Sunrise Surfers
19 April 2015 | Sydney, Australia
Kim
Uncle Don has left and what a sad day it is, especially for Zack. We are back to reality and he is back to school. Which means diligent work in the morning and surfing in the afternoon. We are still moored at Manly Beach and it was a great surprise when a couple of days after Don left our new friends on Island Home reappeared unexpectedly. We heard Scott calling out for Zack as they drove by and picked up the mooring next to us. So much for that pesky schoolwork. It was late so no play until after school the next day. The boys got their work done and we were on the beach after lunch, surfing. Zack and Scott were so happy to be back together they did not part company for the next three days. We went to Island Home for a barbecue and Zack ended up spending the night. He called in the morning for his school work. Then it was back to the beach for more surfing. This went on for 3 days with 2 sleepovers on Flour Girl. By the end of it both boys were beat. We were planning on leaving Thursday to head north and Island Home needed to head south. Well, they left and our weather window evaporated. We need to get north for our friend Natalie's birthday but we just cannot find a decent weather window. I guess we are just stuck here surfing.
Manly is super convenient for provisioning and I have been stocking up on provisions so we won't have to do so much before we leave Australia. I was on one such run and waiting on the dock for David to come get me when a gentleman on the dock asked if I was off of the American boat. We struck up a conversation and turns out he was a sailor from New Zealand. Well, if you ever want to hear some crazy sailing stories, find yourself a Kiwi. Kiwi's have the best sailing stories, because they are all nuts. They will sail in any weather, any seas, any where. David arrived and the next thing you know our new friend Kirk is on the boat and we are all talking sailing. It was lots of fun but Scott was on his boat and Zack was on ours and they were looking at each other all forlorn. They were supposed to be surfing. Kirk left and we went to the beach. Kirk sent us an email the next day inviting us to dinner at his friend Tony's house. Tony is another kiwi sailor who spent some time in the States and was keen to meet some fellow sailors. We made our way up to Tony's house and brought a chocolate flourless torte (always a good friend maker.) We had a lovely evening talking sailing and surfing. Tony's son Josh was there with a couple of his friends. Josh brought out his pet diamond back python for Zack to play with. Zack was into it and actually held the snake. I stood on a chair, it was a big snake! Tony and Kirk are both avid surfers and challenged Zack to meet them at the beach at 6 a.m. They have jobs, so they have to surf before work. How inconvenient is that? Zack was totally keen for it but he was alone with that dream. When we got home he gave me the alarm clock and asked me to get him up at 5:30. Yeah right, I don't think so. I told him if he wanted to surf at 6 he could set the alarm, wake up, and wake David up. His deal, not mime. I should have realized that he may actually do it, as he had not been drinking wine all evening he had a far better chance of actually following through than me. At 5:30 he was standing there shaking David and saying it was time to go surfing. Ugh, next time I am going to let him drink some wine. David actually got up so I drove them in and they went surfing at sunrise. Tony was there but not expecting them and was in a business suit. It took him 3 minutes to change and borrow a board and they were out. Kirk was there as well and already out surfing. They are both good surfers and Zack was compelled to follow them all the way out to the big waves. He got rolled a few times and took some saltwater up the shnoz but he stuck with it and had two good rides in. He came home ecstatic and very pleased with himself. When they came out from surfing and were treated to coffee, hot chocolate, and part of Tony's breakfast sandwich David and Zack met a friend of Tony and Kirks named Jim Regan, who has a brother Sean. Jim and Sean grew up with a good friend of ours, Jim Swan, who Zack helped open St John Hardware for the first few years of Zacks life. What a small world! Zack and David also came home with another dinner invitation. We spent the afternoon surfing. Then another lovely evening at Tony's for dinner. We just love it here. But we need to go!!! I have stocked up on fresh produce yet again with a plan to leave on Sunday. The wind is out of the south but the intensity of the front keeps changing every day. Saturday afternoon we realized that it would just be too much wind and a lot of rain. We are going to play it safe and head over to Rozelle to hunker down and wait out this weather system. Our friends on Allure texted to say they are on route to Bum's Bay to meet us. As soon as the weather is favorable we are on our way and back into our sailing adventure, no more city life for us.
On our way to Australia, Zack had made a message in a bottle. We were half way between Chesterfield Reef and Brisbane when he threw it overboard. He wrote our contact information on his note with the hopes that whoever found it would contact him. We wanted to see where the message would land. That was about 4 months ago. We were very surprised to get an email from Paul Osborne who found his message in a bottle222. He was nice enough to email and Zack has emailed back asking for some details, very cool!! I can see more messages in the future!