_____________________ A JAPANESE BUCKET LIST ____________________

I spent the best part of today helping my good mate Bernie rig and check that this old time 'X' Class three man sailing dinghy was all shipshape and Bristol fashion. In their heyday the 'X' was one of New Zealands premier racing classes that raced annually for the coveted Moffat Cup.

The boat has been advertised on NZTradeMe for some time with the final price being the princely sum of NZ$1500, which is actually tantamount to simply giving the boat away - which shipmates is a real sign of the sailing times.

The boat has been bought by a group of Japanese who have a bucket list. One of the items on the list  is the desire to sail a New Zealand 'X' class yacht in the notoriously stormy Cook Strait of New Zealand. Ye Gods, wonders never cease, but who am I to make judgements on other peoples Bucket Lists? Negotiations and dates have been finalised through a local interpreter and the boat is to be picked up this coming week. Bernie and I completed a comprehensive pre-sail / sale check this afternoon and she's all good to go.

I wish the Japanese Bucket List crew the very best of luck in their sailing adventure in Cook Strait and only hope they don't try to sail in any weather comparable to the stormy conditions we encountered recently at the 2018 Zephyr Nationals in Wellington. I shall await news of their adventure with keen interest.

POST SCRIPT - The sale fell through (long convoluted story), but they HAVE bought an X Class in Wellington and apparently the plan is to sail across Cook Strait to the South Island which is a change of plan from simply wanting to sail in Cook Strait - Bloody Nora and dearie, dearie, dearie me is all I can say - I await news of this adventure with baited breathe and shall pray hard for a fair wind and calm seas.