And no we still haven’t gone… a few hitches still with preparing the boat but…never mind!

We are hearing the most horrendous stories of people who have set off in the past week or so. One boat got 40 nautical miles from Hobart, on the way to New Zealand, and had to turn back, battered and bruised with all on board violently ill… Another boat got part way to New Zealand and was caught in a dreadful storm. They capsized three times and – yes, a theme! – everyone was violently ill, battered and bruised, and the boat badly damaged. And my sister Monique rang earlier today to tell me that a cruise ship had just limped in to Port Vila (Vanuatu, where my niece Leah lives,) with all on board- violently ill from the rough seas between New Zealand, Norfolk, Island, Vanuatu.

Pete’s son Martin has connected a beautiful fabulous heatpump in the apartment; we are now toasty warm…so we are quite happy for the weather to get just a little bit more amenable…

No we haven’t left yet.

Arctic blast in Hobart! And we will probably leave on Wednesday in spite of this…

Today we spent a lot of time rushing about buying last minute things. I bought two nifty folding bikes, with accessories, ie helmets, security chain, tyre levers, pump. I negotiated with Stuart, one of my (many!) lovely sons-in-law. Stuart works in a busy bike shop in the city and I have been talking to him about this for a few weeks. He sent me a voicemessage on my iphone early in the day: “Hey Mark, it’s Julie. Gimme a ring.”
(So cute, my big bodybuilder Stuart, now to be known as Julie! As I am to be known as Mark…Don’t you love voice-to-text??)

I am thrilled with the idea of bikes; we will be able to pootle off to shops, or along country roads, when we arrive in foreign parts, rather than having to trudge around marinas faintly searching for supermarkets and bottle shops.

We also scuttled out to Moonah, to Anchor Wetsuits, where Pete bought me a newfangled lightweight rubber number, with matching boots, black with silver stripes. He came into the changeroom to help me heave it on, and cried, “How attractive you look! Sharks will LOVE you!”

The credit card got a further workout because I also bought a little Sony camera, hoping to be able to download photos onto my blog. What will I take photos of?? Birds? Pete in the bilges? Me in my layers of merino and polar fleece?? Aha wait and see!

It is very cold in Hobart.

BRRR!

No longer a gentle autumnal feeling; this is the real thing.  So yes…we will be cold on the boat.  But I am feeling more confident because I have unpacked my clothes and stashed them away in various convenient shelves and hanging spaces and I have many sets of thermals to wear so all will be well.

We have also started to sort out the food on 2XS so we can go on our last supermarket mission with some sort of useful information in our heads.  Some of the food has been evicted and is now sadly languishing in a big cardboard box, waiting to be donated to some unsuspecting family member.  A very big bottle of pickles; many half-used bottles of arcane sauces not really suited to boat cooking, a third large jar of peanut butter.  Quick and easy is what we need.  I am watching Jamie Oliver as I write; he is whizzing some sausages in a blender and turning them into…sausage meat.  This is going to be used to create a fabulous pasta sauce; now he is zesting half a lemon.  Lovely cooking but…not sure if we will be able to achieve anything of this sort on the high seas…Tins of tomatoes, baked beans, tuna, cup-a-soup for lunches, that will be our style for a while.  This is not quite true, ofcourse.  We managed to cook lovely meals last year, when we were stopped on anchorages or on marinas.  Some of our thoughtful friends and relations have given us chocolate, always sustaining, and Ann-Marie has very cleverly given us a seed sprouter, to protect us from scurvy.

No not leaving tomorrow…probably Tuesday, possibly Wednesday… My brother Pete says some terrible weather is coming to the East Coast of Tas and that when we see the weather map, we will huddle in Hobart until the weekend.  I will keep you posted…(Terrible weather for us, that is; weather which brings a smile of total joy to my big strong surfer nephew Will!!)

We are supposed to be leaving on Monday...but this is not now likely to happen.  A few setbacks with improvements and changes to the boat... So I don't yet have an actual life-at-sea story from this year but...here is another bit from 2010....

While we were on the Gold Coast last year, Pete needed things done to the boat.  So on Monday we left early and made our way up a complicated maze of canals and river to the Gold Coast Marina.  Well no not the Gold Coast Marina, actually…we were in the wrong place and had to be directed to ummmm the Son of the Gold Coast Marina about 600 metres further up the river - can’t remember what it was called… but I did spend many hours there. 

A collection of men swarmed over the boat, and one hapless young chap spent most of the very hot day down a hatch doing exhausting things to one of the engines.  $1800 later…it wasn’t fixed… poor Pete was very upset, but brave, about this set-back.  We made our way back in the gathering gloom…this was NOT FUN.  I was in charge of finding the red and green (and sometimes yellow) markers, and had to cross them off my map with a marker pen.  This was all reasonably OK until it got so dark I couldn’t see the map; I also missed many of the markers.  And I kept shining my little flashlight in Pete’s eyes (no NOT on purpose) which made things very difficult for him and which also made him - ahem – quite cross.  At last we found our way back to our area.  Aha!  I was quite confident I could see the big house on the corner; I could recognise the silhouette of the Norfolk pines, and the shape of the house.  Very confident, I was.  “This is the opening to our canal!” I trilled.  Well no…it wasn’t…it was a nasty little dead end and we had to back out.  At last we did find it and we did get back in time to have a shower and go out to Cav’s Steakhouse for dinner. 

Everyone asks what our travel plan is.

Well…it involves travelling safely and comfortably so maybe we will have to stay in unexpected places for longer than would be on a planned itinerary….

Our first port of call will be Fortescue Bay on the first night, just around the corner really.  Then easy hops to Bicheno, Flinders Island, Deal Island, then Lakes Entrance in Victoria.  And then further north till we get to the Gold Coast area, where we MIGHT turn right and go to New Caledonia and further to other islands.  But…maybe not!

One of the lovely men at a jewellers shop in town told me a funny story about a very well known gay Hobart couple.  They sold up their business and their house and bought a luxurious boat, planning to sail the Seven Seas.  They got to Sydney and went to a party or two.  Then cruised around Pittwater and went to another party or two…then back to Sydney for Mardi Gras.  And a few more parties…  Two years on they are still gently pootling around Sydney and surrounds…

Today 2XS slid majestically off the slip and back into the Motor Yacht Club marina in Lindisfarne.  The gearbox is fixed; the antifouling looks fabulously blue; all is well!

We have had a few more not-farewells… 

On Saturday we had a BBQ in Old Farm Rd, at Katy and Jeff’s, with an assembled multitude of close family members.  The younger children had a beautiful brass bell for Pete, to install on the boat.  (We had learned in our Collision Regulations course that a bell is compulsory – to be rung in thick fog.  And also, we hope, to announce Gin & Tonic Time!)  They organised a treasure hunt for him – he had to skip around the garden looking for the source of the mysterious ringing sound.  When he found it, it was in the middle of a circle of eight cheery children including two fairy princesses….

I have moved out of my house and the power is being disconnected tomorrow… this is a very big deal for me… I love my little house…and it is looking so very warm and clean and empty.  And…did I say warm???  We have moved into the apartment Pete is renovating in South Hobart.  It is very nice; or rather it is going to be very nice.  But it isn’t warm or empty…it is a bit of a work-in-progress, and very very cold.  Never mind; what are doonas for, and puffer jackets, and ugg boots?  And the shower is lovely and warm.  I am enjoying being in a slightly different neighbourhood (2 ks from my house…not exactly alien territory) and walking along different streets.  All novel and interesting.  Departure Date is next Monday so it is good to have the opportunity to be in this place for a few days, and see whether or not the – ahem- washing machine leaks before Pete rents it out.