Quick Visit to Whangarei in the North Island

Last week, Mark and I borrowed Axel’s spacious car to visit friends two hours north of Auckland. For the occasion, the car was turned into our closet, kitchen, lunch counter and internet café, while we visited boating friends. Due to a cold front, the weather was very chilly and rainy, but the company of our fellow cruisers made up for the discomfort. After two nights on SV Amandla in Gulf Harbor, hanging out with Fabio and Lisa, we continued north to Whangarei, taking a somewhat scenic road, and stopping a few times along the way.

It was fantastic to see the SV Iona family again after a year! Cute Leili had grown a bit, Dylan more than a bit. For the next two nights, we stayed on their cozy boat, while Chris cooked for us and Katie was a gracious host. We combined some work in the local library (good WiFi), with being part of their lovely family, and enjoyed the warmth of their home and personalities. One afternoon, we all drove out to Whangarei Heads for a beach walk and picnic. The scenery was spectacular and the faint sun very welcome!

On the day we left, back south to appreciate the hospitality of our friends Fabio and Lisa once more, Mark and I tried to organize our imminent accommodation and transportation needs for a few hours and had just enough time left to check out Whangarei Falls. This was an easy and beautiful detour, so we decided to walk the trail to the Kauri forest, instead of driving there. Some fresh air was just what we needed and the exercise was very welcome. Along the boardwalk in the forest, we gazed at the tropical vegetation – I love those “fern trees” – and the ancient Kauri trees, which are hundreds of years old. Ah, to be in nature again…

After a last night on the Amandla boat in Gulf Harbor, it was back to Auckland, for a change of pace and lifestyle! :-)

Whangarei Marina lies along the river. The red boat is "Guppy", Laura Dekker's ketch she sailed around the world as youngest circumnavigator

Upon arrival in this boating mecca, we ran into Chris, who showed us the way to SV Iona

Mark and Leili, cute as ever...

It was so great to see mother and daughter again!

Tall teenager Dylan, 2 days before his cast came back off

Family outing to the beach at Whangarei Heads - just like in the "old" Marquesas days!

Tall and sturdy pine trees

The beach - Where shall we eat our picnic?

Trying to find a spot out of the wind - The sun feels good!

Climbing the sand dune - We will have lunch on the top

Picnic spot with a view (and "waves" of extra sand) - Crunchy sandwiches!

Looking left...

... and looking right.

Dylan, Katie, Liesbet, Leili and Mark on a NZ beach!

Choppy anchorage - We are glad to be on land

The longest food bridge in the Southern hemisphere

Whangarei Falls

Nice walk to the AH Reed Memorial Park

Crossing one of the rivers without getting our feet wet

Kauri forest

A majestic and ancient Kauri tree

Looking down onto a "fern tree" from the canopy walk in AH Reed Memorial Park

 

A Break Away from Irie and the Sailing Life

About two weeks ago, Mark and I left the pretty reef anchorage in Moorea, to move Irie into Marina Vaiare, on the same side of the island. As always on boats, it was a tradeoff: we received unlimited water, pressurized showers and easy shore access in return for non-stop sweating, very high temperatures and lack of energy. The sun was beating on us and our boat, the most productive time of the day – to do work, run errands or achieve anything – was from 6am until 8am, and we couldn’t wait until the sun disappeared behind the mountains and the temperature became bearable again. Luckily, the feared mosquitoes at that time of the day were not too bad. We managed to clean and fix Irie up splendidly. And, our boat now lays perfectly flat in a well-protected, safe and affordable harbor, quite the difference with last year’s ordeal and disaster in Tahiti’s Taina Marina!

On April 7^th, Mark and I took the ferry to Tahiti, where we met the crews of SV Kril and SV Yum Yum for a few hours. It was great to catch up with them, after many months, and in Kril’s case over a year! In the evening, we jumped on an Air New Zealand plane and – after about 5 hours – arrived in Auckland, where it was already 9:30 pm on April 8^th. It does feel weird to have crossed the date line and communicate with our friends, family and most customers back in time!

The trip and arrival into the country went as smooth as could be, and our old time friend Axel (from SV Gudrun, but now living on land) picked us up at the airport and introduced us to the city’s Asian flair by treating us to some yummy dumplings. All our senses were in overdrive and we truly appreciated the comfortable and luxurious hotel room he put us in. Axel is awesome, by the way! :-)

Our first days in New Zealand were filled with friend visits, locating some gear needed during our stay, reading up on tourist info, researching our options to stay and move about during this visit, exploring Auckland a bit, and mostly acclimatizing. The city was truly a sensory overload and an incredible contrast with our lives in French Polynesia’s remote islands – stores with fancy gear everywhere, affordable eateries, constant traffic driving on the left side of the road, bus stops with accurate digital scheduling information and low fares, fast pacing pedestrians and people in suits, sky scrapers with mirror windows, and a chilly climate we can breathe in.

After a few days in a hotel room the size of two Iries, with a hot shower, comfortable king sized bed, our own fridge, kitchenette, and washing machine, decent internet and room for both of us to use our computers comfortably, it was time to move back to… a boat! Using Axel’s car, we are now visiting our friends Fabio and Lisa on SV Amadla and Chris, Katie, Dylan and Leili on SV Iona in the North Island. Catching up with cruising friends who we haven’t seen in a long time, is exactly what we need, and we are enjoying every bit of these fabulous social times. Soon, we need to head down to the South Island, though, because – unlike in the northern hemisphere – winter is upon us and we only have so many cold weather clothes!

Mark installing new hinges on our hatches - now they stay open without dog toys!

Getting water during a dry spell has never been so easy!

Irie in Vaiare Marina

On one side of the marina: Tahiti

On the other side: Moorea's dramatic interior

Meeting with Ursula and Michael (SY Kril) in Papeete, Tahiti

Axel meeting (and bringing) us in the airport of Auckland, New Zealand

Meet Arno, the hit of the household!

Mark and Arno are getting along splendidly

Old Kindergarten in Myers Park, Auckland

Dinner with Axel, Liz and Arno

Going to the grocery store - mirrors everywhere!

A big Asian influence prevails in Auckland

Lisa taking a photo in one of the fish markets

Auckland's skyline, seen from the big downtown marina

The Sky Tower is visible from "everywhere"

The origin for its name: Silo Park

Retro sailboats in Silo Park marina

Hungry fowl in Shakespear Park, Gulf Harbor

A female peacock is called a peahen

View of the bay from Gulf Harbor marina

Delicious pancake brunch with Fabio and Lisa on SV Amandla

Original picture frame in Shakespear Park - the rainbow is a bonus. Yes, it is frrrrreaking cold!

 

Pretty bay in Shakespear Park

Our Newest WiFi Product: The Wirie pro!

I have been wanting to write a blog about our newest Wirie product for quite some time, but – as with all new releases – you never really know what will happen (Will it be a success? Will there be any issues? Will we be able to sell enough to make it all worthwhile? Will everybody be happy and satisfied?), and I was a bit anxious to “jump the gun”. Now, three months and many sales later, I am confident to share how it all happened, and how The Wirie^pro was born. For all of you who have always wondered what Mark and I, but especially Mark, do all day, read on!

In January 2014, Mark was a bit bored with our boating lifestyle and needed an intellectual challenge, while we were in the Marquesas. He had been having great ideas in the past about building an improved long range internet system that would combine WiFi and 2G/3G/4G, but our remote locations, poor WiFi sources, challenging lives and the lack of suitable materials to use, had put him off. When I returned from Belgium that February, he had me bring a few 3G routers, outlined his ideas, and it all started from there…

For months, he looked into possible ways to create a router that would suit our needs, he did research whenever he could (quite difficult with the unreliable internet conditions in French Polynesia) and became excited about the project, but a bit frustrated about being in the middle of nowhere at the same time. Then, something totally unexpected and scary happened, for which we were forced to return to the United States for over three months. The good thing about this event, was that Mark could focus on the new product in comfort and with all of the needed resources at hand. We could order parts to try and test, we could do research in between doctor visits, we could communicate with manufacturers and we could even make phone calls! A large portion of his time went to the design and development of the software that would eventually combine WiFi and 3/4G into a single product that was easy to use.  Those summer months in the US were very productive and the new product took shape, albeit not physically yet.

Once we were back on Irie in Tahiti, mid-August 2014, the main focus remained on the business. We brought a prototype router with us, chose anchorages based on internet availability and we stayed as long as the different stages of the development and planning required. We found a manufacturer who would build our custom designed router and sourced companies for all the other parts. We took care of existing customers and kept working on the new products for a future customer base. We extended and updated the website, decided on names for the new Wiries, wrote manuals and quick start guides, and launched the first of our new line of products, The Wirie^AP+, which offers WiFi only and is a significant upgrade over our previous product, The Wirie AP.

When the new xG router was finished, we received a unit in French Polynesia and the software and hardware testing continued in earnest. Mark improved and adjusted, we wrote press releases, revised manuals, and did odds and ends that were needed to launch the other two products. In the meantime, our partner in the US helped by planning and designing all the manufacturing aspects of the new products. Life on board was hectic, exciting, frustrating, nervous and stressful at the same time! But, with our new product, we could now even receive emails in the most remote and protected bays, where we sat out storms. Since we installed our Wirie^pro, we have never been without internet at anchor on Irie. And even underway, we pick up WiFi signals and 2G/3G/4G from much further away.

We were hoping to be done with all the preparations by Christmas, but who can blame us for not making that fictitious deadline?

On January 5^th, 2015, we felt “ready to do business” and officially launched The Wirie^xG (2G/3G/4G service only) and our revolutionary all-in-one Wirie^pro from Huahine, French Polynesia. Of course, the press release states Newbury, Massachusetts, USA, where the company is located! :-) Since then, we have had very positive feedback and we have sold and shipped units all over the world. A few magazines have requested units to test and review. To see the newest article about WiFi on boats, featuring our Wirie^pro, check out the May issue of Cruising World! Happy reading and surfing the web!

For more information about all our Wirie products, check out www.thewirie.com

One of the routers I brought from Europe for Mark to test - we did not go with a stock one

Precariously placed and attached prototype router - for months, we had to be careful sitting down on the settee!

An external DIY circuit board from SV Pitufa helps Mark to access the serial console of the prototype router

Working from morning (calling Wirie customers)...

... to late afternoon with the sun in his eyes ...

... and sometimes at night, while I do other tasks (like putting away groceries).

 

Building a router case from cardboard - using the drawings - to define where all the ports need to be placed on the final router

The router case needs to be built and placed up to Mark's specs to fit perfectly in the waterproof enclosure

Even underway, when the seas are calm enough (here from Taha'a to Huahine), Mark is working on the software development of The Wirie pro

The final Wirie pro, the way it is sold, bought, and brought back from the US (here by Marie on MV Domino) - the first Wirie pro in the South Pacific!! From inventor/producer (see SV Irie in the background) to consumer. :-) And, customer support at your doorstep!