Author Archives: Christine

About Christine

The one that makes it all happen

Stock Cars and a Little Bit of Rough Housing

Whangarei Saloon and Stock Car Club races every fortnight right across from the Norsand Boatyard.  Matt and I used to love watching the stock cars, speed boats, and other race car races when we lived in America so we could not resist making a trip out to Whangarei Speedway.

The stock cars, Northland Mini champs and Club Champs were scheduled to race.  The drivers ages ranged from 12 to 75 and there was a little bit of rough housing going on the muddy track. 

The stands were single rows of chairs located on 3 different levels above the track.  We scored seats on the lower level close to the start/finish line.

We had a great group come out to play with us:  Kara and Ollie (and his 2 crew: Kelsie and Owen), Sharron, Mirko, and Daniela.  

The “Cars”

There were a variety of cars racing, not just stock cars.  Some looked like they could barely run and others were transported in special enclosed trailers.

These cars were great fun to watch as they had a metal bar surrounding the car (not the beautiful yellow one) that allowed them to safely collide with each other.  The fancy yellow one had some money invested into the sport.  He was really fast and took the corners beautifully.  His front tires would always point to where he wanted to go while the rest of the car went wonky across the muddy apex.

These beautiful oldies but goodies came out to race and put on a good show.  Matt loved the confederate flag on the roof of the one car!  #5 was in it for the win.

And finally the stock cars came out.  The #8 corvette smoked everyone.  It was really fast and the driver took the corners exceptionally well.  #8 and #21 won their perspective races.

Stock Cars

Stock Cars

Of course I had to go down to the pits to see the cars up close.  As I neared the super fast corvette with a 409 engine I smiled at the driver and asked to sit inside!  It was super low to the ground and very warm!

It was a super fun day with friends.

Our blog posts typically run 8-10 weeks behind actual live events.  However, I switched this one up as I needed more time to complete a few other blogs.  We attended the races at the end of April.  Did you see what Matt did while I was back in the states – check out our last blog post.

What Happens When Matt is Alone on the Boat?

Many of you have asked, “What does Matt do alone on the boat while you are in America?”  He does whatever he wants, when he wants, and how he wants.  Of course, he keeps busy with the never ending list of boat projects, but he also makes time for fun!

During this trip he has managed to go on several long paddle board rides.  He brings his garmen and then uploads the track to create fun animated videos.  I took snap shots of the final route on a few of them – one he even made a heart!  As you can see, he progressively went on longer and longer routes…starting at 4.7 miles, then 6.5 miles, then 7.1 miles.  Of course, this is his “alone” time even when I am on the boat as you won’t be finding me doing a 7 mile paddle!

Boat Projects

There are always boat projects to do and Matt continues to tackle the list!  He cleaned out both port and starboard diesel tanks, replaced the Raco diesel filter and secured the baffles inside the tanks with bolts.

Matt is famous for starting a project, then starting another project before the first project is complete.  Usually, its because he needs a tool or part.  But when this happens, I ask that he clean up his mess at the end of every day.  While I am gone, he starts piles of projects all over the place – which drives me crazy.  But, it doesn’t matter because I am not there!

He may be alone, but he was a very busy boy:

  • He dropped off and picked up our Genoa which was in for a quick repair with North sails,
  • Picked up our new exterior cushions, sunshades, table covers, cockpit cushions, cockpit pockets, and recycle bags.  Then installed them.
  • Filled our jerry cans with both gasoline and diesel
  • Started installing the bathroom accessories in both heads (needs me on a few pieces)
  • Tested the new Bauer Jr dive compressor, only for it to fry our new inverter charger (guess we will be selling the new to us dive compressor)
  • Mounted our new main sheet line bags on the transom
  • Installed a new 6 button C-Zone controller on the starboard helm

New Cockpit light installed.  We have a cockpit light that we leave on at night so that it is easier to find the boat in the sea of boats at anchor.  The light is white or red.  As you can see our original light was a little corroded.   Our new light is a Nevis2 Engine Light that we bought on Amazon.

I posted photos of the canvas work on the blog “Final Touches on Sugar Shack.”  

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events. This blog post occurred in March 2024.  If you missed our last blog, Road Trip to America, then you don’t know why Matt is alone.

A Passage to Vanuatu

We leave New Zealand for the second time having accomplished a lot in the last 7 months.  This time our passage finds us heading North West to a small country called Vanuatu!

The passage should take 8-9 days if all goes well.  You can follow our progress on our blog by clicking on “Current Location.”

Our pre-scheduled blog posts will be suspended until we make landfall and should resume around 4 June.  But you can count on Matt posting a few blog posts along our passage.

We will have Starlink which gives us access to the world wide web so feel free to email us or comment on the blog posts.  It is always nice to hear from people when you are out in the middle of the sea for days on end.

What did we do for 6 months?

We hauled the boat out and continued to work on our beautiful boat.  We added Coppercoat, fixed some gelcoat work, replaced our rudders, added new vinyl stickers, varnished all of the exterior wood, added some more new canvas, updated our aft teak on the steps, repaired our water tank, replaced bathroom accessories and hatch frames.

We also sailed around the North island and explored so many amazing new islands, atolls, and motus.  We spent a lot of time at Great Barrier, Mercury, Wiaheke, Whangapoua, Coramandel, Kawau, Tiritiri Matangi, Limsetone Island.  We hung out with loads of friends and caused as much trouble as possible.

It was a fabulous, but short visit back to this amazing country.

The cover photo is a us at Marsden Cove Marina, Whangarei, Northland as we meet with the officials to clear out of the country.

Until we meet again Kiwis!  We loved our stay and hope to see you soon.