've changed the settings so now anyone can leave comments without having to sign in.

one door closes another opens

I received some disappointing news today:  The 2012 AMLR antarctic research cruise has been cancelled. Major bummer. On the plus side I now have more time to cruise around and explore New Zealand and Australia.
Yesterday I got in touch with my friend Gary from the sailboat La Cueca. He left La Cueca and Rory in Fiji and flew to NZ to work for a while to finance another year of cruising. He bought a camper-van and is heading south for some snowboarding. I've decided to join him for a couple of days. I'll be back in Auckland by the 8th.