Daily Bread

It never ceases to amaze me how so few ingredients lead to such amazing results.

Today finding I had finished all the bread in the house, urgent steps were taken and the photo is the evidence.

Beer Bread, a simple quick loaf using flour,baking powder,beer of course and topped with grated cheese...Yum!

A Favourite Boat

Many years ago my first keelboat was one of the legendary  Farr 727 quarter tonners rejoicing the name of "Pennyfarrthing" !!

They were and still are fantastic little boats in which I raced and cruised the Hauraki Gulf.

Happy Days of yore....the photo shows us broad reaching down the Rangitoto Channel on a glorious winters race day back in the early 80's

The Amazing Gurnard

New Zealanders love affair with the Snapper has long puzzled me.

For sure they are a beautiful fish, they taste pretty good too, but anyone would think it the only fish in the sea for some people.

That brings me to the title of this long overdue piece, the humble Gurnard.

Nobody could say it's beautiful (It's stunning red colour,which supplies its nickname of "carrots", and its opalescent wings perhaps makes a lie of my last statement) or a great fighting fish, but in my honest opinion,freshly caught, filleted,floured and pan fried in a little butter it has few peers.

I am lucky to live on the shores of the Manukau Harbour,perhaps one of the best Gurnard habitats, although they are a very widespread fish and can be caught pretty much all around New Zealand.

So next time you are thinking about fish for tea, give the humble Gurnard a go.....he won't disappoint.

It would seen not much thinking has been going on!

Well it has been a long time between drinks I have to admit. 

No excuses as there has been plenty going on in my life that would make interesting (sic) posts.

Three weeks touring Cambodia and Vietnam for an example.

Hardly back on deck from that trip and I am packing bags again to head off to dear old Blighty for six weeks.

Looking forward to catching up with family and friend interspersed with some walking,cycling and sailing.

Also hope to share some time with a few e correspondents too.

An extremely rare Maui Dolphin snapped by a friend while fishing recently,you can find out more about this beautiful tiny mammal here.....

http://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/marine-mammals/dolphins/maui-dolphin/

Some sound thinking from John Vigor.

I have often wondered about the usefulness of a mast head light for the very reasons John expounds on so well..

Best place for an anchor light

ALMOST EVERY CRUISING SAILBOAT I see has an anchor light perched on top of the mast. What a silly place for an anchor light. What’s wrong with sailboat designers and builders? Have they never crept into a crowded anchorage late at night and nearly run into some yacht whose anchor light is hidden among the stars high overhead, instead of down low at eye level where you can see it?

There is nothing in the rules that says an anchor light must be the highest thing on a yacht. Rule 30 (b) of the international navigation rules says a vessel of less than 50 meters in length may exhibit an all-round white light “where it can best be seen.”

It used to be the fashion in the last century to run an anchor light about one-third of the way up the forestay, and often that light was a kerosene lantern (which is still legal, incidentally). But for some reason boat designers took it upon themselves to place a electric anchor lights atop the mast, about as far away from the battery as it’s possible to get. That meant extra-heavy copper cables running back and forth, cables that slapped against the interior of an aluminum mast at night when you were trying to sleep.  The cables were heavier because it was necessary to avoid the voltage drop occasioned by the long electrical circuit.

My anchor lights have always been suspended over the aft cockpit, slung beneath the boom. This is a more sensible height for the light — right where the eyes of a helmsman approaching at night would be focused. Some of the light splashes over the cockpit coamings and the adjacent cabin top, too, which is useful and also enables you to check on the anchor light from down below.

I don’t know of any official statistics that prove a low anchor light prevents more collisions that an anchor light set on top of the mast, but I can offer the circumstantial evidence that I have anchored in scores of busy places and never been hit. You may say that’s obviously because there’s someone up there looking out for me; but I wouldn’t go so far as to claim that. I don’t think I’ve been good enough to deserve special favors from above.

With thanks to John Vigor a man who knows his own mind!

A Christmas Gift Idea?

Gallipoli 1915 - 2015

Getting close to the centenary of the Gallipoli landings in which my Grandpa took part as a trooper signaller in the 6th Light Horse.

Unfortunately he passed away before any interest I might have had could be answered.

In May 2012 I was able to stand on the beach at Anzac Cove and see what he would have seen all those years before,and in my case without the risk of getting my head blown off.

We can't imagine what it would have been like but Ion Idriess through keeping a diary and later writing  The Desert Column does a pretty good job....it can be downloaded here and makes for a great read http://www.nzmr.org/pdf/the_desert_column.pdf