Paw Paw - Log Days 303 & 304: It's a Strange, Strange World We Live In....

Well,  our plans have changed again. We decided that, since the weather was so miserable here, Elaine may as well spend her time in a cold climate with family, so most of yesterday was spent booking her flights to England / Ireland via Dubai. The remainder of the day was spent visiting doctor's and physiotherapy offices in the hope of getting her ankle examined. Unfortunately we couldn't get a physiotherapy appointment for two weeks, but we did manage to get a doctor's appointment for today.  Armed with some medication and exercises, we're hoping for a marked improvement over the coming weeks.Last night we enjoyed dinner at the Opua Cruising Club with Blue Summit and a host of other cruisers whom we've met over the past few days and this evening we enjoyed our first barbecue in. read more...

Paw Paw - Log Day 302: A Very Different Cyclone / Hurricane Season

Well, the storm arrived at 0230 this morning as forecasted which resulted in "anchor watch" for a few hours.  While the wind reached 38 Kts and the sea was very lumpy, we were, nonetheless, grateful that we were tucked away safe and sound in the bay at Opua and weren't exposed to the 50 Kts and 2M swells around Cape Brett. For prudence though, we did have both engines on in neutral for a period of time, but fortunately our mooring ball, along with all the mooring balls around us, held as designed, giving us the confidence that Paw Paw will be just fine when we return to the USA next month.After an interrupted night's sleep,  we were in no hurry to get up this morning, but we eventually ventured ashore mid-morning to do laundry, following which we enjoyed a delicious lunch at. read more...

Paw Paw - Log Day 301: Our New Zealand Itinerary Created

With more bad weather arriving, we decided to stay onboard today.Once Elaine had completed her chores for the day,she re-considered the possibilities of somehow salvaging her boots, but further examination confirmed that they were indeed destroyed, so into the dustbin they went.Feeling more than annoyed, she decided that the best way to spend the rest of the day was to work her way through all the tourist brochures we had collected in Paihia and created our New Zealand itinerary for the remainder of this year. We certainly have plenty to look forward to over the coming weeks before we return to Arizona for Christmas and New Year, which, in itself, is going to make for a wonderful holiday season. Roy busied himself with various boat projects- Fixing the support arm of the wind generator,. read more...

Paw Paw - Log Day 300: Venturing Further Afield

After a lazy morning we decided to venture further afield in the dinghy today. It only took us about 20 minutes to get to Paihia as we enjoyed a slow ride to take in the scenery, this time from the water vs the seaward vistas we enjoyed yesterday during our walk.After enjoying freshly baked pastries with our mid-morning coffee,it was time to find Elaine a new pair of shoes, since the soles of her very comfortable, not to mention,very expensive, leather ankle boots had simple disintegrated after wearing them ashore the other night for the first time in a fifteen months.It seems nothing lasts on a yacht!Having successfully found a pair of very comfortable replacements, it was time for lunch- Steak and Mushroom pies from the local bakery, before we headed back to Paw Paw.We also had the. read more...

Paw Paw - Log Day 299: It's a Strange Ol' World

Today was a restful day aboard, although we did get a few things done.Roy spent most of the day re-imagining his tablet after it started behaving strangely, while Elaine tidied a few things on deck and then changed our bedclothes - Nothing like a fresh, clean bed to get into at night.We did, however, have to dig out our blankets to supplement our duvets. It's still freezing here. In fact, we've had to run the central heating on Paw Paw every morning,which is another first,since moving onto to her. A wonderful start to our day was spending time with Keenan,Brooke,Brayden and Carter via Facetime. All are doing really well. Both babies were awake, but were quietly observing their surroundings and looking straight at the camera. You could almost see them wondering: "Who are these strange. read more...