This goes back to a previous posting. Zip lining through bats. Got some fast wifi here in Brisbane so I will try to get it posted. Lets see if it works.

Brisbane

How ya going? Seems to be the standard greeting here in Brizzi. Rain and cold for the first two days. Walked all over the city. Then we would come back to the condo and warm up for a while, then at it again. Very vibrant, clean place. We like it. By we I mean Dawn and I. She is here now and we will tour around for the next couple of months. Vivo is without anchor windlass till the end of September and both hot water heaters have gone to hot water heater heaven. She will stay in a slip in Mackay and spend some time thinking about the problems she has caused. I will dwell on dirt for now and see Oz.

Day three in Brisbane and the sun came out. Did a river tour up to a Koala sanctuary and game preserve called Lone Pine. Pretty cool. Small private preserve and very well run. You can get as close as you want to most of the critters. Like I have said before the salties have eaten most of the barristers here so they are not much concerned about liability. Which, in fact, I rather like.

Told a friend that I was going to hug a Koala and eat a kangaroo. One down.                                Little bugger said my hair cut was bloody awful. Everybody is a critic.
They are very soft but kind of smelly. Probably thought the same of me.

Don't know which one is cuter!

That is one big chicken, yes?

Nice doggie.       Didn't mention to him my next goal after hugging a koala.

A dingo ate my baby.       Sorry couldn't resist that one.

Brisbane from the river. We are in the 4th floor of the really tall tower in the center of the frame.

Tomorrow, more touristy stuff. Then back to Mackay for a while.

M

Got the gear back.

Set out at sunrise for an hour cruise on a salvage boat to get the anchor and chain. It was still there and the floats still attached. The conditions have been so bad that there probably hasn’t even been anyone stopping by there since we dumped it almost a week ago. Kind of a bear getting it on deck but all good. Then on the way back we start having engine trouble. At one point both engines are dead. Is it me maybe? Its not even my boat! Anyway while we are dead in the water a couple of whales go by a few hundred yards off. So the skipper says we will just sit quiet and wait. You cannot pursue them but if they are curious and come to you its OK. And they did. Mother and calf. Came to within about 50 feet of the boat. Very cool.

A shot Bob caught of Mom and calf. No zoom needed. That close. And that is one BIG baby!

M

Good News. Bad News.

Indian chief says to his tribe. Bad news folks. All our supplies for the winter have gone rancid and we will have to eat buffalo chips to survive. Arrrggg says the tribe. So what could possibly be the good news? Well, we have a lot of buffalo chips.

Good news: Upon disassembly we find that the anchor windlass is not completely destroyed. It can be rebuilt with parts that we can get from the factory.

Bad news: Factory is in Italy and they are on a month long shutdown. Parts will not ship until the third week of September. One month away. Can't leave Mackay.

Really?

Can’t make this S#!T up!

Off on Sunday to salvage the anchor and chain. Me hopes!

M

Wow! Really! You kidding me! Something else broke! Besides me!

No pix on this post. Just some rants and raves.

Got off the hard and got splashed on Monday. After two long weeks. We were living on the boat (on the hard) the last week because hotels are a little pricey here. Its a bit primitive. And we kept hoping we could get put back in. There had been sustained high winds that prevented them from dropping us in the sling lift. Its 4 stories down back into the water. We needed 20 knots or less and high tide or it’s a no go. It took 8 days of waiting. Then an alternator bit the dust. Then an engine would not stop. (Usually it’s the other way around but on diesels it is possible to have an engine that will not shut off.) Then gen set would not start, and a few other annoying minor issues. But we got our provisioning done. Enough to make a 16 day run up the Whitsunday Islands. And get out of Mackay. I like it here but its time to move on.

So we set out for the nearest island. Keswick. Its back to blowing 25-30 again. After the one-day reprieve we took advantage of to get back in the water. Seas are back up. Not to bad but its going to be a windy time at the anchorage for sure. So we drop the hook at Keswick Island at high tide/pretty windy. Within a few hours as the 5-meter tide goes out it becomes pretty evident that I went in to close when I dropped anchor. Coral heads that were not even visible below the surface are now showing. Charting here is poor and the guidebooks pretty lousy. We got spoiled in San Blass and Polynesia by the excellent guidebooks. Here not so. Bob and Dave jump in to snorkel the anchor and come back with the news that we were wrapped on a couple of coral heads and would need to work on it in the morning to get it freed up. My bad. Should have gone for the deeper water but then you cant see what your caught up on. Here you almost can but its still not a fun one. Been there before. In a lot of places. None this cold and windy though. So as the tide is coming in the next day Bob and Dave set about in the dingy to redirect the chain and anchor so we can make a clean pickup. I’m on the throttles in case it really cuts loose. Usually no big deal but the visibility underwater here is poor. Maybe 6 feet. So it’s about 50% guess work as to where things should be. We had a couple of marker floats on critical sections of the chain path so we knew where to position ourselves as we bought up the chain. Was going pretty well in fact, and we were probably about 50 foot of chain still down when there was a huge bang as the windless internally self destructed, cut loose, and let the chain free-fall. Its own weight taking it up out of the chain locker over the gipsy and overboard she goes. Bob was in there flaking the chain when it happened. He was clear of the pinch points, as is the procedure, but it must have been interesting to be that close to it cutting loose. We arrested it with a clutch break but there was no way to get the chain back on board. On a dead calm day with no tide or currents it might have been something we could have pulled off, but in the conditions we were in I had no choice but have them let the whole thing go. 350 foot of chain and a brand new Manson Supreme anchor. And I mean BRAND new. I got it here in Mackay and it was the first time it ever saw salt water. No exaggeration. The first time we dropped it we ended up cutting it loose. We got a couple of marker floats on the chain as we dumped it so now I have to find a salvage guy to go out with me to recover it while we wait for a new windlass. The old one was ten years in and probably was something I should have looked at replacing before we set out. It lives a hard life and the last 13,000 miles did her in. So its back in the marina we sit. Again. This is getting old. And its still blowing 25-30 and its not getting any warmer.

And a brand new dual fuel filter set up I just had installed is sucking air and no one can figure out where its coming from. You get about one hour of run time then the engine dies. So I have to save the port engine for times it for when I absolutely need both engines. Anchoring, marinas, etc..

And its hard to believe but some of the others have even more issues than I do. Cruising is like fun, only different.

So other that that Mrs. Lincoln. How was the play?

More griping later.      But heck…. Zip line with 10,000 bats? Who gets to do this stuff?

M

Eungella National Park

Took a drive about an hour north to Eungella National Park. Kind of a rain forest wooded hiking area. The big deal is to see a platypus. Which we did not. Did learn that a group of platypuses’ are called platipie. So there you have it. The something new learned for that day.

Did see a wallaby up pretty close in the forest. Miniature kangaroo looking critter.

Then on the excitement. If that wasn’t exciting enough already. We went zip lining up in the rain forest. Amonghst and through 10,000 fruit bats. 3-foot wingspan. As you go zipping through you disturb them and they take off in all directions. That part was great and I will try to post a vid I took coming through with all the bats flipping out. The route through is barely cleared and trees and palms are whipping you as you go through.

The operation there, however, was a bit flakey. Run by a married couple. Not to big on the safety aspect. Gear was a bit shot. No redundant safety’s like we have had on other zip line runs. No helmets. But they don’t collect the 60 bucks till the end. I think that’s on purpose. If you whack a tree and dump out of your harness they just say you weren’t a customer yet. Almost bailed. Especially after it started raining and he explain that now the brakes will not work. In order to slow down you have to reach up and grab the cable with your gloved hands. But don’t get your fingers pulled into the pulleys or they will likely come off. We all had a bit of a pit in the stomach feeling. But, did it anyway. Apparently the crocs have eaten most of the attorneys in Australia.

So on the way back we stop into a local watering hole for lunch. One old guy at the bar who immediately starts in a rant about the bastards who run the sugar mills and how he’s lived there for 20 years but still is not a local. Loco, yes. Local, no. Then a couple more local characters wander in. Lots of tats and not much on teeth. And one old gal who had a dog sock puppet in her purse and would pull it out occasionally and talk to it. Kid you not. Wished I could sneak a couple of pictures. Great BLT but it was a twilight zone episode. We watched the rear view mirrors for a while as we drove out of town. Not wanting to be in the remake of Wolf Creek. Google it if you want to get the reference.

So still blown in on the hard. Living in the O’l boat yard. Hoping to splash Monday. Looks like a one or two day break in what has been a ridiculously windy couple of weeks.

More explorations to come. But really need to get back in the water.

peace

M