More Boat Work & Exploring by Land & Dingy
16 February 2019 | Pittwater Bay
Helen
Started watching the movie, The Green Lantern. I was falling asleep watching, so finally gave up around 10 and went to bed. It was nice and quiet overnight. Slept well. We both were up around 7. Mark attached the tens machine to my thigh. I am finding that it does help me. He came back in 20 minutes, having finished his breakfast of cereal and banana. I got up and dressed and also had cereal. Added some canned pineapple that we bought in French Polynesia. Checked out the internet for a little while. Then Mark started the repair of the anchor locker bulkhead. He cleaned out the broken pieces. Then added another piece of wood. He glued it, screwed it and fiber glassed over the top. I worked on repairs to the fender covers. Not sure why the material gave out in places. I also added a small rope to the bottom of two of the fenders. My fingers are sore from hand sewing. Take a break to start this log and have a drink. It was hot outside when I first started my sewing in the cockpit Mark was out in the heat on deck. He put grommets on a white panel that I had sewed up back in Jax. However, he didn't have much to tie it off to, so he gave up trying to use it as a sun protector. Lots of boats went by the channel or cut thru our anchorage. Some resulted in waking our boat. Could hear lots of kids yelling and laughing on the beach. Many birds around. Some of them make sounds equal to a child crying. Headed to lunch at the restaurant across the bay. Mark selected a cafe called, Betos. I had chicken burger with bacon & avocado and a small salad. Mark had egg & bacon on a bun. Plus dessert was a custard tart with his latte. Then we walked around the few stores in the area. There was a very large outdoor eatery with several cafes. It was a very busy place. One section called The Pavilion has an outdoor stage and the whole place had a great view of the water. Lots of people celebrating occasions. Quite the place. We had an expensive gelato. Then noticed the sports bar area. They were showing a horse race and some surfer competition. We also noticed they had a gaming room. I started with $20 and my machine doubled. I was happy and cashed out! Mark gave them $10. So, we cashed out up!! Dinghied back to the boat. I cleaned the starboard steps all the way down. The bottom step needed some scrubbing. Mark decided to have a nap. When I was finished, I joined him. Fell right to sleep. Got up and Mark decided to hoist the dinghy and use some bleach on the bottom which was discolored. It took several tries but eventually it came clean. Nice job. I was helper. Decided to take leftover burgers with veggies and head back to the Winnereremy Park to the bbq's. Prepped the meal and loaded our bag into the dinghy. Beached the dinghy and Mark tied the painter to one of the benches which had two young men sitting on it. Lots more people in the park today as it was Saturday. No one was using the electric bbqs. We grilled some potatoes and added the burgers and veggies. While we ate, we watched a family play cricket with a toy bat and tennis ball. I was almost ready to volunteer to play too! Would have like to bat one of the pitched balls! The temperature was lovely. Hot with the sun but more cloud cover today made it bearable. We enjoyed our time at the park. A pair of very colorful birds landed on our table being chased by a bunch of kids trying to feed them. The birds were very tame and put up with the kids touching them. Then walked the beach and over the bridge towards the boat ramp. There was a deep enough river/stream under the bridge. So, we took the dingy around and thru what looked like mangroves. There was a tree fallen over the stream, so we could only go so far. Really enjoyed this place. Headed back to Charabia. Mark scrubbed a bit on the back of the bridge deck as we hoisted up the dinghy for the night. At least that protects the dinghy from any more water stains. It's after 7 pm and the sun is ready to say good bye for today. There is a bit of a breeze, but it's a pleasant 82 degrees in the salon. Will pick another movie to watch. Lots of boats around us but not sure if there is anyone on board any of them. Loved our time on shore today. Thanks for your emails and messages today. Really appreciate your news.