Hot weather, boat work and Germans! Thursday, 08/02/2024
The past few days has seen excellent weather – sunshine and blue skies – and it has been very warm, culminating today in a temperature of 28, feeling like 29. I’ve been moderately engaged in cleaning the boat – removing some stains from the hull with a special stain remover and then polishing the surface afterwards. I say “moderately” because I have only worked for two or three hours a day. No point killing myself! This has left plenty of time free and everyday I have been for a long walk in the late afternoon.
Quite remarkably, just over 10 minutes’ walk from here and you are in natural forest, which stretches all the way up to Mount Perihaka, the highest point around here. There are various trails, one following the course of a small stream that comes from somewhere near the top, skipping and dropping down over rocks, in one place making a mini waterfall. Quite amazing that in the forest you are only about 15 minutes’ walk from the centre of town.
Stainless steel work is progressing well. Today I was called on to help undo some bolts that connect the structure to the boat. This meant crawling through the hatches into the fairly tight space behind the two aft cabins, where you are roughly under the wheel area of the cockpit. Not easy getting the upper half of your body in there and then reaching up with a socket wrench to hold the nuts in place while Victor undid the bolts from the outside. Unfortunately I have just the right sort of build for this – long and thin! – a heavily built man would really struggle. He also said that he couldn’t do it because he gets claustrophobic in a confined space. I don’t find it pleasant, but as long as I concentrate on the job in hand I’m fine. It was hot in there – I wriggled out covered in dust and sweat. But having the engagement with the work is good – it means I know exactly what’s being done. And they are really nice guys here, so that’s all that matters.
After a relatively quick walk, I was on my way back to the boat when I bumped into a young German couple that I know. I first met them in Linton Bay Marina on the Caribbean coast of Panama, probably in January last year. I remember that they limped in, pulled by a couple of guys in dinghies because their engine had failed. I then saw more of them in Shelter Bay Marina, where we were waiting for our Panama Canal transits. I was ahead of them, but then saw them in the Marquesas and again in Tahiti, and then I think Tonga. I’m bad with names – I can’t remember theirs’ – but they both immediately called Hans! as I approached (Germans always remember my name because they think it’s very amusing that an “Englishman” is called by such a serious, traditional German name…). They are hoping to stay here for some time – he has a work visa. The problem is that he can’t find anything here in Whangarei – he works in IT and the only jobs going all seem to be in Auckland. They’re reluctant to go to Auckland because it’s a large city: they’d much prefer to be here, with nature on the doorstep. They are pretty taken with New Zealand – they’re very surprised at how well everything is maintained, including the national parks, and at how kind and friendly the people are – they both say that you would never find this kindliness and friendliness in Germany.
Oh, and regarding Panama. If you’ve been following the international news, you will have heard that the Panama Canal is having serious issues with a lack of water. The last rainy season was very poor – partly due to the El Niño phenomenon – and as a result Gatun Lake in the centre is 7 feet below normal. The number of transits daily has been slashed and large queues are building up. The problem is that each time a lock is emptied, a lot of the 200 million litres of water is lost. It’s unclear what the effects for yachts will be, but general expectations are that there might be a wait of a few weeks for a transit (whereas I had less than a week). It’s hard to be sure though – it all depends on the size of ships going into the locks. If there’s a very large ship, there might not be room for another ship, but there could be at least 100 feet, allowing three yachts rafted together to accompany it. But yachts will be a low priority. As for ships, there’s one slot a day that isn’t booked, but auctioned. In November an LPG tanker paid $4 million for this immediate slot, on top of its regular charge of $400,000. (I paid $2,000 and that felt like a lot!). I’m pleased that I transited last May and didn’t get caught up with all this.