Boy, I sure could use a big dose of youth right now. I remember those good old days when we could work hard all day and party late until the night and wake up the next morning and start all over again. Now, as I have crept past the age of 62, I am having a hard time getting this old carcass out of bed after staying up past 2200 hours.

This morning we got up early so that we could get the boat ready to weigh anchor and motor the 7 nm over to Baileys Fuel to fill up on duty free fuel. Earlier this week I had secured our duty free form from Customs and with so many boats here for the rally, I was getting nervous that I would not be able to secure an appointment to refuel. Plus, Baileys Fuel had put out a notice that starting Monday, they would no long service yachties since the prawn fleet would be back and Baileys Fuel would be too busy with them to worry about yachties. However, yesterday I called and was able to get an appointment for 0900 this morning. It was the last slot that they had available. Whew!

On our way over, an Italian boat raced in front of us and cut us off. I just knew he was going to slip into the fuel dock in front of us and we would have to wait. As it turns out, he had the 0830 time slot but he arrived 20 minutes late. We arrived 5 minutes early. We circled for a bit and finally were waved in to the pier to tie up. However, we could not start fueling because the pump next to us was not working. Thus, we had to wait for the Italians to finish before we could back down into the space he had tied up to. While we were waiting we watched with fascination as to how incompetent the Italian boat’s crew was. There were four men and they kept bumping into each other as they moved the fuel hose from jerry jug to jerry jug, spilling a lot of fuel in the process. It was a bit entertaining to watch.

Finally, at 0930, it was our turn. We filled our two tanks and the remaining jerry jugs that we had. All told, we took on 513 liters, which is about 135 gallons. The duty free fuel cost $1.12AU a gallon. At the gas stations in Darwin, it is costing $1.53 a litter so this was a big savings. It certainly was a lot cheaper than the $1.75 a litter we paid at Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays and $2.12 a liter we paid at Seisia, up by Cape York.

I had wanted to fill our deck fuel bladder but the fuel nozzle was too big for its opening it. Darn. I had to wait until we returned to our anchorage to transfer the diesel from our jerry jugs into the bladder. Now, I will have to take the jerry jugs to a gas station and fill them there tomorrow. To add insult to injury, I will end up having to pay full price ($1.53 a litter) since you need to buy a minimum of $300 worth of fuel to qualify for the duty free status.

While I was with the attendant paying our bill, Mary Margaret was left on the boat. As she patiently waited for my return, she watched the tide rapidly drop and, as it did, so did our boat. Soon the stern dock line was extreme taunt. The attendant had not left enough slack in it to account for the drop in tide. As she was contemplating getting the rigging knife and slicing through the stern line, a young family walked by and she asked if they would loosen the line. The young man did so and our stern dropped by over a foot!

After the fueling was behind us and we had returned to our anchorage, Mary Margaret and I next drove around and started our provisioning process. By the time we were done with phase 1 of provisioning, it was 1730 and we were bushed. However, at 1800 we hopped back into the dinghy and headed to shore. Tonight was the big Sail Indonesia BBQ bash!

This is when I wished that I still had my youth and all the energy the young ones have. The BBQ certainly was party central. Our fee for the rally included this wonderful BBQ and drinks. We saw a lot of old friends and soon we were in the party mode. Party, party, party! Yep, this cruiser’s life is pretty good!!

The food was great, the wine and beer hit the spot and it was great to be with good friends. A great time was had by all!

Tomorrow, the work on the boat continues. Plus, I get to schlep our empty propane tanks and now empty jerry jugs around to get them refilled. Lordy, get me some more of that youth!!!!