Oh well time to start heading back to mackay
So we stopped in at hamilton island for a few supplies.
It was quite a strange day as the ocean was like a mirror but with a very dense fog everywhere and visibility was only about 30 m at times.
We motored for about 20 odd miles and decided to stop at Thomas island for a night.
Awesome little spot with nice beaches and plenty of spots for the kids to explore.
But as per usual the weather started to turn and it has been blowing its arse out (30 plus)with some nasty bullets flying thru the anchorage)
And we have been stuck here for 3 days waiting for a bit of a break so we can head off.
Met a couple of nice blokes heading north on thier boats and went in and had a few sundowners while the kids toasted home made marshmallows on a little Bon fire(nice)
Might get a bit of a break in the wind on Wednesday so I guess we will just have to stress out at Thomas untill then

After Clint and family decided to head home we hung around Airlie so we could grab a few supplies,water etc.
What a fun day that was as it did not stop raining all day.
After spending a few hours in the laundromat sorting out some washing we grabbed lunch at a noodle bar which was bloody nice?
We decided to rent a car so we could go get some groceries as we didn't like the thought of fighting the rain with the kids and all the bags of shopping in tow!
Managed to get it all back on board but Christ we were wet at the end of it !
Hope the rain goes away so we can enjoy the rest of the time up here.

Picked up the Roberts family of five (which made 9 on board)from the sailing club at about 1600 and headed out to Nara inlet for the first night to catch up and have a few quiet ones and enjoy the serenity .
Next day we all went to the aboriginal paintings up in the cave on the hill which was lots of fun with five kids sneaking quietly along( not ).
Once back on board we headed around to butterfly bay for the night to hopefully do some snorkeling etc but it was to bloody cold for us but the kids had a swim and a kayak around .
We sat there and watched the guaranteed laughs from all all the bare boaters trying to calm / control their vessels(all we could do was shake our head) but it was funny!
Day three with the Roberts we decided to head over to CID harbour as the wind was still blowing 25-30 from the SSE and I didn't, like the look of white haven beach with that much wind about.
We still had a great time catching bait fish for maybe something bigger and even managed to lose a good crab pot .
Nothing like collecting pots at midnight while pissing with rain !
Clint ,Michele,Slade,Shelby,Isla stayed with us for 7 days which was nice to share our home with some like minded travellers and we all had a great time

We left mackay on Monday night at 2130 so we could use the north running tide heading to Airlie beach,breeze stared out at about 15 knots and slowly built to around 30 knots.
Full main ,full headsail , wind on around 120 degrees and we were off ,boat speed sitting solid on 14 knots with a max speed of 17.5 knots ,I was thinking this is what she was built for!!
Lou and the kids were all tucked up in bed all nice and warm
And I was having an awesome time.
All was good untill about 0300 when the auto pilot tripped out and she took off across the wave slowly rounding up and as I could not get to the pilot link quick enough all I could do was grab the wheel and give a good yank on it to correct the course.
Only damage was that I blew the auto pilot apart on the shaft.
Oh well I would have to hand steer the rest of the way(had a ball)and we were smoking along chewing up the miles!
Arrived at Airlie beach at 0430 out side the Whitsunday sailing club .
Wish all the runs could be so much fun!

Ok I finally got the courage to get wet and fit the new props !
Well my head and hands got wet as I was in my drysuit (Sook)
Any way it only took me around an hour for each one as I was super carefull not drop any pieces(and there are lots of bits on the autostreams)and only sacrificed one Allen key in the process.
Lou and I took the boat for a run to see how the pitch was and we managed to get 10.3 knots sitting on 2700rpm and at 1800rpm we were cruising along at 7.5 knots
I reckon we have a few more knots of hull speed we could squeeze out but I am pretty happy with those figures for the rpm so I will wait untill we head out for a couple of weeks at the reef and maybe a slight adjustment to the pitch then.
I also had a burst of energy today and finished off the saloon upholstery which was only a few buttons in the cushions but they came up pretty good.
Another job that was on the to do list was change the table supports over to a single pedastal so that it can now rotate as well as drop down to enable us a huge day bed come king size bed for any guests that may appear?

ALL GOOD

So after fixing/repairing the water heater 6 times due to fatigue on the welds from heating/ cooling forty million times which would start to leak!
I HAVE HAD ENOUGH
so I have bought a new 40 litre 240v/ heat exchanger hot water system.
The out side can't rust as it is made from poly and with a 1200 w element it only takes about 20 minutes to heat up.
As with most things installation is never as easy as it should be !
Got it mounted ok on the rear side of the engine bulkhead so I can have a bit more room in the engine bay but when extending the water lines of course I did not have enough on board ( missed by 6 inches)
In the car I went and raced up to the only shop in town that stock the pipe the whole boat is plumbed in( guess what they close at 1 pm on a Saturday) time now was 1:15 Bugger!!!!!!!
Back to the boat and managed to get most if it done except for the engine side so that will have to wait till I get back from work next week.
So far it is going pretty good and we had hot water in about 15 minutes .
THAT'S ONE MORE OFF THE LIST