Tuesday 30th April.   A few more jobs on the boat to be done today, a couple of the lines replaced and i spent a couple of hours whipping the ends of the line. Not that there was two hours worth of whipping to be done, but it was very hot so why hurry doing it. Went and had a pot of tea in the cafe near the marina, a good place for wi-fi and downloaded some marine charts to play with later. Last minute shop for some items, a spare cap as bound to lose more than one along the way, a new pair of sunglasses as bound to sit/step/break the other pair, and other sundry items. Went to fill a couple of large cans of diesel down at the local garage and back to the boat for a bit of a clear up. The cockpit of the boat was looking more like a cockpit than a worksop which it had done before. Should be moving the boat tomorrow just up the river a couple of hours before moving to Opua before the final off. The hurricane season has ‘officially’ ended so boats are starting to move as winter is coming to New Zealand.

Poric was up early as he had to get over to Frings brewery to start his brew !! We didn’t see him again until lunchtime but he came back sober and offered his advice on how to improve his brewing process. The morning was spent touring a couple of the marine shops to buy some new rope and do some grocery shopping. Its frightening how much you need to buy for a boat to prepare it for long term touring. I finished painting the outboard motor and then was sent up the mast again to change the deck light to an LED bulb. Not sure why i’m the one being sent up the mast as i’m the tallest and heaviest ?! Must be because i’m the youngest i guess. The second beer o’clock came and it was time to winde down for the day. A hot shower was had followed by a beer in Frings before returning to the boat for a meal. Another couple of days to go before we moved the boat a little further north for a shakedown before the big off.