Saturday 28 October 2017
Sandringham
It took me a few days to recover from our trip home. It was a tiring, 10 day voyage. Not from tough weather but simply from 10 days of broken sleep, being on watch, regularly monitoring weather forecasts and frequently checking our course day and night to ensure we were navigating safely.
While cleaning and drying the boat from stem to stern, we have been reminiscing about our adventures over the past 6 months. We have so many wonderful memories, including the following highlights:
- Sharing tropical cruises to Lizard Island and around the Whitsunday islands with so many friends and family;
- Seeing amazing sea life, including swimming with turtles, snorkelling among tropical fish and colourful coral, and close encounters with whales at Bait Reef and around the islands;
- Participating in the spectacle of Hamilton Island Race Week, particularly winning the Prix d’Elegance and building the crew into a team and winning the final race of the regatta;
- Completing the long delivery voyages, experiencing non-stop travel day and night, after months of planning, preparation and training for the adventure;
- Soaking in a long shower to washed off all the salt, sweat and sunscreen after several days at sea;
- Retracing history by following the wakes of Cook and Flinders along the east coast of Australia;
- Basking in warm, sunny weather throughout winter; and
- Enjoying Happy Hour every afternoon with a drink and some nibbles while watching yet another beautiful sunset.
Of course, not all went according to plan, like the seaweed that wrapped around our propeller on the last day of our voyage home. Back in the marina I got a diver to cut away the seaweed and was stunned to find out it was as big as a bush (the photo below shows less than half the weed). Lucky it only slowed us down and didn’t stop us completely. There were other challenges during the last 6 months that I didn’t post in this log because some readers might have found them distressing—problems like equipment breaking, sails tearing, seas rough enough to make door handles and ceiling panels fall off, and windy nights when our anchor wouldn’t hold. None of them, however, was perilous and all were dealt with capably.
Things I won’t miss include:
- Complying with our strict 3-sheet rule (limiting toilet paper to prevent the boat’s toilets from blocking);
- Using the public showers at marinas; and
- Trying to create catchy headlines for blog posts.
Catherine and I are pleased that so many of our family and friends could join us. We had 60 visits, comprising 14 people in Sydney, 4 to and from Lizard Island, 11 for Hamilton Island Race Week and 31 around the Whitsunday islands. We hope you enjoyed your trips as much as we did sharing our adventure with you.
Of course, none of those cruises would have been possible if it were not for the 15 people who helped with the north- and south-bound deliveries. Our thanks to Dino, Andrew, and David who did several legs there and back, as well as Jane, Steve, BJ, Kylie, Paul, Lawry, George, Anne, Gigi, Leanne, Peter and Colin. You did a great job and we appreciate your efforts day and night regardless of the weather.
The other big thank you goes to Paul who inspired this voyage more than 2 years ago. His planning and organising made this ambitious project so much easier for us. It was not only reassuring to travel in tandem with Carpe Diem but also convenient to have her crew diligently catch our lines whenever we arrived in port.
Above all, my praise and appreciation goes to my best mate, Catherine. This trip would not have happened or been as much fun without her laudable contributions. She not only did a fantastic job organising provisions, preparing delicious meals and doing all the housekeeping, but also was a great hand sailing the boat, setting anchor, picking up moorings, going up the mast, leaping onto docks, servicing winches, driving the tender and many, many other tasks essential for keeping ship-shape. I can’t thank her enough for all that she did to make our cruise a happy, memorable adventure. I am so fortunate that she enjoys sailing as much as I do.
Catherine up the mast: that’s more than twice the height of our 2-story house!
Would we do it again? Definitely. We’ve already started planning our next voyages! Until then…
Débonnaire, out.
Debonnaire 