Wednesday 17th July
No
Angus is not psychic… When I wrote that he had seen a sea eagle whizzing past
behind my head, he could actually see it, thanks to the wonders of videophone
via Tango. The Wakefields were all
rugged up, sitting around their firepot, breathing the crisp winter air of
Cremorne. I was sitting on the slopey
deck not rugged up at all and probably looking very hot and bothered. Changes
in latitude, changes in attitude.
And
here it is.
Only
not so close.
It
is still very pretty here, in the mouth of the Ludmilla River. We have so many birds, especially at dusk,
and today we have had visits from several curious little colonies of fish –
catfish, garfish, and some tiny ones I can’t identify at all, all happily
swimming around in the beautiful blue water under the boat. Except when the tide is out…and then there is
no water under us, only concrete. And mud.
The
downside of all of this nature close around us is…we are basically living in a
creek. And the creek is full of tiny
insects which delight in biting us, without us ever having the pleasure of
privilege of seeing them. Pete is braver
than I am about this; he is accustomed to being bitten and itchy. I am shocked and aggrieved, and have been
complaining most bitterly.
Pete
is spending the day with various mechanics and engineers, going in and out of
the engine bay, trying to fix a leak in the water pump, and also trying to fix
those pesky rudders. I am not much help
with any of this. Occasionally I pass
big glasses of juice and ice down the hatches, but really all I can do is make
sympathetic sounds and keep out of the way.
So
my day has been mostly domestic. One of
the joys of Spot On Marine is – a washing machine! Coin operated, only $3 a pop. I have washed everything I can lay my hands
on and now all of the beds are clean and shiny, so are our clothes and
towels. I have been washing very regularly,
pounding away in my big blue bucket, but a washing machine is a far superior
instrument. And the bright HOT Darwin
sun has dried everything, within less than an hour.
We
have electricity as well, and I have dragged out the wet-dry vacuum cleaner so
now the floors are grit free, at least briefly.
Pete
got new battens for the mainsail. They
flew here all by themselves, from Tasmania.
We have replaced the first five but it is too windy to have the big sail
right up the mast…too precarious, as we sit up on our perch! It was nice, right up on top of the boat, on
a level with No. #1 sea eagle, which swooped right up next to us, scanning the
river for those tasty catfish and garfish.
Tonight
we are escaping from SlopeWorld. Kind
Andrew and Sue have invited us for dinner and a sleepover on Settlement, still
in Fannie Bay. We can watch the State of
Origin rugby match – well Pete and Andrew can watch the State of Origin … it is
quite possible that Sue and I will chat…
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