Tarakohe, New Zealand 2016
Life Up To Now
Alvei Update
25 March to 02 November 2016
By late March it became time to move Alvei 35 miles from Nelson to Terakohe in Golden Bay. In Nelson dock fees had increased from $50 a week to $50 day. After living there for 30 years I could no longer afford stay in Nelson. While attempting to start the main engine I found the rings on the aft cylinder had disintegrated! The engine needed a new set of piston rings. (Obliviously) It took about 3 weeks to have the new parts sent from Norway. After being notified by NZ Customs, the parts mysteriously disappeared. Over a month later the parts were found again. It took another few weeks to put the engine back together and move to Tarakohe. Then we had to down-rig the sails and rigging and stow it all away for the winter. Half the Main Saloon was filled to the deck-head with sails.
I flew to the States the last week in June. It was the first time in 11 years I had visited that country. It was then I realized that home was not the States, but New Zealand.
It took several weeks to find another boat to work on. I finally found the schooner Amistad. (Google tall-ship /Amistad) Launched in 2000 she had recently suffered some neglect from the previous organization. This year the ship is in good condition and the crew are capable and fun to work with. We have Capt. Tucker, Engineer Ernie, Educator Jason and I am Evan the Mate. It has been fun NOT being Capt. for a while.
We have been visiting Mystic, New London and New Haven along the southern shore of Connecticut in the States.
Amistad is built along the lines of a Baltimore Clipper. Those boats were designed for speed rather cargo capacity and used as Opium Clippers, Slavers and Privateers. The original Amistad was used as a Slaver until she was confiscated in 1839. The resulting trial was used as a legal turning point in the abolition of slavery. The current Amistad is a dockside attraction for children’s education. We use most of our time being tied up to a dock and teaching school children. Working with the kids has been fun.
All this has been fun working with the crew and sailing this fine schooner. It was a much-needed fresh perspective for me. My thanks go out to the people of Amistad.
I will be back on Alvei by early November and looking for crew. I would appreciate new crew as soon as possible. The deadline for joining is the first of March. That 6-week time will be used for sail training, knot tying, watch standing, provisioning and final maintenance. We will be setting sail the middle of April. The voyage will take 4 to 6 weeks. We will be visiting the islands in the Fiji group during June and July and the islands in Vanuatu during August and September. We will be in Australia in October for our next haul-out.
So far there is an interesting variety of new crew ranging in age from 22 to 67 and from 4 nationalities with more on the way. It looks like our new watch leaders may be a couple of women over forty.
Those are the highlights, film at eleven.
Evan
