| About: |
Here�s how we, Ian & Ida Birch, started this adventure. [...]
After enjoying ourselves immensely and busting our guts incessantly for near 3 years, while running a great little blues bar/restaurant in SW Queensland, we sold our house in Brisbane on May 2008 and decided to go on a surf trip to Central America. We arrived in Nicaragua and the much needed r&r started happening immediately. Our new friend Rob knew the area well and for the next few weeks he showed us a lot of what Nica has to offer. Ian got do plenty of right- handers like he used to in the old days in Victoria and Ida got to finally stand up for the full length of a wave! Fitness levels came back and we felt the urge for adventure again. Thanks Rob for your generosity and memorable Flora de Cana nights.
After checking out his weekly passion of finding yachts for sale around the globe, Ian came across a 1991 Kennex 44.5 catamaran that was up in Miami. We both liked he look of it and by late June had decided it was time for a change of scenery. We had to go to Ireland in August for Ida�s dad�s birthday anyway, so since Miami was en route, we arrived in South Beach early July. Boy was this different to Central America, and it was meant to be the quiet season!!!!
Well nearly 2 weeks later after looking at the boat and taking her for 1 test sail, we decided to buy it!! We didn�t have a home and our other building projects had been postponed, so we needed somewhere to lay our hats anyway��! So we grabbed our worldly possessions of 2 surf boards, 3 suitcases, 1 orange �Miami Beach� handbag and moved onboard Ishka at Dinner Key Marina in Coconut Grove!
What a great place to get Ishka ready for our sail back Down Under. The people were great and many lived aboard so we didn�t mind how long it took to get sorted, as we enjoyed many Friday Night parties on Pier 2! Besides it was still hurricane season anyhow.
So we had to get Ishka ship shape, check all was working as the survey stated, and plan to leave when the elements decided and US customs declared. The water maker was rebuilt, thanks JT, a new SSB fitted with pactor modem and Ian always came back from West Marine with his arms and the marina cart full!! Each trip was getting more expensive as the Aussie Dollar dropped, but Ian said �It was on special and we could do with it!�
We wanted to get the rigging checked before we headed to Ireland for Dad�s party in Early August, so for last week of July, Ian and Jim set about changing the rigging.
Opps! Thank god the super yacht wasn�t parked next door that day! We, to this day, don�t know what made the mast fall over!!!
Well we don�t think about how it happened, more as to why it happened, because for the piece of mind knowing we were going to be setting off on our journey with brand new rigging, instead of having an 18 year old stick which had been flogged around by the charter industry for god knows how many years, we were happy�..and the new Harken furler looked sexy!!
After an expensive 8 weeks and endless hours of hard work and dedication in doing the job well, Ian and Jim and Ida got Ishka back on track as an offshore sailing vessel. Thanks mate, and thank-you Mahi and Morgan, for taking Ida on all those �nerve-calming� shopping trips, where she could buy things she didn�t need from somewhere other than a chandlery. Shoes always come in handy!
Now we set our sights at leaving early October for the Bahamas, so loaded up with stocks, wine, supplies, wine, replacement parts, beer, books, toys and wine.
By the way, in case you�re wondering where the name comes from���
The day we got engaged, we did a Bushmills Whiskey Distillery tour in County Antrim, Northern Ireland [the oldest whiskey in the world!]. After loving the taste tests, they informed us that �Ishka� is the original Gaelic term for �water of life�, which is what the Irish monks named their new home brew. So we turned to each other and said we�d call our next boat �Ishka�. That was 12 years ago!! Slainte!
Thank-you to everyone we met in Coconut Grove for helping us get Ishka on her way and being great friends.
Now let�s start the journey.
|
