Week 9: Brisbane

Doing the hard yards

Arriving at Blueprint’s berth in the marina, I was excited about stepping aboard my floating home number three, I love looking inside new boats. Matt was relieved to find out my previous boat hadn’t been so voluminous; the extra 7ft made Blueprint appear almost palatial in comparison. It’s resemblance to a “pregnant cow” as Matt put it, meant it was nice and beamy inside. I had to admit the prospect of not having to sleep in the galley was an enjoyable one! There were other new luxuries too such as a fridge, grill, TV, table, engine, electric toilet pump (woweee), self-furling headsail (woohoo!), a winch for the anchor chain (as opposed to having to pull it up by hand and risking breaking spinal chord before having even consumed breakfast), power to burn and space enough for high-heel shoes to be stored in a spot that would enable them to be retrieved within the hour.

Blueprint

The first few days aboard this new vessel were spent making tea, smoking cigarettes, eating fish and chips…and occasionally achieving something useful like fitting the wind vane, making a new dodger, provisioning and debating the meaning of life until the wee hours of the morning. “Don’t wanna do everything today, else there’ll be nothing left to do tomorrow” was Matt’s take on the job list.

Tina made a second appearance when I was fortunate to catch up with her in Brisbane for her birthday. She is particularly fond of an area just south of Brisbane’s centre; Manly, a cute sleepy little coastal town. Together we intoxicated ourselves with the locals by night and wandered the coastline by day debating our futures. Parting ways once more, a feeling of melancholy crept up on me as I watched her walk away, reflecting that there was a possibility it could be the last time I’d ever see her… Even though Facebook etc make it almost impossible not to stay in touch these days, one of the saddest aspects to travelling is having to say goodbye to good friends you’ve grown close to L .

Week 8: Emu Park

"But me well I’m still on the road, heading for another joint..."

Bob dylan

The next time Jim sailed to the mainland after a beautiful week exploring the Keppels, I decided it was time to disembark and continue my search for a new boat from land.

I spent the morning meandering around the marina there enquiring whether anyone was searching for crew. I must have looked quite a spectacle, carting around my eclectic combination of possessions; ukulele, statistical mechanics textbooks, singing sheep, paints, fur coat, I could go on… Not to mention my appearance, having not been anywhere near a shower since we left Port Stephens (two weeks ago!), my hair was becoming a dreaded forest sticking up out of a flowery 1950s designed viva, with shades, furry socks and sea boats completing the look… who wouldn’t want me on their fancy yacht?

Having put feelers out around the marina, I made my way to a local backpackers in Emu Park. I felt vaguely amused to be in a place where showers, washing machines and people were all easily accessible. Not to mention the pool and bar! Needless to say it didn’t take long before I found myself (fresh and clean) sat at the bar with a glass of sparkling in hand and the natural order was (briefly) restored.

Here again I was able to work for my keep, and was thus welcomed into the crew keeping this little joint alive and kicking. Busloads of newcomers every night kept us on our toes and with a permanent hangover simmering. However, it wasn’t long before the next stones in the road fell into place. I found a vessel wanting crew; Blueprint, a 34ft Colvic UFO owned by an Aussie skipper Matt.

Blueprint was at that time moored in a marina in Scarborough, just north of Brisbane, and Matt was planning to cruise up north at a relaxed pace – too easy! It also just happened that one of the drivers of the tours streaming through the doors here was headed down that way with an empty bus… So I decided it was meant to be and heaved my crab shell onto the bus and off we went! I like watching the way things like this fall into place when rolling free, it’s almost part of the package. Like many things in life, when you open yourself to opportunities, opportunities come, and being open to opportunities is something I’m learning how to do.

Week 7: Great Keppel Island

"Sail away with me..."

Paradise

So here I was, in paradise itself, with no agenda, no time constrictions, no plans, and with almost noone else around. I had snared myself an (almost deserted) tropical island, complete with palm trees, glorious white sandy beaches, waters so clear that we could see our anchor six metres below and smoky mountains floating mysteriously on the horizon. I let Keppel enchant me. Coming from the land of hope and glory, I was more accustomed to these sights luring me from magazine pages or TV screens than in real life. 

Prosper was the name of Jim’s boat, in which he hoped to live long and do just that. A 54ft endurance concrete boat, it was like a floating antique shop, filled with all manner of treasures. During this period our job was to free it from the little forget-me-nots left by residing creatures during Jim’s overseas ventures every winter when he left the boat in the lagoon. 

Jim

Prosper

Jim and his dog Pebbles; world's happiest dog

In my head I pretended the island was mine and swanned freely through my new home helping Jim care for and appreciate the place. Whoever chose the colour of sand sea sky and vegetation did a great job. It is like a recipe for happiness. I launched my hobby of losing hours to watching the way the sun sparkles on the water, or the way embers flare in a dying fire. Both these sights reminding me of the way city lights from a distance twinkle on and off… a sight seeming very far from me at that moment. 

Skynet

Tree decorated with fishing floats

Swing

Fish head rock

Coral from trip to North Keppel island

Giant clam

View from trip to Pumpkin Island (soon to be XXXX island)

How's the office?

Being one of the few islands around these parts which is not a national park meant we were able to make fires on the shore, and enjoy communal island-dweller sundowners around toasty fires at the end our days.

Sundowners

Week 6: Port Stephens to Great Keppel Island

"There's a killer on the road, His brain is squirmin' like a toad..."

Finally, the winds were blowing in our favour once again and with our new family surrounding to wave us off we cast away for a second time!

One last coffee for the road...

Adios Port Stephens!

Ocean euphoria

By day

The start of what would turn out to be a week without touching land was euphoric. Perfect conditions; bright hot sunshine in a cloudless sky mixed with plenty of wind (and from the right direction… for a change). We were in a great mood, the speakers up on deck were blaring bluesy Eric Clapton as we reclined grinning with the sun and wind spurring us on. 

Keep on rockin' in the free world

Makes you wonder why anyone would ever want to do anything else… seriously.

How's the office?

Sailing to me is this wonderful concoction of exhilaration and tranquillity. Along with the thrill of racing through the water and the danger of being out on the ocean, there is a peaceful meditative quality that is hard to find on land. My soul feels satisfied, quiet (for once), at rest. It calms me, evaporating land-based worries, letting them drift away into the atmosphere like the steam from a coffee cup. Buddha must have been a sailor.

Helming in style

By night 

Skipping over the waves by the light of the moon, reminds me of the way the harmonica prances down the arpeggio in the opening bars of Bob Dylan’s “I want you”. Leaning back watching the mast light stagger drunkenly between the stars above. Sea shimmering under the moonshine, reminiscent of the rippling piano in “Temporary Like Achilles”, (Blonde on Blonde album now making an appearance on my overused iPod). Reflecting peacefully along to Dylan’s “Visions of Johanna”, with “ghost of electricity howling” on the horizon. Chasing waves, watched by stars, Rebellion glided with whales through black velvet. A participant in the metaphor “two ships passing in the night”, as tiredness ate away at my eye sockets.

Riders on the storm

There's a storm inside...

Each day, slowly a gale crept up on us as I watched the waves grow…

The days blurred into one; snoozing away stormy afternoons curled up like a cat on my bunk, now a nest of blankets, clothes, wet weather gear, fur coat, life jacket, harnesses, a tangle of wires, headphones, iPods, books, pens... loose shreds of tobacco :p . Occasionally thrust into the fresh air of the cockpit to stare in awe at the great grey mountains rolling after us from all sides.

Being on Rebellion is like going out to sea in a bathtub, we were rolling like crazy. Back in my nest again eyes closed, still the rugged water ogres form before them. Bully waves pummelled against the boat. The most arduous task became the toilet trips. There are reasons why rollercoasters are toilet-free. Towards the end I had pretty much given up consuming anything, in a vain hope of diminishing the frequency of these trips.

Paul enjoying his gourmet tinned dinner

Winds grew stronger, waves grew higher, until fresh air was a thing of the past as the danger of being in the cockpit trapped us inside the cabin. Forced into an almost permanently horizontal position feeling like death impersonated.

Attack of the sea monsters

My storm survival strategy

 We began to experience exceptionally malicious attacks from waves, impacting with such force as to encourage the mast to snuggle up to the water. You could hear them coming, hissing and rumbling, building up to the boat. The contents of the cabin began mambo-ing around along to David Byrne’s “Hanging upside down”, whilst we prayed for the survival of the auto helm from death by waves. This assassination would result in Paul having to steer 24/7.

This was realised during my short burst of helming in these excitingly terrifying conditions during an earlier sail change. We noticed that my arms were too short to push the tiller to the opposite side of the boat whilst holding onto the rail. Hanging on in such a fashion was a necessity at this point if I wanted to remain inside the cockpit due to the size of the waves… “Too short”; story of my life…

One particularly ferocious wave even managed to send me flying from my foetal position on my bunk, across the cabin, through the ropes holding up the lee cloth and left me whimpering in a corner on the opposite side of the boat. Now complete with headache and new bruises to accompany my seasickness Paul attempted to comfort me. He explained that a benefit of a small boat is that at least you haven’t got very far go to when that happens, thus bones are less likely to get broken… a small comfort at this point!

Run to paradise

LAND!!! After six days at sea, the last four of which were spent almost incapacitated. It was so wonderful to be able to open the hatch door once again without risk of it being blown off its hinges and one’s body sucked out with it. Finally we were free to exit the cabin and be reinitiated into the outside world. A world that greeted us now with vibrant colours, smiling and twinkling under the sun, as if to say “Now that wasn’t so bad was it?” And indeed any trauma caused by the last week’s events quickly vanished. This is what sailing is all about.

It felt so refreshing to be able to gaze outwards once more after the eternity being scrunched in a ball lost in inward musings, revisiting and reminiscing over old friends, events, real and imaginary. What joy at being able to resume a vertical position once again, relieved (and vaguely surprised) to find my legs still in working condition. Finally I permitted the exit of my body from the casing (clothes) in which it had been wallowing for the last week, so that Paul could resume breathing!!!

Sat rocking GENTLY in the cockpit once more, watching the glowing ball of light rise majestically out of the sea creating an enchanting golden pathway from me to the end of the world. I reflected that sailing is a thing of extremes; sometimes you are riding the crest of the wave and sometimes you are trapped in a trough… and at that moment we were definitely on the crest.

Well hello there paradise…

We anchored at the first abiding island; Keppel the Great!

Finding myself so enamoured with my surroundings combined with my fresh experience of being cooped up on a 27 foot boat for a week without land, brought me to a cross roads. Letting my sensibilities get the better of me, I dove deep and fished out my honest feeling that I wasn’t 100% comfortable with the idea of racing to cross three oceans on Rebellion just yet. Each crossing would comprise of a month without touching land on a small craft lacking in certain safety features such as a serviced life raft. I decided that it might be wiser to slacken my pace somewhat and gain more experience aboard boats cruising these paradisiacal waters before undertaking an ocean passage. I am definitely still very keen to undertake at least one such passage by the end of the year, but perhaps on a bigger boat with more people would be a better starting point.

I was fortunate enough to meet a “local”, who having preference for Keppel over most other areas he’d had the experience of sailing around, now remained almost permanently anchored off there. He offered me the option to stay aboard his boat in return for a few hours work a day whilst I search for a new craft to continue my journey on; a seemingly perfect temporary solution.

With all this in place, I transferred Paul as much love as I could through one last bear hug to wish him a safe journey home. Watching the painted shark teeth on the front of Rebellion bite through the water as he sailed off into the distance, I wondered with a twinge of sadness if that would be a sight I’d ever get to see again...

Week 5: Port Stephens

Home sweet ocean

Thirty hours later we arrived at our destination; the Port of Stephen. Conditions had been less than ideal; a constant large swell combined with a variety of wind strengths competing with an opposing current. Rounding the last cliffs into the Port Stephens inlets was the slowest part of the journey, sails flapping noisily, ditsy wind all over the shop, (remember we had no engine to motor us through this part). Tired skipper and crew finally drifted to a halt, dropped anchor and staggered about the cabin muttering with slow weak jerky withdrawal symptom-like movements. We cooked and ate in a daze before collapsing for a well overdue rest.

We loved remaining marooned on the boat for the entire next day, indulging in chilling out, reading, smiling, and stuffing our faces with M&Ms (Paul’s one vice) whilst film watching. 

Duchmans Bay

Energy restored, we spent the remaining days tied to a free mooring jetty alongside a gaggle of fellow yachties. Our first boating community was born.

Our yachting community

Weather reports dictated that it would be at least a week before we would be able to leave again... such is the cruising life (on a boat with no engine :p). And so that week was spent slowing down and adjusting to the leisurely pace of our days to come, hilltop walks, 4-wheel drives over sand dunes and evening strolls along stretches of sand.

Free climbing

Paul's Spiderman impression

Look at meeeeeeeeeee!

Evening cruise through the sand dunes

Cosy evenings were spent filling our nostrils with fumes from storms (of the food variety), which were taken in turns to be cooked aboard each vessel in our community, re-enacting nautical versions of the TV program “Come dine with me”.

Dinner on Gypsy Lover, a Roberts 37 with Brad, Jon & Cheryl

Burritos on Windy, a Beneteau 43

I remember feeling frustrated when first learning that it was going to take so long to get moving again, but after having taken time to slow down and enjoy such a beautiful place, I feel lucky.