We spent 9 days in Tin Can Bay Marina. We stripped and varnished the front of the bowsprit and the handrails, varnished the capping rails and painted the bulwarks inside and out. We got enough painting done so when we haul out later in the year, we’ll only have large flat surfaces to paint, which should be a bit quicker. We also serviced the winches and the wind steering and cleaned all the stainless steel. Tuarangi looks loved once again! We didn’t go any further than the metropolis of Tin Can Bay, but walked the walkway several times, went to the local once monthly market (good timing!) and went out for lunch one day. The shop keepers were all incredibly obliging with the baker (where everyone called me ‘Doll”) and the butcher (where everyone called me ‘Mate’) putting things aside and freezing down a load of meat and the supermarket staff giving me a lift back to the marina. This was just as well as it was over 30 degrees and I couldn’t resist buying a load of Schweppes tonic which was only 99 cents….they ask up to $4 for it at home! We both had short haircuts…I have reverted to loo brush head from being mop head, with a good whack at a cheap and cheerful if somewhat brusque hairdresser. Still, should last for a while.
It has been really good to get on top of boat jobs. We can see why most people who live here, avoid having wooden boats and those who do have covers which shade every inch of varnish and most of the paint from the fierce sun.


We also met more interesting yacht people. A couple with a similar boat to ours called ‘Pequot’ and a New Zealander who knew of our boat and also is good friends with the people at Cammeray Marina in Sydney, where Tuarangi stayed on her circumnavigation in the 1960s. This was good, as he has spoken to them and although they are full, have offered to make space for us to visit!
We also visited the local coastguard to get the latest waypoints for crossing the Wide Bay Bar, a sand bar, which crosses the exit from the Great Sandy Strait. We have been a little anxious about crossing this, but have been reassured by the number of people we have heard, calling on the radio over the last 24hrs, who have no idea about tides/winds/swell/waypoints and have crossed unscathed at all times of the day and night. We are currently anchored at Pelican Bay along with about 12 other boats all crossing the bar tomorrow morning, so we’ll have lots of company when its our turn! We sailed down here yesterday, experimenting with our trysail and staysail. This was great as it was about 30knts of wind and we were still doing 5-6 knts, but upright and calm. Well worth a couple of hours playing with different sail positions.
We are also enjoying having phone, Skype and Internet access, which has made keeping in touch with the family a lot easier. It is good to know that everyone is well and the world hasn’t fallen apart in our absence!
Next stop either one overnight at sea to the Gold Coast (although apparently there is some big V8 car event on this weekend) or 2 nights taking us down to Coff’s Harbour. This will depend on wind and sea conditions and how we feel on the day! We’ll keep you posted.