Going overseas

Preparing to go overseas.
The week in Nelson went well. I had organised for three young coaches to train our team in Nelson. This was a great success with both the pupils and instructors having a great time for the first three days. After that I took the team for training until Sunday. Teams racing is an aspect of yacht racing that I have not been familiar with, and still do not particularly like! 12 and 13 is also too young to cope with the nuances of sailing fast and intense tactics. The parents are still at it!
I returned to Auckland on Monday and spent that night at Phil and Erin’s. After some grandparent time with Zoe we drove down to Whangamata and proceeded to take stuff out of the storage room and put it in the ceiling storage area. This will make the room useable. The town was filling up with hot rods and people for the “Beach Hop” on the weekend.
On Friday we drove up to the big smoke where I had arranged to do the rum race on Cavatina. This is the Van der Stadt 34 that I will be sailing on to Tonga in August We did not do very well, but the boat is set up for cruising not racing and will be a very comfortable vessel to travel to the islands.
Saturday morning we did some washing and errands. After lunching with Stru and Debs we did some shopping and headed back down to Whanga. Before we left on the Friday we had told the RSA that we did not mind if they directed some motor homes to stay in our section. When we pulled in there were five motorhomes parked on our property! As instructed they had left room for us to park in our usual spot, and it was good to make the acquaintance of some other vanners.
After dinner we went in to the RSA where the Beach Hop rock and roll dance was in full swing. We stayed until 12.30 really enjoying the music and dancing from our era! When we got back to the bus we watched America’s cup for a couple of hours. Sunday was very slow. The motor homes left about 10 and Ron and Maureen arrived for lunch at about 1.
We are now packing for the trip to Europe on Friday. I will try not to take more than is necessary this trip although I have to taske wet weather gear and a life jacket. I have bought anew camera – 7.1 megapixels – so the quality of the pictures on this blog should improve.
Frank and Rita are coming to check out our estate today so I must get this away.
We arrive back from Europe on May 29th, so there won't be any blogs before then

A Vacant Campsite

Well it’s farewell to Nelson for this season. I am actually writing this on the ferry from Picton to Wellington.
The weekend of the 24/25th March we celebrated the 150th anniversary of yachting in Nelson. What a weekend of partying! Thursday night was registration with a few drinks. Friday night saw the launch of the book “Sailors of 41 South” written by Tracy Neal. This is a really good chronicle of the development of sailing in New Zealand. The party did not go on too late. On Saturday there was a sail past of historic and current yachts. All the Optimists that could, put on a great display sailing past the club in procession. The senior Optimist sailors saluted the crowd on the deck. Saturday evening there was a formal dinner with many of the club members in period dress. Lorna and I actually dressed up .The weather was absolutely perfect with light breezes and sunshine, unlike the north which had rain and floods. The rest of the week was remarkable because there was only one day when there was a reasonable breeze. For our fortieth wedding anniversary the yacht club gave us a voucher for dinner at the Italian restaurant above the club house. We went there on Wednesday and had a meal to die for. If anyone is looking for Italian food in Nelson you should go to Venice Cove. The fruit salad is divine.
It is almost two weeks since I started this blog – mea culpa!
After crossing we drove to Shannon where there is a Park over property, but the lady was not available to let us in. We ate Chinese and then drove on to Palmerston North where the RSA car park provided our night’s stop. The next day we drove to Napier, pausing at Ashurst for breakfast. Napier was full on. Caring for and coaching eight sailors at a regatta is very stressful. The sailors did not perform as well as expected.
We had the opportunity to catch up with some of our old friends from Napier which was really great.
After Napier we went on up to Whangamata where I was able to tile the floor in the bathroom. We have moved on to Auckland now. Struan and Debbie’s new house is wonderful. We helped yesterday cleaning up the old rented property.
Today I am flying back to Nelson where the team going to Venice will be training for the next week. We have arranged for some experienced young sailors to come and give the Nelson sailors the benefit of their knowledge. Juggling the personality clashes among the parents is a real hassle. I am not looking forward to this aspect of the trip. However the experience for the children will be worth the angst – I hope.