Not a lot of sailing notes for the next month at least. We have booked into the marina until after New Year, partly to do some work on Tweed and partly to spend Christmas with friends - we might even see some snow so it doesn't seem like a very good time to be out on the water. The picture, left, shows Tweed comfortably moored in her berth in Odo Marina on a nice sunny day. Today has been overcast and drizzly but it should be fine again tomorrow!
One of this week's jobs was to re-fit the radar which had been repaired while we were away in Australia. Here is part of the view Jon had while sitting on the spreaders doing the job. This part of the boat is all forward of the mast and all of it sits outside our berth. Note the mooring lines going back to the docks and reflections of yachts moored opposite.
Enough of boats jobs though, Pam spent a day out in Ohori Park doing another stint of bird-watching. This beautiful tree is still covered in autumn leaves even though it is now officially winter. Note how low the sun sits at 11:00 in the morning. Yes, the days are getting shorter but on the bright side it is only about three weeks until they start to lengthen again. However, we cannot expect any warmer weather until at least March, 2011.
These ducks, the Common Pochard on the right, and the Tufted Ducks (male and female) below, spend their winter in Japan
This old lady has a great rapport with the Mallard - she has it eating out of her hand.
These Black-headed seagulls looked very similar to the Australian Silver Gull except for the black ear patch. During the breeding season their face and part of their head is mostly black.
These kittens were just a couple of the wild cats we noticed living in the park.
But, the work continues... here you can just make out Jon diving below to clean the prop of accumulated barnacle growth. This should make it easier to motor around to the hardstand area on Monday when we are booked to haul out. Tweed will get a new coat of anti-foul and have some other much-needed work done.We have decided not to repair the on-board diesel heater. The parts are quite expensive and then there is no guarantee that it will work! So, we went out during the week and purchased a small kerosene heater which has been keeping the below-decks nice and cosy.
