Sailing around the World ( Presently in the Whitsunday Islands )
A Lady
Stephen Hyde
Thu 5 Aug 2010 23:17
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THURSDAY 5th
AUGUST 2010
06.30 Skipper and
Naill got up early and rooted out all the fishing tackle , then hopped into the
rib and motored over
about 1/2 mile to the point and started
fishing , using the bait we acquired in Hamilton Isl.
The bait consisted of Squid and Pilchers and after
fishing and catching nothing except coral reefs, we gave up.
and returned to " A Lady " and decided we must be
doing something wrong.
Niall and Mary went ashore for a while and on their
return, we hauled the anchor and set sail for Airlie beach, about 15 miles
away.
We sailed past the picturesque Island of Hamilton
on the way, and observed at least 6 Whales on route, some very
close,
The sight of their tails going up into the air
before sliding into the sea was wonderfull.
The weather was good, The 20 knot wind behind
and a completey flat sea,
15.15hrs We arrived at Abel Point Marina,, Skipper
spoke to Patricia Leahy in their office many times, one of the conditions
of using
their marina was a 10 million $ third party cover
(P.L.) So , much scrambling had to be done with our own insurance co. to get
our
$ 3m ( P.L.) increased to cover the $ 10m
requirement,, Frank Murphy managed it all nicely and so we got
permission to enter.
Patricia Leahy, Well my first question
to her was , " thats an Irish name" and she informed us that she is married to a
Cork man,
how about that! but his family left Cork
around 1960 and obviously wound up in this neck of the woods.
Skipper missed a call from " Fats " and it seems he
has arrieved home back to Cork, safe and sound from the States, which
he enjoyed big time.
He spent a month driving across America, from L.A.
to washington, taking in Yellow stone national park, Texes, Arizona, and too
many
places to remember. Gosh it seems like its only
yesterday since he left the boat, and skipper still misses him from the
Galley.
We got things organised on the boat once we were
tied up, Niall washed her down completly and filled the water
tanks,
meanwhile , skipper went to the marina office and
sorted out the paperwork and collected 2 new hinges for the fwd toilet
hatch.
Later , we walked up town, which resembled a wild
west one street town, except very modern and well kept,
The boardwalks along the sea front and
the shore was beautifully made and maintained, and used by
hundreds
of joggers and cicylists.
The sky was covered with screeching white Parrots,,
real noisy things, they were everywhere.
We eventually wound up in " Shipreck " seafood
restaurant, It had coral reef trout on the menue, so we had to test
this fish,
as we have spent so often trying to catch the
beggers and failed miserably so far.
Skipper tried to call " Fats " on the mobile , but
also failed miserably at this too.
The food was excellent , later we went to an Irish
Pub for a night cap which we did not need, and eventually walked
back
to the boat, We admired the stars again,
and even with our full bellies, they still looked marvellous,
We had another early night,
zzzzzzz
Thats all,
Signed :- Stephen Hyde, (
Skipper )
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