Wow what a winter we’ve had … surely the warmest on record for many years.
We had so many great stories from clients taking the opportunity to get out on the water in what has traditionally been a cold and wet few months.

As we get closer to the traditional summer, the enquiry rate at YachtShare has been increasing exponentially as many people take the opportunity to take a one year YachtShare contract and see if boating is in their veins.

As always, demand is across the fleet of boats showing that everyone has differing boating requirements from beginner to very experienced.

We have now been advised that all YachtShare members must make trip reports to Coastguard. This is a safety issue ensuring that a record is kept by a third party of the number of occupants and expected route / destination. Please follow the instructions as affixed by the radio in each boat.

We have over the past month identified some expansion opportunities within the marine industry and as such are now actively advertising for sale 3 boats in our fleet so that we can free up capital for expansion. The boats when sold will remain in the YachtShare fleet under our private investor arrangements. If any existing clients or potential clients are interested in further discussions… call Laurie now on 021-771143.

More purchases at YachtShare have seen us replace our Mercury Optimax 200hp outboard with a brand new Evinrude Etec 200hp on Flying Fish based in Tauranga. The Etec is the utmost in latest technology with some real tangle benefits to Yachtshare and it’s members:
- NO SCHEDULED DEALER MAINTENANCE FOR 3 YEARS.
- ZERO BREAK-IN PERIOD
- NO COSTLY OIL CHANGES
- USES UP TO 30-75% LESS OIL THAN COMPETITIVE TECHNOLOGIES
- QUIET THROUGH THE REV RANGE
- SMOOTH RIGHT THROUGH TO 40KNOTS

We all know that practise makes perfect….. anyone who wishes for some further tuition at reversing and berthing… we are happy to provide this free of charge at any time. Don’t hesitate to ask…. We’re here to build your confidence!

Just a reminder to those clients thinking of joining this summer. We are of course able to mix your membership between a couple of boats and we are seeing a number of people share their time between launch and yacht. Of course sharing between Bay of Islands and Auckland makes a great excuse for a sailing holiday of a week or so in a different location.

Keep in mind that we still have available the ability for NZ clients to swap 5 weekdays for Sydney / Whitsunday days. $600 is the transfer fee for a glorious Monday to Friday sailing in Koala land.

What a fantastic product we’ve found!… Anyone who receives an email from YachtShare will see that we now have a very professional ‘wrap’ around our emails allowing recipients to click on many parts of the wrap to link through to our web page. This piece of technological wizardry is available via www.mailprimer.co.nz

We have embraced this product as it gives all of our electronic communication a real quality edge and is enables easy ‘click through’ for recipients to discover our product. Even for such a small company as ourselves, the advantages are tangible and I’m sure it must be a boom to larger organisations ensuring a consistent image is represented from all company communications. Call Laurie if you wish to ask a few more questions.

Ahhhhh Greeeeeeece…. I Loooove it!
We travelled to Dubai catching up with friends who fly for Emirates….. the construction that’s going on in Dubai was just a sight to be seen. Someone mentioned that Dubai is home to the second largest amount of cranes in the world, being eclipsed only by Shanghai. Sailing for an afternoon off the coast and taking a dip in the water (as warm as a bath) cleared the jet lag and then it was off driving through Oman for a couple of days dodging goats and camels on the highway at 160kph.

Onwards to Greece via Cyprus and into the historical quarter of Athens including the Acropolis. The usual tourist things performed and then a weeks driving throughout the Peleponese area of Greece watching the myriad of Olive forests and squeezing through the winding main streets lined with Taverna and friendly locals. Age old ruins and relaxed culture at every turn, the climate was divine with a gentle afternoon breeze and warmth the whole time.

Ouzo became the drink of choice along with plentiful tastings of fried cheese, octopus, olives and local wine (kindly referred to as petrol by our exuberant Scottish companion).

Taking the fast Ferry from Athens to the island of Paros.. picking up a 42ft Bavaria from Kiriacoulis Charters and sailing off to the party island of Ios.
(4 Hour Sail) www.kiriacoulis.com

I found the barren environment of the Greek Island very different to NZ, but very beautiful in its bleak way. Also fascinating was the lack of population on these islands… just huge amounts of barren land with the main town usually at the top of the island. Ios kept us busy exploring the local tavernas and beaches for a number of days before sailing off to Santorini (6hr Sail). Santorini was spectacular having once been the cone of a volcano… interesting when the water is 400+m deep… 7 cruise ships in the harbour and a multitude of loud American tourists kept our stay fairly short before returning to Ios… then Naxos (great relaxed island) and home.

In a short rap…. The cost of the yacht was around $3000 NZD per week (older style boat). Marina charges were included in this charter. Wind was 15kn most of the time. Weather fantastic, not overcrowded, Kiwi boating skills rule! Food same price as in NZ ( all currency is Euro), Accommodation on land from $70nzd to $120nzd for two people. The people are very helpful and it’s a fantastic place for a relaxing, but interesting holiday………...........….. I’ll be Back!

Colin our Service Manager extraordinaire swanned around Croatia for a month through July. His nephew placed photos of the whole trip at kiwiinparis for those who wish to take a look.
We love the fact that wherever in the world that Colin travels, the YachtShare cap advertises our product.

Boaties must be concerned about gas bottles on boats!
Please ensure they are always turned off at the bottle when not in use and at especially at night. Ask the man who last year who got up in the morning and lit the gas for a cuppa, experiencing the whole $600,000 boat exploding (his 3 month old pride and joy) into multiple pieces and then trying to swim ashore with burns over 30% of his body. A small leak in the gas line had escaped gas into the bilge of the boat awaiting a spark.

Usually throughout the year we have a couple of occasions where people fishing on the boats have been a little lax in their clean up after the event. Please do take a huge amount of care in your post-fishing cleanup…. It’s not friendly on the nose to discover hot smelly liquid fish bits lurking in some hard to find corner of the cockpit or lockers. Also one of the absolute no-no’s is placing fish in the internal fridge or freezers… if fish liquid gets into the lining it usually requires a very expensive replacement of the fridge.

Hey… take care that you refill the boat correctly with diesel after each use. If yachties don’t have a re-filling 10ltr container from us… please enquire with Laurie. Also launchies must take care to check the sight glasses and gauges prior to leaving the filling station. As you are aware the Caltex outside Orams on the water is 24hr / 7days due to it’s eftpos / cashflow system by the front door.

sailor meets a pirate in a bar. The pirate has a peg leg, a hook, and an eye patch. "How'd you end up with a peg leg?" asks the sailor. "I was swept overboard in a storm," says the pirate. "A shark bit off me whole leg." "Wow!" said the sailor. "What about the hook?" "We were boarding an enemy ship, battling the other seamen with swords. One of them cut me hand clean off." "Incredible!" remarked the sailor. "And the eye patch?" "A seagull dropping fell in me eye," replied the pirate. "You lost your eye to a seagull dropping?" the sailor asked incredulously. Said the pirate, "It was me first day with the hook."