Today our friend John of S/V Sea Mist and I drove into town to pick up my outboard. It was finally ready to be picked up. John had wanted to go to town to get a new battery for his watch. Having him with me also was a big help in moving the outboard engine back to the boat. The cost of servicing my engine was just $178 AU since the plugs were in good shape as was the impellor. The corrosion on the crankshaft was the problem and that just took some labor time to remove. They were able to restore and reuse the old seal so a new one was not needed. Hooray! Now with the outboard back on the boat, we are ready to start our cruising season.

While we were gone, Mary Margaret cooked up a storm and made some great tasting gazpacho and a wonderful vegetable medley for dinner. It went great with the roasted chicken.

We plan to move over to the fuel dock tomorrow to fill up our tanks and then leave at dawn on Thursday to sail over to Lady Musgrave Island. We are sooo ready! The weather continues to look very favorable for a comfortable stay at Lady Musgrave Island. The winds should be below 15 knots until at least Tuesday. If the winds blow over 15 knots, then at high tide the swells pass over the lagoon reef and make the anchorage a bit dicey. Boats have dragged in such conditions and have washed up on the coral. Not good! However, if the weather continues to behave, we should have a great time there.