BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA Position:- 27.27S; 153.11E

Around the world with the Aqualunies
Jonathan & Gabrielle Lyne
Wed 15 Dec 2010 00:02

Position:-  27.27S; 153.11E

TUESDAY 7TH DECEMBER, 2010  BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA

We have been back on the yacht for a week having returned from the UK after two months at home for our son's wedding.  It was a beautiful wedding with an autumn theme and it didn't rain at all until after everybody had gone home which was at about 1.30 am.

We should be on our way pottering down the coast of Australia to Sydney for Christmas where we are joining friends and family our ETA was the 15th December.  Sadly we had some rigging problems and some parts which SELDON were supposed to have sent urgently only arrived today by which time our riggers had gone on holiday for a week.  Such is yachting.  I have heard from many people who try to order goods from companies in the UK (often agents of the goods abroad) and the Brits just seem so slow at getting their act together and getting even the smallest thing in the post (as a sample for example to the agents who have clients waiting for that part).  One wonders why we are becoming so slow & expensive at trade and production which is causing us to slip far behind other countries, we used to be so good at it.  Very, very sad.  Enough of my rant.

We had a great ten days in Hong Kong on our way here staying with some old friends.  Lots of lunches and dinners organised and just absorbing the general buzz and 'can do' atmosphere of Hong Kong, there will always be a part of us there having lived there for twenty years and brought the children up there.

Brisbane, is fun, the Aussies are a really friendly bunch of people and despite having the frustration of not getting the rigging done fast, everybody has been very helpful and now we have a new dodger and bimini, much smarter than the old mouldy beige one which only lasted three years.  This is a new material in pale grey, almost plasticised and should last a long time without going mouldy or saggy.  Hood are redoing our lazy jack bag, the engine and generator have been serviced.  The yacht is coming out for a bottom clean and anodes replaced tomorrow, the bottom has a garden growing on it at the moment.  So we are getting there slowly; it will be good to have my galley back and the below decks back into 'ship shape order' without floor boards up everywhere and cupboards emptied so that pipes and electrics can be reached.

We spent a lovely weekend in Byron Bay staying with David de Kantzow, we visited an amazing town, Nimbin, which seems to have been stuck in the 60/70s very colourful and the smell of 'pot' was quite profound.  Byron Bay is very laid back, lots of lovely restaurants and shops and a gorgeous beach, which we would have stayed on if it had not chucked down with rain quite so much.  David and Jonathan had fun watching the cricket on television, David is Australian and Jonathan English so it made for more fun.  We also watched Jonathan's nephew, Ian Williams,  match racing in the Monsoon Cup in Malaysia, sadly he is no longer World Champion.

WEDNESDAY 8TH DECEMBER  IN BRISBANE

Next scenario...... the batteries have boiled and stuck together.   Just another blip in our line of blips at the moment.  Fortunately we have a great chap called Chris who has managed after a lot of tugging to get them out we are unable to obtain the same type as it will take at least 3 months to have them made in the UK and then sent out.   Chris has found some similar but not quite as powerful and has also suggest putting an alarm on them so that if the electrics from the marina go off again whilst we are away from the yacht a message is sent through to our mobile phones and we can get somebody to do something about it before another disaster.  The very first problems we encountered when returning to the yacht from two months away from her that in our wisdom we decided to leave the freezer on as there was still some quite good meat in there and some cheese.  Of course when the electrics had gone off for quite a few days by the look of it, everything in the freezer defrosted,  and then refroze, when we defrosted it again to clean it out the smell of old stilton cheese and old chicken meat permeated throughout the yacht......... added to this the aft loo had blocked so Jonathan got down to dismantling it, the salt water ( despite flushing through with fresh whilst leaving it) had crystalised in the pipes, so these needed a good clear out as well .... so you can imagine the smell of freezer food gone off mixed with the smell of faeces,  not a good home coming to the yacht.  We have learnt quite a few lessons from this clear freezer  out and give food away, always if possible, flush the toilet with fresh water.

FRIDAY 10TH DECEMBER BRISBANE

We were re-launched today, Aqualuna is looking very beautiful with her polished hull.  Most of the new batteries are in, because they are smaller we need more, so they are sorting out where to put them, a new box will be made to store them.  Other than small maintenance jobs and cleaning the decks and getting a new rigging we are more or less ready to set sail.  With lots of luck that might happen next Wednesday.

WEEKEND OF 11 - 12TH DECEMBER

Fantastic weekend in Noosa staying with the Mannings in Noosa Springs at their beautiful house.  Poured with rain nearly all weekend, but somehow that didn't matter as we had such a relaxing time.

MONDAY - WEDNESDAY 13 - 15TH DECEMBER

Scrubbed the decks on the yacht.  Riggers started sorting out the rigging.  Rest of batteries replaced. Yacht beginning to look like home again.  Hope to set sail, once the rest of the jobs are completed, tomorrow.
And THE SUN IS OUT!!!