Preparing to go South

Well Mike is back in Whangamata finishing off the storage room. Lorna was asked to work for another week to finalise some accounts or something. Sail one was as busy as usual and North Harbour Hire was frantic. Plumbing was not very productive.
Staying with Bob was a godsend Mike even helped test some of his wine collection.
The job in Nelson is all confirmed and signed up. Mike will be overseeing the training programme for the Nelson Yacht Club starting on the 25th September and finishing at the Optimist Nationals in April 2007. We will be crossing the strait on about the 20th.
Mike has bought a mountain bike as a supplementary means of travel. It has been great in Whangamata as the land is flat. It takes seven minutes to cycle to the supermarket on the other side of town. The last couple of days have been spent making a towing set up so that the kayak can be towed to the ramp. The maiden trip was a success. The cycle towed the kayak to the ramp with not too much effort on Mike’s part. The wheeled dolly was stowed in the front of the kayak while the intrepid fisherman ventured out in to the ocean. Fishing was unsuccessful and on the way back in a wave flipped the canoe. It is not easy to get back in to a canoe in surf! By the time (about 20 minutes) Mike was able to get his feet on sand and get back in, the dolly had come apart and some pieces had floated off to join the old pair of beach shoes, the spare hooks, sinkers, fishing knife and an old pair of glasses. Getting the canoe back involved unplugging the bus, taking down the awning, hitching up the trailer and driving to the ramp and back.
Being right next to the RSA has real advantages when one does not want to cook.
Lorna is coming down on Saturday and we will stay here to the end of the week before heading south.