As mentioned yesterday on Thursday evening I attended the monthly ’talk’ at the Devonport Yacht Club – this months speaker was the one and only Harold Kidd. The topic was ‘Yachts & the Waitemata, HDK broke the talk into several time periods, I recorded the talk on my iPhone and with HDK’s permission are reproducing on WW. The filming was a last minute idea so the quality is a little average and on the night there were a few technical issue with the sound, I have edited the best I can.

Today we have PART #1 – The Early Period1840 >1870.

• Reliance on maori for fish and produce • Development of boatbuilding industry • Regattas and match races

Make sure you check out WW on Monday for part #2 – lots of motorboats featured.

NOTE: The supporting slides were always going to be average in terms of reproduction so I focussed on the man (HDK) and his narrative. Turn up your sound and enjoy (approx. 5 minutes)

ADVICE NEED – A woody has a serious problem with bird poop. The photos below are from a 2 week period, that coincided with the’Tern season’ – the young fledglings are leaving the nest and still being fed by the parent birds – it also coincides with the whitebait being plentiful as well. So boats in the area become the nursery and whitebait processing station. The boat has since been ‘covered’ with line and bunting.

The bird poop is staining the newly painted side decks and the varnish has what looks like a calcium scale which resists scrubbing.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. So The Question Of The Day – How do you clean off the poop, any secret old school tips ?