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 .