by Judy Handley | Nov 4, 2007 | Arriving Australia, Sailing Logs Year 2 |
Day 194, Year 2: Sunday Market and a Port-2-Port Dinner
Date: Sunday, November 4, 2007
Weather: Still Very Sunny and Warm with Lots of Wind
Location: Bundaberg Port Marina, Australia
Bundaberg Port Marina is a little more than ten miles from Bundaberg, so we always have to take the bus in. No buses run on Sunday, but the rally chartered a couple today to take us all to the Sunday market at the Shalom College (secondary school) on the outskirts of Bundaberg. It was a good food market with lots of other things for sale and the prices on fresh vegetables were much better than at the stores in Bundaberg. Mark and Gerry talked the bus driver into taking them on into town to the
marina area. There was a little marine trade show today and they just couldn’t miss that. We were all back at the Bundaberg Port Marina by noon and I launched into the projects on my radar screen. The wind has really picked up and there was a perfect mare’s tail in the sky above us with a mackeral sky on either side of it. We hear that very strong winds from the south are coming tomorrow and definitely the clouds in the sky were a little unusual. But back to the work at hand. I continued to
soak and then rinse lines that were hanging in our anchor locker all season. They hang in the locker in such a way as to drape slightly on the chain when it is all pulled in. That means they get dirty with bottom muck that comes up with the chain and that is what I am cleaning off. I then sanded and put a second coat of varnish on the cap rail around our cockpit. Mark wired up the solar panel he bought yesterday at the “monster bilge sale” and worked on reorganizing the things that go back under
our v-berth and before we knew it, it was time to go to the Port-2-Port dinner. We were all supposed to dress up for this one and if there had been a prize for Best Dressed, it would have gone to Bob of White Swan. He had on a white tux jacket with tails with back short pants, topped off with a devil’s horns headband. He was “stylin.” We were all treated to complimentary Dark and Stormy drinks made of Bundaberg Rum mixed with Bundaberg Gingerbeer. They actually sell this drink here pre-mixed
in cans and it is very popular. We had oysters on the half shell and a wide assortment of appetizers. Dinner was great and it was followed by live music by Nostalgia. We had fun dancing to music from the past, and in fact, I can still hear the music, so many are still up in the rally tent dancing and having a great time. Awards were given after dinner and Anna and Clyff of Koncerto that beat us in the boule semi-finals were the first place winners.
Tomorrow we leave early for a tour of the Bundaberg Rum Factory, the Gingerbeer Factory, and a huge hardware store. We will return in early afternoon just in time to sand and varnish the cap rail a third time and then attend tomorrow night’s sausage sizzle.
by Judy Handley | Nov 3, 2007 | Arriving Australia, Sailing Logs Year 2 |
Day 193, Year 2: A Whirlwind of Activity
Date: Saturday, November 3, 2007
Weather: Very Sunny and Very Warm with Lots of Wind
Location: Bundaberg Port Marina, Australia
The Port-2-Port activities just keep on coming. The first activity today was a boat “yard sale” up by the rally tent. Everyone brought up the boat gear they wanted to get rid of, and as always, one person’s junk is the answer to another’s dream. We sold our wonderful Dahon folding bikes. They went from Windbird to Freebird. We loved them but used them so little that it was getting harder and harder to justify the space they took up in the v-berth. We bought a solar panel to replace the one
we lost on our passage from New Zealand to Fiji last May for less than half the price of a new one, so it was a good morning for us. While Mark manned the sale items, I came back to the boat and started to get ready to sand and varnish the cap rail around the cockpit. Doing this required taking down the dodger and bimini with all of the hardware that holds it up. I got started but was really glad when Mark came down to get something off the boat. It was only with his help that I had any hope
of getting the job done. We moved the dodger and bimini to the front of the boat and I literally just threw everything else from the cockpit inside the boat. By day’s end, I did get the cap rail around the cockpit sanded and varnished but inside and out, Windbird looks like a cyclone hit. There is stuff everywhere, but it will just have to be that way until we finish varnishing and can get things back in place.
Mid-afternoon, after sanding but before varnishing, we went up to play our semi-finals boule game, This time we lost. We played against Anna and Clyff of Koncerto and learned many new things about the game. They knew all the rules, and they also knew all of the nuiances of how to play the game. So no finals for Windbird, but we have learned to play a new game that is a lot of fun and can be played on beaches anywhere. When we finished our game, Pure Chance was waiting for Scot Free II to show
up to play the last game of the semi-finals. When Scot Free didn’t come, Mark went out on the dock to get them. Unfortunately, Donna had fallen off the boat onto the dock and bruised herself pretty badly. There would be no boules for them today, nor would they attend the Pot Luck. We just hope Donna recovers quickly and doesn’t have any broken bones. The last activity for today was a Pot Luck dinner. When I stopped to fix lunch today, I made an artichoke-rice salad to take. I was also going
to make some salmon cakes, but I ran out of time. It is a good thing as there was way more food than anyone could eat.
Tomorrow’s activities include an early morning bus trip to Bundaberg to go to the Sunday market. We’ll return from that, continue the boat work, and then go to the late afternoon rally dinner. We are supposed to dress up for this one which could be interesting since most of us don’t have dressy clothes aboard. But then, cruisers are always so creative. I’m sure we will all find a way to look extra-special for the event.
by Judy Handley | Nov 2, 2007 | Arriving Australia, Sailing Logs Year 2 |
Day 192, Year 2: Windbird Makes the Boule Semi-Finals
Date: Friday, November 2, 2007
Weather: Very Sunny and Very Warm
Location: Bundaberg Port Marina, Australia
Early this morning I heard Peter of Dutch Touch saying he hadn’t been in a quarter-final competition in a quarter of century. Well, Mark and I have never been in a quarter or semi-final competition for anything, but today we we made it with beginner’s luck. We were dreading our 9 AM boule game against Paddy and Alison on Zfarse. Alison is from Australia and has played boules all of her life and Paddy seemed enthusiastic about winning. They explained the rules of the game to us, and right off
I found that I had a knack for getting my silver boule ball closest to the white ball–the goal of the game. We won the game 11 to 8. So on we went to the semi-finals. Our afternoon game time was 3:30, so we had to stop right in the middle of some major projects to go back up to the lawn to play. This time our opponents were Bob and Dianna of White Swan. Again, they have boule balls on their boat and have played on the beach many times. We were just anxious to get the game over with so we could
get back to work. But once again, we won. This time the score was 11 to 3. So tomorrow is our big day. We had such a good time playing today, but then playing is always more fun when you are winning.
Before going to our 9 AM game, we cleaned out the space under the v-berth taking all the extra lines and spinnaker sail up on deck to dry out any dampness. Mark then emptied the anchor locker of all anchor chain and rope and put these things down on the pier to be cleaned. I took down all of the plastic side curtains around the cockpit, as well as the sunscreens, and worked to scrub these clean. I also washed some of the lines that were particularly dirty. All of this took most of the day, but
by time we headed up to dinner, We had the side curtains down inside the boat ready to pack away, the anchor resting nicely in a clean anchor locker.
Tomorrow we take the things we want to sell to shore, play in the boule semi-finals, and attend a Port-2-Port Pot Luck dinner. I’m hoping to sand and maybe even put one coat of varnish on the cockpit combing, so it will be another jam-packed day here in Aussie Land.
by Judy Handley | Nov 1, 2007 | Arriving Australia, Sailing Logs Year 2 |
Day 191, Year 2: Keeping Busy
Date: Thursday, November 1, 2007
Weather: Partly Sunny and Very Warm
Location: Bundaberg Port Marina, Australia
Outside, Windbird looks great, but inside she looks like a cyclone hit. We have the v-berth torn apart in readiness for getting under the cushions to sort out things we no longer need and to air out that part of the boat. So things stored on the v-berth are now in the main cabin piled here and there. Then I have been going through the accumulation of paperwork about the places we have visited this season. When I am finished, everything will be reorganized and ready to go when we return from
the US, but right now it is a mess. Mark took down all of the sails today, hauled them up to the grassy area in front of the marina complex, folded them neatly, and then took them to the canvas shop next door for repairs. We normally do our own repairs, but there are specific jobs to be done on each sail that need a bigger sewing machine than the one we have. Mark also got Windbird “dressed” for the Best Dressed Yacht competition coming up on Saturday. We have one string of signal flags and we
made another string of flags using the courtesy flags of all the countries we have visited during the voyage of Windbird. Tomorrow will be more of the same: cleaning and organizing, and hopefully by the end of the day, we will have the inside of the boat all back to normal. That’s probably optimistic, but I can always hope.
We have wireless internet on the boat here in the marina and today we received some pictures of our nine-month old grand baby Sam dressed as a penguin for Halloween. He just gets cuter and cuter. We started our day with a breakfast provided by the Burnett Heads shire. That is the political unit for this area. And then we ended our day with a Port-2-Port curry dinner. During the day we saw Idunne and Runae and their twin girls Hetta and Marita of Blue Marlin. They came in last night and went
through Customs and Quarantine this morning. We saw Jan and Christina of the yacht Christina tonight. They came in today, but had an unfortunate ending to their passage. While taking down the sails, they hit one of the large metal buoys in the bay just before entering the river. There is evidently considerable damage done to the boat. We were sad to hear about this, but they seem upbeat about it and say they will get the repairs done and continue. It seems that most of the boats in the rally
must be here now, so there are at least 112 people when we get together, plus the local folks organizing the rally, and some yachties who were not in the rally but join with us when we are together. It is quite a crowd.
We think the repairs we did on the dinghy yesterday are working which is a great relief. Tomorrow morning it is our turn to play boules. This is a form of bowling but on a lawn and with rules that resemble horse-shoes. There is a tournament among all the yachties. The Port-2-Port festivities include a luncheon sponsored by the marina and a seafood auction during the evening. None of us is quite sure how this will work, but soon we will see. The people of Bundaberg have been so very welcoming
and we are having a great time meeting other yachties from the rally. The fun just goes on and on. And somehow we will find time between all these activities to get the boat work done.
by Judy Handley | Oct 31, 2007 | Arriving Australia, Sailing Logs Year 2 |
Day 190, Year 2: Life on the Dock
Date: Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Weather: Sunny and Very Warm
Location: Bundaberg Port Marina, Australia
Mark spent his day washing the engine with fresh water, finding and repairing tiny puncture holes in the dinghy, repairing a through-hull fitting, and replacing rusty hose clamps under sinks. I did yet another hand laundry, cleaned the cockpit cushions and the cockpit, and as Mark says–generally washed everything in sight. Mark and I both worked online trying to find flights from Boston to Charlotte so we can go to my sister’s 50th wedding anniversary party and then wrote a lengthy email to our
kids to share the information with them in hopes that they can join us. In the late afternoon I cut Mark’s hair and then it was time to go to the first Port-2-Port Rally gathering. Tonight it was a bar-b-que and it was fun to talk with many of the participants and to reunite with some good friends. Bob and Dianna on White Swan came in last night and Cynthia, Tim, and Cameron on Arctic Fox came in this morning, so we visited with them this evening. I forgot to mention in yesterday’s log that Ute
and George of Miami are here, and tonight we saw Alison and Paddy of Zfarse who must have arrived today. Most of the boats are in although we have not seen Christina and Blue Marlin. Maybe tomorrow. Our day begins in the morning with a Rally breakfast and ends tomorrow evening with a curry dinner. In between, we will continue to do all of the little jobs that need to be done before we can leave Windbird in Australia while we return home. We are enjoying life here on the dock.
by Judy Handley | Oct 30, 2007 | Arriving Australia, Sailing Logs Year 2 |
Day 189, Year 2: First Trip into Bundaberg
Date: Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Weather: Mostly Sunny
Location: Bundaberg Port Marina, Australia
Bundaberg Port Marina is just at the mouth of the Burnett River on what is called Burnett Heads. From here it is probably about fifteen miles to the center of Bundaberg. Every day the marina runs a shuttle into town at 9:30 and again at 10:30, and once in town you can return on Duffy’s City Bus. So at 9:30 this morning, we hopped on the marina shuttle and made our way to town. Donna and Gerry of Scot Free II were also on the bus, but once we arrived we went our separate ways. We looked around
and saw a K-Mart, a Woolworth’s, and an IGA–all familiar store names. Mark and I also spotted a second-hand shop and we ducked in to see if they had any $2.00 suitcases like ones we had bought in New Zealand last year for our trip home. They had one really large soft suitcase for $8.00, so we bought it. We only had a $50 bill, and the shop had no change, so we had to run across the street to the IGA grocery store to get change. This looked like a good place to buy the food items we were after,
so we decided to walk around town and return here just before the 2:15 bus home to pick up our suitcase and buy our groceries. After getting the change, we went back to buy the suitcase and left it in the store saying we would pick it up later in the day. We then continued our walk about town. We had only walked a few blocks when we spotted Donna and Gerry in a park talking to a gentleman. We stopped and found that the man was a city employee working in the park and he had given Donna and Gerry
lots of leads on interesting places to visit. This man, like most everyone we have met here, was so very friendly and helpful. Our next stop was the Tourist Information Center and we found really helpful people there as well. The most exciting thing we discovered is that early next week the sea turtles start coming ashore just south of here to the Mon Repos Conservation Park. The turtles coming to nest represent the most significant loggerhead turtle nesting population in all of the South Pacific.
So I know we will be making a trip to Mon Repos in the next week or so.
Bundaberg is a town that appears to have been built in the late 1800’s and not much has changed since then. It has a population of around 50,000 and evidently the Bundaberg Rum factory is the biggest thing going in town. We found more stores with familiar names–Blockbuster Video and Target being two of the largest. We went with Donna and Gerry down to the river and found the Mid-Town Marina. Mark really enjoyed looking through the chandlery to see what he needed to buy, and Gerry and Donna checked
out the prices of keeping a boat there. We had lunch with Gerry and Donna, and then Mark and I visited a great little book store and went to Target to look for new pillows. Ours are sadly flat. We found out that you can’t buy queen-sized pillows here, only standard or king. Oh well, standard will just have to do. We slowly wound our way through town and back to our starting point.
Today was a good introduction to Bundaberg. I know we will return many times to buy all of the items on our shopping list, and we felt like we got a good handle on what is here today. When we got back to the marina, we made visits to the yard where boats are put on the hard and we visited the only canvas shop out here. Bevin runs the chandlery and owns the canvas shop and he is coming to Windbird tomorrow to give us an estimate on a new and improved cockpit enclosure. We ended our day with a
dinner on Ranger, who is by the way, our next door neighbor. We were neighbors in Whangarei and now here in Bundaberg.
When I wrote last night’s log, I thought the Port-2-Port activities began tonight, but I was a day early. Tomorrow evening the festivities begin. Maybe we will have our first XXXX beer. It is the official beer of Queensland and some say it is XXXX because no one could spell beer. Bad joke. We’ll have to wear our Boston Red Sox t-shirts tomorrow night to celebrate the Sox triumphant win of the World Series.
