Underway

 As Bruce just said on an unrelated matter- it is coming together. We have set sail with Danny, Bruce, Mimi and I aboard from Gladstone. Mindful that a boat is at the mercy of winds and waters I hope to go westward eventually. But with Austrialia in the way we headed North, through the scenic Narrows which oddly reminded me of sailing through Friesland.

Mimi is in OCD heaven with supplies for a month or two all packed in new containers, and with everything logged on an app which - I have been ecstatically told a few times- tracks expiry dates, logs usage and can even suggest meals. But it doesn’t cook, so we’ve been taking turns at that.  And yesterday, at Great Keppel Island we woke up to a grey, windy, rainy day. We set sail nonetheless and under genoa alone still made 7 knots or more in the 20+ gusty wind to Pearl Bay.  It was an impressive anchorage in this blustery weather, a bay guarded by islands of dark and jagged rock.

Back to that coming together- after 5 hectic days in Gladstone of repairing this, and buying that, and stowing many, many different things I can now sometimes locate an item on the boat. It looks like everyone is getting the hang of things and we anchored twice without first having to call a committee meeting and haven’t required post- anchor debriefing sessions either. So far, so good. We’re aiming for the Percies for today and Danny is trying to catch a fish.

I would love to embellish this brief post with some images, but Blogspot’s new owner, Blogger, which is Google has thwarted all my efforts to achieve this simple task. 

An introduction to a new adventure

 Anzac Day. We have packed up the Pelican Point Shack, my home for nearly twenty six years. And are about to fly out to the other side of Australia, to Gladstone in Queensland where the new shack Jigsaw is berthed.

Like Tribute, Jigsaw is a Bob Oram designed catamaran: a 48C extended to fifty feet. And the extra 12 feet that she has on Tribute is what makes it a live- aboard, a houseboat. Bob reckoned that she was a top-notch build ( and of a brilliant design!) so I bought Jigsaw unseen before anyone else did.

She is similar to Tribute- duflex construction,  long and slim hulls, light,  and built for sailing. Everything needed is there and of great quality, but no frills. The previous owners- who were the builders too- have sailed Jigsaw around the world and said they did so safely, comfortably and at a very respectable pace. And we in turn are about to  attempt to sail her ‘around the Top’ to Carnarvon.

Jigsaw needs to transport, house, feed and water her crew for weeks on end. And getting ( and keeping) the gear and systems running to do that takes time and effort. I did what I could, remotely from Carnarvon.

We have  sailed for a week or two last year and everything was in perfect order. But I have reluctantly developed the notion that on a really sound and well- maintained  boat, only one thing goes wrong per month. And that this happens whether you sail or not; so I anticipate seven issues awaiting us in Gladstone. 

This idea that everything on a boat is in a fragile and temporary state of function is as old as boats are. Even a brand new boat has to be commissioned- sailed to find all the problems, then fix them. The struggle starts tomorrow and I’m excited!