Royal (NZ) Yacht Squadron

Rob_Webb

Rob_Webb

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Just returned from the Wed night Rum Racing and some drinks at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in Westhaven. Never imagined that I would step inside any establishment with RYS in it's title but here you have a very friendly, accessible organisation. Sure, it's NZ's premier yacht club with facilities to boot but they are all accessible to anyone who is a keen yachtie. Just wander in, buy a drink, have a burger and enjoy the banter. Made a couple of great new friends/contacts this evening. Imagine that happening at Cowes?

Now sitting in my cockpit berthed in the middle of the viaduct harbour amongst the superyachts. Another accessibility thing. I went up to the harbour authority office and said "my office is here overlooking the viaduct - any chance of bringing my piddly little 11m yacht into a berth for a few days during the week to make my commute nice'n'easy?" No problem. Don't have to be Katana to berth here. Sensible money and here I am, sitting on my boat in the CBD of a fab city 30 seconds walk from my office and a few mins walk from the RNZYS. Finish work at 5pm, drop down to AC for drinks with some work colleagues, go for a sunset cruise around Auckland harbour, back for dinner at one of the restaurants overlooking the boat. And it even goes quiet when youy want to go to sleep.

I know I've prattled on about this before but the kiwis really DO make things so much simpler and more accessible.


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Sounds ideal.

Don't mention it too often coz we will only get jealous.

Are you permanently emmigrated or are you retruning to these shores at some point ?

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When I was up there a little while back walking past your office and that 60 footish non-superyachty English yacht was parked there, it did pass through my mind how nice it would be to moor there and walk to work. For the life of me I did not imagine it would be so easy to do.

Maybe I will have to move to Auckland.

John

<hr width=100% size=1>I am the cat but I am only 6.
 
That's the one, John, I'm berthed right next to her (Elisya). In fact they have started saying "We are berthed next to Aily's Comet." Ha!

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A few more posts like that and you'll be able to set up as an immigration consultant.

I meant to ask you earlier , how did the price of your boat compare with something similar in Britain? I thought they were a bit cheaper here but dont have any first hand experience.



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Re: Hey come on !

You can walk into Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron also, and we are just as friendly..... ( But I do love Westhavern) .. also our BEER is BETTER
BrianJ

<hr width=100% size=1>BrianJ
 
One thing's for sure if your AC has turned out in the flesh as nice as in the photos (and with colour changes) then is two nice boats side by side regardless of size comparisons.

John


<hr width=100% size=1>I am the cat but I am only 6.
 
I think I've covered this before but as with most NZ boats the relative cost is MUCH higher than in the UK. My benchmark is the average annual salary (as opposed to my own salary). In the UK to buy a comparable boat you'd only need to spend about 2xaverage annual salary. But here in NZ this boat costs more like 4 x average annual salary. So in absolute terms not much difference. But in relative terms it's a much harder thing to afford in NZ than the UK.

Second example, take half-decent 2-3 yr old Bav 34 (yeah I know, I know) in UK price c. GBP55-60k i.e. approx. 2 x annual salary. But I see the same Bav 34s for sale here for over NZD$200k - which is over 6 x annual salary.

See my point? So by all means come to NZ for some wonderful living and sailing but bring some previous UK earning power/savings with you to buy your boat!

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You're too kind, John. I'll try to take some pics of AC in her new navy livery (although not fully finished) including new bimini and sprayhood/dodger this weekend.

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Visited there some years back when the Americas cup was on display - burly guard protecting it from further assaults. As you say friendly place with excellent food and wine. If the still do the Selak's Founders Reserve Sauvignon Blanc go for it - real yummy. Only problem was they lost my credit card (you have to put either your members card or a CC behind the bar). When they couldnt find it the bar staff lost interest and walked away. As I was flying home that night I had a sense of humour failure. The manager was suberb - the best example of how to defuse an angry customer that I have ever seen. Tore the bill up, found the card - which the bar staff had tipped into the rubbish bag and gave us a bottle of the above as an apology. Excellent service and friendly to boot. Enjoy your stay.

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Now Now!

Go easy Brian you could start a war over whos beer is better Aussie or Kiwi, when it's a well known fact that Aussie beer is in fact Lager and British "beer" is the real stuff<s>.

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Re: Now Now!

Yes, and most mainstream NZ beers are actually lager too so both Oz beer and NZ beer are equally bad. But quite alot of small producers doing the right stuff in both countries - then they still chill it so cold when served that the flavour is lost /forums/images/icons/crazy.gif.

John

<hr width=100% size=1>I am the cat but I am only 6.
 
Thanks Rob, the difference between absolute terms and affordability is the big thing. I guess thats why a humble working man like myself has an old boat.

Quite a few of the Aussie breweries are owned by Kiwi companies.
As I've got older I find that I like the bitters and the dark beers like Speights Dark, which seem to be becoming more widely accepted.


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Yes Speights Old Dark is well worth a try (and a try /forums/images/icons/smile.gif, and another try /forums/images/icons/smile.gif/forums/images/icons/smile.gif).

But bad news on the ownership front - Speights is now owned by the Oz's - Lion Nathan, which was a NZ company emigrated to Australia soon after the last change of government here. Would not be sure, with that move I don't think any Australian brewer is NZ owned now - certainly all the DB breweries are in NZ and they are the only big NZ owned brewer left here.

John

<hr width=100% size=1>I am the cat but I am only 6.
 
Re: Now Now!

Have certainly in the last 12 months had more than my share of Boags (Tasmanian Bog Water) and Cascade (Tasmanian Tiger P*ss). Have to say the company has always been nice.

Supposed to become part of my diet again but don't know when yet.

Regards

John

<hr width=100% size=1>I am the cat but I am only 6.
 
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