Poor old Mara has been suffering a bit since we left Albany, and was looking just a bit the worse for wear! After quite a bit of discussion it was decided that she was due for a make-over!

First of all she needed a bit of repair to some of her body - thankfully we didn't have to resort to costly plastic surgery, a bit of builders bog did the job quite nicely and Peter and I set off for the artists supply shop yesterday for some paints to begin the important bit.

We chose a gorgeous silvery/blue for her tail, a soft, pale skin tone to update her delicate Celtic flesh and dark brown to give her fading golden hair a lift. We also bought some rich red and she now has lips and finger nails!

Apparently though Erina and Peter had had another conversation about Mara in which she was to be transformed into a tanned and beachy mermaid. The dark hair and pale Celtic skin didn't fit the image Erina had at all! So it was back to the art shop for us!

Mara doesn't mind this at all though. She clearly loves the attention and is, I believe, really looking forward to her next 'beauty' session!

All sorts of little things have been happening on board over the last few weeks. After buying the Sailrite sewing machine it has been awesome to play a little with it. Before I tackle serious things like sails, I wanted to just get the hang of it and be familiar with its basic functions. To that end I have re-maid a sail cover which was the wrong colour, made a cover for the washing machine that sits on deck, to protect the plastic body from the damaging sun and have a few other little fix-it jobs to do that my ordinary machine just could not handle. Learning to sew these large, canvas items is a small step towards handling Dacron sail fabric, but I am now looking forward to our next few sunny days when I will be able to have my first tries of this. Not only is the Dacron fabric hard to handle, but the sheer size of a sail is a lot to manage.

One day, who knows, I might feel confident enough to actually make a sail - saving us dollars but also increasing my capacity enormously.

Off the boat there has been a significant improvement in my capacity to get around - I have bought a bike! Well, to be clearer, I have found and then been bought a bike! It is currently in Canberra, but through the kindness of friends, is going to be brought down to me here! How amazing!

I found the bike through an internet auction, bidded on it and was the successful bidder, paid only a small amount for a really decent bike and then had two of my boys decide to pay for it as a mothers day gift! Woohoo.

Of course the fun will really start when it arrives and I am enticed to climb on. It has been something like 30 years since I last rode significantly. Anyone who knows me really well though will know that I used to love to ride and rode all over Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast in my University days.

When I considered buying a bike, as a totally broke student, I knew that I couldn't really afford it. I made a decision to pray and ask the God I was just beginning to know to help. Less than a week later I opened my mail box to find a generous friend had left me a gift. Less than another week later it happened again. I went to the shop to put a deposit on the bike - I had less than half what it cost but was excited to begin the process. The man in the shop had watched me as I looked at the bike the first day I went in, and then stood outside every day admiring it. When I handed him the deposit money he smiled and said, 'Consider it paid in full'. I was staggered. He told me to ride the bike home and enjoy it. I couldn't believe he meant it. When I asked him why, he said he had no idea, he just felt I had to have the bike.

I kept that bike when I left Brisbane and moved to Melbourne, I kept riding it but less and less over the years and then it sat out the back when the children were little, unused and deteriorating. Then one day my then husband took it to the tip. I remember being so sad that I wasn't given the choice to keep it, and would, if asked, have expressed a great interest in fixing it up. But I wasn't consulted. After I divorced him I was strolling through Revolve, the 'shop' at the Canberra tip (not the same tip as it was taken to, and some 6 years later!) and what do you think was there? My bike! I recognised it instantly, the damage done when I was hit by a car and a few other identifying marks with which I was very familiar! Yes, my bike was there! I had no money and left wishing I could have paid the ten dollars they were asking for it. I rang some friends who all told me I was a goose and that I should return and tell them my story. I promptly did and happily was invited to take my reclaimed bike home - for nothing! Twice in its life this happened!

I let the bike go when we decided to sell everything and buy Argos. But I had no regrets then - I was letting it go of my own accord. I hadn't ridden for years and didn't think I ever would again. The sentimental connection had been satisfied and I was happy to part with it.

I feel a little bit of glee at the thought of having a bike again, and not just because it means I won't be walking so far, or needing to carry things home (I shall have a basket) - I feel a certain amount of delight in being fit enough to be able to ride, to feel the wind in my hair and the childish sense of fun that riding a bike brings. Who would have thought when I left Canberra a year ago that I would have that opportunity again! That this sailing journey would bring me full circle and see me reconnect with riding!
I think my first few moments will be a little scary - but I am hoping that the old adage is true, that it will be just like riding a bike and I won't have forgotten how!