Hello from onboard Puddle Jumper! Yes I have finally made it onto the water – a couple of weeks ago actually – and am building my new home on this cosy sailboat. Getting here has been quite a mission so I will do my best to bring you up to date with what’s been going on and perhaps share a few photos along the way.
So where to start? Well, I finished up at my Pak ‘n Save job on the 4th of July – it was my independence day. The following morning I handed my uniform in and set about the final preparations for the shift out of my flat and onto Puddle Jumper. My tenancy ended on the 9th so I knew I had to get a wriggle on.
I still had a pile of gear stored under my mother’s house that I needed to sort into “going” and “staying” categories, so I headed over to get that done. I had brought forward my leaving day by a couple of months, and now ran out of time to test all my gear before heading to the boat. I pondered this fact and figured that a bad motor was still a bad motor whether it was in Mihi or the Mahurangi Harbour. In reality it is easier to get things fixed in a big city than living in the sticks anyway, something I had discovered while living in Taupo for a year.
Once I had sorted out the pile of gear at Mum’s place, I packed my car to the gunnels ready for my first midnight express run to Aucks to load up the boat. The plan was to take everything up in two trips if I could manage it or three if necessary. At a distance of 350kms each way I wanted to get as much done with each carload as possible.
Mum cooked a delicious dinner for me then I went home to Taupo to rest a few hours before starting the drive northward.
With a full tank of gas I left Taupo sometime around 11pm, and the journey in my old corolla took about 5 hours. To be honest the car could have made better time but I drive slowly these days, always keeping a beady eye out for anyone who might look a bit too closely at either the vehicle or the couple hundred kilos of cargo onboard.
The trip up SH1 has become somewhat familiar to me of late, and I like to check off the towns in my mind as I go. From Taupo I make a mental note as we skip through Tokoroa, Putaruru, Tirau, and fly past Karapiro, Cambridge and Hamilton. From there it is a highway breeze right through to Warkworth and the Mahurangi, barring any traffic hassles in Auckland City. Having brought snacks and water bottles with me no stops were required, although I did pull over a couple of times to uncurl my stumpy old legs.
It was still very early in the morning by the time I reached the Bombay Hills, and I was easily going to make it across Auckland without getting swallowed up by the traffic. It had in-fact been a dream run all the way with just a couple of light showers and hardly any traffic to speak of save for a few big trucks.
The Mahurangi Harbour is located some fifty kilometres north of the Auckland Harbour Bridge, and I was cruising along easily with most of this first leg under my belt. A single copper had taken a position on the opposite side of the new Toll Road – he was waiting for speeders heading in the other direction, so I was good to go. Nevertheless, one always has to be mindful, right? Right.
Fifteen minutes later I was parked in the flat little area that serves as a carpark at Ngaio Bay. There’s always half a dozen cars here than belong to live-aboard pirates. I snuggled the Rolla in between a couple of the other cars and hunkered down for a good nap until the sun came up.
I awoke at first light and got out of the car to have a look around. My main concern was that my inflatable dinghy would still be there on the grass, and that it was still in usable condition. No problem – I found it exactly where I had left it a few months earlier. It was deflated and covered in lawn clippings but otherwise seemed undamaged. By now I could also see across the water to where Puddle Jumper was still waiting patiently for me. Knowing that my two craft were still “there” and looking ok was a big relief. Full steam ahead!
The dinghy is one of those blow-up ones that has a removable, solid floor, and can be either rowed or driven using an outboard motor. I didn’t have any outboards with me on this trip so it was all about the rowing. Luckily for me I had been blessed with a warm, sunny day with no wind – perfect conditions for rowing.
I rowed from the beach out to Puddle Jumper about seven or eight times that day, taking as much gear on each little trip as I could safely squeeze into the dinghy. At 2.5 metres long and with just one seat in the middle, the dinghy is compact but can carry a hefty load. I stashed the bags of gear higgledy piggledy into “PJ” as I went. No time for tidy house-keeping today; it was all about the mission.
With the first carload of gear safely on the boat by early afternoon I decided to drive back to Taupo so I could get some sleep and start the next day onsite for round two. The drive back went smoothly although I found myself becoming drowsy and had to recharge with coffee once or twice along the way. I wasn’t used to driving 700kms and rowing a couple more, but it was an exciting experience.
The following morning I found a package had been delivered to my flat – the last of my online shopping. It was a wetsuit that I’d bought on Facebook Marketplace but was late coming as the seller kinda forgot to send it for a few days. As it turned out, my wait was over and I immediately felt compelled to get back on the highway.
I wanted to leave my flat nice and clean for the next tenant, and out of respect for my kind landlord and lady, so I began loading my remaining belongings into the car and set about the task of “final-moving-out-cleaning”. This job didn’t take too long as I’d been deep-cleaning each room bit by bit over the previous couple of weeks. Before long, I was good to go, and handed the key to the flat back before hitting the road.
I called in at Mum’s place again like I had done maybe 48 hours prior, loading up whatever else I could fit into my car before chilling out with her for a few hours ahead of that night’s “big drive”.
Unfortunately there wasn’t enough room for the little outboard that I had planned to use on the dinghy, so it had to stay behind. More rowing would be required, clearly.
The overnight trip up to the boat went smoothly as before, and I was greeted the next morning by more fine weather and perfect rowing conditions. With a little less cargo this time around I only had to make five or six dinghy trips hauling gear and food from the beach to the boat. By the time I had everything loaded onto Puddle Jumper there was standing room only, with literally no place to lie down for a nap. It was actually hilarious if you’re into that sort of thing. I did my best anyway and settled down for some overdue rest.
For all intents and purposes I was now on my little sailboat with just about everything I owned. This was “it” now. No job; no cosy flat; and of course, no real income! Just me, my boat + dinghy, and a world of opportunity.
And then the rain came!! But that is a story for another day.
I’m so glad to have made it here, and so thankful that I am able to share the tales of my adventures with you. I’ll leave you with a few introductory photos snapped at my new location.
Please be sure to check out my YouTube and Instagram channels and come back soon to read my latest posts.
Wishing you all the best from somewhere in the Mahurangi Harbour,
Puddle Jumper, out!!