Week 7 & 8 (I think)

Well, it’s been a while since I caught up but we’ve had quite a lot going on here. Last week was really good as we went for a spin in the boat to test things finally for the big trip across the Tasman.

Gemma Thornton from Sydney joined us on Monday for the leg across the Tasman and to Perth. She’ll be helping with the media coverage and the blogs etc until we get the cameraman from Animal Planet on the boat. She’s a very bright, talented and creative young lass and someone you’ll hear of in the world of television in time to come.

We started the week off with a visit to an audiologist on the North Shore of Auckland who have very kindly donated customised hearing protection for the crew. This involved injecting silicon into our ears to take ear impressions. These will then be digitally scanned and replicated as a moulded earpiece that has all the necessary noise reduction properties we’ll need. The interesting thing is that digital files of these scans can be sent by email anywhere in the world and replicated if one of the units is lost or damaged. The inside of the Ady Gil can get up to 85 dB when at full howl so it’s very necessary. Ronnie did tell me however that technically speaking I need hearing aids, I guess a life of too much banging and grinding, shooting and loud music must have taken a toll on the old ears. Ronnie and his lovely wife Gundy have proved to be very generous and concerned people and are helping us in all kinds of ways, materially and with their energy and enthusiasm. It’s very refreshing to meet people so many selfless and pro-active people and it makes the experience that little bit richer. This little jaunt has already opened my eyes so much and it’s only just starting. I’m having the time of my life here.

On Wednesday evening we left the Maritime Museum and went over to Great Barrier Island. I was gobsmacked by the beauty and tranquillity of the place and somehow it struck a special note with me. I would rate it way up there with the most fantastic places that I’ve had the privilege of seeing on my travels. It’s so close to Auckland and yet very undeveloped and natural with indigenous bush coming right down to the waters edge and tiny little roads and tracks going up into the hills. We went to visit some folk that I have come into contact with through the sale of Happy 2, my old boat. Kevin and his wife Marissa were very welcoming and after brief photo shoot (with my fancy new camera) from Happy on Thursday morning Pete went to do a talk to the local schoolkids and we had about 100 kids come through the boat before lunch. The kids love the boat and there was one young lad in particular that I saw that was quite obviously inspired by the experience as he sat quietly in the driving seat and almost drooled, touching the controls, a spark of awe and ambition in his little eyes. We went up to Stray Possum Lodge after for lunch and had the most amazing pizzas and a very pleasant couple of hours with some of the local folk. Definitely a place I’ll be going back to….

We left at sunset, did some more photos and videos on the way out and made our way down to Tairua on the Coromandel Peninsula. It’s a sleepy little coastal town with a very beautiful inlet. We had lunch with Pete’s step Dad and did a whole lot of work on the boat and left to return to Auckland in the evening. The wind blew up a little coming around the top of the peninsula and we headed into some pretty decent seas as we turned west for Auckland. No problem for the boat though as she handled it with scorn. We’re back at the Viaduct now, though no longer at the Museum.

The weekend was spent working on the boat and it has to be said that the light is at the end of the tunnel in that respect. It’s looking good and we will be doing the final fit for the Jetski tomorrow. The ramp is looking robust if not pretty.

I’d like to take the opportunity here to tip my hat to someone who’s been a great family friend and more recently a source of inspiration to me, Bennie. Unfortunately Bennie was diagnosed with terminal cancer a little while ago and has been bravely battling against what has probably become something of a scourge in each one of our lives, some more than others. While the inevitability of our demise is a given, we all like to think that we can live as long as possible and that’s been playing on my mind a bit of late. I was at a talk about the late Sir Peter Blake last week and Professor Mark Oram, a personal friend, sailing companion and admirer of Blake’s said something very touching and relevant to this. He said that it was a common sentiment of his and Peter Blake’s that if you could have touched someone’s life and affected them in a positive way then you had achieved some degree of greatness with your own. This lead me to thinking that as I am trying to make some sort of a difference on a global scale with this mission to Antarctica, Bennie has in his own quiet and unassuming way made a profound difference to mine in that his unfortunate circumstances have played a great part in my decision to change the course of my life. Having had 3 malignant growths taken out of me in the last few years I realise that statistically and logically I’m never going to be the trembling card shark smelling of moth balls and ripping all the old biddies off at Poker in the old age home so I have to start making my life count. Bennie has been a supportive, generous and faithful friend to my mother and to my family and I’d like to thank him for that. They don’t make ‘em like that anymore.

Incidentally there was a quote read out from the Sir Peter Blake Trust’s website at that talk. It was a very eloquent and meaningful response to a logbook entry by Mark Oram about two weeks before Blake’s death that summed up very accurately the state of our environment and our need to do something about it. I haven’t been onto the site yet myself but you may find it interesting to visit it and check it out. Just Google Sir Peter Blake Trust & you should find it.

Anyway, time to get some work done. I’ll catch up soon, probably after the Tasman leg.

Larry