#catamarans

Adventures of 60 somethings on board a catamaran.

On the 31st of January 2024, we became the proud owners of a Lagoon 400 2010 model, located in Opua New Zealand.

On the 27th of February, after a few family engagements, we flew to Auckland and drove 3 hours to Opua Marina, gathering some simple supplies on the way. I felt so cold and exhausted when we arrived that I nearly cried at the thought of living on this small, damp and smelly boat for the next 5 years. What had we done, we had a perfectly good life in a house. Why why why?

The next day was better.

28th February 2024, we sorted out a few things and organized a few others. Where to put clothes, towels, and did we have enough. Sheets were on board, but I threw most out as they were thin and barley reuseable. I started a list of things to but for us and the boat to be comfortable and livable for the next…..years?

So first trip in our hire car to Whangarei, (Pronounced Foneray) we found Spotlight, Countdown, Kmart and Bunnings. We loaded up and drove the 1 hour back to Opua.

1st March 2024: Next day we though we would take her for a spin and charge batteries and empty the black water tank, (the wee and poo tank). So we got out to open water and came into the bay of Russell. Lovely little spot but the anchor wouldn’t go down, so I suggested David just drive around and Ill cook breakfast/brunch.

So we did that and headed back to the marina. On our approach, on an outgoing tide, she was hard to handle. The birth spot was big enough for a catamaran but not big enough for us to park in with our limited experience and a tide that wanted to push us where we did not want to go. So I am running around the deck shouting directions to David. More like, “STOP, YOUR GOING TO HIT THE WHARF”. More things like, “Oh what the FUCK, we are going to crash”. Came out of my mouth on several occasions. We had the neighbours, folk from boats near us, on the dock along with the harbor master Shane. He was speaking calmly to David about pulling back and not so heavy on the power, but I don’t think he could hear him over my screaming, “We are going to crash.”

Yes we hit the dock and crushed our port side sugar scoop with an indent of about 25cm long and 10cm deep. Not too much damage to the boat but our self esteem was shattered, and I was a nervous wreck. One of our neighbours from a boat named Scallywag, was on the dock to console us. He had just had a similar experience and the tide pushed him into the bow spirt of another boat punching a hole in the side of his 50 ft catamaran…..Ouch.

2nd March 2024: Olly the previous owner came by and he sorted out the windlass, (anchor) not working problem. He said he cleaned up some loose wiring and maybe some got lost in the process and he unplugged the windlass. Not sure but he got it going and answered a lot of David's questions. We told him about our encounter with the dock and he said, “You know what they say, “You haven’t been around if you haven’t run aground”. I’m not sure if that made me feel better but, there you have it.

3rd March 2024: We gathered up our torn confidence and broken dreams decided we had to get back on the horse….so to speak. So out we went for another attempt at having fun on our new boat. This time we dropped the anchor in Russell, and I just put the kettle on when the afternoon storm that was expected at 1pm came early and interrupted our 10am brunch. So up came the anchor and we headed back to the marina. Before we even arrived my stress levels were off the chart. But we listened to Shane and came in on a slack tide and we managed to berth Mai Tai without incident. This was cause for celebration, so we had a shower and went into Paihia for dinner and a bottle of wine.

8th March 2024: Flew back to Sydney for my 60th birthday cruise on board Celebrity Edge to …..of all places, New Zealand. During this cruise we saw parts of the South Island and the sounds that were absolutely breath taking. The enormity of these places that we could now explore in our own boat! So we decided to skip the Rally to Fiji this year and explore New Zealand for 12 months. Plus we are not experienced enough in operating our boat yet. We need time and some nautical miles before we conquer open water.

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