Showing posts with label last. Show all posts
Showing posts with label last. Show all posts
Thursday, 9 October 2014
In the Whitsundays at last – Shaw Island
21 October 2015
After days and days of south easterlies, the wind was finally forecast to swing to a north easterly so it was definitely time to leave our cosy spot on Brampton Island’s northern shore and move on. We decided to sail to an anchorage on the southern side of Thomas Island which looked good on the charts and enjoyed good reviews in both of our cruising guide books we were carrying.
We made an early start to the trip to make the most of the wind before the northerly change came through. As Brampton grew smaller over the stern railing, the breeze persisted from the South East in the 10-12 knot range giving us a fairly gentle downwind sail.
We spotted a catamaran a mile or so east of us sailing south and our AIS revealed it to be friends from our time on the Indonesian Rally in 2011, Colin and his son Alex on Splashdown. We had hoped to catch up with them in Airlie Beach but now they were taking advantage of the predicted break in the ever persistent south-easterlies to run for home on the Gold Coast. We were able to have a good chat on the radio though as we sailed by each other.
By the time we rounded Tinsmith and Linne Islands there was still no sign of the predicted wind shift so we elected to change our destination to Shaw Island further to the north. There are anchorages both sides of its western end in the bay of Burning Point or in Billbob Bay which would provide us safe options whether the wind stayed south easterly or did in fact swing north.
 |
| Our intended destination changed to Plan B of Shaw Island when the wind didn't swing as forecast. |
It had been quite an uneventful sail on relatively smooth seas. The sail trim needed very little attention and Ben & Gerry (our B&G autopilot) were doing a great job of steering the boat. We were very relaxed in the cockpit watching the world slowly float by when the sound of the ratchet on our fishing rod screamed loudly for a few seconds.
We were both at the stern very quickly peering out towards our trailed lure where a dark shadow in the water appeared to be lazily following behind stalking it. Rob grabbed the fishing rod out of its holder and eased out some line to drop the lure back towards the lurking shape. It also dropped back. He then reeled in some line and as the lure moved forward the shadow kept station about a metre or two behind again. The lure was alternatively eased then retrieved another two or three times as the game continued until suddenly the ratchet screamed as the line ran hard. The fish had taken the lure and was off.
As Rob slowly wound on the resistance a fair bit of line ran out before the reel started to hold it. The moment he tried to wind some back in the previously unidentified fish revealed itself emerging high out of the water and tail walking across the surface ready to fight for its freedom. We’d hooked a good sized sailfish. Ever the game fisherman’s daughter determined to try to land the catch, Karen screamed “How the hell do I back the boat up on the fish under sail?”
The short answer is “You can’t,” but it was all a moot point as our sailfish made short work of our tackle and busted free seconds later. Retrieving the line we found the swivel had broken. Rob suggested that it was probably for the best as trying to land an angry sailfish on our high stern without one of us getting impaled on its bill may have been a risky exercise. Karen would have none of that maintaining if we’d got it to the boat she’d have “landed the bastard.” Knowing her determination she probably would have. Excitement over, we resumed our near horizontal positions in the cockpit and continued our otherwise sedate passage to Shaw Island.
 |
| The water shelves very slowly to the beach at Shaw Island so we were anchored well out. |
 |
| Looking across the passage to Lindeman Island Resort - also mothballed at the moment. |
There was still no sign of any wind shift as we approached the island’s western extremity so we sailed around Burning Point and anchored in very calm waters of its bay. We were now officially in the Whitsunday Islands at last.
 |
| Brampton Island to Shaw Island - 24.2 Nautical Miles - 4 Hours 36 Minutes Average Speed 5.3 knots - High Speed 6.9 knots |
 |
| Calm conditions in the anchorage at Shaw Island |
 |
| A number of other boats joined us in the bay through the afternoon. |
 |
| Good night from Shaw Island. |
If you have only recently discovered our blog and would like to read how it all started, or work through our previous adventures, click the link to go back to our first blog entry. Stuff it. Let's just go sailing anyway. We hope you enjoy reading the previous posts to catch up on our story.
Thursday, 12 September 2013
Random thoughts from the last month in the RV
 |
| "Odin the Winnebago is self-contained: Water tank, bathroom, stove & fridge work off propane and a generator. With cooler evenings, we're finally taking advantage of a free night at a WalMart parking lot. Bought $135 worth of groceries. Got permission from the manager. Streaming TV off our phone. No slide. No levelers (but we're pretty level!). Two other RV's and several semis are over in the corner with us. Then we'll be off first thing in the morning!" |
I'm WAY behind on the blog. Although the last month in the Winnebago was fun, it didn't feel "exciting and new". I didn't feel compelled to put my thoughts down "on paper" for eternity. However, as I look back through the photos and FaceBook posts, I see some funny moments. Since I don't trust FaceBook to archive my memories without randomly losing things, I'll do a quick catch up. (For those who follow along on @svOdinTheWanderer, there's nothing new here. Check back for a quick post on "Storing the Winnebago!" then we're back to the boat!)
On the road from Colorado back to Missouri:
Twitter: “Gusting to 30 mph! I just saw a tumbleweed! No $h!t #WelcomeToKansas”
Twitter: Rest Stop Goodland, KS “Two rest stops for The Colonel today. Windy!”
 |
| “Good morning! I stood in the WalMart parking lot in my pajamas to get this picture. You're welcome.” |
Twitter: “Topeka here we come! Winds NW @ 4”
 |
| Russell, KS 24/7 Travel Store: “RainX doesn’t help with the bugs! Gas & lunch stop…” |
FB: “I never thought I’d utter the words, “Topeka is a nice town!” Honestly, The Colonel said it first. What an interesting perspective you get travelling by RV!"
 |
| "Mama is so neglectful." |
FB: “We've taught the cat an unfortunate new morning routine. She likes to look out the screen door each day before going back to bed. She doesn't care if it's 50F out, or RAINING like today! (Luckily, we have an awning over the door). I'm not sure why, but when I forget or get too busy, I get the "I'm so disappointed in you" face. Today, in my haste, I neglected the slide the handle cover closed and came back to this! Hey, where are you going little lady?!”
 |
| "Hey, look! A hole!" |
 |
| Deer Creek Valley RV Park, Topeka: “A beautiful Kansas sunset. Ironically, I had just changed into my jammies after a shower. Maybe I'm onto something…" |
The WalMart stop was partly to justify paying for two nights at Deer Creek, one of our favorite stops. There was a forecast of rain anyway, so no sense spending the day driving our house in the rain. The Colonel did get in a bike ride including the epic hill just past the entrance to the RV park. He discovered Lake Shawnee State Park (originally nixed because it was too far from the highway). He confirmed "bigger rv’s than us" were there and next year we should "plan a stay for a week..." Roger, that!
Back on the road again...
FB: "Saw the aftermath of a terrible accident on I-70. We were diverted off onto the outer road. A “semi lost his rear axle! He ended up in the median. Semi behind him was damaged. Several cars in the debris field. I bet the CB chatter is educational. I just learned the rear axles are adjustable at a rest stop the other day!”
Twitter: “Our new driving games--reporting fuel prices on GasBuddy and traffic slowdowns on Waze!”
We spent a week at Cahokia RV Parque because we were babysitting the Grandbaby. It was a little weird. The Colonel grew up in this area, but it borders on a questionable neighborhood now. We decided to give it a try since it was a highly rated Good Sam park and our only decent option on the Illinois side. The staff was nice. The onsite restaurant was decent. The wifi was terrible and our T-Mobile was not much better. I can't quite give it a bad review because we felt safe enough, even wandering to the nearby grocery store a few times. However, I wasn't comfortable going for a walk. It felt awkward that the other transients (especially arriving after dark!) may not have been aware of their surroundings.
 |
| Our first dedicated "rv lane" in Wentzville. Sweet! |
 |
| And this is how I got behind on the blog! Busy, busy... |
 |
| Reason #62 we love living in Odin the Winnebago: Leaves we don't have to rake. Score! #WeHateYardWork! |
FB: “Back in our happy place. LOVE #StateParks. The windows are open. The birds are chirping outside our bedroom window. The leaves are starting to fall. $23/night to live in a protected wilderness. Happy, happy.”
 |
| And today's blog is by Grandbaby, who, when she runs out of hands while reaching for the keyboard... |
xydioflwkerngoidysoidg
 |
| Working on planes... |
The Colonel was fortunate to arrive just in time for a big King Air inspection that was due. We scheduled our trip to Colorado so that he would be back. (He wanted to make sure I posted an airplane pic!)
 |
| Sneaking the Winnebago onto the airport for the weekend... |
 |
| And of course, some "boys working on cars & drinking beer"... |
 |
| Purge #2. We agreed to revisit our storage unit after a year and reevaluate. As we plan to return to the boat in Nov and RV life is agreeable, everything that doesn't fit in the RV must go! |
 |
| Odin gettin' some love. So shiny I can see myself! |
 |
| The Colonel takes a pic! "MAMAMAMAMA!" |
 |
| "Grandpa, are you really not sharing any more green beans?!" |
 |
| Last stop--Sundermeier's RV park |
AND we're back in historic, downtown St. Charles. Our second favorite spot after Babler--right on the Katy Trail (The Colonel photobombing my pic--his new hobby…)”
 |
| A morning bike ride with family on one of our regular routes. The Katy Trail from downtown St. Charles & across the Boone Bridge to Creve Couer |
“It's been fun to come back & reconnect with family and friends. When we left Missouri to live on a sailboat over a year ago, a majority of them were positive we had gone "bat-shit crazy" (although most were polite enough not to say it to our face!). Buying an RV received more support, but still seemed "a little crazy" to some (still polite, but lot's of head shaking!)--until we remind them we don't own a house. It's not a recreational vehicle we use on the weekend or for vacation--we've lived in it full-time for almost 4 months! (Other rvers: "Are you full-time?" Sit down. We'll explain!) It's nice to have a backup plan. A crash pad when we want/need to come back stateside. It is our HOME. We have two actually. Not that is slightly embarrassing…”
Woo hoo! I went to the Freightliner Owner's website to buy a t-shirt for The Colonel, and stumbled on the fact they have listed their classes for Camp Freightliner 2017!
Let me back up (and a reminder, we're nerds...)
When we bought Odin the Winnebago in FL, we learned about chassis classes they teach at the factory in South Carolina--"on our way to Missouri!"
School?! Sign us up!
They were all full for the season. Boo!
"Should I call about a wait list?" We'd have to drive back to SC. Bummer.
BUT, now they're doing two classes FOR Winnebago's at the Winnebago factory in IOWA! Sign us up! (And the copilot gets to sit in the class for an extra $50--and we get t-shirts!). Score!
Oops, it's right after the big rally. I may have accidentally signed us up for the rally also--don't tell him! He hates crowds!”  |
| As mentioned in the post, "RV Project, TV", I got some more pics scanned. In case, your new to our blog, here's the "plane" portion of our life... 1) Engaged, we flew this C152 from St. Louis to Longmont, CO to break in the engine. A 6-hour flight ended up taking two days, but we came back still a couple! (I'm pretty sure they had a pool going on the airport...) |
 |
| Our 1957 Cessna 310, N212PH (not an "A" model--a Sky King model!) We both got our multi ratings in it & then built our hours |
 |
| “You know you live in an rv/boat when extra pantry stuff is stored under the bathroom sink and that doesn't seem weird at all…” |
FB: You know you live in/on a RV/boat, when your Amazon address book is full of marinas, RV parks and family members!
"Hi. We're coming to visit. Is our Amazon package there yet?”
 |
| Sunset over Sundermeiers RV Park. St. Charles, MO |
Thursday, 20 December 2012
Where did that last five months go in home port
December 22 , 2015 – May 22,2016
Our tropical Whitsundays shakedown cruise was over and we arrived back in our home base in East Coast Marina in Brisbane’s Manly boat Harbour. For us it’s hard to believe that was five months ago because the time has just flown. We had really not been looking forward to life at the dock again but in reality we were so busy splitting our days between spending time with family and friends back in our home town of Ipswich 50 kilometres away and being on the boat working to get her ready for our next adventure, we didn’t have a chance to think about it much.
So how did we spend five months?
Karen embarked on a serious sewing program making good use of both her Sailrite machine and parents garage to transform Our Dreamtime’s interior and produce a range of new bits and pieces topside.
 |
| Recovering all the upholstery in the salon transformed below. Karen did an awesome job as always. |
 |
| A nice new helm cover |
 |
| New covers for all our jerry cans that get stowed on deck |
 |
| New spray dodgers for the stern tidied up the look |
 |
| Our Dreamtime is now much cooler below with her new sunshade over the decks |
 |
| The garage floor was a very handy workspace. Here Karen is marking out some Sunbrella fabric to make new bags for our folding bikes. They turned out great bags then we decided to leave the bikes at home this trip anyway. |
Rob embarked on projects such as removing our non-working washing machine from the boat. We considered swapping it with the near new similar machine we had sitting in storage at our daughters house but decided against it. Firstly without a generator on board the washing machine is useless unless we are connected to shore power in a marina and we had no plans on being in marinas much once we got underway again. The second slightly more serious problem is that we could not work out a way to remove the old machine in one piece let alone get the new one in. We measured, remeasured and remeasured again every path out from where it was located in the companionway to our aft cabin. The maths simply did not work. The washing machine was more centimetres wide, deep and long than any possible exit. We surmise it must have been brought onto the boat when the cockpit floor was out through the engine room when the motor was not in place.
 |
| Washing machine deconstruction 101. |
Rob literally dismantled it in place and removed it piece by piece. Even when we were left with just the light metal casing, it would not fit out until he cut it into bits.
The good news is Karen now has a lovely new locker in its place which is the perfect home for the Sailrite, all her sewing gear and art supplies. She also has a new set of 20 litre buckets with lids as her new washing machine. Very energy efficient and environmentally friendly.
During our time at the dock Karen returned to part time work a couple of days a week which covered our marina fees and Rob was also able to pick up some work in his field of motorsport commentary. It was like old times with him flying off to Perth and Sydney a few times as well as events at the local raceway. It’s great to put some extra dollars in the cruising kitty but he also loves the job.
 |
| Rob waiting for the cue to interview driver Steven Reed at Willowbank Raceway |
We also embarked on trying to fathom the intricacies of Our Dreamtime’s non-operational watermaker. When we first inspected the boat as prospective buyers, we were surprised to discover the watermaker as it was not mentioned in the inventory. The broker explained the owners didn’t want it listed as it hadn’t been used in four or five years and they didn’t want to go to the trouble of recommissioning it. Basically if it wasn’t on the inventory we weren’t paying for it so couldn’t complain about its condition.
 |
| Hopefully our watermaker should be operational soon |
We had left it alone until now but decided to investigate if it could be made operational at a reasonable cost. The issue was that we had no information on exactly what it was and the previous owner had made it a very custom installation with different components all hidden away in various obscure nooks and crannies, some of which we didn’t even know existed. The upshot was we think we have worked it out thanks to info emailed to us by the former owners and the advice of a number of fellow cruisers. A complete seals and refit kit for the high pressure pump is on its way from the U.S. at the moment, we have a new high pressure vessel and membrane ready to go when the pump is rebuilt and it should be operational again before we head offshore. Fingers crossed.
 |
| It wasn't all work an no play though as we had a fantastic visit by Emily, a Rotary Exchange Student we hosted 13 years ago who spent a couple of days with us out in Moreton Bay while visiting from Washington DC |
In April we travelled south to Berrima in the New South Wales highlands for our daughter, Felicity's beautiful wedding to the love of her life Daniel or, as they referred to the occasion, the ‘Oberg-Cooper Merger’. We gained three fantastic new grandchildren out of that merger as Daniel’s Bailey, Tahlia and Darius joined our family
 |
| Our beautiful bride |
 |
| Tahlia, Darius, Bailey and Kristian dressed and ready for the family merger |
 |
| We even found time to check out the Bradman museum at Bowral before the wedding. |
 |
| Jobs came in all sizes like fitting new drink holders at the binnacle. They work well at sundowners time too. |
 |
| $5 from Aldi but adapted to a much better use. |
 |
| The BBQ was remounted to be over the water rather than deck. Much less mess now. |
Our Dreamtime’s recalcitrant refrigeration took up plenty of time and money during our layup only becoming operational the week before our departure date. Our frozen food is currently rock solid and the wine and beer is cold. Let’s hope it stays that way.
 |
| Grandson, Kristian spent three weeks with us on the boat while Mum and Dad enjoyed their honeymoon. |
 |
| Rob celebrated a milestone birthday in April with lots of friends at the Manly Deck, a cruisers favourite. |
 |
| We also celebrated our eldest grandson Caleb's 18th a few days later. |
One of the final items we purchased and fitted for our next adventure was an IridiumGo satellite communications hub. This will allow us to stay in contact anywhere in the world and far beyond the reach of mobile phone coverage. It acts as a wifi hub connected to the Iridium satellite system through which we can use our phone to make voice calls and send-receive SMS messages, send-receive emails on our I-Pads and, most importantly, receive weather information regardless of location. There is also an excellent tracking app through which people will be able to see exactly where we have gone and our current location. It was expensive but will be invaluable when we head offshore.
 |
| Last minute sewing to finish a sun shade for the aft deck before departure |
The final weeks were very full days crossing off items on the to do list only to add more at the bottom. Provisioning for extended cruising is a mammoth job as is finding storage holes for it all and making sure everything is listed on an inventory with where to find it. Believe us, you could never remember it all.
What now?
Well that’s the next blog but if you are a follower of our Facebook page you’ll already know.
We love to receive comments on our blog from readers. If you do leave a comment and you also have a blog, please leave a link as well. We'd like to click over for a visit and leave you a comment too.
To stay right up to date with what we’re up to and see lots more photos check out and 'like' our Dreamtime Sail Facebook page at Dreamtime Sail
If you have only recently discovered our blog and would like to read how it all started, or work through our previous adventures, click the link to go back to our first blog entry. Stuff it. Let's just go sailing anyway.
We hope you enjoy reading the previous posts to catch up on our story.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
