Ted and Sue left the US in 2000 on a "round-the-world" voyage in their 41 ft. sloop Blue Bell which was replaced by a 48 ft. Tayana, Tandem.

Tuesday, May 02, 2006




There are some crazy people in this wonderful city but on a really nice day it has the beauty of San Francisco. Tandem was moved to the Team New Zealand dock where we share space and showers with the crews of famous racers twice our size but probably half our weight. If you look closely you can see Tandem in the center of the photo--the mastless yacht. Trying to use our remaining time here we checked out the Coromandel Peninsula on the North Island where we found sights to rank among our top five favorite places in New Zealand. Ted did a little tree hugging of the magnificent Kauri Tree, of which there are very few specimens left after massive logging earlier in the century. Hot Water Beach is a strange phenomenon where is one small spot on the beach scalding hot water sits just under the surface and if you dig a small crater you can have your own personal hot tub. We found the water to be extremely uncomfortable--first boiling hot and then freezing cold. Our clunky little car traveled more gravel roads across the peninsula where we explored beautiful waterfalls and rain forest walks, ending back in Auckland for the stepping of the mast. With good weather in our favor the crane carefully guided it's precious (and expensive) cargo toward the boat where our two terrific riggers helped set it in place and then attached the various stays, etc. to hold it securely. Only one sm