Hauled Out in Whangarei

Here is Maggie Drum hauled out at Riverside Drive Marina boatyard. She needed her bottom cleaned and new bottom paint plus a few other little projects like trying (again) to solve a persistent leak in her rudder stem (not through the packing but between the packing gland and the glass). Not a big leak but a bit of a worry as the Kiwis would say. Her bottom (being washed off by Shane the Maori yard assistant) looks pretty good. Sitting on the coral heads in Moorea several months ago did very little damage to the keel.



Below are Bob and Dianna cutting up on MD the afternoon she was hauled. They helped with moving her over to the haulout spot so I asked them up for cocktails. They were making fun of Cindy's continued absense from NZ. Cindy is still in Denver (Brrrr!!) and will either be returning April 1st or May 1st depending on what she decides. We have known Bob and Di since Zihuatanejo, Mexico. They left the day before us on the passage to the Marquesas. We have gone different paths across the ocean but have sailed together in several areas and had many a good time together. They are from Port Townsend, Washington, which was one of our optional ports before we settled on Anacortes to live and keep MD. Like all of us, they have had their ups and downs on the passages, including major leaks in the deck. They are currently drilling out and replacing over 800 wooden plugs in their teak deck, which is very tedious if not hard, work. They hope that will fix the majority of the leaks. A leaky boat is not a happy boat, at least when it leaks overhead on to your clothes and bedding and computer and foreheads. I know the feeling as I have a few leaks to plug myself before Cyn gets back.


To the left is a view of the small marina dock that we live on when not on the hard (hauled out to you landlubbers). The boat in the foreground was on the 2004 Baja Ha-Ha rally cruise with us from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Both of them are legally blind which makes them very intrepid sailors. You can see their website address on the hull. They solicit donations from sponsors for their cruising. Any one who wishes to sponsor Maggie Drum and crew, please send unmarked hundred dollar bills to our mailbox in a plain envelope. We will have drinks in your honor until the money is all gone.

This is the small, and often crowded, BBQ area just above the marina docks. Here Bob and Dianna from S/V White Swan enjoy a dinner with Ron from S/V Rontu. Ron is from Seattle and is a retired previoulsy-owned BMW dealer with a great sense of humor. He is having his boat and mast completely painted in the yard right now. Wish some of the paint would drift over to MD as she needs a cosmetic face lift.

While Cindy is working hard to fund our cruising lifestyle in the US, I am working hard on our boat projects and spending Cindy's earnings. It is a pretty frugal lifestyle here though as there aren't enough good restaurants to suit my upper scale eating habits. I can cook much better meals than the average Kiwi restaurant, and for a good deal cheaper. Kiwiland is NOT a cheap mecca like we have heard it used to be. The American dollar has gone very low and does not buy as much as it used to - Thanks President Bush! I suppose a lower dollar is good for some people like corporate farmers who sell overseas but not for us. The Chinese who are buying all our Treasury bonds probably don't like it either, but I am OK if it does not suit them to much.

Well, that is all the politics you are likely to hear on this blog despite very strong feelings about them within the crew of Maggie Drum. Don't want to politicize what is hoped to be an enjoyable blog. Many thanks for all the kind words about our poor blog (including Stuart Thomas, an old work mate of mine from the Andersen Consulting days - here are more pics Stu). It was fun running in to old friends in Colorado and Washington during my visits there recently. So, for now, this is the Captain of Maggie Drum signing off.