It’s been a few weeks since I have written a blog and boy has lots happened in that time. We have visited some beautiful islands here in the Whitsundays and I have really enjoyed being here. We have heard lots of criticism about sailing the Whitsundays because of the charter boats, however for us we haven’t had any issues, and we actually stopped two charter boats from grounding in a bay, as the chart was not very clear and at low tide there was a reef that was missing on the chart plotter.

I loved Hamilton Island as it is so beautiful with stunning vistas overlooking the surrounding islands. It was nice for Neil to get to visit the island where he used to live and work after such a long time. Long Island was also a great place to visit with more natural vegetation and not so touristy.

In my last blog I mentioned that we had put an offer for a catamaran in Tahiti. The owners were not keen to lower their price and so declined our offer. We then thought maybe the Leopard 44 that was here in Airlie Beach would be a good option and put in an offer on that boat. The offer was accepted and subject to a survey. The boat was surveyed and there were some things that were brought to our attention which we were concerned about and so we withdrew from that deal. We were a little disappointed and decided that we would try to see if anyone else currently cruising across the Pacific had plans to sell their boat. I contacted Vicki the person who organises the Down Under Rallies to see if we could put a message on their Facebook site. Vicki was great and said she would also put a message on their monthly newsletter. We ended up getting about half a dozen people contacting us about their boats. All these boats were in Fiji or Tonga and would be sailing back to NZ in October and November. All were possible contenders and so we put each one on our spreadsheet to compare the boats. Neil also put a message on a Facebook page about wanting to buy a 44, 46 or 48 boat and what did people think of them, the positives and negatives. We finally found the boat that we think is a good boat for us. We have put in an offer, and it has been accepted. We just have to hope that the survey of this boat will be more successful than the last one. We are heading to NZ late November to look at the boat and if all goes well then, we will finalise the settlement and take possession of the boat. Once we have the survey completed and the sale is unconditional then we will share information about the boat. We don’t want to jinx the deal. I am keeping my fingers and toes crossed. The Leopard 44 boat with the owners who declined our original offer, have come back to us now saying that will accept that offer. Too late now, and we are so happy that it worked out in the end that we didn’t get that boat.

To top it off, it appears that when we purchase the new boat, we will also be finalising the sale of Echo Echo. It hasn’t been listed yet, but the broker knew people keen on buying a boat like ours. The couple drove up from Canberra to view the boat yesterday and really like her. Hopefully they will progress with the purchase. They are a lovely couple, and it will be nice to know that Echo Echo will be going to owners who have lots of sailing adventures planned. She has been a great boat for us, so many wonderful memories and it will be a sad day for me when we have to hand her over to her new owners.

Tomorrow, we will set sail to start heading south. We should be able to make some progress south over the next 2 days, before strong south easterlies start up again. Further south, the weather is very strong winds and big seas. I am hoping that those conditions won’t keep coming north. It will be a long slow trip down to the Gold Coast. When we get there, we will be hauling out Echo Echo to do a few things and polish her hull ready for the new owners to take possession of her. Plus she will stay in the marina while we head to NZ.