Happy Holiday blog post from Down Under!

Wow, it's hard to believe it's been 2 months since our last blog post....a record since we left Seattle over 3 years ago.  To any die hard loyal readers who may still be with us, sorry 'bout that!!!  Will TRY to do better...2013 has seen us almost steadily on the move, traveling over 8000 miles from Ecuador to New Zealand, and it's just been so relaxing to be in one spot for a while!

So what have we been up to, anyway, over the past couple of months?  Well, we spent the first few weeks in New Zealand settling in....and that includes meeting with various tradespeople, and scheduling our major projects that will take place over the next few months.  Welders, shipwrights, sailmakers, canvas workers, boat yards, riggers, painters.....lots of meetings with some really great folk.  We committed to several to start work when we haul out of the water on January 6.  New fuel tanks, new freezer and counters, headliners, new rigging, engine and genset work, the list is long.  But we have a lot of confidence in the team that's assembled.  Hopefully the work will go reasonably smoothly, fingers and toes crossed.  We've really enjoyed our introduction to "the Kiwi way", best described with the 3 words, "no worries, mate".  It's a can-do attitude, and here's to translating the words into action when the saws, cutting torches, and other tools fire up next month!  "...and Bob's your auntie".......

We spent most of November back in the US, visiting friends and family around Seattle, and buying heaps of stuff for Bravo.  Although you can find most supplies, gadgets, and gizmos here in NZ, you pay dearly for it all.  Things are way, way cheaper in the US.  And we can bring in boat supplies free of GST.  So shop we did, doing major damage to any semblance of any "budget" that we'd been kidding ourselves about.

Seattle was damned C*O*L*D for these tropical softies.  With temps in the teens (around MINUS 10 for you Centigradians).  We had to cover up skin we didn't even know we had!  But the skies were mostly clear, so not to bad.  We really enjoyed seeing friends and family.  To all we missed, we're really sorry, it was a whirlwind visit.  You know you can always come down here and do a bit of sailing down under!!!   And to those who put us up (and put up with us!!!) in our sofa surfing travel mode.....MANY THANKS!!!

Kevin brings up another pot of dungeness crab

Thanksgiving was terrific, as we spent a few days with the Hawken gang up in Anacortes.  Partying, crabbing, eating, drinking....hard to beat!!!  (Where did that keg of beer go, anyway???)

View from Hawkens deck...US Pacific NW at its finest!

You know Seattle is cold when Snoqualmie Falls freezes.  Amazing sight!  photo by David Fox  (lodge is setting of great tv show "Twin Peaks")

David, Diana, and us, the frozen tropic meisters, staying warm in Seattle

Took care of lots of dentist and doctor appointments...no fun, no fun at all.  But looks like we're in reasonably good health, so back we go for another year "out there"!!!  Yeah!!!










Flew home on 10 Dec.  Turned into a real Charlie Foxtrot.  First flight, Seattle to LA, left at 6 am.  A bit early, but no worries.  We spent a few hours in LA with Cindi's brother and his son, good fun.  The next leg, LAX to Fiji, was to leave at 9 pm.  But ughhhhh, that flight has been rescheduled for 7:30 the following morning.  A sick crew member, had to fly another in from Fiji!  Oh well, have to spend night at an airport hotel.  No big deal, right?

Security line in LAX to handle the rescheduled flight.

But ughhhhh, again.  We of course have now missed our final flight from Fiji to Auckland.  So needed to spend another night in an airport hotel, this one in Nadi, Fiji.  All said, the trip took over 3 days.  But our bags all arrived in good shape, so no complaints.

Adam with Ian, seller/builder of the camper, the deal is sealed!

Bought a camper van last week.  20 year old Toyota diesel Hiace.  Will be good to have a place to sleep while BRAVO is torn apart.  And then we'll be able to use it to tour around NZ, heading down to the south island in February.

Tooling down the highway with our new family member

Got back from our 3 day van buying trip, to find that our dinghy and outboard had been stolen from the marina dinghy dock.  Yes, it was locked with a heavy cable lock, both the motor to the dink and the dink to the dock.  Bummer!  Happily, another cruiser found the boat up a nearby creek, tied to a high tide tree.  But the motor was gone.  A trip to the local Yamaha shop fixed that problem, and lightened our wallet by around $2500 US.  We are insured, but our agent said it would count as a claim against us (our first ever), and if we had another in the next couple of years, they'd possibly cancel us.  Damn, it's really hard to win with this insurance game.

Spent Christmas yesterday with an internationally diverse bunch of fellow cruisers at a nearby marina.  Good fun, lots of great food and drink, and a bit of a headache today.  Amen!


 Well, that about wraps up this special holiday edition of the BRAVO BLOG.  We wish all of you a very HAPPY HOLIDAY season, and a terrific 2014.   More adventures to follow!