Waitangi

'Octopus in net' by Nina

Getting underway

Poppy goes kayaking

Collab BBQ

Sailed 07:50 on Waitangi morning, Nina putting in the trip report with her shiny new VHF operator licence. Congratulations, Nina! Rendezvous with Weta in Stafford Bay, sheltering from strong gusts in the Outer Sounds. 17:00 pleasant in Stafford but with fresh SE winds forecast departed for Chance Bay, our companions in need of a good sleep. Friday departed Chance Bay for Bird Island fishing. 20:00 in Māori Bay (Port Ligar) in company with Seas the Day. Oops! Caught an octopus and quickly returned him to the sea. Next day, Saturday, fishing in Fishing Bay - go figure - then departed Māori Bay for Chance Bay and agreed meet up with Weta. Sunday in Take-In Bay and Poppy went kayaking; in the evening a most congenial collaborative bbq (pictured above). Back in Havelock 11:25 on the Monday and greeted by Janice and Norma, lunch in the Slip Inn. Steamed 114 nautical miles. 

Making smoke

Gardner spares 5-mins video

L. Gardner and Sons ceased production of new engines in the early 1990s. They could no longer meet the emission regulations. A plume of grey smoke from the stack of a fishing boat is an evocative sight, but less acceptable in the present day. A number of spinoffs emerged when the factory closed. One of those is Gardner Spares and you can get just about any part within a few days at a reasonable price. So saying, Orion hardly smokes at all. If we've been trolling and then we wind in and wind on for home she'll smoke for a while, but it soon clears; any engine does that.

Winding on after idling

The light plume of smoke from Orion's stack looks a little blue in the photo but that's just the hues of the scene. The colour is actually light grey. I don't have to top up the oil between oil changes which are 200 hours or one year apart whichever comes sooner. That may change as the years go by, but just now she has only 1000 hours on the clock since the re-build; she's barely run-in.