Year 2 -1 July 2025 – Breakwater Marina- Townsville- A few more Crew!!
William and Nicola Mackaness arrived about 12.45am. It was good to see them as they had travelled from Edinburgh. I showed them to their quarters (the marital suite) and left them to go to bed and I went to bed too.
I woke about 7.00am and gradually the others got up. We had a good breakfast of melon and fruit and yoghurt which was enjoyable. We had booked the courtesy car and headed off about 10.15 am to provision. Despite the fact there was 4 of us, this took us about an hour and a half to get everything and return to Stormbird. On our return we had to do two trolley trips to get everything on board with just the wine and drink to buy.
Darrel Trueman, our final crew member from Darwin arrived and we left him with the others up to their elbows in provisions and trying to store them. William and I headed off to the liquor store to stock up and we only had the car for 25 minutes. We whizzed round and found the beer and wine and got back just in time to give the car back. We then got the drink on board with the challenge of storing it and all the other provisions which took some time but with care and patience we got it stored.
Once done I showed Darrel to his cabin and we had a lunch as a crew of 5 together for the first time. We then had an initial briefing about life on board and the ways and means. After this we had a break and then I went through Stormbird on the outside from bow to stern explaining as much as I can about her.
We then had tea and rested. I contacted a refrigeration expert in Cairns to discuss the freezer problem and to explain what I had learnt. He emailed me back and said I am sure we can resolve the issue and talked about flushing the pipe system through. The technician here did not know you could do that. It gave me hope that they will be able to sort out the problem when we get to Cairns. I just need to send photos. We got the sheets out ready for the genoa and staysail.
We assembled again at about 5.30pm and walked along The Strand along the shoreline. The sun was setting and the picture of the day is the silhouette of this. We went to the Spirited Goat for supper again and had a great meal. It was good that we as a crew of 5 were together and getting to know each other. We hope to move on tomorrow to Magnetic Island. We cannot leave until high water which is about 4.38pm.
It has been a great day weather wise with clear blue skies and sun. We have done a lot and made good progress.
Need/Opportunity Year Three
In year three I will be going from Thailand to Sri Lanka, India, Maldives and then on to Chagos, Mauritius, Reunion, Cape Town, St Helena, Azores and back to the UK. I am looking for crew from Mauritius/ Reunion Island to Cape Town and from Cape Town to the UK. If of any interest do email me.
The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com