We left Mari on the hardstand in Opua in September 2020 to return to Australia on board Patriot X. Now it’s April 2022 and we are finally allowed back in to NZ. After a frustrating trip with flight cancellations and massive queues at passport control and security we arrived in Auckland to find that our bags had been lost and whilst sorting this out we missed our connecting flight to Kerikeri. They put us on standby for the last flight to Kerikeri (which luckily we made) to pick up the rental car keys from the bottom drawer of the rental desk (thankyou Bob from Far North Rentals).
It is a well known fact that boats do not like sitting unused for any length of time and we have verified this in full. Whilst we were fairly satisfied with the overall condition of Mari, we did not expect to have to fix/replace so many major items – the main furler motor, the starter motor, the water maker pump, the boat speed triducer, and the heat exchanger for the engine. Not to mention the updates for the FA50 (AIS) and the GP150 (GPS) due to the date rollover problem.
During one of our shakedown sails (testing the new rigging) we lost Eric, our little drone. We did not fully anticipate the difficulty of landing on a moving platform with lots of obstacles. Eric took some great photos and videos before disappearing into the sea.
Due to delays in finding and transporting the heat exchanger, we missed the start of the rally and will have to make the passage at a later date.
Alas, our sailing adventures were not to be. Another emergency trip home put sailing plans on hold again and we left Mari in the bay of islands marina.