Mana Marina (near Wellington)

Monday 6 April 2020

The day started with good intentions … my goal being to walk down the road to the local supermarket.  Once inside the supermarket I was going to buy a few items, assuming they were on the shelves, such as bread, tomatoes and cheese … plus anything else that might have jumped out at me as being useful or necessary.

Having heard about the queues, I thought it was wise to get there at opening time – 8:00am.  And I might have made it, because I was up in time – just – but on reflection I thought I’d leave it till tomorrow.  What’s another day I thought?!    After all, being Monday, there might have been less on the shelves – less choice – because there might have been less workers employed on a Sunday to re-stock the shelves. 

And maybe there would be a queue on a Monday morning, because it comes straight after Sunday and people might have run their pantry down on Sunday and would naturally be there Monday.

Tuesday, on the other hand, doesn’t stand out as much.  It’s a day that’s kind of lost with Wednesday, and Thursday in the middle of the week, and they would have all of Monday to re-stock.

It could also have been that I was feeling a little lazy and felt having breakfast was a higher priority.

I finally started writing the Chimere Operations Manual today.  It’s something I’ve attempted several times over the past 14 years, and there are certainly components of it sitting on my computer’s hard drive.  Trouble is, every time I get close to thinking it’s finished, we alter something or add something, resulting in the need for an update.  But now with time on my hands, there’s no better time to bring it all together. 

The beauty and benefits of having a “Manual” are pretty clear.   After all, it’s taken me all these years to get familiar with Chimere and her ways, and so to commit all that information and knowledge to a permanent record will make it so much easier for others who come aboard, or one day maybe, her new owner.  Learning by accident can be a good thing, particularly if they are the accidents of others.  And whilst I haven’t had any accidents … or any major ones … in Chimere, I know I would have really appreciated an Operations Manual when we bought the boat in 2006.

Linda has been doing a great job of scanning photos, and emailing them to me.  Being in New Zealand, as I am, she is currently focusing on the photos from 1978, 1980 and 1981, which covers my time studying down at Lincoln University, just out of Christchurch.

I’ve mentioned before that towards the end of 1980, Matt Brosnahan and I bought a small dinghy and had a lot of adventures on both Akaroa and Lyttleton Harbours.  Some of the photos I haven’t seen for a long time, but I’ll include a few here just for fun. 

It’s interesting that back in 1982, then again in 2003, a group of us at Lincoln buried time capsules on the university campus, in which we not only deposited a bottle of wine to share at a future date, but also wrote of our future, our dreams, our plans and ambitions.   Exactly two years ago, a group of us returned to dig up the “15 Year Time Capsule” – buried in 2003 – and in it I’d written, amongst other things,  that by 2018 I would … “be close to 60 … would like to be retired … and have a goal to own a 50 foot yacht in which I’d like to sail the South Pacific …”

They say, “you are what you eat” … but there’s also something about, “moving towards what you think about” … good or bad.   I remember Dad would sometimes say that, “anyone who never made a mistake never tried anything” … so maybe it’s a case of making enough mistakes to finally achieve your goals.

Looking at the situation in Vanuatu, Cyclone Harold is slowly moving across the central islands of the country, leaving a path of destruction in its wake.  (An extract from a recent report has been included below)

Smooth seas, fair breeze and nearly went to the shops today

Rob Latimer

As reported a few hours ago …

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/fears-as-cyclone-harold-reaches-vanuatu/news-story/e2971821aa029b0ece5121adb8bd8664

Fears as Cyclone Harold reaches Vanuatu

5:15PM APRIL 6, 2020, By BEN MCKAY, AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS

Relief agencies are warning of incredible destruction in Vanuatu as Tropical Cyclone Harold bears down on the Pacific country as a category-five system.

Five years after Cyclone Pam brought 250km/h winds to the country, killing dozens and displacing thousands, Vanuatuans are bunkering down once more.

The system made landfall on the biggest island of Vanuatu, Espiritu Santo, on Monday afternoon according to Radio NZ, and is on course to track through the archipelago nation.

“We are very concerned,” Save The Children’s Jacqui Southey told AAP.

“It’s going to be just as big, if not bigger, than Pam based on what we know about it so far.”

Harold is the region’s most powerful storm since 2018 and could yet grow stronger than Pam and Winston, the Southern Hemisphere’s biggest storm on record, which devastated Fiji in 2016.

Harold developed near Papua New Guinea before tracking East and crossing the Solomon Islands as a category-two system.

There, 27 people were reportedly swept overboard from a ferry which defied orders to head out into storm waters.

In recent days it has gained strength and tracked directly towards many of Vanuatu’s 300,000 inhabitants.

“It’s been pretty slow moving which is concerning as it means the storm has a lot of time to do a lot of damage. Its a critical time for Vanuatu,” Oxfam New Zealand’s Darren Brunk said.

Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said the cyclone “couldn’t come at a worse time” for the Pacific given the outbreak of COVID-19.

“Flights are grounded, foreign aid workers have withdrawn, and medical supplies are limited. The world must be prepared to respond to this disaster at our doorsteps,” he tweeted.