April 30th – May 6th : Back to Whangarei

This morning I’m cycling back to Whangarei to meet Fred. I hope I won’t have to ride this road again as it’s a really hilly and hard 66km. The meeting with Fred is motivating me to cycle it quickly though.

Once at Norsands boat yard, I meet Fred. He is saying that he doesn’t know if my bicycle will fit on board… But we have a chat and he needs to think about it. After the meeting I’ve been back to the cell block and met Chrissi. We’ve had a chat and I’m gonna make their website in exchange of a bedroom for free as long as I need to find a boat. Making websites and taking photographs are great skills when travelling to exchange it for services or make a bit of money. I’ll soon write an article on how to travel and make money from anywhere in the world with just a camera and a computer.

a bed room made in the old jail

After two days waiting for Fred’s answer, it’s a negative one. I was feeling it anyway and started to work on a new version of my flyer. I now know that if you wait longer than expected it’s most likely to get a negative answer. I’ve been walking through all the boat yards of Whangarei and gave my flyer to everyone I could. It paid because in the evening I received an email from Kerrin asking me if I’m still interested for a boat because they can take me on board with my bike! This is awesome! I’m pumped! I’ll meet them tomorrow in the morning.

I met Ralph in the morning. After a quick chat, he is ok to take me on board and I offer him my help to get the boat ready to go. I started to work on board straight as the boat needed to be back in the water by 5pm and there is still a few things to do aboard before that.

SeaMuse, will have me onboard to New Caledonia then Australia

Getting the boat out of the yard

Ralph’s plan is to sail from NZ to New Caledonia then Australia, South Africa, Mediterranean sea, France… I’ll go on board until Cairns in Australia as I want to cycle through the outback.

The boat is a Joubert Design, made in France a few years ago registered in Whangarei, New Zealand. She is been re baptised from zeemuss which means the mouse of the seas in deutch to Seamuse. Ralph’s sea inspiration.

5AM time for Seamuse to go back in the water.

When we finally put the boat in the water some water drops were leaking by a pump and this must be fixed before to go back in the water. The boat is set by the ramp and will be fixed overnight. The high tide is at 6am so we will have to be there at 5 in order to be ready at 6. We put the boat back in the water and enjoy a beautiful sunrise from the water. The first one from the boat! My mission today will be to tidy up a bit the kitchen in the morning. Then I have to leave Whangarei to spend the weekend with Amy.