October 2009 eBook all pages (free PDF, 36.6 - Latitude 38

dismayed to learn that they couldn’t just
buy 30 computers and plug them in, they
would also need a new server, software
licensing, a network upgrade, additional
RAM for each computer, plus technical
support from New Zealand to install the
whole system. More big bucks. According
to the Niue YC newsletter, Steve and
Susan weren’t fazed at all, and happily
agreed to cover those additional costs,
too. While it took months to order all the
stuff, the whole system was ready to go
for the start of the ‘09 school year. Brilliant.
We apologize to Steve and Susan
for outing their generosity, but found it
too inspiring to resist.
If you’re cruising to Australia, don’t
expect marine items to be cheap — or
even reasonably priced. For example,
‘08 Puddle Jumpers Bill and Judy Rouse
of the Houston-based Amel Maramu 52
Bebe report that the oil absorbent pads
that many fuel docks and marinas give
away free in the States, and which you
can buy in bulk here for as little as 60
cents each, sell for as much as $14.95
each in Australia! And that the 5 and 20
micron pre-filters that
they paid $6.97 for at
Budget Marine in the
Eastern Caribbean,
cost $20 each in Australia.
“Had we known
such basic items were
going to be so expensive
in Oz, we would
have stocked up before
leaving New Zealand,”
they write.
Jeff Stander of the
Seattle-based Kelly-
Peterson 44 Beatrix,
currently in Bundaberg, Oz, has an
explanation. “Australia is a great place
with great people, but they’re still stuck
with the same archaic distribution system
of importer/distributor/retailer/end
user. It makes purchases ridiculously
slow and expensive." Stander writes
that marine supplies and other stuff are
often 50% to even 200% more expensive
in Australia than in the U.S.. But he’s
IN LATITUDES
Australia has a lot of things going for it — including
pile moorings in most rivers — but low
prices aren't among them.
figured out ways to work the system. For
instance, using the internet and eBay, he
was able to buy watermaker pre-filters
for less than the Rouses paid for them
in the Eastern Caribbean. He also has
marine stuff sent via U.S. Priority Mail
from Seattle to Bundaberg at the flat
rate of $51 for 20 pounds. It takes only
five business days, and can be tracked
San Diego Seminar
October 22
Downwind Marine
(see www.downwindmarine.com)
Solar/Battery
Charging Systems
October, 2009 • Latitude 38 • Page 159
LATITUDE/RICHARD