Australia
Journeys of Aardvarc
Ed
Fri 25 Jul 2008 08:43
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position 21:06.8S 149:13.5E
Greetings from Mackay, Queensland ,
AUSTRALIA!!!
Yes, here we are, 8000+ miles later, on the other
side of the Pacific.
Arrived inside the barrier reef on Wednesday then
battled through the worst weather yet, sustained winds of 40 knots ( severe
gale) and gusts to 50 knots ( storm force).
Speaking of which, we entered the Barrier reef via
the Capricorn Channel ( also discovered by Captain Cook ....thanks for the
reference Marg). So named we think because it lies on the Tropic of
Capricorn.
Latitude 22 ish.
They like naming things after latitudes...the local
bar/restaurant is called Latitude 21. Boat handled it really well, better than the
crew! Lying in the bunk sometimes the boat would rise off a wave then slam
down the face of the next wave. The effect of this is to leave you suspended in
mid air briefly, and then fall back onto the bunk...plays hell with trying to
sleep! Wednesday night we all stayed up to nurse the boat through the worst of
it. We all feel that we have achieved that much more with it not all being
"tropical sailing"
Arrived somewhat jaded,thursday morning, only
to be immediately boarded by Customs and Quarantine officials who searched the
boat, sealed all my medicines and confiscated lots of our food...mostly meat and
veg..in case it was contaminated. They are paranoid about BSE, Foot and Mouth
etc
As you can see from the photos, the weather
made it very difficult to cook or eat well, so we had to make do with Beef
Wellington, shame.....
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