Working away in NZ

We've had some great weather during the last few weeks which has allowed us to finish numerous painting and varnishing projects. Many days have been in the 90's but comfortable and cool at night. Last week Peter removed the two fixed ports from the stern of the cabin, planning to permanently fiberglass over the openings. We awoke Friday morning to rain, and an impressive waterfall coming in under the blue tarp and into our saloon. We dried out and did a better taping job to cover the holes for the weekend. The weather is supposed to improve again Monday and we'll get to work with the glass lay up.
We had friends spend the night on board last night who have just sold their boat and are off to the South Island and beyond to travel before heading home. We enjoyed a nice evening with them and were all asleep when we awoke to a chemical smell at 1:30 in the morning. This type of thing usually happens when least convenient. We tracked the smell to the forepeak where we've stored a gas powered generator. About a quarter cup of gas had spilled, due to an error with the shutoff valve. As we pulled things out of the way to get the generator on deck Peter assured our guests that we had found the problem and everything would be resolved shortly. He then advised us that everyone should refrain from smoking!
It's amazing how long it takes for accumulated gas fumes to be exhausted from the boat with every port open and all the fans blowing. Maybe it just seemed we were smelling gas for hours because our noses were so inundated during the clean-up. So, the former crew of Tuscany made it safely off to the bus station, where they start on a long journey home to Hawaii, via Indonesia and India.