Power tools!

We finally got our sail drive back yesterday! It looks like new! So it was put back on and we sanded both of them down 

I've made a few bracelets recently too

Last nights meal was great! I made a Chinese veggie soup with mmmmm sriracha

Ty made a leg of lamb roast w veggies

We have sanded both hulls and the sail drives. The sail drives must be coated In a different kind of anti foul from the hulls. We are going to buy the paint but waiting for the new boat credit card to come in. Boss man mailed it out last Monday so it should be here today. There's so much we need to do and have just been waiting for the card to come in. We can't really do anything more at the moment. Ty just took off with the neighbor to go get more boat supplies like resin and epoxy to fill stuff...and I will probably catch a ride to the countdown later for more groceries. Running low on veggies...

Still haven't eaten any meat and still haven't had a craving for it. I don't know what's gonna happen if I come across Mexican food lol! We are going to a BBQ tonight and I will probably be the lame-o with the mushroom burger haha! 

LaRue's Brews

So Tyrone started brewing his own beer. Many people do it here and I gotta say its better than spending crazy amounts of money on beer. It crazy expensive here! He bottled the first batch today and it will be ready in 2 weeks...and hes making another batch today to start it on the fermenting. One batch makes 12 bottles at 2 liters each for a grand total of.....67 beers...i think...There are 5.5 beers in each bottle so yeah...

Sterilizing bottles

Batch-o-beer

LaRue's Brews....ready in 2 weeks

Still cooking up a storm over here. We are 2 miles from town so I cook breakfast lunch and dinner every single day...Our neighbors in the boat next to us are replacing their rudders and they have a car so they have been giving us a ride into town when we need one. 

It has been raining non freakin stop over here and yesterday was the first day it didnt rain like all week...so we finally got out of the boat and started sanding the bottom. We have an insane amount of barnicles to clean off and we have to get every single one off before we can paint the bottom. Which we are doing ourselves by the way. We are going to put on a few coats of anti fouling. They charge so much here and everyone else in the boat yard does their own work so they show us what to do. So we bought suits and everything and we look like meth cooks hahahaha....

We did some sanding in the shop over here too. We are varnishing the seat on the back of the boat and the piece of wood that the outboard motor sits on...well we left it in the shop for a few days while it was raining and someone now has a new piece of wood for THEIR outboard motor...:(

You may have noticed we updated the look of the blog. Let us know if you like :) We took that photo while on our delivery to Nice...It is currently Ty's laptop background...

2 weeks no meat!

Ive been having fun cooking lately! Thats never happened to me! I normally hate cooking so I avoid it as much as possible and just eat whatever Ty is having...Well theres no way he will ever go without meat so I have started looking up recipes and cooking for myself. And its been fun!! Its awesome when you work for a while on something and it actually comes out soooo tasty...even Ty likes what I've been making. In addition to these photos I have been making soups. I love my veggie soups! I have learned that you saute the herbs and veggies before adding the vegetable stock and let it simmer. They have been turning out pretty good! I use carrots, potato, onion, zucchini, butternut squash and whatever else I have around here. For protein I add chickpeas or lentils and lots of spinach...quinoa...

What my soup looks like before adding the stock...

First day of eating healthier...oatmeal w blueberries and an egg...wasnt that great honestly..i like my oats with honey and cinnamon and whatever fruit

Breakfast bruschetta ...eggs, tomato,fresh basil on a toasted pumpernickel slice 

PIZZA!!!!! It was so good! used a piece of naan bread as the crust and made my own marinara sauce...added fresh tomato, mushroom, jalapenos, mozzarella cheese and fresh basil on top w fresh grated Parmesan 

This hot mess looks weird but it tasted so good! I had ty grill my eggplant and tomato slices alongside his steak. I crumbled feta on top and reduced a balsamic sauce for topping. Brushed the eggplant and tomato with olive oil, salt and pepper and thyme before putting on the grill. Then made some couscous and sauteed veggies for a side.

One of my go to favs is this grilled or roasted portobello mushroom. I just top it with salt and pepper and thin slice of cheese. Then top it off with tomato and basil....roasted veggies on the side.

First meatless dish I made was pasta with a mushroom marina recipe...i got the recipe from the back of a can of stewed tomatoes lol....but added fresh diced tomato, feta and olives on top...

Waiting and waiting and waiting

We have been up on the hard for 5 days now. It sucks! LOL we have to run to the little clubhouse at the corner of the yard to use the bathroom and shower there. It is mostly clean though so its not too terribly bad. Everyone here is so nice and so helpful. We have already had every person come on board to look at what we need fixed which is a long list. The rigger came today to look at the fore-stay and our main sheet travel system and is coming back next Tuesday with a solution for us. The steelworks guy came and looked at our frame that we need replaced and is getting a bid and a plan together for us to replace the support system. The mechanic came on Wednesday to take apart our sail drive and he is currently rebuilding it. He said when he opened it up it was a total hack job meaning he has to rebuild the thing i guess. Our parts could take up to 10 days to get in so it looks like we are stuck here for the next 2 weeks almost.

Town is a good long trek from the boat yard. This boatyard is so new there is absolutely nothing for at least a mile and then there is 1 little marine store but they can get anything for us within a day or two and deliver it to the boatyard. They know how far it is...We were walking to town...well to the marine store and someone just pulled over and offered us a ride. That's how long and empty this road is back here haha. She was a really nice older lady and apparently the only way to get around is to hitchhike. We got a ride on the way back to from the boatyard manager. He saw us walking and pulled over.

Hobbit country!

We anchored by the dock for a day before they hauled us out

Cardio on board

Made a cake for Ty but we only have 1 square dish and 1 round dish lol

On the hard again...

We have run into la medianoche in 4 different countries so far

Decisions decisions...

Off to Whangerai we go

We left Tauranga sadly 2 days ago. We stayed one night on Mayor island again to wait for the wind to change in our favor and did an overnight passage to Whangerai. I saw 1 boat on my watch....1!!! It was pretty creepy being the only boat out there. Makes me feel like "what does everyone know that I dont?" lol....anyway we are sitting outside the harbour entrance waiting for the tide to change so we can up the river and to the marina where we will be hauled out and repaired finally We have a massive 2 page list of things we need to do to have this boat ready before we leave New Zealand for New Caledonia.

I have recently quit eating meat. Dont know if I mentioned that yet or not. I just was reading up on it and decided to see how long I could go without eating meat. It just because it is a healthier way of eating and if you do it right you can lose a little weight in the process. Its been a little over a week I think and Ty is not being supportive at all. If anything he sounds like he feels abandoned haha! He eats like a whole roast lamb while I have a portobello mushroom with a little cheese n tomato. Ive been doing a lot of roasted veggies and couscous, grilled eggplant instead of grilled steak...stuff like that. I dont really feel any different yet but my clothes already feel a bit more comfortable:) I think the best part is I dont even crave not in the least bit.

Grilled portobello mushroom w cheese, tomato n basil...sauteed veg on the side

Veg soup in the making

Veg soup completed...soooo good..added red pepper flakes for spiciness :)

Starboard water pump...diff from port water pump...greeeat...

Tyrones office

Tys workshop

He's becoming quite the self taught mechanic!

And electrician...

oops the wire is not even connected...that explains a lot...

Alderman Islands

The rest of the alderman islands new zealand

SA pride!

Fishing lure....that hasnt worked..YET...

Just discovered i can add cool effects with my camera itself!! 

Caught a TUNA!!! finally!!! on a diff lure that I picked out thank you very much!

The Hitchhiker 

All these fish started jumping out of the water as we sailed past

Awesome sunset

Ty trimmin the sails

my camera can do this too!!

Ok well we are entering the Whangerai channel now so up the river we go!

Surfing day!

Went for a surf on the new board this morning! I paddled out to get my very first wave and I catch it but i didnt stand up...why? because a friggin SHARK swam directly under me and grazed my board with his dorsal fin!!!!!!!!! I stayed laying down on the board and just rode the wave in and then decided maybe I should just take photos today and let the boys go out and play....It was the worst moment of my life...what are the odds of a shark being right there right at that time and so freakin close?!?!?! in the shallows?!?!?! ugh my first wave on my new board and I didnt even go back out today. Tomorrow we will try again and maybe this time my day wont be ruined by running into a damn shark...it was a bronze whaler by the way which supposedly have small mouths so they go after small fish and they have not had an attack on this beach in over 2 years or something like that. I dont care it was big enough to scare the crap outta me and way too close for comfort on my first try...it literally swam directly under my board and grazed it with its fin!!!! So after about 10 minutes the boys went back in and I took these photos...

Preppin the new board! its an 8'6" 22.5"wide and 3"thick

Ty 1

Ty 2

Ty 3

Ty 4 - up on his first try!

me on the shore cuz i attract sharks

The board is perfect for small waves such as these

Its easier to get up and ride the wave even in small surf

Ty was able to get up several times

now hes just showin off :)

This is a good photo but what you dont see is that he is actually already falling off lol

Playin with the camera

Trying to get a low shot of the waves

Ty up on Bens board which is way smaller

The halo is actually crystallized ice molecules....means we are gonna get hit by a low in the next 24-48hrs

heeeeyyyyy...still not bored enough to go back out with that bronze whaler guy...

Ben riding our board

the mount in the background

Interesting art work on Bens board

Maori statue in the park by the fish n chips place