26th January - Australia Day in Coron (Philippines)

Monday 26^th January 2015

2XS from Seadive 

AUSTRALIA DAY!!  We could hardly be further from home, family, country if we tried.  We will fly our little boat flag…I will have vegemite for breakfast…Pete will drink beer.  All will be well, and all will be happy.

Our Australian friends Roby and Craig seem to be in Thailand, on their lovely catamaran, Gemini V.  Robyn wrote on Facebook, “Just popping out for a coffee, uhmmmmm, I hope I haven't forgotten anything or anyone.”  This made me laugh…a lot…

Craig..up the mast...

Toby and Rose have left, finally, on the big 2Go ferry to Manila.  They will wait there for thirteen hours, with their umpty suitcases, and then will get on another ferry all night and all day.  And then maybe another ferry, or a bus, with their umpty bags of luggage…AAGGHH!!

I took a photo entitled, just privately, WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG as Pete, Toby and Rosie pushed and tugged the big metal trolley from Seadive to the street, where it was all decanted into two motorbike tricycles.  NOTHING fell over the bridge!  (Thank goodness…)

And now it is just two of us on 2XS.  Pete is still totally absorbed in FIXING EVERYTHING.  Fixing everything involves a lot of sweat, a lot of effort, a lot of expletives.  I try to help but…I am not very helpful.  The water pump isn’t working; the solar panels are not solarpanelling; one of the engines sometimes doesn’t start (but sometimes it does…); the inverter had to be replaced; the new TV remote control needs to be installed, complicatedly, in Cyberspace.  We need fresh water and this is very hard – there has been NO rain here for many months. And so on…

Coron from 2XS

WHINGE WHINGE…but…all is well…this is after all what is involved in yachting.  Boys fixing toys in exotic locations…While women hover anxiously on the sidelines, providing cold drinks, soothing words, whatever expertise we can muster. 

I have however pulled out at least ONE Big One.  I have registered both of the personal location devices, in Cyberspace.  This took HOURS and finally, eventually, it was a success.  WEE HEE!  The drybags are now hanging just inside the door, ready for action.  This means, I am sure, that we will NEVER need to use them!  (Thank you Nicole, Martin, James, Nicky, Claire, Katy and Michael for this very generous gift of life-saving equipment – we are very grateful indeed.)