After several delays and thousands of dollars spent due to the uncompromising issues one leading to another, finally, finally, we left Scarborough Marina on May 23th. The destination had been changed 3 times during the passage according to the weather conditions. We ended up sailing 26 hours to arrive at The Great Sandy Strait and anchored inside the bay. There are a few shallow sand bars outside the entrance to the strait, which gave us a bit of challenge getting through. Other than that, the passage was not bad at all - no wind for the first 6 hours (we motored) and then 17 knots, gust 22 knots of north easterly, perfect for a speedy trip, only we didn't want to sail that fast as we didn't want to get to the entrance to the strait in the mid of night. We had to reef the sails a lot to slow down and heave-to for 3 hours before sunrise to get the timing right for the hight tide entry. Because there are many really shallow areas inside the strait, we have to follow closely to the tidal table. It took us 2 days to get out of the strait. During that time, we found that our inverter is not starting and the windless doesn't work properly, plus the starter of the engine became quite moody, i.e. sometimes it just doesn't start. (We've paid $264 for the marine electrician to have it fixed, but ...) So we decided to come to Bundaberg Port Marina to have those issues checked up. Another reason for us to stop over here is that we're having quite strong wind (25 - 30 knots) for these couple of days that is not so comfortable for sailing in the water with so much tidal current. Anyway, here we are, tied up at the marina dock trying to fix all the problems. We really need to get moving as we are weeks behind out schedule and there is still a long way ahead to get to Darwin.
Back to Ainia - it's been over a week now. Have been trying to clean up things and make it more or less acceptable for living. Mind you, my standard is not that high. The cabins are still not presentable yet, slowly but surely getting there. We had the sails down (jib and main) yesterday morning when the wind wasn't too strong. After almost sailing half of the world, it is the time to repair the wear and tear. A guy living on his boat here is a sail maker and he took 3 of our sails to his shop. Bruce has been busy with all the wrenches - disassembling, cleaning, lubricating, reassembling. And I made a new bag for the man-over board kit, using my antique sewing machine. Apparently Easter holiday is a big deal here. There will be a boat race at the bay here and all the boat owners are trying to get the boat hauled and bottom painted before the race. Therefore the marina's travel lift is fully booked until after the holiday. So we've decided to tour New Zealand before having the major boat work done. Will be leaving on the coming Friday and coming back in 2 weeks.
Somehow, it doesn't let me type in Chinese here, although I did it with the subject line. It must be a bug with iPad. Back to the boat again. Apparently it has rained a lot for the past few month and, unfortunately, there are a few leakage on the boat. With the heat and humidity, you know what's going to happen, right? Mildew everywhere! Spent the past 3 days washing and wiping everything, everywhere. Thank God, the sun is out bright everyday, therefore I am able to hang all the sheets, blankets, towels etc. Nights are nice here when it gets cool with a bit of breeze.
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