Category Archives: Daily Lime

Happy As

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Happy and Blasted:

Happy: Launched the boat successfully, back in the water and went smooth, everything worked and no water where it shouldn’t be, like “inside” the boat.

Blasted: on the way down river we got Blasted with big winds and driving rain, that might as well have been icicles every time we looked out for the channel markers. Good thing for heaters, they thawed everything out when we finally found some pseudo shelter in 30 kts of wind in the dark. Not good conditions to try and navigate in the confines of a marina.

Happy and Soggy:

Happy to have made the marina, a day late but on a beautiful morning after the deluge all night.

Soggy: The beautiful day turned to rain just as we were approached the dock to tie the boat up, Soggy again which continued off and on all day.

Happy and Sad:

Happy: Happy to be heading out sailing on to new destinations in search of the perpetual summer of the tropics.

Sad: Sad to leave a slew of wonderful, friendly, helpful, generous people of New Zealand behind. We didn’t say goodbye, as we might just do another trip down in a year or two when our visa status resets.

Happy and Broke:

Happy: Happy to leave the dock, course the wind picked up just as we cleared customs and headed to the dock for some duty free fuel for the next adventures

Broke: Having not visited a fuel station since leaving Fiji, some 6 months ago, our girl was plenty thirsty. All good.

Happy and Holy washing machine:

Happy: Happy finally heading down the river and setting sail for Vanuatu some 1015 miles away.

Holy Washing Machine: The timing leaving the river was terrible, wind versus current, sent everything bouncing about the boat. You think you remember how this works, then the washing machine tells you otherwise.

Wait… do we remember how to do this?

We make it out of the washing machine. Start to get set to raise the mainsail, and with all the washing going on the main halyard (rope that raises the sail) got stuck around the front of the mast. Some full on cowboy rodeo skills and the rope was free. First time that happened. Our friends on a boat that was just ahead of us also had a mainsail issue. Both of us got it sorted without drama except on WhatsApp.

A super nice sail up the coast of NZed with the island providing the protection, small seas decent wind, sunny skies… perfect champagne sailing. Minus the champagne as we have a LONG way to go. Damn!

Sure enough, we clear Cape Bret at sun down and veer away from the protection, the waves and wind pick up. It’s not bad tho, the first 6 hours were a perfect way to get into the groove, and we are just grooving.

Boat is cruising along nicely with 1 reef in the mainsail, and full Jib. We found a reasonable course direction to play nice with the waves and wind. Had a quick sleep and just now under 900 miles left.

Starlink, a Game Changer

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Connectivity on the boat has always been a bit of a challenge.  On the one hand you want to live in the moment and enjoy the absolute beauty around you.  On the other hand you want to be able to download weather, stay in touch with family and friends, and do basic things like banking.  

For the last 14 years we have been hustling to stay connected while on the boat.  It was always a challenge and it was invariably expensive.  So, how did we stay connected before Starlink?  We had several options which we ran consecutively as inevitably one did not work for various reasons.

Local Data Plans

When we are near land, we would visit the local communications shop, pick up a SIM card and purchase a pre-paid monthly data plan.  This would allow us to get basic WhatsApp (which is an amazing, free, app), low data apps, cruising apps (navionics, weather), basic email, and would give us a local phone number.  On average, this ran between $50-$150USD per month.   As you can see, we end up with a lot of different SIM cards.  What we have found is that Vini, Digicel and Vodafone do not work in different countries.  So, we end up with Digicel SIM cards from multiple countries.

Iridium Go

We have Iridium Go which is a satellite based communications technology and was our go to means of communications while we were underway (on passage or on route).  Iridium Go gave us a limited number of minutes of voice calling, text messages (with limited characters), limited email (no photos, attachments, logos), SOS, and the ability to download weather.  You could not access the internet.  The bonus with the Iridium Go is that you can take it with you in case of an emergency and you had to evacuate the boat.

We had the external antennae, spare batteries, and multiple sim cards.  The equipment costs around $1500-$2000.  Prior to Starlink, we were paying $160 per month which gave us unlimited data and 150 minutes of talk.  Once we got Starlink, we dropped this plan to the lowest possible plan which is $70 per month which gives us 5 minutes of talk and 1500 text messages – virtually nothing but it keeps the account active.  We mainly keep this for a back up plan in case something goes wrong with Starlink and we need a communication tool.  Expensive back up.

GoogleFi

I no longer have a cellular company in the USA so when I return for visits I have to use our GoogleFi account (on an android phone $500.  Originally I would tether GoogleFi phone to my iPhone to give me connectivity when I am not in a wifi zone.  Then I just started transferring the GoogleFi SIM card to my iPhone which is much easier than carrying two phones.

The GoogleFi monthly service is $30/month.  We hope to cancel this service this year when I return to the states.  I plan to sign up for a travel sim with www.mintmobile.com with my iPhone for connectivity.  If this works, I will have to port my main cell phone number (which I still use for WhatsApp) to Google Voice which is free.  

Other Communication Costs

We have other communication costs including our website hosting fee of $50/mo, Predict Wind $299/yr, and a few smaller expenses.

Starlink

Starlink claims to give you access to the internet virtually anywhere.  If you carry around their dish which is not really likely.  However, it is a complete game changer for cruisers and people who travel both on land and at sea!  It now gives us internet access 24/7 whether we are near shore or thousands of miles offshore.  

Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by American aerospace company SpaceX, providing coverage to over 70 countries. Starlink has launched 5,828 satellites into space and 5,438 are currently in use.  That’s a lot of satellites!

Here is a photo of our Starlink dish which we mounted to our dinghy davit.

What does it Cost

Well, it aint cheap that’s for sure.  We were lucky in that Starlink was offering a special to New Zealand rural customers.  We were staying in Whangarei at the time and that is considered a rural area so our equipment cost $300 NZD ($180 USD) as opposed to $599. 

Monthly Plan

They have many plans but since we are moving a lot, we are on the “mobile plan” and the monthly cost while we are near shore is $199/mo NZD ($128/mo USD).  If we go offshore or are more than 12nm from land, we upgrade to the Mobile Priority Plan and pay an additional $2-$3 per gigabyte of data.  It doesn’t sound like much but it adds up quickly.

Connecting Starlink

The website brags of an easy set up with a simple plug and play.  However, for cruisers, we had to do some modifications.  The first thing you should know is that Starlink is a power hog!  It draws on average 3amps (with the motor disabled and ice melt turned off) on 12v.  Even so, at start up it can be as high as 7amps and if you are doing a lot of downloads it can run 4-6amps.

Disabling the Motor

So, why did we modify the unit?   We disconnected the motor that made the dish rotate as it searched for satellites.  We simply locked the dish into a flat horizontal position so it has easy access to the sky.  This was a little scary as you have to drill a hole into the unit so be sure you know what you are doing before you attempt this project.

Converting to 12 volt

We converted AC to DC power to save more power, to save the ‘inefficiencies’ involved in converting 12v to 120v and then to 48v which is what the Starlink dish needs.  This conversion savings is small, but also eliminates the super basic Starlink router that runs hot and doesn’t have much functionality.

Converting to 12 volt also allowed us to control and monitor the usage on our CZone setup, and we created a ‘schedule’ that turns Starlink off at night and on in the morning (our time zone).  And a button we can press when we leave the boat to turn off the dish when we leave to go exploring.

We are using a 384watt 12v to 48v DC to DC converter, and Tycoon POE injector to get the power to dish.  Since Starlink used their own wiring plan, we also had to create custom CAT6 network cables to make it all work.    We chose to cut/hack the ‘ethernet adapter’ cable as part of the hack and leave the ‘long custom cable’ supplied by Starlink intact.   This gives us the opportunity if any of the ‘custom hacked cables or pieces’ fail we can plug in the original router and cable and be back in business.  Tho we do have backups of each of the customized hackery to convert it to 12 volt.  

In the process of doing our conversion we also joined and helped others get this working and its amazing how ‘fragile’ all the pieces can be.  The converter wasn’t stable or the POE injector wasn’t putting out enough juice, or the custom CAT5 cables were not crimped cleanly.  Lots of debugging when into why the ‘speeds were off’ or simply intermittently working or just not at all.

Routers

We use a Mikrotik router so that we simplify our network.  Every device wants to create its own ‘hot-spot’ / access point.   That requires you to change your Wi-Fi connection depending on what you were wanting to do onboard.  Iridium Go! was the most annoying since it did not provide a way to change the network settings, so we were always switching networks to be connected to iridium satellite vs boat instruments vs media server vs anchor alarm vs CZone network.  Using a decent router we were able to disable all the ‘access spots’ so that connecting to our one network everything is available.  We can see boat navigation instruments and the internet at the same time without having to switch which device we are connected too.  

Conclusion

As you can see there is a lot that goes into “staying connected.”  Hopefully, we will be able to ditch GoogleFi by early summer (saving us $360/yr). We also plan to start disconnected Iridium Go during non passage times.  This would save us $70/mo every month we are not using Iridium Go.  However, when we wanted to initiate Iridium Go for a passage we would have to buy a $15 SIM card, pay $50 start up fee and pay the $70 or the month.  Sill a LOT cheaper than spending $840/yr for access we only use 12-20 days a year.

We will still need to purchase local SIM cards for access while we are away from the boat and of course we will have to continue paying for our web hosting and Predict Wind fees.  But in my mind, every little bit helps when you eliminate costs.

Feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions on Starlink, the set up, power saving techniques, and or other communications.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  We visit the beautiful anchorages of Whangaroa in our last blog post.

Northland: Bay of Islands & Whangaroa

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We have slowly been making our way North as we continue to explore the Northland area of New Zealand.  There are so many beautiful islands, motus and bays that one could explore the Northland for months and still not see everything.

Since we only had 3-3.5 months of sailing around NZ we decided to focus on the NE side of the North Island (Northland).  We played in the blue area.

Cape Brett and Piercy Island

As we head North we pass by Cape Brett and its beautiful lighthouse and the famous Piercy Island (also known as Hole in the Rock).  We had super calm conditions with light winds and no swell.  There were tons of birds all over the place and they waited until the last minute to scatter on our approach.

We continued on to a small island called Otehei Island which has a beautiful restaurant beach bar.  It was super, super shallow on approach so we took it very slow and anchored in 3m of water (that’s pretty shallow, even for us).  But we went ashore and enjoyed a tasty lunch as we watched the people and enjoyed the beach.

There was some really bad weather forecasted so we headed into the Bay of Islands the next day.

Bay of Islands

We only planned to stay in the Bay of Islands for a few days as there is a known barnacle problem here.  After spending so many days cleaning our bottom we did not want to have to do it again.  But, there was no “safe” place for us to go with these predicted winds so we decided to go into the marina at Opua.  The only reason we are here is to meet with a few vendors.

We arrived on Sunday afternoon and tied up in our slip.  We met with Kim at Masterpieces in Canvas who is doing a few more projects for us. We also met with Roger at North sails who did a free evaluation of our sails and we met with Matthew Duckett our sparky.  We also were able to do several loads of laundry, dump our trash and recycling and get a provision run.  The weather did come and we saw 38kts of wind and lots of rain.  So, we hunkered down inside our little cave. All in all a super productive 3 days in the marina.  

We were anxious to leave the marina, mainly because of the barnacles.  After leaving the dock, we headed North to continue our Northland adventures.  We are trying to make our way to Whangaroa but first we stopped at the famous Cavalli Islands.

Cavalli Islands

Many cruisers and locals told us that the Cavalli Islands are a must see.  We did not start looking at anchorages until we were 15nm away from the Cavalli islands. Probably not our best move.  What we found was that there is only 1 official anchorage, strange.  Well, we found another one at Motukawanui Island.  We anchored at Waiiti Bay and it was lovely.  We had it all to ourselves.

Waihinepua Bay

 We anchored at 34°59.802S / 173°48.969E in 5m of mud.  This is a really protected, pretty, small bay.  There is a bach on one side but not much else here.  The sand on the beach was rich and soft giving us a beautiful array of colors.

Love this photo.

Whangaroa Bay

We got lucky and were able to use a friend’s mooring located near the Whangaroa Boating Club and Cafe. 35°02.554S / 173°44.775E in 6m.  It was a short dinghy ride to shore where enjoyed a nice hike up St. Paul’s Rock.

There are two great hikes in Whangaroa Bay.  They are St. Paul’s Rock hike and Duke’s Nose Hike.  We do St. Paul’s Rock hike first to warm up to Duke’s Nose Hike.

St. Paul’s Rock track climbs steeply through regenerating manuka bush to the top of a volcanic plug (St Paul’s Rock) with spectacular views of the Whangaroa Harbour. Chains are installed to help you climb the last 30 metres.  First we walked up the steep road about 1.5 miles before starting the track which was about 25min straight up 500meters.

The name ‘St Pauls’ was given to this rock in the 19th century due to its domelike similarity with St Paul’s cathedral.

The chains were helpful when scaling the rock wall.  Yet, Matt still did the climb in flip flops.
We had some really beautiful views at the top.

Views of the Whangaroa Harbor, marina, and mountains.  The lower right photo is a shot of their fish farms which are plenty in this harbor.

Duke’s Nose Hike

Duke’s Nose Hike (kaiaraara-rocks) is literally straight up from the minute you start.  But luckily it is a short 45-60 minute incline. You can access the Duke’s Nose Hike from the water at Rere bay (which is what we did) or inland along a 6hr hike from Whangaroa Bay.

The trail starts behind Lane Cove Hut in Rere Bay.  You can actually rent out Lane Cove Hut for you and 5 of your friends if you are interested in an overnight.

It sure does look like a nose – or maybe a hawk’s beak?

This trail was pretty cool because someone dug out foot holds using the tree roots which made it a lot easier to climb up and down.  Also, DOC (Department of Conservation) installs these diamonds to tell you which trail you are on (they come in many different colors) see bottom right photo.

This trail has two rails that you use to climb straight up (in case you are not a rock climber).  Going up was fairly easy but going down was a challenge as you can’t see where to put your feet.

But the views were spectacular.  There is a nice reel of me climbing down on our svSugarShack instagram and facebook pages.

Simply breathtaking.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  Adventures in this blog post occurred in early March 2024.  Did you read about the amazing bird sanctuary at Tiritiri in our last blog post?