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| So this is what dawn looks like! |
Despite it having rained here for the best part of 3 weeks, there was enough sunshine for my good mate Shane to finally launch his boat. This project has been going on for about 18 months now which is about 12 months longer than scheduled. When I went to Japan last August it was supposed to be ready in time for Christmas. The last few weeks have seen some progress towards the time that we will finally be able to go sailing...just in time for the cold weather. Last Thursday morning was bright and clear and the marina was like a mill pond. The event was set to kick off at the ungodly hour of 7AM. Sunrise is not a part of the day that I am intimately acquainted with. People witter on endlessly about the beauty of the sunrise and use words like "renewal" or "freshness" to make it sound all romantic and spiritual. In my experience however , dawn events consist of a whole lot of sleep deprived people who don't want to be there mooching around like zombies and moaning about coffee. As far as I am concerned 2AM and 7AM are the same thing....nighttime. Anything before 9 is just uncivilised and unnecessary. The other illusion people are under is that yacht marinas are glamorous places full of beautiful people and expensive boats. Westpark Marina has a million dollar view of Auckland City but everything else about it is on the cheap. Some would describe the place as a boat boneyard or more colourfully as "the home of the floating fuckup". It's not that every vessel moored here is a rotting pile of junk....just most of them. My particular favourite is a creation of steel and pink paint very appropriately named "Sea Pig". As for beautiful people, the crew of interested hangers on consisted of Russel the muscle, Fitzy, Brother Love , Ant, Dangerous Dave and Engineer Phil. From their names you can correctly surmise that these are not the kind of people you're likely to see on the cover of Vogue magazine.
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| Westpark Marina. Marine Skid Row |
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Complicating the issues surrounding the launch was the fact that the captain had dropped the 100Kgs rudder on his foot a couple of days before. Now I know for a fact that Shane has never been to medical school. I'm fairly sure he has never read a medical text book. I believe he did not even do biology at high school. Therefore he is eminently qualified to ignore the X rays and the doctors diagnosis and totally discount the usual treatment methods. Refusing a cast and a recommendation of putting his feet up for 2 weeks, Shane has attempted to convince everybody that a fracture is not really a break and that some fresh air and a good deal of hopping on the other foot is all it needs to be fixed. Consequently, the boat launching event featured him hobbling about on some crutches with his right foot looking like a purple football. The naming ceremony was somewhat undignified as he tried to bend over to smash a bottle of bubbles wrapped in a sock on the bowsprit while simultaneously balancing on one foot and trying to keep his crutches from falling into the water. With that over with, the travellift operator lowered the boat into the water and to everyones great relief, it actually floated. Not one to shy away from controversy or unwise decisions, Shane has named his boat "The Dealer". This is a reference to his past career as a motor vehicle dealer. I'm 100% sure the various immigration and customs officials in ports all around the world will intuitively know this and won't automatically pull out the rubber gloves and unleash the sniffer dogs when he comes to check into their country. Anyway....this is a serious bluewater cruising yacht and should be a good opportunity to experience international travel in an unusual and exciting way. If we can get it out of the marina that is....
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| Hanging around |
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| The fearsome pirate Cap'n Moonboot |
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| Will it float? |
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| Time for a beer |
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