Author: Pam
Whether it was the chicken or the flu the funk seem to move in. Scott was still feeling funky when he woke up, but didn’t want to call a “sicky”. I also was starting to feel a bit off, but more like I was getting a cold. We decided he would go to Vision Australia and I would stay home and work on finishing the engine room beautification project. Both tasks felt daunting under the circumstances, especially since Scott’s trip involved a fifteen minute walk up the hill, two trains and a taxi to get there. He set out to be there by 10:00. I dawned my grubbiest engine room attire and ventured into the hole under the cockpit where I spent most of the day standing in the engine bay, half bent over while running my hands over every surface and hose looking for dirt and grime. After I was at it for an hour of so, the guys from Sailability stopped by to invite us to go out for the Wednesday race. I didn’t think Scott would be too pleased if he arrived back and I had ditched my cleaning rag for an opportunity to go racing. It was very nice of them to tempt us, but honestly I was barely feeling up to being in the engine room, so going out on the cold water wasn’t really appealing.
Originally the engine was supposed to be installed today, but Bob our mechanic called to say he was still waiting for the flexible mounts to come from Queensland and he should be all set for Friday. With this in mind I was determined to finish the cleaning today. When Scott came home at 1330 I was just crawling out of the engine room (I use room loosely) with a faint sense of satisfaction. Though my edges were not really tested, my need for perfection was. However, there are times when even I know the limits and a 35 year old engine room is now one of them. Scott went immediately to bed and stayed there for the rest of the afternoon. Though he was feeling absolutely crappy, he was on a high. The event was Vision Australia’s annual awards ceremony to recognize outstanding contributions of individuals and organizations in the community. There was over a 150 staff and 30 people from the community in attendance. The event was planned to take place outside, but they decided it was too cold so they held it in a large hallway. Scott was the finale and his ten minute synopsis of our adventure was a hit. They served morning tea, which he could not manage to eat. He mingled and had the opportunity to meet a lot of the staff, including the Director who made sure to let him know they were very pleased with the international exposure they received in conjunction with our arrival in Sydney.
Before he left to come home he visited their store where they sell adaptive aids for people who are visually impaired. We had also visited on our previous trip to Sydney and found the layout of the store to provide easy access to the products on display. There is also an adjoining training/demonstration kitchen where you can have a hands-on experience with the items on display. Scott’s mission was to buy a new talking alarm clock, ours died on the Tasman from an unknown illness. He picked out a clock and then asked about water proof watches for the visually impaired. They did not have the one he was looking for made by Seiko, but they did have a watch made by Tissot that Scott had admired in the US last year. It is a watch that is designed for business people and people who are blind. It is a very unique design that allows you tell the time by touch. This is not unusual for blind people, but this technology uses a unique combination of a pulse and vibration when you run your finger around the watch face to indicate the hour and the minute hands that then correspond with the tactile indications around the edge. Scott decided he would treat himself to this fancy watch (also waterproof) and when he went to pay he was informed his money was no good. The Director had given the sales clerks instructions to not let Scott pay for anything he decided to buy. Scott insisted, since he was pretty certain the Director had not had this expensive watch in mind. The sales clerk jokingly said she would get sacked if she took his money, so he succumbed and left with a beautiful state of the art watch as a gift.
When the Sailability team returned they invited us to come up to the club to hear the race results of the day. Scott was not ready to leave his cocoon, but I decided a change of scenery would be fun. As I was getting ready to leave and check on Scott he graced us with his presence. After not eating for two days he was finally feeling hungry and he thought a pizza would do the trick. We bundled up because it had gotten very cold as the day progressed and walked ten minutes to our new favorite Italian restaurant La Bussola for a yummy dinner.
The two day break in the weather came to a crashing halt on Thursday as the rain began to bucket down again. I mean literally, I put two buckets in the cockpit under the open dodger window and began the process of dumping bucketfuls of water over the side of the boat. Ok, I was supportive last week, but the upcoming forecasted week of rain may be pushing the envelope. It also will delay the installation of the engine. Bob called this morning with the dismal news that we would have to wait for the next sunny day and it didn’t look like the rain would stop or the sun would shine until next week sometime. Eeeee gads! Scott still wasn’t feeling a hundred percent so we took it easy for the day. At 1830 we met up with Kate, Bernie and Pat at CYC’s member’s lounge for badge night. They have a drawing every Thursday night and if your member number is drawn you win the cash prize which starts at $600.00 and increases by $200.00 each week if no one wins. Much to Kate’s dismay she has never won, they have drawn the number on both sides of her number and tonight they drew a number that belonged to someone with the same last name. She is convinced she is not in the computer, hopefully her luck will change. After the disappointing drawing, we went with Pat, Kate and Bernie to their favorite Thai restaurant for dinner. We shared a nice meal and lots of sea stories while the time passed quickly. Kate and Bernie gave us a ride back to our soggy home as the rain continued to fall relentlessly, but at least so far there isn’t as much wind as last week’s storm and Starship isn’t giving her dock lines such a strenuous workout.
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