Wow.. what a busy time we’ve had over the past month. This fantastic weather has increased the number of phone calls to the office by multiples and we’ve been excited to have introduced numerous people to YachtShare.

This good weather looks set to stay for several more months and we’re looking forward to our clients reporting some fantastic holiday stories.

Our Bay of Islands yacht and launch have been busy during this period and many clients have had the pleasure of dolphin encounters along with the occasional whale and sunfish. As always the fishing has been promising and Lee took a few photos for us on one of his latest trips.

This years Auckland International Boat Show is on between 9-12 March. This exciting show is the pinnacle event of the year for YachtShare and as such we’ll have both our Beneteau 323’s on the water for viewing at the show. Last year the show based in the viaduct outside the Loaded Hog attracted 20,000 visitors and many interesting VIPs from overseas. It’s the one place that people interested in launches and yachts can see all the brands in one spot and it’s sure to be impressive this year with a number of manufacturers releasing their latest designs over the past few months.

My family and I recently attended the Beneteau Yachts regatta at Kawau Island. This two day event had many of the new Beneteau owners racing their boats around the Kawau area dodging the rocks and showing some interesting results for large and small boat owners. The afternoon children’s dinghy racing provided some interesting results with a couple going round in circles, however this didn’t deter them all from entering the treasure hunt. Sumptuous roast dinner at Lidguard house followed by some serious prizegiving. Laurie won the ‘free halyard’ prize and Suzanne Bourke from Sailing Away Sailing School won the weeks sailing excursion around Tonga for the second year!

It’s been interesting of late to read through some of the log books that go back over 12 months of the new boats in the fleet…. What a selling feature!... surely no one would want to own a boat if they knew what problems would arise… even with new boats.

Interestingly, the larger problems we’ve dealt with at YachtShare in the past month have been…. Exploded gearbox, waterpump failure, exhaust meltdown, 3 outboards failing due to drowning, sail tearing, halyard breakage, anchor winch replacement……. to name a few

After much navel gazing and concerned facial expressions, we’ve elected to move our Beneteau 323 ‘Thin Air’ from Half Moon Bay to Westhaven. The expected growth of the business at Westhaven has encouraged the move and we’re looking forward to a lot more members experiencing the Beneteau comforts.

Talking about log books making interesting reading when a note in the log spoke of being woken at 2am at Kawau with a ½ naked lady knocking on the boat!!!! Why you might ask… It appears she’d been set adrift by her partner and he’d motored off... to a better life?

This island was owned by the renowned hermit Charles Hanson, who purchased the steel sailing ship “Rewa” and had her towed to the island by tug and sunk as a breakwater. This bay is one of the most pleasant bays to be found in the Hauraki Gulf, offering crystal clear water. a gentle sandy beach to explore or perhaps engage in supurb snorkelling on the wreck.

Ive spent a number of days in this location and it’s one of those ‘hidden’ spots that people enjoy on the way to and from Kawau.... Don’t tell anyone!