Finally away (and laughing)

[haiqu]

After acquiring two yachts in the past 12 months and spending most of my time living and working on one or the other, I finally get to do some real sailing.

Leaving from the Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club (Australia) for Lord Howe Island, Nelson NZ and Christchurch on 7-8 December - weather window permitting - with my friend Del, on the first leg of his big adventure in his 40' steel yacht Chiara Stella. Del has done the trip before so I'm in good hands. Listen out for us on 40 metres, my callsign is VK9VK/MM.

After that he sails for Tahiti and eventually Singapore, but I'm hopping off in NZ and catching the bus north to inspect a property I bought a few months back, mow the grass and do a bit of maintenance, then back to Australia by air from Auckland late January.

Wish me well!

[Neo]

Joy shared is doubled. Happy sailing!

[got seashells?]

Wishing you great weather and better memories. Be safe.

[Jim Cate]

G'Day Haiqu,

Bon Voyage, and have a listen to the Comedy net when you get away: 7.087 lsb at 2040 Zulu every day. It's a very informal net, populated by real cruisers and some stable land based folks to keep us honest. Net control changes daily, and you would be most welcome to join in.

Cheers and 73 de Jim, VK4GFT/N9GFT

[haiqu]

Hi Jim,

As you'll probably recall I did manage to contact the net on a number of occasions out there on the Tasman. It was good to have someone to talk to after my morning watch finished at 7:00am AEDT.

Unfortunately once net control shifted to Tassie it became almost impossible to make a call into the net, although I could often hear some of the guys in NSW and QLD.

We reached Nelson on Dec 27th and moved on to Lyttleton, reaching there in Jan 2nd. Del is still in Christchurch, I bought a van and headed north to work on a house I bought last year in Wairoa, and stayed until Jan 30th before flying back to Sydney.

Nice to be back aboard Keppelena, it feels like I've been away for years!

Rob