Day 200, Year 2: Another Busy Day
Date: Saturday, November 10, 2007
Weather: Beautiful Day
Location: Bundaberg Port Marina, Australia

If ever there were two people who can find endless tasks to keep them busy, Mark and I are those people. I spent much of my morning on the “phone.” “Phone” means putting on a headset and talking on the computer via Skype. We first talked to Heather and she reported that Jed had found flights to Charlotte, North Carolina, for a price that was as low as the original prices we found a few days ago and at acceptable departure and arrival times. So “yea!” for Jed. Heather said the word “yea” while
we were talking and I heard Sam as clear as could be say “yea” in return. I was really startled as I had not heard him say words before. Heather says this is his favorite word and he has learned to clap after he says it. Sam really is growing up! I also talked to my sister and to my nephew Tommy’s wife, Marilou. Marilou and Tommy are hosting the 50th anniversary party for my sister, so I wanted to talk with her about where we would be staying, etc. While I talked Mark re-arranged equipment
at the nav table, moving the Ham radio and re-running all the wires so they were less obtrusive. By the time I finished talking and Mark booked the flights, the morning was almost over. Today was Mark’s day to go up the mast and do a couple of jobs, so after lunch this was the first task. He replaced the burned out bulb in our spreader light and replaced a faulty sheave (pulley) at the top of the mast for the spinnaker halyard. He checked out the rigging and on his way down he brought down the
lazy jacks that hold the mainsail in place when it is being dropped into the sail cover. While he was at it, he started taking down the halyards and the reefing lines to store them while we are gone. The UV here is STRONG, and we are doing everything we can to prolong the life of sails, lines, and canvas while we are away. I sanded and put one more coat of varnish on the cockpit cap rail and by this time the day was almost over.

As we were winding down, Marie on Ranger, our next door neighbor here, came out and asked if we would like to take a ride over to the Mon Repos Conservation Park. It is the time of year that the female loggerhead turtles come ashore to lay their eggs. Marie had been calling all day trying to find out if the turtles have started coming in, but she could not reach anyone. Therefore, a field trip was in order. So we piled into Ranger’s newly purchased station wagon and drove the ten miles or so
to the park. There was a small information center with some great displays, and eventually we found a ranger who told us that there are some “ladies” on the beach. We will go tomorrow night in hopes of seeing one of the “ladies” lay her eggs. You go out on the beach and sometimes you are there for up to six hours. It is cool at night and always windy on the beach, so we will have to bundle up. It might be a cool evening, but it will most certainly be worth the chill if we get to see one of the
turtles laying her eggs. From the park, we drove to the little town of Bargara. It has a very nice park all along the beach front, so we walked and enjoyed the crashing waves and ocean air. Bundaberg Port Marina is one mile up the river from the bay, but we don’t see the ocean from our marina slip. One would think that we have seen enough ocean, but I think it must be an addiction. There is no such thing as “enough” ocean for us.