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| Dingies at low tide, Dinah Beach Yacht Club |
It is now the end of April 2013! Where has the time gone?
MrJ and I are still in the
Bayview Marina in Darwin and a couple of weeks away from our next passage.
During our stay in Bayview we have met some great people and made some good
friendships, seen some wonderful place and have experience the true spirit of
Darwin. I do love the place and would think about coming back again or even to
live except for the horrific expense of everything especial the cost of
accommodation. Housing and rental have gone through the roof and are still
climbing; climbing way beyond our means. And no, I would not be doing another
wet season in the marina in the boat in Darwin.
March and April 2013 have been the months for
mucking about in boats, on boats or with boats.
Sunday the March 3rd found MrJ and me at
Stokes Hill Wharf on a very grey wet and windy day. It was one of the Wet
Season Yacht Race Days with only the brave out to play. Many of the yachts were
having a great time with the lively conditions.
That week the Queen Victoria can into port and tied
up alongside the cruise-ship wharf. This huge ship dwarfed everything.
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| Babe splashed on the 11th; MrJ and I were there to give a hand to bring her back to Bayview |
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| The 17th we were back on Babe to participate in one of the wet season races - MrJ and I only did one day out but it was great fun. I have no idea where we came – near the back but not last. |
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| MrJ hoists the main with Skipper Rob on winch and crew/good friend Mel keeping a look-out. |
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| The girls are out there too - Mel on helm and Alison having a well erned break. |
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| Spinaker all the way home, but not for us.
25th & 26th MrJ and I were back and forth to Scott On Marine on Babe for adjustments to her depth sounder.
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| A huge storm came in and chased us all the way - that's the city of Darwin on the left |
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| stern to |
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| Rob the happy Skipper |
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| two old boats in the shipyard |
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| Desley & Ted's boat Jirakati |
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| On the 7th we watched the final wet season race from Storkes Hill Wharf |
It is autumn in Australia but you would not know this in Darwin - still 32
- 34 degrees during the day and 25 overnight. The wet season was a non
happening thing; the dries wet for a long time. Having said that the clouds are
building outside as I am writing and we did have a quick shower last night but
that seems to be all that we are going to get.
I have been out and about with the camera as you would expect; mostly
just playing around with photos for my internet challenge topics.
For the topic vanishing point I did a quick photo of the marina boardwalk. I could not get away
anywhere for a few days, kept busy with preparation work for leaving soon. The photo was not the most interesting of subjects, an empty boardwalk, but it was the only place
nearby with enough of that long, far-away feel to create a vanishing point in the
image. The leaf is the only thing that I can see moving along the
boardwalk/walkway. This leaf has dried off and died to fall from its place in
the tree, to fall onto the walkway, to be scorched by the still hot sun and
pushed along by the gentle afternoon sea breeze. The only hint that autumn is
in the air.
I'm chart book making. This keeps me stuck inside doing heaps of paperwork for our next
passage, and I thought I had left part-time office work behind ;o)))))
I have typed, coped and pasted, printed enough information on maps,
charts Google earth photos and tide tables to fill three folders - this is just
part of the preparation work that is done before each time we sail out into
unknown waters - I like to have hard copies of everything and not to relying on
chart plotters and the computer.
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| MrJ tests out the portable depth sounder unit |
Another interesting project both MrJ and I are working on is to hook up
a portable depth sounder to one of the dinghies when transversing some of the
dangerous shallows and sand bars of the river entrances and streams throughout
the Kimberley’s.
I may have mentioned before that we did manage to purchase a small tinny
with a 2.5h Mercury motor and MrJ did
get to make some new cabling for the connections between the HF radio, HF modem
and my computer for us to be able to send and/or receive TEXT email messages
only. We are still testing the system; all seems to be working ok but we have
not managed to connect to a HF station to be able to send the test email. I
will keep at this!
I didn’t get all the sewing done that I would have liked to. The poor
old Brother sewing machine went on strike and I had only managed to get one
hatch cover done. It is still too hot for working outside with the big noisy
Sailrite machine.
When I need a break from the working day the relief is only a step away,
to step outside, on deck or while in the marina, on the pontoon walkway to
watch the setting sun, this time going down behind the other boats - it will
not be long before I am out there again to watch the sun rising and setting
across the great wide land and sea.
Sometimes I would go up to the amenities block and watch the antics of
the Green Ants
or go for a walk around to the Duck Pond Park.
With friends, last Wednesday evening MrJ and I went to the Darwin
Dry Season opening night of the Darwin Deck Chair Theatre. Stories of Me, a documentary
on the life of Paul Kelly, one of Australia’s most gifted and beloved
singer/song writers, was being shown on the big outdoor screen. Yes I did
recline in one of the deckchairs but ended up with stiff back and hips by the
end of the evening. The next time this old body will take to one of the plastic
chairs.The film was brilliant documentary; charting the remarkable
life of this talented story tellers. For nearly forty years Kelly wrote over
350 songs mapping out the Australian landscape and its people. A lot of Kelly’s
most popular songs and some unknown songs to me were included in the film. The
man behind the music and words was revealed in candid conversation throughout
the film.
I just loved it..............!
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| Barbara & Ron off Opal Shell |
And then there was Barbara’s birthday at the Trailer Boat Club at Fannie Bay. Barbara and Ron in Opal Shell have done 30 years as a tourist boat in the Kimberley's. MrJ and I have received some very good information and great advice from them.
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| Fannie Bay |
And of course, today is ANZAC DAY – but that will have to wait till the next
Blog post.
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