Friday, November 15, 2013

Mariner In a Marina

I cannot afford to have the good ship Mariner in a marina berth but she did have a special outing recently while her pile berth in the river was being dredged. This was fortuitous for me because I was unable to clamber on board from the dinghy due to the fact that my sternum had  recently been wired up and I was under strict instructions not to lift anything for at least 3 months while the bone was healing - all of this a by product of having quadruple bi pass heart surgery.

The good ship Mariner was moved from our pile mooring to the Whangarei Marina by Brian, the friendly and very helpful marina manager. Nothing seemed to be too much trouble for him and I played no part in the move.

I loved having Mariner moored on the marina. It was so convenient when it came to boarding for  a general check and to run the motor to charge the battery up. Mariner loved being there as well. "Man I love it here," she said, " All the other boats are so close, friendly and easy to talk to and you come and visit me and keep me company a lot more."
"I know," I replied, but the money I save on fees will buy you a brand spanking new genoa jib soon, maybe even a roller furler headstay." There is nothing like the mention of new sails and equipment to perk her up and put a smile back on her face.

Now she is back on her old mooring among her old haunts waiting expectantly and wolf whistling to me when I walk past on my daily post operation fitness walk. Soon we will be going down river together through the new Whangarei lifting bridge on our way to the sea, I can't wait. It's going to be a great Summer.

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4 comments:

Kate said...

Oh my goodness. So THAT'S why you've been away. Well, I suppose that's a good enough excuse! Great to see you back!

Alden Smith said...

Yes, a great excuse. But if YOU need an excuse anytime soon there are much less dramatic ways of obtaining one. :>)

Ben said...

Roller furler headstay!. Are you planning a single handed sailing trip?

Alden Smith said...

Ben I do some sailing by myself already - and have done so for a long time. A roller furler jib will be very useful and convenient whether I am alone or have a crew on board. I talked to a sail maker and he said once I have the roller furler headstay fitted, the luffs of my jibs can easily be converted by removing the piston hanks and the eyelets and sewing a tape up the luff - this tape has a boltrope in it which goes up the internal track in the roller furler headstay foil.