New Zealand in '93 with 67 boat drawings, then settled at Russell in the Bay of Islands near the boatyard for the duration. Not content with just watching their boat being built, they bought a house, became Kiwi citizens, travelled the country extensively, and learned how to sportfish. In his spare time, Steve worked on boat systems, mocking up the anchoring apparatus in the backyard and installing the watermaker on the side of the garage for testing. In her spare time, the adventurous Dorothy took the free training at St. John's Ambulance Society — and became a volunteer ambulance driver! Or, as they say in New Zealand, an 'ambo volly'. It turns out that 90% of the Kiwi ambulance drivers are volunteers. Besides each other, the Dardens have three interests — sailing, travelling, and their home. Since Adagio was to be an inherent part of all three, they demanded nothing but the finest. For example, when pieces of the boat were being laminated, an aerospace monitoring program was employed for quality control. All the cloth, hardner and resin for each job was
weighed, and then the waste was weighed, all to determine the exact weight as they went along. And records were kept of everything. Fortunately, Legge was into it. "One morning we came to the yard and saw the crew carrying a really giant vacuumbagged beam to the rubbish," remembers Steve. "When I asked Alan what was wrong, he said they'd checked a coupon for the filler, and it hadn't been mixed right, so they were throwing it away. A naval architect told me that most yards would have just painted over the mistake." No wonder the boat took so long to complete. She was finally launched in 2000. "She just jelled," says Dorothy. "She's perfect for our needs," says Steve. The planning and wait seem to have been worth it, as Adagio came out spectacular. The couple are particularly proud that she passes the 'pantyhose test'. You can wipe a pair of pantyhose on any surface in the boat — including the most remote and hidden areas — and they will never be snagged. The finish is that perfect. Becasue Adagio is the couple's fulltime home, they insisted on her being equipped with all the modern conveniences — 'mod-con's in Kiwi-speak — found in a home. Naturally, she's got air-conditioning and heating, a washer and a dryer, a dishwasher and dryer, an electric stove, two microwave ovens, a gelato-maker, electric toilets that use fresh water, a dimmer on all the lights, mattress warmers, a cinema-size computer screen — everything that you can imagine. "It's my favorite home ever," says Dorothy, "because we designed her exactly the way we wanted her, and because she was built so well. She's the culmination of all the ideas we collected over the years, and all our work with the builder to have them implemented. She gets us where we want to go safely and quickly, she's easy for the two of us to handle, she's very light inside, and she's easy to maintain. And I'm delighted with the 360° vista from the main salon-galley. We just love Adagio!" There was no skimping on the sailing equipment either. She has inside and outside helm stations, two 47-hp engines, two autopilots, two windlasses, roller furling headsails, an in-boom furling main, power winches — and you can even operate her with
a joystick from four locations around the boat! Not everything works right off on a complicated boat, of course. One of the bigger problems was the Rite Reef furling main. To solve the problems they were having reefing and furling it, Steve had something fabricated that looks just like a boom vang — but actually helps lift the boom just the right amount for furling the sail in any given wind condition. He calls it a 'hydraulic spring', and it utilizes compressed nitrogen and hydraulics. The one bit of boatbuilding that wasn't perfect was the M&M-designed 12-ft catamaran dinghy. The relatively new building technique didn't come out just right, so she's a little heavier than they'd hoped. Nonetheless, she's powered by a 25-hp outboard and easily does 30 knots even when loaded down with scuba gear. She also handles seas well. "It's an expedition dinghy," says Steve. Steve had a crane mounted on the arch in back, so the dinghy can be launched or retrieved easily without having to remove the outboard. Having launched the boat in New Zealand, the Dardens sailed around New Zealand a bit, over to New Caledonia, With the control lines led to one spot in the cockpit, and with the use of electric winches, Steve finds 'Adagio' easy to shorthand.
LATITUDE/RICHARD
LATITUDE/RICHARD
IN LATITUDES