I am dry, cosy and warm.
I am reflecting about the storm that brought Mazuran into our hands. The storm that made it all happen for us. The life changing decision that made me smile and petrified at the same time.
Purchasing a rather large damaged boat. Who would want to do it? You'd have to be CRAZY! (Well, yes, as you all know, I am a little crazy!)...So I write this little bit for those who don't know how we came across our new 'home'. (Once again I have to thank my parents for making this dream come true, for they put their heart and soul into helping us in every way possible).
Every boat has a history. When an owner buys a second hand boat they have lots of emotions go through their head; excitement, happiness, elation, guilt and even fear. When buying a damaged boat, there is also another element, dread. There are moments when you have to sit down and think practically. Go through every scenario, and revisit questions such as;
Can we do it?
Can we afford it? (no, is always the answer for that one!),
Do we want it enough to change everything in our lives?
And once it's all yours....
What the f**k have we done!???
If you are the sort of person who thinks that every boat is like a human being, you feel that a part of it has 'died' when you see a boat that's been broken up by a storm. Mother nature is something so powerful that no-one knows what the outcome will be until it has passed. It certainly isn't a nice sight seeing a boat being washed ashore in a storm. Your heart feels torn apart, knowing that there are often great memories associated with the boat, firstly with the building of such a vessel.
When we purchased Mazuran she had been washed ashore in a storm at Paihia Beach, Bay of Islands, and the previous owner was very kind in letting us have some of the pictures of her. These photos of her as she was going ashore, the owners were out of town at the time so were totally devastated when they came back. A friend of theirs took these photos, feeling very helpless as they watched through the camera lens.
She even made the front page of The Northern Advocate paper and another local paper the Bay Report.
She even made the front page of The Northern Advocate paper and another local paper the Bay Report.
And then along came her rescuers! (that's us)...
So this is Mazuran before we bought her and started our major refit project. She was basically a shell that we had to add lots of structure to, including her hulls underneath. As you can see in the pictures, she had no hulls from the waterline down.
We then relocated her to the best spot in Kerikeri, and the major re-build began!
I still am dry, warm and even more cosy now I have turned on the heaters.. I am smiling as I write this post, as I realised I hadn't written anything about her salvage. She has been an amazing boat, and the people and friendships we have formed have been something we had never thought would happen. There were times where we shuddered at the thought of having nothing more to spend on her, yet we were only half way through what we wanted to do, but you somehow gather strength and tackle each problem with tiny steps to keep the progress going forward. I know we will venture more with her, and have more projects to complete on her. Even though I'm tied up to the dock with a million docklines and fenders to protect us, I feel like I am 'home'. Aboard our hard work, a space we have created for "us".
I will do another post that shows the 'before' and 'after' when I get a chance.
So this is Mazuran before we bought her and started our major refit project. She was basically a shell that we had to add lots of structure to, including her hulls underneath. As you can see in the pictures, she had no hulls from the waterline down.
We then relocated her to the best spot in Kerikeri, and the major re-build began!
I still am dry, warm and even more cosy now I have turned on the heaters.. I am smiling as I write this post, as I realised I hadn't written anything about her salvage. She has been an amazing boat, and the people and friendships we have formed have been something we had never thought would happen. There were times where we shuddered at the thought of having nothing more to spend on her, yet we were only half way through what we wanted to do, but you somehow gather strength and tackle each problem with tiny steps to keep the progress going forward. I know we will venture more with her, and have more projects to complete on her. Even though I'm tied up to the dock with a million docklines and fenders to protect us, I feel like I am 'home'. Aboard our hard work, a space we have created for "us".
