Life Ashore- Looking back through Southern Star’s blog- WOW it has been almost a year since our last post. Working life gets in the way of boat life. Life’s routines change from watching for weather windows to checking ferry schedules. The work week fills our time, interspersed with weekends, where we hope to do some …
Blog Nov 2023- Re-retirement Read More »
We greeted Southern Star at her Viaduct Marina berth in downtown Auckland on 27th August 2021. She had just been offloaded off of the yacht transporter Happy Dragon, after an eventful and lengthy voyage from Newport Rhode Island (see our earlier post https://southernstarnz.com/index.php/2021/09/17/southern-star-arrives-home/). NZ had just been put into Level 4 lockdown – essentially a …
Southern Star One year in Auckland Read More »
Welcome home Warning- this is a bit of a rant. This does not paint a great picture of our homecoming. Iconic Kiwi songwriter, Dave Dobbyn, wrote and sang this song. So welcome homeI bid you welcomeI bid you welcomeWelcome homeFrom the bottom of my heart Coming back to New Zealand after 4 years away, after …
Welcome home (Not very and pay up) Read More »
Auckland- Sept 2021 Seems a lifetime ago, that we put Southern Star on board Happy Dover in Newport Rhode Island to send her back to Auckland, and back home. The story began here, https://southernstarnz.com/index.php/2021/02/15/3-months-in-nz-and-still-no-southern-star/ Well, it’s been 10 months now, and Southern Star has finally arrived back in New Zealand. Unfortunately, Happy Dragon the new …
Southern Star arrives home Read More »
3 months in NZ, and still no Southern Star… https://photos.app.goo.gl/3CaSrXz3u2KSjcdp9 It was three months ago today that we exited our two week quarantine (MIQ) in Christchurch after arriving back from the US. We stayed on a few days in Christchurch with Jenny’s mum, and spent our first day of freedom running around organizing NZ mobile …
3 months in NZ, and still no Southern Star… Read More »
We had made a bid with Air NZ to upgrade to their Sky couch, which would guarantee the middle seat between us would be unoccupied, and which also converts to a flatbed just big enough for two. We kept checking online, and despite there still being vacant Sky couch seats showing, and also around 15 …
HAERE MAI AOTEAROA – WELCOME HOME TO NEW ZEALAND Read More »
Our dream; our plan has always been to enjoy cruising Southern Star along the US East Coast, through the Bahamas, and to eventually cruise her south, through the Panama Canal and onward through the Pacific and eventually to our home, New Zealand. https://photos.app.goo.gl/XySFBcFX4U5E8x4K6 As you have journeyed with us through our blog and Facebook posts, …
The cruising lifestyle is obviously very transient. What is hidden within it, is that we are always saying good-bye. As we made the decision to move on to New Zealand, we say a final farewell to so many great friends, and, sadly, a final good bye to my mom, before we fly out to New …
Saying Good bye-Final trip north in the US Read More »
Jenny writes. As expected, the weather in Virginia got warm, and by mid June we had day temperatures in the high 80s, with 90% humidity. In the meantime, Ted got busy on Amazon, ordering supplies and parts. Michelle and I walked 3 miles each morning at 7.30am, which was a lovely start to the day, …
Virginia Home Base- Our summer home and hurricane hole. Read More »
Back in the US https://photos.app.goo.gl/UCvxSLfJGNdkdnLH8 We delayed our departure an extra day due to weather, and ended up spending almost a week back at Great Harbour Cay, where we’d cleared into the Bahamas in early December. Some of the cruisers there hadn’t moved since we’d been there, and while it is a great marina, it …
The COVID-19 virus made it to Paradise. The Bahamas have taken bold steps to try to contain the virus, and it has reached Nassau, Freeport, and a small cay in Bimini chain, Cat Cay. https://photos.app.goo.gl/LgCkFxhYo1j6oj2K7 Since mid March all of the Bahamas have undergone an increase in curfew procedures. We boaters are very much isolated …
Lockdown in Paradise Read More »
Stabilizer trouble shooting in Exotic Places https://photos.app.goo.gl/Rirhc9xfMiHH2Fdv9 We trekked back to Georgetown from Thompson Bay, Long Island on one stabilizer; which actually delivered a pretty good ride. I’d heard that one would give you about 60% of what both stabilizers do to calm the roll of the boat. And now, I agree. We had 4-6 …
Advanced Stabilizer troubleshooting- Read More »
We’re on the Banks, heading north toward Thompson Bay, Long Island. We have 70 more miles to go today, making it a total of 90 miles. https://photos.app.goo.gl/LsEa7XXF759ZAuEU8 We’ve been gunkholing it in the Ragged Islands, between Hog Cay, South side (for winds out of the north) and Racoon Cay. The winds have been pretty much …
Ragged Islands and fluid plans Read More »
We stayed at Great Harbour Cay for almost a month. The weather was just too unpredictable to get away and head to the Exumas. So we decided to enjoy GHC, as we could take walks, provision, and the marina was friendly and social. https://photos.app.goo.gl/uB5mQbmZtEjKyJ326 We finally got a three day weather window, and departed for …
We departed Beaufort NC after a week. Some bad weather and the first named Tropical Storm; Arthur formed and came close to Cape Hatteras before heading off towards Bermuda. The storm threw some wind at us, and lots of rain. We were rained in for several days in Beaufort before we had a chance to …
Journey down memory creek Read More »