We were out walking this morning - as we do - aiming for the Post Office to check on mail. It struck me as we walked along how, even though I had driven up this particular road many times, I hadn't noticed things around me nearly as much as I did when walking. It's like that isn't it? We drive past so much in our rush-here-and-hurry-there lives. But these days, while we take everything so much slower, I find we notice so much more. It reminded me of something I heard once about not always taking the highway, but savouring the scenic route and how much this sailing life allows us - actually makes us - do exactly that -take the meandering route - the stop-and-look-at-the-flowers route.
Our time in Albany is quickly coming to an end. Winter will end in a little over two weeks and the local wisdom suggests the ideal time for us to begin to sail towards the East is in late September to late October. That means that the best weather window to go begins in only about five weeks.
We have almost completed all the routine maintenance required to embark - the overhauling of the plumbing, electrical systems, motor, sails, rigging, hull and navigational equipment. We still have a few tiny things to do.
We have almost completed the preparations for sailing the Bite:
 We have thrown out the old life jackets that we inherited along with the boat and purchased new, compliant, excellent ones;
 We have ensured all crew members are outfitted with good quality and well-fitting wet weather gear for the storms/ heavy weather days we are sure to encounter;
 We have checked all hand holds and life lines, and fitted a new centre lifeline on deck to ensure easy and safe mobility during windy/ heavy weather days;
 We have ensured we have adequate harnesses for each member to use ;
 We have two levels of food for travelling - planned meals for when I can cook and cans of ham/chicken/soups for when I can't, as well as long life milks, bread mixes fresh water etc;
 We have prepared our emergency equipment - bought a new EPIRB and some new flares and only kept those we had that were serviceable;
 We have checked the contents of the emergency grab bag (what you grab in the unlikely circumstance of having to abandon ship) - first aid supplies, emergency food and water, torches, flares, radio and spareEPIRB.
We have been plotting our course, checking all the weather sites (the Bureau Of Meteorology -BOM, and Seabreeze are our favourites) and checking these against the information provided by weather routing sites - we like 'Predict Wind' and obtaining weather routing charts for the oceans we will sail - learning, learning, learning - soaking up all we can about weather prediction.
We have carefully plotted our route. We want to see certain things - places we have read about that look beautiful - breathtaking beaches and scenery - but we are also taking into account where we will stop.
Our time in Albany has educated us about where we will stop and stay. It has been quite eye opening for us to learn that not all marina's welcome travelling yachts. Not all have good facilities - ie warm showers! And not all are located within easy walking distances to shops. Now when you arrive in a yacht it really matters if the marina/ mooring is located somewhere gorgeous or somewhere near town! With no car we walk everywhere - and sometimes that's just lovely - but when the hardware store is across the other side of town, or several hours walk there and back you start to appreciate that pulling into a new location isn't as easy as heading for any old marina! So we scan blogs, maps, talk to other sailors, learn anything we can about the places we intend to visit to determine exactly where we will aim for.
Here in the area of Albany there are three options. We've tried them all!
There is a marina at the Princess Royal Sailing Club. It is outside the town of Albany - a good ten minute drive in a car and not at all accessible to those without. There is though, within walking distance of the marina, a small general store-cum service station that carries all the basics, at convenience store prices. It's an old marina and has problems. On the plus side it's quiet and peaceful - on the down side - the club is far from welcoming to visitors, there are supposed to be hot showers available but that's only so long as no one turns it off (as happened to us a few times) - there is power available for your yacht but it is intermittent and unreliable. We could not recommend this marina to other travellers.
On the other side of Albany is another marina, at Emu Point. There are also a couple of very cheap swing moorings near here. On the plus side, it is less expensive than Princess Royal, and is in a very pretty beach area and right next to the marina is a fantastic take away - The Squid Shack that does The Best squid ever! But on the down side the facilities are pretty non-existent - toilets during daylight hours only, -but not much else. The swing moorings are a lovely place to spend a day or two.
Last but not least is the new marina that has recently been opened here. It is located right in town. The town, like many smaller centres is quite sprawling and of course hilly, so while there is a small independent grocery store a very short walk away, you can end up walking quite a way if you want to get to the Woolies, Kmart, Coles etc. However, it is quite do-able and the many café's make the walk quite pleasant!
At the marina itself the facilities are great - lovely hot showers, clean bathrooms, coin operated washing machine and dryer. The marina is run by the local council who can be contacted on 98927312.It's not cheap but is very pleasant to be at and welcomes visiting yachts.
I think the day we sail out of here as we begin out trip around Australia on the scenic route will be a funny day, with mixed emotions. Albany feels a bit like home and we have grown to love the friendly nature of the town. People recognise us on the street and smile at us even if we've only spoken once or twice. We are the people from that boat. We have felt a bit special. So there will undoubtedly be an element of sadness on that day. But there will be the thrill of anticipation that we have really begun - we are not getting ready, not preparing, not organising, shopping, packing, fixing, improving, reading about - but actually off and begun! No doubt there will be nerves in that too - are we ready? Have we done enough? Have we read enough? Practiced enough? Learned enough?
But I think that we will crack a bottle of something like champagne - I know champagne sounds nice but we don't like it much so we'll have to stick with a chardonnay or a Riesling I think! Our focus will be on how very, very far we have come from that drive up to Newcastle when we decided to look at a yacht and our drive and flights over here when we decided to give this sailing thing a serious go! Yes, we might have fears and worries, but I have no doubt at all that the dream, the thrill of adventure will be what is foremost in our minds on what will be the most momentous day of the journey so far!