blog.gav7.comseven – chasing

sunsets seven Sailing House building Contact Where are we? Toggle website search Menu Close Sailing House building Contact Where are we? Toggle website search Sailing House building Contact Where are we? chasing sunsets Good Progress… almost locked up Post author: Gavin Post published: May 28, 2014 Post category: House building After some of the most creative scaffolding in history, that made building the pyramids look like child’s play, we got the site into a position to start rendering and work towards having the roof installed. Steve had been doing an awesome job building the roof structure from the inside out until this point, and despite appearances that suggested otherwise, we had a safety net to allow us to continue on the exterior of the building. The easy part – scaffolding out the back. There wasn’t enough room… Continue Reading Good Progress… almost locked up Floor baby, walls & roof… Post author: Gavin Post published: March 28, 2014 Post category: House building It was both exciting and slightly daunting returning to the construction site after a well deserved 3 weeks off over Xmas. We were due to restart on 12th of January... although I still hadn’t locked anybody in to help me as the two carpenters I was speaking with were both being non committal - by the 7th of January both had given me a definitive no, as they had picked up bigger jobs... it wasn’t ideal, but things happen for a reason. I decided to put the… Continue Reading Floor baby, walls & roof… Getting out of the ground… 4 weeks of sheer chaos! Post author: Gavin Post published: January 7, 2014 Post category: House building I can hardly believe that this blog entry only covers a 4 week period... it was difficult, stressful, chaotic, exciting and most of all productive and rewarding! Many years ago I agreed to do a Sydney to Hobart Race as a bowman on a leaky 40 footer... I will never forget the thought that crossed my mind about 30 hours into the 5 day race as I was holding on for dear life. Alone on the bow of a boat that was spending 50% of time scuba… Continue Reading Getting out of the ground… 4 weeks of sheer chaos! A new adventure – building a house Post author: Gavin Post published: November 24, 2013 Post category: Australia / House building 17th of November 2013, marked 2 years since we sailed through Sydney heads aboard Squander... time certainly flies. A lot has happened in the two years, and I will undoubtedly reveal some highlights in the ensuing blog posts. Amongst many things, my house in Manly got development approval and I have decided to demolish the original shack & owner build a new one - essentially running the job myself... and to record this new "adventure" through regular blog posts. I can’t guarantee the kind of exotic photos… Continue Reading A new adventure – building a house Lord Howe Island… a dream re-entry to Australia! Post author: Gavin Post published: December 18, 2011 Post category: Australia / Family / Fishing / Pacific / Sailing / Travel In 1992, I met a girl at university from Lord Howe island - Monica’s stories and her then boyfriend’s stories of the island inspired me to make it a must visit spot. It took me 19 years to get to "THE ISLAND" as it’s affectionately called by the friendly locals. The island lived up to all of my expectations and some, it could not have been a more perfect stepping stone into Australia! - Great beaches, incredible scenery, fishing, diving, snorkeling, hiking, good food, a bowling club,… Continue Reading Lord Howe Island… a dream re-entry to Australia! New Caledonia… then home! Post author: Gavin Post published: November 4, 2011 Post category: Fishing / kiteboarding / New Caledonia / Pacific / Sailing / Travel Two and a half years ago, I sailed past New Caledonia on the way to Vanuatu from Sydney. I was sailing aboard Moksha, a Hanse 540 and had just completed my first 1000 Nautical miles of cruising. All of my previous offshore experience had been on racing yachts... now, a short 30 months later, the cruising lifestyle is coming to an end right where it started. Sailing out of New Caledonia for Australia will mark the 25,000th Nautical mile of cruising - for those of you not… Continue Reading New Caledonia… then home! Return to Blue Lagoon – the Fijian adventure continues. Post author: Gavin Post published: October 13, 2011 Post category: Fiji / Fishing / kiteboarding / Pacific / Sailing / scuba diving / Travel One of the countless things I have loved about this journey, is the rich array of crew that have made Squander home... The 25 or so Squanderers (defined as having spent at least 1 week sailing on Squander) have hailed from Australia, Russia, Spain, The Netherlands, Poland, England, America, France, Iran and Argentina. Whether they stayed 2 weeks or 14 months, each crew member has added an extra stitch or two to the complex fabric that we have weaved since starting our journey in early 2010.. Food… Continue Reading Return to Blue Lagoon – the Fijian adventure continues. Bula… Fiji turns it on! Post author: Gavin Post published: September 30, 2011 Post category: Fiji / Fishing / Pacific / Sailing / scuba diving / Travel As we approach the 1 month anniversary of our arrival in Fiji, I find myself seriously wondering if life is in fact fair? the fun times have not stopped, and despite a few reality checks here and there, we have been blessed with rewarding experiences at every turn.... so if life is fair, how will we be expected to repay all of this good fortune?.... for now we’ve put that question to the back of our minds, and are concentrating on enjoying Fiji - possibly the most… Continue Reading Bula… Fiji turns it on! A short stay in Vava’u, Northern Tonga Post author: Gavin Post published: September 4, 2011 Post category: Family / Fishing / Pacific / Sailing / scuba diving / Travel Writing this blog can be a real challenge sometimes... so much goes on, that it takes some serious effort to travel back in time and try and recall the multitude of experiences, emotions and events that took place in a different country, time zone and environment. One of the techniques I use, aside from the actual photos, is to look at emails that I sent to people when we’re at sea. The below excerpt of an email I sent to Rob summarizes our final 48 hours of… Continue Reading A short stay in Vava’u, Northern Tonga Suwarrow Atoll – the underwater playground! Post author: Gavin Post published: August 17, 2011 Post category: cook islands / Family / Fishing / kiteboarding / Pacific / Sailing / scuba diving We sailed west from Bora Bora on a Wednesday morning. Our last night in French Polynesia was spent at the local Karaoke restaurant, listening to the local crowd busting out love song after love song - surprisingly entertaining!! Our initial plan was to sail to Maupihaa Atoll, followed by Palmerston island in the Central Cook islands. I looked at the weather and all signs were pointing at us changing plans and pointing Squander at the Northern Cook island of Suwarrow. It’s a destination that was 150 Nautical… Continue Reading Suwarrow Atoll – the underwater playground! 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