This Just Got Complicated
I’m a glass-half-full kinda person. I like to think of optimism as being my superpower and it has gotten me through a lot. But somehow, I have the sneaking suspicion that my powers are about to be tested again.
Last week we officially dove into what will, in the end, be our biggest boat refit ever. We started by ripping out our port-side windows. It was like ripping off a band-aid, it stung at first but then felt good to have it done. Progress was officially underway.
We patted ourselves on the back for our brave start and promised ourselves we would dive in deep and get the boat cruising ready by October.
But, as the Scottish proverb goes, the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.
And awry it is. The Delta variant has arrived in New Zealand and we’re officially in a Level 4 lockdown for the foreseeable future. It felt as though Life had just delivered us a bucket full of lemons, contactless of course, with a note attached.
Dear Wynns,
The stores are all out of sugar due to panic buying. But you should be fine, we hear optimism can be substituted one for one. Let us know how the lemonade turns out.
-Life
Touché. This will indeed make things complicated, but not impossible. So, challenge accepted! We still have plenty of projects we can tackle, even in lockdown. Starting with our power problems.
About That 240v-12v Smart Charger
We bought the Victron IP22 12v/30a 240v charger. It’s the least expensive way we found to charge our 120v boat with lithium batteries from a 240v power supply. And since the power draw from the charger is so low, we can use a standard travel adapter when we sail to other countries that have 240v power.
But, our Friend Raf at Just Catamarans recommended a slightly more expensive model that is well worth looking into. It is the Phoenix Smart IP43 50a charger. The thing I like about this product; the power cord is removable so I wouldn’t need to use a travel adapter. I could just buy a cord for each country when I arrive. If we want to go BIG, he said we should check out the Skylla IP65 120-240v charger.
If you’re researching in the USA, the main thing to check before purchasing is the voltage. If you want it to work when you leave the Americas, the input voltage needs to be 240v. If you don’t want Victron, NOCO now has a line of 120v-240v chargers which are worth a look too. Here’s a link to their NOCO GENIUSPRO 50 which we also considered, but couldn’t purchase here in NZ.
🎥 CAMERA GEAR USED TO FILM THIS VIDEO
🎶 MUSIC IN THIS VIDEO:
- Source – Artlist, Get 2 Months for FREE: https://bit.ly/artlist-GWTW
- Artists – Michael Shynes, Mika Sade, Katrina Stone, Low Light
🙏 THANK YOU!
Thanks for joining us, it wouldn’t be the same without you. 🤗
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bob
Ahoy sailers–love you guys–watching latest video and wondering if your eletrical access area in bedroom has a smoke detection device/sensor. if not itd be where id stick one for sure especialy after adding that charger. Cheers!
Nikki Wynn
There are smoke detectors and fire extinguishers in every room.
Robert Maltbie
great… guess itd be more like a bilge/hull sensor, similar to a bilge blower/fume sensor…worrywart i am.
Burberry
Hey guys
How do u deal with your day to da rubbish at sea. I need to take my recycle bin out once a fortnight and my rubbish weekly. I also compost and have chickens.
Curious Minion
Good question! The first thing is to get rid of as much unnecessary packaging as possible ahead of time. Pitch all that before you even come on board. Since Nikki & Jason are pescatarians, a huge part of their diet is fresh fruits & veggies, so no packaging there! Compost can be chucked overboard if you’re at sea, so there’s really not much left to be squashed down & stored in a lazarette until you get back to a dock.
Curious Minion
Michael
Jason, a lot of people don’t understand about the other part of the electricity issue. The issue of 110 versus 220 has to do with voltage. We have that issue here in the US. A simple step-down transformer or converter can handle that problem for 110v appliances when stuck with only 220v.
However, the frequency is different around the world. In the USA it is 60Hz, but in NZ it is 50Hz. Bigger problem. One can check out https://www.generatorsource.com/Voltages_and_Hz_by_Country.aspx as one option to find out what is where. For that conversion one must use a frequency converter.
Sometimes these functions are built into one device. It is assumed that is what Jason bought.
Sunny Harvy
Having previously owned sailboats I can (almost) imagine how difficult it is for you to tackle such a long list of projects and needs. Thankfully, we never had to deal with a virus lockdown! We traded in our last boat for a camper van, which also has it’s needs, but usually not so many. Good luck. We’re all rooting for you out here. – From Rhode Island, USA
Bill Berry
Just think of this as another test. Enjoyed the video and can understand your frustration you will make it I am sure.
Allan M
I was hoping you would get to see the All Blacks. Glad you made it. It’s an experience! Good luck on your projects.
Dean Allen
I am surprised you got all the way to NZ without needing a 240V electrical adapter of some sort. I have spent quite a bit of time on the island Commonwealth of Dominica and they use 240V electricity.
I was not rigging a whole boat electrical system, just using an adapter that allowed me to plug in 120v items from the USA, laptop & etc.; whereas you need to charge a battery & do a bunch of electrical stuff. [I am like Nikki in that regard, I assume I just had a built in step down transformer or something – but know little about electricity.
I have watched Jason for a few years, noticing he went from tentative and confused with electrical work, to calmly and confidently explaining it to Nikki, and vicariously to the rest of us via video.
While traveling in the Caribbean, I watched part of a Cricket game. It made no sense to me at all, but it was fun to see all the locals get so worked up over it. I really liked your NZ video of the team going some well choreographed routine before the game started. I assume it got them fired up, intimidated their opposition and served to teach them to work together as a team. In any event, it was highly entertaining to me.
Stay safe & keep the video’s coming. You are a Sunday ritual for me now.
Nikki Wynn
Those travel adapters work fine for devices that have transformers built-in (like phones, some hairdryers and laptops) but not for high draw devices like household appliances. We use our adapter for plugging in our phone or laptop when we are at a cafe but plugging in a house is a different story and requires different tech. So do be careful about what you plug into those adapters as you travel abroad.
A Cricket game is next on our sporting list. It sounds like chaos. Ha! We love paying and participating but we’ve never been one to follow any sport or team closely. So it’s easy for us to forget just how much of a fun cultural experience it is. We loved it.
Alan Solomon
Hey Nicki and Jason. Another Awesome, Terrific day today.
This weeks video seemed very homey, casual and fun.
I now sense that whatever project you are on you are smiling. All I see is smiles from you guys. 👍 Thanks.
Jason, you have really become a do-it-yourselfer! Electrical, plumbing, boat maintenance and all the rest.
Does it get humid in NZ? I love cloudy, stormy and rainy skis which is not too good for solar or wear-n’-tear on Curiosity. I oppose humidity.
Thanks once again for another great week of expert footage.
Be well. Stay safe. Happy trails to youuuoooo…….
Nikki Wynn
Yikes does it get humid! Such a great question, I need to film it one day soon. The condensation from the cold nights and our warm bodies is mind-blowing. We wake up to windows, hatches, and walls covered in droplets. We’re lucky we haven’t had many days of freezing temperatures or our hatches would have icicles hanging from them.
Anita
I wondered last week what happened with the NZ lockdown. Amazing that people in the U.S. complain about our lockdowns. They don’t even know what it means.
Loved seeing the rugby test. I actually watched some of the Olympic coverage of it. Such a strange game but fascinating.
But most importantly how was that drink?? I used to drink gin and just rediscovered it after many years. A gin Cosmopolitan is pretty good. And I will be looking for that Hendricks gin. If it’s Wynn approved, I am in. Think a new sponsorship should be in the works.
Nikki Wynn
Ha ha, I wish we could get a Hendricks sponsorship! Hendricks, like many Gin companies, will do limited releases. This one is called Amazonia and includes some tropical botanicals. The aroma is delightful! If you see it, buy it!
craig hayman
Sorry about our weather, if you check out the weather radar at https://www.metservice.com/towns-cities/locations/whangarei you will see a lot of the really bad stuff goes down past the coast. Also if you want good kiwi gin check out https://www.reeftondistillingco.com/pages/little-biddy-gin. It could be worth waiting for a road trip as the west coast of the South Island is great road trip material.
stay safe.
Nikki Wynn
Thanks! I will add that distillery to our Roadtrippers map!
Greg
… optimism can be substituted one for one. Let us know how the lemonade turns out.
LMAO.
It’s not not lemonade, it’s hard lemonade.. hahaha. ( think you need to be an Aussie to understand this one )
When you guys get to AU. If you are in need to lithium storage, and are not afraid of a little DIY. Get in contact..
John S.
Well, it great that you finished your 15th Anniversary trip done before the current lockdown happened.
Looking forward to watching your next few videos. It will be especially fun to see how you handle the work-rain relationship.
Nikki Wynn
Ha ha, right now rain is winning by more than a few trys. 💦
Bruce A. Smith
Loved seeing that Haka. Keep all those Kiwi things coming – tests, try, boots in a boot… I’m lovin’ it.
Maxine van der Zwet
Just love following you and the best is yet to come. I would love to shelter you if you are up my way when the insanity is sorted. Stay chirpy it will be the greatest story ever told.
dyanne allegrini
All I can say is WOW!!!
Linda Howarth
Hi Jason and Nikki
Living in level 4 lockdown this time looks like it could be not as long as last time, hopefully, for you up past Auckland and us below Auckland.
Fingers crossed for you to still be able to get what you need contactless in the near future.
Have they not run out of toilet paper up there!!! Usually the first thing to go for some explicable reason.
Wangarei would be a nice place to be stuck in, as they say, if you can’t go for walks without being too close to other people, you can hop in your car and find somewhere else nice to walk.
At least you don’t have a very energetic nearly 4 year old in your bubble!!
Keep safe and well you too
Linda and Bruce
Te Awamutu
Lisa
Wishing you all the best in the days to come, that your hurdles become opportunities you could not have seen coming.
May your delays turn into fortunate events that work for your good.
And I think Spring is just around the corner?!
Jaap Visser
Nieu Zeeland is doing sooo well in all forms of sport. If you compare how much smaller their population to ours are in South Africa, it is scary to look at their results. At the end it is all about attitude and commitment – the haka is just the top of the iceberg. (Much of the same stuff I think that makes you two doing so well…)
Craig
Maybe just wait until the New Zealanders overthrow their government for over reacting to 5 people getting the Chinese Virus. You may consider coming back to the US where we still have just a little bit of rights and freedoms left. Have you looked into the cost of shipping your boat back to the US and getting all the repairs done, then start out fresh next spring?
Mike Priaro
New Zealand, 26 deaths. USA, 637,000 deaths.
Jimmy
Here in New Zealand we have 88 cases total out of 4 million people, and we have complete shut down due to our extremist government. I fear if we get over 200 cases of the Chinese virus, our government is going to go into a panic mode and attempt heavy fines for even breathing outdoors a punishable offense. I admire you Americans for fighting for you freedoms.
Tev Brannan
But not all deaths from Covid since EVERYTHING was listed as a Covid death. Regardless of whether you were on a motorcycle, car, or jumping from an airplane.
Wendy Weaver
Please provide links from reputable and verifiable sources for your claim about all deaths in the U.S. listed on death certificates as caused by COVID-19. A death certificate is a legal document and falsifying the cause of death is grounds for prosecution.
If every U.S. death, regardless of the cause, is listed as due to COVID-19, then every doctor, every medical examiner and every tribal law authority in the U.S. must be in on the conspiracy. Do you really believe that every person authorized to sign as to the cause of death in the U.S. on a death certificate is breaking the law?
It would also mean that no deaths are being certified as due to traffic accidents or gun shot wounds. Yet, there are countless reports showing statistics of traffic accidents and gun shot wounds derived from researching filed death certificates for causes of deaths. How about deaths due to drug overdoses? Those, too, have been regularly reported throughout 2020 and 2021. Again, the reports of the number of drug overdose deaths are derived from researching filed death certificates.
Ask your local medical examiner’s office or local hospital for the number of deaths listed as due to traffic accidents, gun wounds and drug overdoes. View the online death records filed in your county and/or state for non-COVID deaths. Are there death certificates listing causes other than COVID-19? Let me know the results of your research into actual death certificate records.
Michael
Not really true, and totally misleading. The fact is that many people have died from heart attacks and respiratory failure that was triggered by the virus. The old and infirm, the very young and the obese are individuals who suffer from weaknesses which make them susceptible.
Nikki and Jason have been doing what they need to do to be safe, and they should be commended. By following each nation’s mandates, they have not gotten the virus, and the places where they have gone have been relatively free of the pandemic because of those very mandates. Kudos to them all.
Bill Nicholson
Have u guys seen the Okellys boat, Clarity. I’m sure it’s the same as yours. They relaxed the windows from the inside. Check it out. Also moved their life raft to the bow.
Simon Bretherton
Dear Jason and Nikki, Just to avoid any confusion. A game between (say) Waikato and Wellington would be a “match’. They only become “Tests” when the game is between 2 International sides.
Deborah Kerr
Dear J&N,
I was waiting for you to reach NZ safe and sound before a level 4 lockdown was imposed – sometimes it doesn’t feel that way, but I’ve got your backs.
Love, Life 🌏⛅️🥝
Michael
Say, aren’t generator parts a necessity? Let’s think outside the box. 😉
By the way, all your indoor things (coffee grinders, etc.) last longer with A/C. There is less humidity and it is better for the boat. Just saying….
Emily & Michael Attard
Even tho your to-do list is growing, we love learning about boat life thru you. We spent a year living/working in NZ back in 2016/17 and so pumped for you both on all the adventures you will have there! (Once lockdown is lifted of course lol). We miss NZ terribly!
Oh and the feijoa fruit is super yummy, and pronounced “Fee-joe-a” 🙂
Pam
I did my masters on exchange from the US to NZ it was a wonderful way to spend 2 years. My favorite part about rugby is that the game keeps going without the coach giving plays. The players have to “know” what to do. And the way the game continues even when a player is down on the field and the medics are fix’in him up. Oh and no pads… true sport.
Be sure and visit Napier and take a look at the architecture of the town, the story of the history is something that doesn’t occur often. And if you get to Palmerston North, stop by my Alma Mater, Massey University and walk around that campus the World War 2 era buildings are another example of historical events determining design.
John Alex
You can’t make up a life like y’all’s. No offense to Barnum, but this is the greatest show on earth; literally.
Pat parker
Great commentary on the rugby tests and the use of the terms necessary. Hope all goes well this week for you both.
Stephen
Ahhh just sayin’. https://ginzealand.co.nz/pages/gins-of-new-zealand
Love you guys. Good luck with the windows. Being in a level 4 shutdown isn’t as bad as it seems. As I am sure you know, we have some states here in the U.S. that are suffering the worse surge of CoVid infecltions since the outbreak in 2020. Hunker down and be safe. And order some Kiwi gin.
Scott Adamson
I use the surfshark from here in Australia and think it is just great, I can watch peacock tv but doesn’t let me pay for the premium channel because i have an Australian card. glad to see you went to the test and they tackle with no padding does that tell you something about the NFL. Thanks so much for doing these entertaining vlogs i look forward each week to them coming out. Sorry to hear about the lockdown i am in Western Australia and we haven’t had a lockdown for 8 months and that was only 2 weeks.
Rick Tressler
Watching the team perform the “Haka” made me smile and laugh out loud. How amazing! Like you are on another planet. Maybe if the Detroit Lions begin each game with the same dance, they might improve. 😂
Tim Baker
Just curious…it would seem that wind generation for power might be a good option for you guys. Have you looked at that? I seems there is pretty much always wind even if you aren’t moving.
Curious Minion
Wind has several drawbacks that they talk about in this one: https://www.gonewiththewynns.com/charge-boat-batteries You’ll be blown away! ;o)
Curious Minion
Fred Schneider
Thanks for doing what you do I’m jealous but get my vacation from you two kids and my own good luck in your endeavors in these trying times best wishes and god speed
About Creativity
Very good, Confidence, Clarity and a sense of purpose are all things that need to be established, and Re-established, daily.