BACK IN AUSTRAILIA

May 15, 2014

"Nanaste" to our family, friends and sailing acquaintances, some of which have, indeed, become very good friends.  In a book co-authored by Peter Mathiessen titled "Lo Mothang". he gives a beautiful translation of the Hindu word "Nanaste" as follows:  "I honor the place in you that is light-filled and universal, where if you are in that place in you and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us."

We left Manly, AU  for the USA on December 7th and returned on April 17th.  We would have liked to visit more family and friends, however, on our annual pilgrimage to Ocean Springs, MS for medical, dental and and eye check ups, it was discovered that Phyllis had developed a "macular hole" in her left eye.  The retinal specialist recommended a surgical procedure that gave us no choice to continue traveling  until that was successfully completed.  During the operation, the cataract that was on the eye worsened which required another surgical procedure.  All this limited our time and mobility to visit those of you that we had so wanted to see.  In the end, Phyllis is doing fine and is able to see as well as can be expected.  There was a time during all this when I thought I was going to have to return to Australia alone and take "Solstice" single-handed to northern Queensland.

On April 20th, we motored out to "Little Sands" in Moreton Bay.  There was no wind and the bay was very calm.  We anchored overnight off a beautiful beach and did some exploring the following day with our friends Bruce and Marcelle from "Adventure Bound".  Later in the afternoon on the folloing day, we returned to our berth at East Coast Marina in Manly, AU.  It was a good shake-down trip and everything was working perfectly.

This will be a an intensive cruising season.  We will leave East Coast Marina on May 20th and sail north to Airlie Beach on the north Queensland Coast to meet up with the Sail2Indonesia Rally that will arrive there on June 14th.  We have not sailed with a group before but this one  offers so many perks in the Indonesian theater that it was difficult not to do it.  The plan is to sail to Thursday Is off the York peninsula and check out there for Saumlaki, Indonesia on July 23rd.  A lot depends on weather and unexpected delays.  We will be sailing up the Indonesian archipelago for almost four months.  Check out date for Singapore is November 27.  Once in Singapore, we will continue on to Western Malaysia and Thailand.  We should arrive in Phuket, Thailand at the beginning of next year.  Once in Thailand,we'll have a lot of work to do to get the boat ready for the most challenging part of this circumnavigation - South Africa.

I will make a good effort to update the blog as we move along but much depends on the internet connections that are available.  For the immediate future, once we depart Manly, AU we'll sail north to Wide Bay and the Great Sandy Strait - 110 nm.  From there we'll continue on to Bundburg, AU and the beginning of the Great Barrier Reef.  All navigation will be on the inside of the reef.  The further north one goes, the narrower it gets and more reefs appear.  They are well marked but most sailing is done during the day with anchoring at night.  I have made a thorough study of the area and am looking forward to seeing all that I have read about.

The SE Trade Winds are  becoming well established.  The further north we go the stronger they become but the Great Barrier Reef cuts down the swell and seas.