Page 9 - September 2011

Thursday, 1st September 2011  -  Gladstone Marina to Redcliffe Island (The Narrows)

Hooray, hooray … my bites didn’t itch last night. 

Geoff went up to the tackle shop to buy some sardines for the new squid jig he had bought plus a few bits that he needed as spares at the chandlery.  He then washed the boat and we handed in the key and headed off for The Narrows about 11.15.  We had the tide against us by 2.5 knots so it was slow going but we were in no hurry as we had missed the tide for going through The Narrows.  We anchored off Redcliffe Island, just before The Narrows ready to go through in the morning. 

After some lunch Geoff put some new seals on the port fuel pump but it was still leaking.  This is what happens when you try to save money and buy a second hand one.  He has now temporarily bypassed the pump until we can get a new one. 

Centrelink at Bundy called and said they had made me an appointment at Mackay for the 26th.  Great.

We had crumbed Basa fillets for tea tonight which we had bought yesterday at the reduced price of 88¢ each.  What a bargain.

Friday, 2nd September 2011  -  Redcliffe Island to Pacific Creek

A reasonable night and sunny at the moment.  The forecast is for 30 knot winds and 3 metre seas tomorrow so we will stay at Sea Hill tonight as we don’t have enough time to make Great Keppel Island today as the tides are quite late to get through The Narrows.  We got through The Narrows with .4 metres to spare (probably a bit more as we think our depth sounder errs on the generous side) and still with 90 minutes to go to high tide.  A largish yacht followed us through and we wondered how he made it.  He did back off a couple of times though.  He must have made mud grooves in the bottom.  Once through, up when the sails and we were doing 6.5 to 7.2 knots with 1 knot current against us.  Geoff had to hand steer most of the way as the autohelm was finding the wind quite fickle.  With good winds and calm waters it lends itself to good sailing,.  A pity that the sea doesn’t stay calm in good winds, but them’s the breaks. 

We anchored in Pacific Creek in 6 metres.  Other boats came in after us and went back and forth, back and forth before anchoring only to up-anchor towards low tide when they found themselves too close to the bank.  There are areas here that the holding is not so good.  AND, we must have been on the edge of one as we found we were suddenly closer to the bank than we were so we also up-anchored and really dug the anchor in when we found another spot.  There’s not much room in the channel at low tide and the muddy banks are really steep in places.

  

Saturday, 3rd September 2011  -  Pacific Creek

The wind died overnight and we stayed in the one spot.  I still couldn’t sleep so I was up at 7.15.  A blowy and overcast day. We put the rods in and there were a few tinkles on the bells but nothing was caught. 

As it was a cool day we took the opportunity to defrost the freezer as it was getting quite iced up.  A good job done.  But, as at Pancake Creek, a nothing sort of day.  On went the generator and out came the laptops for the morning.  We also watched another yacht extradite itself from the mangroves after dragging.  We are still not sure if we are dragging as the wind and tide does strange things to the boat sometimes.  No, we are still in the same spot. 

Geoff spent the time taking the port fuel pump to pieces to see if he can buy spares for it.  He then went on the web to research it. 

Whilst he was doing that, I made up some meatballs for tea, did some crosswords, played games and read.  The normal things you do when you are sitting out the weather.  So far, apart from Lady Musgrave, the weather hasn’t been too crash hot!

Sunday, 4th September 2011  -  Great Keppel Island

Once again, the wind died overnight and the strong wind warning has been cancelled so we will probably leave today when the tide has risen a bit. 

Geoff cooked a bacon, cheese and tomato omelette for brekky which was great BUT I had to do the washing up and he always makes a mess. 

After brekky we got ready to leave.  When I was helping to take down the sail cover I slipped/tripped and fell from the seat area down into the cockpit.  Ouch.  I heard my neck go scrunch.  It had been sore for a few days and I actually think I may have fixed it when I fell.  But, I hit my elbow and hurt my arthritic thumb plus it knocked the wind out of me but no real damage, hopefully.  Thank goodness for padding!

We got going at 9am and by 10 am the engines were off and we were having a great sail at just over 6.5 knots with the wind averaging about 16 knots plus.  By 12.30 the wind had picked up to around 22 knots with some gusts of 25 knots so we were scooting along at around 7 knots with a max of 8 knots.  Nice but the seas were a little lumpy.  Still, you can’t have your cake and eat it and we were thankful for the great sail. 

We anchored at Svendsens Beach at 1.30 pm and had some lunch.  We saw that ‘Gotcha Again’ was still here so we put the dinghy in and headed on over and had coffee  with them.  We found they had bought the game of Mexican Train Dominoes.  They had rung their family and had asked them to bring it with them when they visited.  We then arranged that they come over after tea tomorrow night and we will attempt to teach them Carcassonne, but the basic version to start. 

We then went ashore and wandered up the beach and had a look at the beach kitchen that the Svendsen’s had put on for campers.  There are also a couple of permanent tents set up with all mod cons.  The Svendsen’s, Carl and Lindie, also supply breakfast which the campers cook themselves.  An interesting concept but Lindie said that they were not getting any promotion through the Rockhampton Tourism body, even thought they were members, as they are against the new development on GKI where the developer wants to put houses and roads in on the public land.  Apparently, for some reason,  the developer doesn’t want to re-develop the old resort  area which is zoned commercial.  This would make it more like Magnetic Island.  Time will tell who will win out.  The money or the people.

From here we walked over to the next beach to stretch our legs.  Unfortunately, I had the wrong shoes on and my Crocs wouldn’t stay on.  We trolled on the way back but to no avail.

Monday, 5th September 2011  -  GKI, Svendsens Beach

A bit of rain overnight but it is sunny now although a bit windy.  I’m not feeling 100% today.  I have felt a bit dizzy since I fell over and cracked my neck and I am wondering if it has affected my inner ear a bit which controls your balance.  It’s not my blood pressure as it is my normal low of normal but it is not nice.

First thing was to make a bread and whilst it was rising Geoff prepared the davits ready for painting.  As he was doing this his line took off and something took it right under the boat so he had to get in the dinghy to reel it in.  After all that it was only a large Stingray.  After this fun and games he put the 2pack undercoat on the davits and I did some cleaning so the place is not too much of a pigsty when Noni and Craig come over this evening.  I made some Cornflake Crackles that were more like cookies as I couldn’t find my silicone cases so they spread out a bit on the glad bake.  Still, they tasted just the same. 

By 3pm it was blowing hard with occasional rain.  We kept the radio on in case Noni and Craig said it was too nasty to visit but we still had an early tea, just in case.  But they did come and said it was much calmer where they had anchored.  So…. we drank wine, nibbled and then we showed them how to play the basic game of Carcassonne which they were just starting to grasp at the finish as it is not an easy game to learn.  But it is well worth learning!  They left about 9pm but were soon rowing back to us to get some outboard fuel.  Silly B’s, fancy not checking before you left!  They won’t do that again. 

Tuesday, 6th September 2011  -  GKI

Geoff sanded back the undercoat on the davits ready to put the top coats on after his coffee.  It is trying to be sunny today and the wind has dropped a tad.  Meanwhile, I must have spent a good 30 minutes scrabbling under my bed with my mattress on top of me looking for my silicone bake ware.  Not there!  So where was it?  Where I normally keep it, that’s where but I must have had a mans look as it didn’t jump out at me.  By this time I was quite dizzy again so I took half a stugeron tablet which is good for inner ear problems as well as seasickness.

About midday we received a very interesting phone call from a Joseph Dukes who owns a retirement village in Rockhampton.  This was the village that was run by Mary and Rob up till about 6 months ago and we had run the village next door.  He offered us the job of relief managers with the option of becoming permanent.  We know it is a lot of extremely hard work but the money he offered was ‘oh so good’.  About 5.5 times more each than we were getting with SCV and Garden Villages.  What to do?  Can we work that hard these days or will it kill us?  We will talk to Mary and Rob later.  I have emailed them for their phone number. 

Time to go ashore to stretch our legs, but stop on route to talk to Frank on ‘Moonshadow’.  We always seem to catch up with him here.  For those of you who don’t know, ‘Moonshaddow’ is also a Cloud 9 and we have met Frank many times in various anchorages up the coast. 

Onto Svendsens Beach and make our way up to see if Lindie was around.  No, she was in Rocky so we chatted to Carl.  We thought their little B&B Tent concept was very interesting and was worth an article so we will have to catch up sometime.  It may be tomorrow or it may be on the way back down.  Walking back to the dinghy we noticed that our dinghy wasn’t where we had left it but was floating off, but lazily.  We thought the tide had turned but, apparently, not quite.  Geoff stripped off his shorts and top but, oh dear, he hadn’t get any undies on.  Into the briny and retrieve the dinghy.  Luckily we had taken a small towel ashore with us so he was able to dry off and get dressed. 

Back to the boat and Mary and Rob rang and gave us a lot of information on the owner and the job.  After analysing what they told us we decided to knock it back as we thought the work load would ruin our health.  Sad, as the money was sooooo good, but we are not young any more.  If we were younger by twenty years we would probably have jumped at it. 

Wednesday, 7th September 2011  -  GKI

Geoff rang Joseph Dukes to let him know we wouldn’t be taking the job.  ‘Gotcha Again’ went past and we arranged to play Carcassonne again tonight.  Frank came over to look at our repair job on the front deck as he needs to repair his as well.  He stayed till 11.30.  After Frank left, we up anchored and made our way into the next bay for a few hours.  We had a look at the coral through the bathescope and it was in fairly good condition.  Apparently, the coral around the other side closest to the Fitzroy River is all dead from the freshwater of the floods in December/January.  We then went ashore and explored and Geoff climbed the rocky cape and said you could see right back to The Narrows and to Yeppoon.  He took photos, of course.  I found a bit of shade and built a sandcastle while I waited for him.  When Geoff came back ‘Gotcha Again’ arrived so we popped by for a coffee before leaving them to it as they wanted to try out their hooker underwater breathing machine again.  We headed back to Svendsens Beach and anchored a bit further in but not by much as we didn’t have the depth.  We found out later that there is a sandbank in the middle of the anchorage and it gets a little deeper inshore as there is a bit of a gutter. 

About 6.30 pm Noni and Craig came over and we had another game of Carcassonne but this time including the farmers and a few extras.  I won but it was hardly a proper game as we were still giving them a fair bit of help as they tried to get their heads around it.  Drinks, nibbles and good company and they left around 9.30 pm.

Thursday, 8th September 2011  -  GKI, Leekes Creek (the Lagoon)

 I didn’t sleep much last night as something was banging and I couldn’t find out what it was. Whatever it was, I was up at 6am as there is a high tide of 3.3 metres today and we are making our way into the lagoon as there are some strong NW winds forecast.  I think a tide of 3.3 would be as low as you would want for us to go in.  Frank says you can go in at 2.8 metres but he has a better draught then us as he is lighter.  We are just past the neap tides so the tides will be getting higher each day giving us a few days before we have to worry about getting out on the tide again.  After we were happy with our spot I winched Geoff up the mast so he could put the belt back on the radar.  He had a good look this time and found the bearing was loose and worn.  I was sent down below to find Allen keys, pliers etc to send up to him.  He moved the bearing around so the less worn side was being used plus he put in a bit of packing in place to keep it in place.  It is now working fine so let’s see if it lasts.  When we were high and dry, Geoff dug in the main anchor and put in a stern anchor and we will winch ourselves forward a bit more when the tide comes in again.  Then we will be quite flat at low tide. 

Time for some exercise so we slathered ourselves with insect repellent and climbed down the

 swim steps onto the sand and wandered out into the bay.  We saw that ‘Rainbow Dreaming’ (another Cloud 9) was anchored in the bay.  We then went for a 45 minute walk.  When we got back Geoff walked even further as he wandered right up the side creek bed that was currently dry.  He said there was a large anchor and chain up there.  He said the chain was very rusty but the anchor would be okay if you needed one in a hurry but too heavy for our boat.  When he returned we relaxed with a cuppa.  I suddenly heard a hello, which made me jump, and it was Frank who had walked in from over the other beach.  He was also coming in this morning but said it was nice and cosy in bed and his back was not hurting, for a change, so that is where he stayed.  He said he will come in this afternoon around 5pm.  Apparently the trimaran ‘Monsoon’ is also coming in. 

After this we decided to make some bread.  We decided to attempt some bagels as we had seen them cooked on TV the previous day and they looked really interesting.  You make them as normal and cut them into 8 pieces and let them rise.  Then you roll them into sausages and make them up in rings (donut shapes).  Then you boil them for a minute each side, drain them, let them dry a tad,  Put the toppings on them bake then as normal.  Very fiddly and they looked lovely when they came out of the oven but they were not as light as I expected but were really crispy on the outside.  Yes, we would do them again.  We gave one to Frank once he was in and settled.  Monsoon has arrived as well.  Later, Geoff went off to see if there were any prawns around but there weren’t any.

Friday, 9th September 2011  -  GKI, the lagoon

It is just past noon and the weather is as benign as it can be.  Where are these 25/30 knot NW winds?  Coming, I suppose. 

We have both been busy this morning with Geoff cleaning the last bit of marina grime from off under the hulls.  He has also done some preliminary work for a new fitting in the head area.  George, from Monsoon, wandered over introduced himself (he also knows Lesley and Allan on Gypseastwo) and had a cuppa and a couple of slices of apple slice which were still a bit warm.  Frank wandered by and gave Geoff a quick hand with the through hull fitting for the sink and I gave him a couple of slices of the Apple Slice to take with him.  I am also a bit concerned the freezer is not getting cold enough so I took out the bags of meat and put them back in individual packs to allow the air to flow round them a bit more. It is possible it is starting to need re-gassing which we will have done when we are next back in Bundy.  I also cooked up two bags of prawns that didn’t seem to be completely frozen but I was still not happy with them so they are now bait.  Geoff now has the genny on and is sanding something, ah, the rubbing strip ready for painting.  The NW winds never did arrive but a strong SW wind came through mid afternoon.  We had tied off to the mangroves one side and had a stern anchor out the other side in readiness for whichever wind came first.  Then, by 9pm, it was dead calm again.

Saturday, 10th September 2011  -  GKI, The Lagoon

The wind started up around 4am, I guess, and has been blowing quite hard in here since and is probably much stronger outside.  We saw that a lot of boats had moved from Svendsens to Leekes Beach to have a better anchorage in a SW wind.  A 30 ft  trailer sailer came in on high tide and anchored right in the entrance.  We were on our way to the beach outside and stopped to chat and We told him it got very shallow where he had anchored but he had a retractable keel so would be okay.  Mind you, if anyone else wants to get in or out they would have trouble with him just off the entrance.  We then motored out of the lagoon and saw that ‘Gotcha Again’ and ‘ Rainbow Dreaming’ were also anchored in the bay.  All the boats seem snug enough although the guys on the trailer sailer said it was blowing 30 knots out there.  The most we are getting in the lagoon is 15 knots and often much less so we are ‘as snug as a bug in a rug’.  We ventured out a bit but I didn’t like it as we was too rough, too cold, too wet as I was getting drenched.  (Geoff uses me as a wind and rain protector).  Back to 2Abreast for some porridge.  George and Razz wandered by at low tide so George had another cuppa and cake and Razz had about four biscuits.  Frank also wandered by and asked how long the trailer sailer was staying as he was blocking the entrance but we had no idea.  Geoff and Frank then decided they would measure 2Abreast’s width as Frank said ours looked wider than his.  Nope, both are the same although our water line is higher as we are heavier with all of our ‘liveaboard’ junk on board.  Geoff then sanded off the starboard side of the boat , taped it up and put the undercoat on although he did say it was a bit windy to do so.  I worked on my laptop for a while and did a few bits and pieces.  After he had applied the undercoat Geoff worked on one of the front lockers which had a little hole in the inner shell from where the spare anchor has rubbed  it a bit.

Sunday, 11th September  -  GKI, The Lagoon

It is the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 today and we see, according to the TV, that everyone is on tender hooks over there.

After bacon and eggs, Geoff went up the front to work on the front locker again.  He got it done but has now run out of glue.  Then he saw some fish around the back of the boat and put the rods in and caught a small Bream which he was going to use for bait.  I pleaded its case as I said we had heaps of bait in the freezer, with all of those ‘iffy’ prawns.  So he lived to see another day.  Then we caught a Puffer fish and then a Stingray and both of those lived, of course.  Geoff then sanded back the undercoat and put on two coats of the top coat.  It is supposed to be 25 knot winds today but I think they may have already passed as there’s hardly a breeze in here. We will leave here tomorrow morning and anchor outside ready to take off on Monday after I have done my online Centrelink stuff.  Time for me to be a bit constructive so I decided to make up some caramel popcorn.  Later we went over the beach and down the sand dune coming out opposite Monsoon.  As I was scrambling down the dune something caught my eye and it was a huge  water rat swimming in the shallow channel.  At the same time Razz, Monsoon’s black lab, saw us and decided to come over to greet us.  Her also saw Mr Water Rat and a chase ensued with my yelling out ‘Razz, leave it”, and to my shock, he did!  We then wandered over to have a chat with George and Frank before going back to the boat.  On dusk, two quite small trailer sailers came in and said it was very lumpy out there for them as the wind had shifted to the north.  We are, as usual, worried about the freezer as it seems to be staying on and consuming a lot of power.  We fiddled with the thermostat knob and timed the cut in and outs and, eventually, got it so it would cycle.  Hooray. 

Monday, 12th September 2011  -  GKI, Leekes Beach

I woke up a couple of times and checked the freezer, sometimes it was on and other times not and the temperature was good so I breathed a sigh of relief. We got up at 7.30 and had a coffee then Geoff got the rope and stern anchor in and we slowly made our way out of the lagoon.  Luckily the trailer sailer was gone out of the entrance.  We anchored at Leekes Beach and Geoff got his plumbline out and measured our depth from the waterline as we thought our depth sounder was out.  Yes it was so we then adjusted it to read correctly.  Geoff then did some fishing and got a really big bite that he played for a while until it broke the line.  Then nothing!  I cooked a date loaf and, once it was cooked and cooling, we went ashore for a walk.  Frank soon caught us up (he’s older than us but much fitter, it puts me to shame) and he was walking to the resort.  We walked part of the way with him, about half way, but it was much too far for my feet.  We climbed to the top of a hill and looked at the resort from the top, checked out the rocks for oysters (yuk) and then walked back to the dinghy.  By this time it was getting overcast.  Had some lunch and a bit of date loaf and relaxed whilst watching a one legged seagull try to land on our dinghy.  The only other place I have seen a lot of one legged seagulls is in Santa Monica, USA where the seals often take off a seagulls leg.  Beautiful sunset.

Tuesday, 13th September 2011  -  GKI to Pearl Bay

Up at 0545 and do my Centrelink reporting then ‘anchors aweigh’ and leave at 0610, so a good early start.  The wind was nearly right up our bum, of course, so we had both sails gull winged.  We were not really sure where we were heading for, apart from north, as it all depended on our speed.  It was either Freshwater Bay, Port Clinton or Pearl Bay.  Within the hour we were sailing well and averaging 5.5 to 6 knots and often doing over 7 knots.  If we keep these speeds up our destination will be Pearl Bay.  By 1030 we had an average speed of 6.8 knots which is very good for us as we are not a fast boat.  The winds are blowing between 19 to 22 knots.  The seas area moderate+ with many white tops and breaking waves.  Geoff had to hand steer a lot of the time as the occasional large wave gave the autohelm a hard time.  The seas north of Port Clinton were quite large and we did a fair amount of surfing on our part.  Then just before coming into Pearl Bay we had some nasty, nasty high waves and it was not nice at all.  So, in with the spinnaker pole (which was holding the headsail out), in with the headsail, on with the engines and surf, surf, surf in the following sea.  It wasn’t for long and we were soon anchored at 2.30 pm, then up anchored and moved in more to get out of the side swell as I had made a boo boo (yes, I do make them occasionally) and had told Geoff it was coming up to high tide instead of low so we had more water beneath us to play with.  After a bite to eat Geoff decided to have a nap as he was a bit tired after all the hand steering.  I snoozed a bit too.  We then put the rods in… ever hopeful.  ?Something was down there but we kept losing our bait but we never saw what it was. 

After dinner we put the genny on to boost the power as we hadn’t had the engines on much today.  Geoff dangled the light over the water to try and attract any fish or squid. I couldn’t help myself and smothered myself in insect repellent and soon joined him but we were only catching small stripeys. 

Scrabble and I won again  …  he’s getting sulky!!!!!!

Wednesday, 14th September 2011  -  Pearl Bay

A good night and a fair amount of rain.  I did catch some of the rain but missed out on most of it as I couldn’t be bothered getting up.  It is overcast today with the occasional shower, some sun and not too cold.

After brekky Geoff went off in the dinghy to try his luck at fishing and I put the rod in off the back of the boat.  Whoosh and off it went from one side of the boat to the other.  I had to carefully manoeuvre the rod across the back davits then slowly reel him in.  It was a shark about .7 metres long.  I got him up to the back of the boat then had no idea what to do with him as I wasn’t going to touch him.  I tried to get Geoff’s attention but to no avail.  So I left him on the line just in the water where, of course, he regained his strength and took off again and this time breaking the line. Geoff came back a few minutes later, also empty handed and with a broken line.  Before going out fishing again Geoff made up a bread which I then stuffed up.  As it was not a warm day I had put the oven on and placed the bread on top to rise.  I should have turned the oven off and used the residual heat but I didn’t so when he went to knock it back it had started to cook in places and was quite lumpy.  We cooked it anyway and it was a bit lumpy in parts but the parts that were not lumpy were very nice indeed. 

After lunch we went ashore for a walk and met up with Kerry and Brett from Yeppoon who were  on a sloop anchored near us.  Further up the beach we met a young couple off a sloop called ‘Boris’ (we like that name) who were on their way up to the Whitsundays for three months.  Then another couple (men) came along and were off the sloop ‘Cleopatra’.  These guys were on their way back from the Gloucester Passage, below Bowen, and had been up there for the
August Shag Island Cruising Club Re-union.  I believe Lindsay and Di from FiddlerV1 were there at the time and had a great time.  It costs $40 a year to join and has a little recent history attached to it.  Apparently, if you were a member of some of the better yacht clubs in Oz you got reciprocal rights in the UK and Europe.  Now, as everybody knows, the UK yacht clubs are a bit snooty and didn’t like the fact that the ‘great unwashed’ could come over and use their exclusive clubs.  So … they made a rule that only vice commodores and up could have reciprocal rights thus the Shag Island Cruising Club was formed.  Everyone who joins comes in at the rank of Vice Commodore and everyone is member No 10 and you can be vice commodore of any little part of the Oz coast, such as Pinetrees Point or anywhere.  This worked for a couple of months and was only a bit of fun but the club has since flourished.  The first year there were 17 members that met at the Gloucester Passage (where the Shag Island is located), the next year it was over 170 and this year there were over 350 and they all managed to fit on the small sand spit off the island!  We may join as it sounds fun. 

Going to the beach and back to 2Abreast we had a troll but didn’t catch anything so I think we are going to starve soon!  So, tonight we are having the rest of the shark fillets in the freezer from Pancake Creek.  So it was beer battered fish, chips, tomatoes and peas and very nice it was too!

Thursday, 15th September 2011  -  Pinetrees Point, north of Island Head Creek

Well, we’re off again.  We thought we might try Pinetrees Point which is just north of Island Head Creek as Terry and Brett said it was very beautiful there and the weather is benign.  Alas, there is no wind so we are motoring.  At least the batteries are getting a charge.  We anchored at 11 am in the first day anchorage for some lunch and a fish.  What a pretty little spot in good weather.  Geoff went off fishing and came back with a large Stripey and a Parrot fish.  He said he got a lot of bites but kept losing them as they dived below and into crevasses and coral.  He has convinced himself that they were Coral Trout!  We left there just after 2 pm and 30 minutes later we were anchored in the next bay which was noted as the Pinetrees Point overnight anchorage.  And what a little gem this bay is and it doesn’t get many visitors with Island Head Creek being just around the corner.  At low tide there is this huge wide stretch of sand which the Noel Patrick book says you could land an airliner on, and you could.  Just on the east side of the bay there is a large cave which you can get to at low tide so this is the first spot we explored.  Lots of sand flies here so we didn’t linger.  Just over the sandbank that exposes at low tide was a wide, mangrove lined creek.  We guessed it was possible, at a spring tide, to get 2Abreast into the creek and take the sand.  Not that it would be a good thing as this bay is part of the Shoalwater Bay Defence Force training area and often gets closed during exercises.  You are not allowed above the high water mark here due to unexploded ordnance, if there really is any.  Anyway, we wandered up this creek at low tide so we were below the water line.  Part way up the creek was this massive rock that had, obviously, come down from the cliff above.  It must have been quite a while ago as there was an abundance of oysters growing at its base.  We walked further up the creek for a way and then walked back and along the beach to investigate another creek at the western end.  We didn't penetrate this creek far and then wandered back to the dinghy.  It was fun launching the dinghy in the surf and Geoff says “Quick” but “quick’ is not a word that relates to me so I soon, as normal, got swamped by a wave and ended up in the bottom of the dinghy.  As I was expecting this to happen to me I wasn’t too daunted by it.  Geoff pushed us off into deeper water and started the outboard and cough, splutter, chug chug.  Oh dear! It wasn’t a lack of fuel so Geoff thought it might be a bit of dirt in the carburettor.  Start it again and coax it to slowly take us back to 2Abreast.  Once onboard Geoff drained it and its going ok but we will check it before going too far next time.  Fish Curry for tea.

Page 12 - December 2011

Thursday, 1st December 2011  -  Great Keppel Island in the lagoon

Up early and no hangover so I couldn’t have been too bad last night.  Mind you, I can’t remember the last time I had a hangover. 

After a cuppa Geoff gave the water line a last minute rub off and spray with fresh water.  Once it was dry I taped the edges up with the help of Dion who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Geoff followed behind with the small roller and just anti fouled the waterline and the rudders as that is all the antifoul paint he had left.  It had time to dry before the tide came in and then we all went over to ‘Catina’ for morning tea.  This was to say farewell as they were heading off to Yeppoon to meet up with family who were house sitting for a couple of weeks.  They left just after 1 pm on the rising tide.  I wonder if/when we will ever see them again? 

Back to 2Abreast where I was able to use the salt water tap in the galley again and wash and clean up.  It was then on with the genny to do some computer work. 

Before the tide started to drop again a Wharram cat came in to join us, taking ‘Catina’s’ spot.  The boat was called ‘Mai’ with Laz, and wife Sandy and 4 year old onboard. 

Friday, 2nd December 2011  -  GKI, lagoon

We are in for some strong winds over the next week and there is a strong wind warning current.  We had quite a few strong gusts come through overnight and Dion said one really strong one tugged at his anchor chain and they actually bounced off the bottom when the tide was just enough for them to almost float.  David from ‘Jindivik’ turned up once the tide had started to come in and was trapped on the beach side of the lagoon.  He had got up early and walked to the resort at low tide to get some supplies.  Geoff went over to pick him up and take him back to his boat.  The rest of the morning was computer stuff again.  It is something to do when the tide is in and we can’t walk over to the other boats and socialise.  We really didn’t do much today.  We both worked on the computers.  Geoff went off fishing again but came back empty handed. 
Once he was back he printed off some more business cards and then made a bypass pipe so that he could empty my under bed water tank into the starboard keel tanks. When we get a side swell when on anchor the water sloshes back and forth and keeps me awake. This means we will empty the keel tank first & then transfer my tank over.  Quite windy outside, apparently, but not in here.

 Saturday, 3rd December 2011  -  GKI, lagoon

Still windy and it looks a bit like rain.  We played Carcassonne again and, Blow me Down, I won again!  Geoff went over to ‘Ngkala’ and borrowed some movies from Merv and spent most of the afternoon copying the ones we wanted.  I went on the web to check out the story lines so we didn't’ waste any time copy the ones that were not to our taste.  He finished copying them about 6 pm when we went over to the beach to stretch our legs.  Apart from that another lazy day with nothing to report.

Sunday, 4th December 2011  -  GKI, lagoon

We are still here.  Geoff checked the U-grib weather files today as we have now been sitting in here seven days.  But, it is still forecast for 33+ knot winds until the end of the week.  It really isn’t very windy in here at all and it gives you a very false sense of the weather conditions.  So, once again, we just fiddled about.  George and Razz wandered by at one point and Geoff tried to encourage Razz to put his front paws on bottom step of our back transom steps for a photo.  Razz got the message wrong and did one massive leap, over a metre, and landed on the top of the small bottom step and managed not to slip back off. Oh well done!  So then George came on for a cuppa and a yarn. 

Once they left Geoff made a new loaf of bread which came out well.  After it was out and cooling we headed off in the dinghy to go up to the actual lagoon in the hope of filling up some water containers for me to do some washing.  We were about an hour too early as the tide had not come in enough for us to get close to shore where the water tank was.  So back to the boat for a game of Scrabble and Sequence and Geoff won both of them.  Then back to the lagoon.  The tide was still not in enough but it was much closer to shore so Geoff got out to tow the dinghy the last few yards.  Luckily he was watching where he put his feet as he very nearly trod on a very large stingray.  It was close enough to have been a bit of a shock.  It was in water that was only about 300 ml deep so it made quite a muddy mess when it shot off across the top of the water at full speed.  Geoff said it was as close as you would want to get.  I think he nearly levitated.  When we got to the tank we found that it had a new fitting, hose and tap so we needn’t have brought along the shifter.  The containers were soon full and we were heading back. 

At 5pm we headed over to the beach but first going to visit a new cat that had come in and to tell them we were meeting on the beach for a drink and also to tell them to dig their anchor in well where they were as boats often dragged there.  On the beach we enjoyed everyone’s company, a nice illegal fire and partook of a Cray that Dion had caught earlier.  Very nice too.

Monday, 5th December 2011  -  GKI, lagoon

I was quite industrious this morning as I had put some clothes in soaker overnight.  I would guess it was a normal washing machine load so it was quite an effort.  The soaker had done most of the job but I still needed to give some a bit of a scrub.  Then two rinses.  The wringing out of the clothes is what is hard on my arthritic thumbs so Geoff did the final wring for me and handed them to me to hang up.  It is all now drying on the back deck but will take longer to dry than normal as they haven’t been spun dry and are wetter than usual.  Geoff then made a bread for George and Dave to share and it came out well as usual.  When the bread was out and cooling I made up a batch of ginger cookies, washed up and then relaxed.  Geoff had been on the computer during the time I was making the cookies and making up a few more tiles for the Carcassonne game.  By nightfall most of the clothes were reasonably dry, even though it had started to rain.  Geoff did a bit of fishing and they were biting but he kept losing his bait.  Never mind.  Nice sunset.

 Tuesday, 6th December 2011  -  GKI, lagoon

It was quit windy overnight so it must be very strong outside.  We are starting to run out of things to do but I’m sure we will find something to occupy our day.  I mended one of Geoff’s shirts so that was one thing but it didn’t take very long at all.  Another overcast and showery day.  So, it was time to make up some pumpkin soup as the pumpkin was starting to look a little manky on the outside.  I had just finished blending it when there was a hello from outside.  Blow me down if it wasn’t Helen and Buddy from the Adams sloop ‘Desire’ who we had met at the Port Bundaberg Marina in 2008 when we had just arrived from Gladstone.  We had let their daughter use our internet to get her university results.  We invited them onboard, along with their friend, for a cuppa and some ginger nut cookies and they stayed for a while and only left when the tide was coming in and as they needed to wade across the creek to the bay where their boat was anchored.  I then finished off the soup, added the cream and we had some for a late 3pm lunch.  Dion then popped by for a chat and then Merv turned up with Kevin from the boat ‘Scorpio’.  We had met Kevin earlier in the year when they had also survived the Burnett River floods so we had an immediate bond with him.  Once everyone left I prepared the Chilli Beef and bacon and left it on simmer to ensure the meat was tender.  By this time the day was almost gone. And we had been wondering what we were going to get up to.  Geoff rang Owen for a chat.  Later, after dinner, he beat me at Scrabble again.

Wednesday, 7th December 2011  -  GKI, lagoon

 Oh boy, did it rain last night!  We collected 65 litres of water and we could have caught more if we had got up in the middle of the night and emptied the containers into the tank.  We could probably have filled up completely.  Karl Svenssen, who lives on GKI, had 192 ml in his rain gauge overnight of which 164 ml was collected in three and a half hours.  The dinghy was really full as we couldn’t take the bung out and our crocs (plastic shoes) and the nearly empty fuel can was floating.  Geoff was soon trying to devise a way to empty it as it was taking too long with an ice cream container.  Plus it is sand fly heaven out there at the moment after all the rain.  Not nice. 

After he had finished, we listened to the Rocky Met weather forecast and it is really complicated and all over the place, especially in this local area.  Geoff was thinking of going out of the lagoon but has decided to stay as better safe than sorry.  Kevin on ‘Scorpio’ was anchored outside and we heard him on the radio saying that  he was watching a yacht that had left .  He said he could see almost see the side of one keel as it keeled over so far and he said they were now returning so things must be pretty gnarly out there.  The seas are forecast up to 3 metres but the swell, which is coming from a different direction, is almost as big.  The weather forecast is ‘up in the air’ for the next few days as it all depends on whether a trough will develop off Curtis Island at Gladstone.  So we will sit here and see.  Today the creek is a muddy red colour with all the soil that has been washed down overnight.  I shall have to collect some salt water for washing on the incoming tide.  Dion and Yui left this morning for The Narrows and then Gladstone to meet up with a friend.  He said it was not so bad but then he has a 13.5 metre catamaran that can handle these type of conditions.  With the some of the water from the dinghy I did some undies washing and by this time it was a warm and sunny day.  I then made up some fishcakes and we had the rest of the pumpkin soup for lunch.  Because of the rain it had turned quite humid … phew! 

About 5 pm, once the tide had risen enough, we went out to the bay in the dinghy to wander along the sand to stretch our legs and to get off the boat.  Once we got back I cooked the fishcakes for tea and they were the best I had made to date.  Maybe it was because I  had used instant potato in them which I can make a lot dryer. 

Thursday, 8th December 2011  -  GKI, lagoon

It looks like we will be leaving here tomorrow as the forecast is starting to look better.  It is still a bit windy at the moment and a sunny day.  Geoff decided we should walk to the resort this morning for a bit of exercise and to get off the boat.  He was kind to me and we went by dinghy to the western end of Leekes Beach, which took about 15 minutes, to the start of the walking track which takes you over a low saddle.  The first part of the track was a bit of an upward scramble before it evened out and then started downhill again.  This section also took about 15 minutes which doesn’t sound long, but it was a very hot and humid day so it took it out of you.  Once off the track we walked along the beach, crossed a small creek and then found a track that took us into the resort area of the island.  Only parts of this area were still open.  There were still some well maintained cabins open, a café/bar, a gift shop and a pizza place that only opened Thurs, Friday and Saturdays.  We both had a milk shake at the café and spoke to a couple who were staying in the cabins.  Apparently, they were the only guests there and were enjoying the peace and quiet.  The only other people on the island were day trippers, as far as we could make out, and a few workers.  We wandered up to the gift shop with the intention of buying some more personal bug spray but, at more than double the price at the mainland supermarket, we gave it a miss.  We walked further along and came to the closed resort which had a chain link fence all around it and looked derelict and very drab.  The whole place, except for the cabins and café had an air of neglect about it and we found it very sad.  On the way back we bumped into Kevin and Melanie from ‘Scorpio’ and they wandered back to the beach with us as we chatted away.  We all walked through the backpacker resort which consisted of strong tent type rooms.  These were also abandoned and would never be saved as the rats etc gnawed their way through.  At least now we now know what it all looks like these days.  If it wasn’t for the day trippers the surviving businesses would all go broke. 

We said goodbye (for now) to Kevin and Melanie and made our way back along the beach, scramble up and over the saddle and get in the dinghy and back to the lagoon.  The tide was too low for us to get the dinghy back to our boat so we secured the dingy next to ‘Jindivik’ and walked the rest of the way.  By this time my hips were aching (lack of exercise), my arthritic right foot was swollen and my left foot, the one that I had the operation on, was cramping in spasms.  This getting old sucks!  I rested for a while with a cold drink then made toasted sandwiches for lunch and then collapsed again.  Apparently, the three cats are all going out tomorrow with the two tri’s and mono’s staying.  David popped bye to say goodbye and then Merv popped by as well to do the same thing.  Geoff went off to say goodbye to George and Razz and to retrieve the dinghy and to also dig the stern anchor out a bit for ease of pulling it up tomorrow. 

Friday, 9th December 2011  -  The Narrows to Gladstone

Merv on ‘Ngkala’ left just after 6am so I got up to make some coffee.  Geoff retrieved the side rope attached to the mangroves and then let out a little more anchor chain so we could fall back a little and retrieve our stern anchor.  We then up anchored and carefully made our way out of the lagoon.  We were not sure if we were going to head for Cape Capricorn or The Narrows as it all depended on the wind direction.  For the first part of the passage both routes were on the same track so we had time to make up our minds.  It was very choppy as we went round the top end of GKI but much better when we left it behind.  We decided to head for The Narrows as we could sail there and the route to Cape Capricorn had the wind almost directly on our nose.  We had the current against us but still averaged 5 knots.  We are hoping to get through The Narrows as early as we can tomorrow and, with luck, make it down to Pancake Creek in the one hit.  On route we got a call from Dion and they are already on their way to Pancake today so we will miss them.  We had a good sail on the second leg of the trip and anchored at 2.30 pm just before the start of the shallow part of The Narrows.  After lunch we played Carcassonne and I WON again!  That is three wins in a row … unheard off!

Saturday, 10th December 2011  -  To Pancake Creek

Up at 5 am and head off through The Narrows at 6.30 am.  Just after we were through the shallowest part the oil alarm went off on the port engine.  What the????  I took the helm and Geoff went to check.  There was oil everywhere and, at first, he thought he had blown a seal.  Then he felt really silly as he realised that he had forgotten to put the cap back on when he checked the oil last.  I stayed on the helm the rest of the way through The Narrows whilst he cleaned the mess up and refilled the engine oil.  He then turned on the engine and ‘blow me down’ if he didn’t forget again.  He had to take a few gibes from me about Dementia setting in.  He cleaned the engine up (it wasn’t so bad the second time) so that it didn’t bake on and left a lot of it for later.  By this time we were coming up to Graham Creek so I handed over the helm and went below to clean up the walls, generator, vac cleaner, ceiling and the instrument panel where it had all sprayed up.  Bumma but never mind as these things happen. 

By this time we were well and truly into the harbour and, Boy, is it busy???  Tankers, barges and dredges everywhere.  Plus a pipeline or two that floats out from the dredge and then disappears under the water.  Geoff said it was really difficult to know what route to actually take.  There are large floating containers being used as buoys that you have to miss as well.  ARGHHHH!!!!! 

The speed log wasn’t working correctly as it showed we had a 2 knot current against us even though we were going with the tidal current.  We had thought it was playing up for a few days as it often showed currents against us that should not have been.  Geoff got the manual out and pressed some buttons and then we lost all the readings.  Manuals, being what they are, are never easy to fathom out and no matter what we did we couldn’t get anything to come up.  I took the manual and read through it and then saw a small paragraph saying that you could not do any calibrations if it was set to a repeater.  We managed to find the set of instructions to find this and, it was indeed, set as a repeater (whatever that meant).  Once we had turned off the repeater mode all the readings came back.  Phew! 

Once we left the Gladstone port area the wind was now mostly on the beam around 15 knots and we practically flew along.  We had one really choppy area but not for long and we got into Pancake Creek right on low tide so we carefully inched our way in through the channel leaving all the deep keelers anchored in the outside anchorage.  They were waiting for the tide to rise enough before they came in.  ‘Catini’ called us just before we went in as they had not been into Pancake Creek before and wondered if they would be able to get in at low tide.  As they draw less than us we said yes and gave them a call once we were safely anchored and they arrived about 45 minutes late. 

By this time the sky was getting very grey with the rumble of thunder in the distance.  It had also got quite windy and the wind genny was getting a good work out.  I put down the canvas sides and Geoff cleaned up the mess in the engine bay.  Hamish, from VMR Gladstone, called as he was not sure if we had logged off or not but we had.  I think it might just have been a reason to touch base with us.  Passing through we have caught up with Jim and Kay on the radio for VMR Gladstone.  Maybe next time we can stop and catch up in person.

Sunday, 11th December 2011  -  To Burnett River, Burnett Heads

Up at 5 am again  -  yawn  -  as we have a 64 nm passage ahead of us.  ‘Catini’ left just before us with another cat in front of them, all heading for Bundaberg.  When we first started off there was no wind to speak of.  We had the headsail poled out and by 10 am the wind had increased but right up our bum.  We debated whether to put up the Spinnaker but the wind gusted to 18 knots occasionally and we were making over 5.5 knots so we left it and said we would see what the wind did.  By midday the winds were up around the 20 knot area and the seas were building so we were really moving along again.  We then heard on the radio that there was an updated weather forecast for severe thunderstorms, flash flooding and damaging winds and it was all up the Qld coast.  I went on the BOM site and watched the radar as one of the thunderstorm cells tracking towards Bundaberg, hoping we would miss it.  We reefed the headsail and took in the trolling lines as a precaution.  For the last couple of hours Geoff had to hand steer as the waves were coming on the port quarter and twisting the boat more than the autohelm could handle.  Then the winds became too light but the seas were still high with a swell with white caps but, luckily, no breaking waves.  I checked the radar again and that storm cell was right over Bundaberg just as we were coming in the leads for the Burnett River.  As we came in we had thunder and lightning all around us but, thank goodness, no strong winds which was a blessing.  Geoff decided to anchor in the Burnett Heads Harbour, commonly known as the ‘Duck Pond’ and we made sure our anchor was well and truly dug in. By this time the rain had hit us and Geoff came back in as a drowned rat.  But this could have hit us when we were out at sea so it was nice that it held off until we were safely anchored.  It is always a relief to get anchored.  When we left Pancake Creek this morning there was no indication of how the weather would eventually evolve.  So we made a cuppa and relaxed, or so we thought, until we had a close lightning strike followed instantly by a loud clap of thunder which vibrated the boat and made us levitate.  We decided it was directly overhead and the lightning strike very close.  (We found out later from the lady at IGA that it had hit the road near where we were anchored).  I had already put the laptops, phones and GPS in the oven for safety and unplugged everything I could find.

Monday, 12th December 2011  -  Duck Pond, Burnett Heads

A reasonable night once the storm had gone on its merry way.  We collected 50 litres of water in about 30 minutes and we could have collected double that if we had put the other rain catcher up.  I rang Midtown Marina and they have found a berth for us so we will head up there tomorrow.  We then rang Owen to say we were back and he said he would come down and we could go for a coffee this afternoon.  For a while we watched a guy para-surfing and he seemed very good at it. 

We then went ashore and wandered up to IGA in hot and now humid conditions and stocked up on a few niceties but not necessities .  Things like soft white bread and real milk!  We then wandered back again.  We hadn’t been back long when Owen called so, after about five minutes, we headed ashore and got there just as Owen and Mia arrived.  We called Mia and she got really excited but confused and ran down the wrong way and then couldn’t work out how she could get back to us.  When she eventually made her way to us there was a lot of crying and whimpering  and cuddles.  When we got to Owen’s car there was a little surprise for us.  Sitting on the front seat was this tiny 8 week old fluff ball.  A Shitzu/Maltese cross called Fee.  It was Maryanne’s and they had bought her from the Shalom Market two weeks prior.  Lots of cuddles, kisses and licks again.  From there we went into Burnett Heads for a coffee.  Maryanne was down in Brisbane with her daughter.  We stayed for quite a while chatting and cuddling Fluff Ball and Mia and found out that Owen and Maryanne had bought a bigger caravan and car to tow it as well.  So, they have been busy since we left in August.  Owen dropped us back to the ramp and we left with all of our mail that had accumulated since we left.  Back on the boat to check the mail and get my new (used) Imate Jasjam mobile phone working.  Sent Jo Jo an email asking for a status update on their trip over in February and to ask for a new fudge tine from down their way.

Tuesday, 13th December 2011  -  Upstream to Midtown Marina.

We went to head off this morning and the port engine wouldn’t start.  Geoff fiddled around with it for a good hour trying to change the relay in the very limited area available in the cramped space.  He then decided it was a solenoid so managed to jump start it.  After all that it was only a dirty connection.  Then when we came out of the Duck Pond there was a huge sugar tanker being towed out by tugs so that held us up again as we held back till it passed.   Now we had to get up to Midtown before the tide got too strong.  Plus the tide turned a good 30 minute before predicted but all was fine and Debbie, Di, Linda and Matt were there to grab our lines.  Time for a cuppa and relax, as is our norm, and then go up to the marina to pay for three months berth fees.  Later Deb came along with Arnie, Barnie and Carnie and they recognised the boat and had some nibbles.  Deb also gave us a few Lindt chocolates which didn’t last very long at all. The rest of the day was spent in relax mode.  I made another cuppa and then knocked the damn cup over and it went all over my new Imate Jasjam phone and now I have the white screen of death.  What a bumma so I’m really depressed now.  Geoff made up some more score sheets for Carcassonne and we watched a bit of TV and then it was bed. 

Wednesday, 14th December 2011  -  Bundaberg

My new phone is still not working this morning. I’m p’d off as I have only had it a day and it was such a cheap price at $30 including postage.  Never mind, Geoff will have a look at it later. 

First things first and I winched Geoff up the mast to put the Saturn TV antenna back up which is the only antenna you can get any TV channels with down in the river. Now we get reception at high tide and not so good at low tide.  Plus he had a look at the LED anchor light whilst he was up there to see what pins they had.  Even to even pins, he tells me.  The anchor light is getting quite dim so we will need to replace it in the not too distant future.  Next we put up the sun shade and it made all the difference and it is now much cooler inside.  Time to head up for a shower and then on to Centrelink to change our address and get a rent certificate.  On the way we checked out all the shops that have gone and what they have been replaced with since we have been away.  Once we got to Centrelink we were told to take a seat and we waited and we waited.  We knew that there were two Geoff White’s waiting so Geoff went up and checked and they had crossed us off when the other Geoff White had been seen.  Back to the boat for some lunch and cool off.  Checked the emails and there was a huge journal from Chris D on the refurbishment of ‘Take it Easy’.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and they had a lot of fun and games with all the work they had to do and it cost quite a lot but what a nice cat they have ended up with.  They should be very proud of their efforts and it would be nice to see her in the flesh, so to speak.  Maybe we will one day.

Thursday, 15th December 2011  -  Bundaberg

I was up early as they are working on the RSL extension and there was a noisy truck with a reversing beeper which went back and forth back and forth really early. 

Today we were both busy.  Geoff cleaned and tidied up the starboard engine bay, washed the mat from the head area and fixed the port engine starting system.  I cleaned my cabin, the galley, saloon and head area and then we both relaxed.  Sent and email to Chris about the journal on the refurbishment of ‘Take it Easy’.  We also received an email from Lesley and Alan who have arrive in Ensenada in Mexico.  It was a bit of a relief to hear from them at last and they seem to be happy in the marina there. 

Up for a shower and back to the boat for a late lunch at 2 pm before Owen and Maryanne picked us up at 3pm.  We stopped to pick up Mia and Fe from the vet’s on the way to their place as both woofies has just had a haircut. 

We stayed at Kinghorn St having a natter and a cuppa before loading the microwave, crockpot and toaster into the back of their car.  Owen took me back and Geoff came with the scooter.  As we were unloading at the marina gate Spuggy came bounding up and, luckily, I had some treats left over in my bag.  She was soon followed by Carolyn as they had been for a walk along the river whilst Steve was up at the chandlery.  Poor Carolyn had just got over Shingles.  Not nice as Geoff can testify.  We chatted for a while and got attacked by sand flies.

Back at the boat and Geoff looked at my drowned new (to me) phone and got it working by using some of the parts of my old one. Clever thing!

Friday, 16th December 2011  -  Bundy

It rained a bit overnight so I was straight on to the BOM (Bureau of Meteorology) website to check river heights and any warnings.  I think I am a little paranoid after this time last year but I would rather be on top of it than not and if that makes me a bit paranoid then so be it!  Anyway, all was well, of course.  Geoff rang Sunsail, Whitsunday Escape and Caroline Strainig of Cruising Helmsman so we could do a bit more on our article. 

The showers stayed with us on and off for most of the day and it was also a little chilly.  We worked on our article all morning and printed off two copies to get Di and Debbie to proof read them and give us any comments.  After lunch Geoff cleaned the barbecue and I worked on my journal and that was it. 

Saturday, 17th December 2011  -  Bundaberg, Midtown Marina

Up really late at 0845.  A nice and sunny day to start before becoming overcast.  Went up for a shower after emptying the freezer for a defrost.  We chatted to Matt on the trimaran ‘Osho’ who is from New Zealand.  Warren came round to say there was going to be a boaties breakfast barbecue on the marina tomorrow at 9 am.  Sounds good to us and we hope it stays fine.  I then wandered up to the laundry with my black tub and washing to put it in soak overnight.  I then went on into town.  I bought a stainless steel from the new Homeart store for a really good price as the old one was starting to play up.  I kept on to IGA and then Geoff met me there to take the cold stuff back to the boat for me.  On the way back I went into Dimmey’s and bought two fitted sheets for $5 each so I am wondering on how good they will be.  Plus I went to Crazy Clarks to buy some more wine glasses as we only had two left and then it was back to the boat for a late lunch.  Nothing of much note to write about after that as we just pottered around the boat.

Sunday, 18th December 2011  -  Bundaberg

Up neither late or early … just right.  I got the brekky stuff together and we wandered up the pontoon where Warren had set up his Weber barbecue at the end of the ramp where the pontoon was wide enough for most of us to congregate.  Linda grabbed her chairs and then we ’stole’ some more chairs off ’Femme’ even though Debbie wasn’t there.  She didn’t mind in the least when she turned up from walking the dogs (she owns a kennel close by).  There was quite a good turn out with about fifteen of us turning up.  Even though Warren’s Weber wasn’t that big we managed quite well and took turns cooking our breakfasts.  Geoff took our single gas burner stove and griddle plate to cook Egyptian Eyes and bacon. 

At 10.30 I left Geoff there and went back to the boat to make a Lemon Meringue Pie and then went up to the laundry to wash the dirty washing that had been in soak overnight and get it on the line.  It was quite windy so it was, mostly, dry in a couple of hours.  I hung what bits that were still a little damp up on the back deck to finish off.

At 5 pm Owen, Mia and Fe came to pick us up so I went down to show Fe to Linda and Debbie.  I
 missed Deb but Linda gave her a big fuss.  Onwards to Kinghorn Street for a lovely roast lamb dinner followed by the pie.  We have also been invited to Marg and Dan’s for Christmas day, which is very nice of them.  Back to the boat by 9apm and to finish off our game of Scrabble. 

Monday, 19th December 2011  -  Midtown Marina

Geoff went off to Bunning’s on his scooter to get paint rollers, trays, masking tape etc.  He then went to Queensland Transport and booked in to sit his motorbike licence on Friday, 13th January.  FRIDAY THE THRITEENTH?????????  Hmmmmmm!

He got a few other bits whilst he was out, one being my Christmas present.  I had spent the morning having a good clean up of the boat before Jan (friend from Gracie Dixon’s) arrived at 1 pm.  A cuppa and cake and then Geoff arrived back soon after.  Carolyn and Spuggy also popped in and then Jan took me to Centrelink for a painless interview and to lodge Geoff’s rent form.  I grabbed some bread and milk on the way back.

Slow cooked ribs, baked potato and salad for tea and then settle down for a good night on TV.

Tuesday, 20th December 2011  -  Bundaberg

Geoff has had a funny tummy for the last couple of days and he was up a lot last night.  After a lazy start to the morning we had a shower and both headed off in different directions.  I was on a mission to buy Geoff’s Christmas presents.  Whilst I was out I found a pair of ladies swim board shorts in Target so I snapped them up.  I having been saying for a while that they should make ladies board shorts for swimming for those of us that don’t have the bodies for bathers. 
I often miss out on going in the water when there are other people around as I am so self conscious of my thighs (and lots of other parts of me too) but now I feel a little better. 
Onto 1st Choice Liquor to try to buy Geoff a bottle of Angostura 1919 rum but, alas, I couldn’t see any.  They had the Angostura 1834 rum but that cost $100 so I decided to buy some imported beers instead.  This year I chose them myself as I was very disappointed with the prepacked selection last year as they were nearly all German.  My beer selection comes from India, China, Mexico, Japan, El Salvador and the Argentina.  I think Geoff will approve.  Back to the boat with my arthritic right foot throbbing only to find Gerry up at his motor home with two police.  Apparently it had got broken into overnight.  Geoff had notified Gerry that something might be amiss as he saw the driver’s door open as he went up the hill on his scooter.  He turned back and checked that Gerry was not in the van before calling down to him to tell him to check it out.  They took his flat screen TV, a CB radio and another radio.  All up about $1000 worth of goods.  Such a pain.  They later came and finger printed the van which surprised me as they don’t often do that for smaller crimes.  Maybe they had someone in mind.  Geoff now keeps his scooter in the locked back yard of the chandlery.  Geoff came back with over a kilo of smoked salmon which Maryanne picked up to put in her freezer.  It is our contribution to the Christmas Day feast at Marg and Dan’s place.  Later Geoff went off to the 5 to 8 pm Joyce Mayne sale but said it was a waste of time as most things weren’t as cheap as the advert lead you to believe. 

Wednesday, 21st December 2011  - Bundaberg

We were up late and lazed around in our PJ’s for a while before going up to the shower.  I had left my shower bag up at the amenities block yesterday when I went shopping.  When I got up there today I found someone had pinched my new jar of moisturiser.  Cheeky B!  Geoff says it serves me right for being lazy and leaving it up there. After a shower I headed off to 1st Choice Liquor again to buy the 1919 rum as I had rung yesterday and they said they did indeed have four bottles in stock.  It took some finding as they were on the bottom shelf right at the back and hidden from view for some reason.  They were not listed on the shelf and there was no price on them.  On the way back I decided to go to Red Capsicum to see if I could buy some Christmas nuts but found a clothes shop in its place.  Oh what a shame as I often bought my fruit from there.  I cut through Crazy Clarks and bought a length of red tinsel for $1 so we could, at least, show some Christmas spirit on the boat.  We had searched for the Christmas tree and decorations but they were nowhere to be found so think they must be in storage at Kinghorn Street.  The ‘Bah Humbug’ person on the boat (Geoff of course) was quite happy that he didn’t have to put the tree up.  Geoff rang Maryanne and found that Owen was in hospital again and will probably be released in a couple of days. 

They thought it might be his appendix playing up but it has turned out to be a bowel infection and he is not feeling at all well.  Poor Owen, he has had a bout of health issues in 2011.  Let’s hope this is the last one. 

Thursday, 22nd December 2011  -  Bundaberg

Geoff went off to the Bundaberg Base Hospital today to find out how he goes about getting some teeth fixed.  Yep, they’ve changed the system again whilst we’ve been away.  Now we have to ring a number that goes through to Brisbane and they organise it from there.  Still, as he was there, he popped in to see Owen who said that he will probably go home tomorrow.  I pottered around and chatted to Sam who said the marina is happy for boats to go on the trawler wharf if they want to jobs like paint spraying so that is always good to know.  Geoff came home for some lunch and then rang the toll free dentist number and he got an appointment at 2.20 pm today so off he went again.  Maryanne quickly popped by with some mail after she had picked Owen up and one of the parcels was my CD of 200 eBooks that I had bought off eBay for $15.  I started to convert them to PDF files so that Maryanne can read them on hers as well.  Geoff came back soon after and now has to make another appointment to get his broken front tooth fixed as they only fix one at a time.  Strange system.  He then put the dinghy onto the dock and emptied it and cleaned it out ready for painting.  We then got chatting to the people on a new (as in NEW) cat that has berthed close to us.  It is named ‘Crystal Signature’ and is an Easy Sarah and Peter Snell, the designer, was on the boat helping them to ‘step’ the mast.  Geoff chatted to him about Wade and Chris cat ‘Take it Easy’ and the refurbishment it had just been given.  He knew all about it as, I think, Chris had sent him their journal.

Carolyn and Spuggy popped by for a cuppa whilst her washing dried up at the laundry.  Fish’n chips for tea.  Nice to not have to cook for a change.

Friday, 23rd December 2011  -  Midtown Marina

A rainy day due to ex tropical cyclone Fina which is now a tropical low just off the coast.  Geoff said he was feeling lazy but got galvanised in the end.  I finished copying my eBooks from epub to pdf files for Maryanne.  Geoff has made an appointment for the doctors today to see about his gout and he has even got a dental appointment for the 4th January to fix his broken tooth.  But he can’t paint the dinghy at the moment as it is raining.  Just after midday Geoff headed off to the doctors.  When he came back he said that his last blood tests showed his glucose level was a bit elevated so now he has to have some tests done which will take a couple of hours.  More problems so let’s hope everything comes up ok.  As it rained most of the day we played Carcassonne and I won again  -  just.  Five games in a row now so now I’m only lagging behind by eleven games.  We then watched a Kevin Costner DVD called ‘MR Brooks’.  A good but unusual movie.  Just after the DVD Sally rang and we chatted for a while and she will ring back tomorrow. 

Saturday, 24th December 2011  -  Bundaberg