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Charlie Repaired
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 Photo Info
Posted By: Hal Brown
Date Posted: Apr 20, 2011
Description: At the end of the day it’s nice to be salt free.
Date Taken: Apr 20, 2011
Place Taken: Nelson, NZ
Owner: Dan Nickens
File Name: Salt_Free.jpg   - Photo HTML
Full size     - <img src="/show.php?splash=SZP7C0000h">
Medium    - <img src="/show.php?splash=SZP7C0000m">
Thumbnail - <img src="/show.php?splash=SZP7C0000s">
Category: 446, Yacht Tending NZ
Favorite option: If you want this item to be marked as a favorite, click on the black heart. Salt Free    Make Cover Photo     
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Read what others had to say:

Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2011   Viewers  | Reply
    The air cleared after the storm, but the water was left full of sediment. The boat didn’t wait for clearing, it left as soon as the waves permitted. I was given coordinates to find it. Of course I didn’t pay much attention to the direct path on the GPS. I was going to hug the shore until I got close.<br /><br />I never got close. The coordinates were out in the middle of a rough and tumbleTasman Bay. Even if the boat was there (it wasn’t), it might as well have been on the moon. There was no way to get to it.<br />      Attachments:  

Dirty Water.jpg
Dirty Water

    
  
Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2011   Viewers  | Reply
    Sometimes I just don’t understand how the Captain chooses his parking spaces. Parking beside a popular beach was just a bad idea for SeaRey operations. Between the ocean swell and the boat wakes, it was just a bit too exciting to fly off of with passengers.<br /><br />The “golden beach” is one of the few crowded places in the Abel Tasman National Park. The sand gets its golden color from minerals eroded from the parent granite rocks. It is only inhabited by campers and Dept. of Conservation crew. With all the remote beaches, though, I would have found a quieter spot.<br />      Attachments:  

Popular Parking.jpg
Popular Parking

    
  
Kevin D'Angelo - Apr 22,2011   Viewers  | Reply
    I think you are getting spoiled Dan-Sure looks like a dream setting to splash to me     
  
Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2011   Viewers  | Reply
    Parking a SeaRey at a popular place is an invitation to gawkers. A watch had to be posted to make sure the curious didn’t run over the mooring lines.      Attachments:  

Watchful Waiting.jpg
Watchful Waiting

    
  
Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2011   Viewers  | Reply
    You just can’t sit and watch a SeaRey without wanting to get it into the air. It wasn't long before the boss wanted to fly. Steve and I figured out that if I took Mary K to the nearest airport (at Motueka), he could shuttle the boss in the helicopter. That way he wouldn’t get wet in the pounding it would take to get MK off the water.<br /><br />As coincidences sometimes happily happen, there was a SeaRey based at Motueka. A friend of the local SeaRey owner, Jim, grew up with Rob Loneragan in Australia. I got lots of good stories to tell on him.<br /><br />Jim called the SeaRey’s owner, Barry, and we got together to swap SeaRey stories. In a gesture of true camaraderie, Barry gave up one of favorite SeaRey places: Cobb Reservoir on the Takaka River. A salt soaked SeaRey loves to get a fresh water break, especially in a mountain reservoir.<br />      Attachments:  

Fresh Break.jpg
Fresh Break

    
  
Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2011   Viewers  | Reply
    When flying wingman to a helicopter it is prudent to maintain distance from his rotor wash! Steve was professional enough to maintain a safe distance.      Attachments:  

Escort Services.jpg
Escort Services

    
  
Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2011   Viewers  | Reply
    The locale was perfect for just a simple beach place with a view. I didn’t have time to stop for a visit. I was on a mission: get spare parts from the boat.<br /><br />While rubbing down MK’s wing wire with oil I got a nasty surprise. I snagged a rag on a cut. The wire was cut neatly about half way through. <br /><br />I stared at it incredulously. My surprise wasn’t that the wire was cut, though I’ve never seen that happen on any wing wire before, it was so cleanly cut. It was as if an extremely sharp knife had sliced precisely through half the strands. It was a surgical cut.<br /><br />How could that happen? My first thought was maybe something had gone through the prop. The prop, however, showed no sign of damage. There was nothing missing from the engine.<br /><br />Maybe something hit the wire on the ground and the strands snapped? No way the split would have been so smooth and there was no evidence of any strain on either end.<br /><br />It was such a perfect cut. Sabotage? No way. Not in the friendliest place on earth. Not in New Zealand.<br /><br />Just in case, paranoia barely suppressed, MK got the closest inspection she’d ever had. I checked brake lines, ignition wires, fuel pumps, and, just in case, for holes in the hull. She was a good as new, except for that wing wire.<br /><br />The spare wire was on the boat. Steve had already left in the helicopter. It was a beautiful day and the air was smooth. The boat wasn’t very far away. MK had the latest reinforced pylon structure. I rationalized flying her out to the boat to get a new wire.<br />      Attachments:  

Beach Bungalow.jpg
Beach Bungalow

    
  
Eric Batterman - Apr 20,2011   Viewers  | Reply
    Did you ever figure out the mystery of the wounded wing wire?     
  
Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2011   Viewers  | Reply
    Isn't anyone willing to wait for the last chapter? No? Okay, no.     
  
Eric Batterman - Apr 20,2011   Viewers  | Reply
    I never want to read the last chapter. But I patiently await the next chapter.     
  
Russ Garner - Apr 21,2011   Viewers  | Reply
    I'm waiting for Ann to jump out and chop the head off the snake.     
  
Dan Nickens - Apr 22,2011   Viewers  | Reply
    Yep. Every SeaRey story has a hero, Russ. Some you don't know until the end.     
  
Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2011   Viewers  | Reply
    Lots of beaching opportunities tempted me, but I had a mission: get a new wing wire. With that done, a lot opportunities opened up because the boat was moving. I was left on my own to explore the west side of Tasman Bay.      Attachments:  

Sandy Shores.jpg
Sandy Shores

    
  
Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2011   Viewers  | Reply
    At low tide there are some really smooth shoals where the Motueka River meets the Bay. I would have been tempted to do some air boating with MK, but there was just too space much to explore.      Attachments:  

Smooth Shoals.jpg
Smooth Shoals

    
  
Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2011   Viewers  | Reply
    It takes water to float a boat. This one waits on the tide to return. With a 6m tide, it shouldn't take too long.      Attachments:  

Waiting for Water.jpg
Waiting for Water

    
  
Frank A. Carr - Apr 20,2011   Viewers  | Reply
    Strange that it's not on it's side.     
  
Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2011   Viewers  | Reply
    Nicely protected beaches lay at Wainui Bay.      Attachments:  

Beach Barriers.jpg
Beach Barriers

    
  
Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2011   Viewers  | Reply
    One hopes that the grass doesn’t get too slippery on this slope….      Attachments:  

Slippery Slope.jpg
Slippery Slope

    
  
Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2011   Viewers  | Reply
    The soft sediments make this shore a study in fluid dynamics.      Attachments:  

Shape Shifting Shore.jpg
Shape Shifting Shore

    
  
Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2011   Viewers  | Reply
    A hole too small for sneaking through in a SeaRey.      Attachments:  

Fluid Arch.jpg
Fluid Arch

    
  
Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2011   Viewers  | Reply
    Unfortunately the map showed the long spit was covered with a restriction against low level SeaRey studies. That…and the fact the fuel gage was tilting towards empty..enforced by the law of gravity…kept me from an extended detour.      Attachments:  

Super Sand Spit.jpg
Super Sand Spit

    
  
Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2011   Viewers  | Reply
    The cows shared the backyard at the Takaka airport. I didn’t mind. What I did mind was that there was no fuel available. I had to take my toys and fly home. Oh well, I had plans to fly back after the working trip was done. 'Just a few more days....'      Attachments:  

Shared Facilities.jpg
Shared Facilities

    
  
Martin West - Apr 21,2011   Viewers  | Reply
    Brings a tear to the eye - so typically New Zealand.... Love it.     
  
Russ Garner - Apr 21,2011   Viewers  | Reply
    Aw something I see every day cows beside my runway.     
  
Martin West - Apr 23,2011   Viewers  | Reply
    Yes, I guess it happens all over the place. Just caught me a little off-guard, as I lived in New Zealand from 2003 to 2010, and Dan's photos have brought back a lot of memories.     


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