We had a very windy night, the boat nearly tore away from the marina a few times during the night. We had a good few emails, and it was great to hear from Marion in Germany again, minding her horses and collecting the hay on her farm, well done Marion.
The skipper had a long chat with Hugh Gibson on the mobile today. Hugh is a great guy on a boat and very easy company, always in good humour and full of the joys of life, It cheered the skipper up no end.........
08.00hrs, A Nick Cox ( Hans on ) , a well known sailor from around here and has sailed in Cork Week, came aboard to wish us well and have a chat and a cup of coffee. We discussed all sorts of things, including the good guys for fixing things, and where to go in these Islands. He will be racing in Airlie Beach week, which is followed by Hamilton Island week, and our Dave Meagher is an international jurour at this event. Its great to see the Irish get around. Unfortunatly, we will be in Darwin at that stage.....
Skipper spent some time on the phone trying yet again to sort out the mechanical bits, the generator , which just stopped. Skipper had a long chat with Aiden Clarke, who is the main agent for Westerbeke ( Generator ) in Australia, and guess what, he hails from Kildare. He was a great help, as he said, we have to look after our own. Anyway, it seems that " Chris " can get the parts for the E120 , which is good news if that unit can be fixed, but the SSB is basically condemned and we have to get a new one. All this will be done when we get to Airlie Beach, ( Abel Point Marina )
13.00.hrs We all piled into the buggy and did a tour of the Island. First, we went to the very top of the Island and admired the fantastic views from there, the weather was very good and visability was excellent, of course we had lots of photo's taken .....
The Island has a great collection of White parrots. They are everywhere, and make lots of noise. We then drove ( all very short trips ) to the main resort on the island, it is owned, as is everything on the Island, by "Bob Oatly". He has a super Maxi Yacht parked on the marina next to us called " Wild Oats". She is 100ft long and has won the Sidney / Hobart race 4 times in a row. Her mast is so high, it makes us look like shrimps next door.
16.00hrs, We then drove to the driving range, one of those where you drive the balls into a lake, but could you imagine this, the chap at the desk said he had no balls (well we couldent be consoled).
Later , we had a G & T in the fantastic Yacht Club before returning to the boat in chilly conditions to cook the corned beef and cabbage. It was all very good and we listened to the O'Riellys son " Hugh " and his merry musical group play on Mary's Ipod... all excellent.
We had an early night,
Thats it for today,
Signed :- Stephen Hyde ( Skipper )