Journal Entry - June 9 - 12, 2007 What Drought?

Author: Pam

The rain and strong wind that started on Friday continued for five days. The weather was so bad it caught three coal cargo ships in New Castle off guard as they struggled to stay off of the foreshore. Unfortunately one was unsuccessful and ended up on the beach with a full tank of fuel. They had dumped their water ballast and were not heavy enough to fight against the strong winds and seas. There was concern the hull would be damaged and there would be a fuel spill on the pristine beach. The high winds brought down trees, caused land slides and power outages. We had to put a third spring line on Starship to keep her bow off of the dock. She was rocking and rolling more than she does at times at sea.

The rain is very welcome by the locals, they have been in a drought for the past ten years in many parts of Australia. We welcomed our comfy accommodations. We stayed inside snug as bug on Saturday and half of Sunday catching up on computer projects, while the rain poured down by the bucketfuls and the wind howled up to 50 knots. It was one thing to be thankful to be staying on land it was another to be immensely thankful we were not coming, going or at sea during this horrendous weather. We did brave the elements each day to visit our new friend the ATM, as we are in the process of amassing all of the $50.00 bills in Australia (they are yellow and are often called pineapples) to eventually pay for our new engine. We will have to visit the ATM a total of twelve times before we have enough pineapples. We get a good uphill walk everyday to the Edgecliff Center and Scott doesn’t mind because we have to go right past Gloria Jeans’s coffee shop.

On Sunday cabin fever was creeping in so we decided to hop on the train and go one stop out to Bondi Junction to have a look around. We had heard there was a mall, so that seemed like a good place to pass the rainy day blues. There is a huge Westfield mall that we wandered around in for an hour or so. There are hundreds of stores, ranging from there big department store David Jones to a very messy Target. There is also a movie theater that we will surely be visiting in the near future, it has been several months since we have seen a movie. While we were roaming around Phil called about going out for Mexican food, we had discovered when we first met that we were all “hanging” for Mexican. Phil and Jan picked us up at 1730 and we headed to a local pub and then a little Mexican restaurant in their neighborhood in the western part of Sydney. We have been craving Mexican food since we left Mexico, there was none to be had in the South Pacific and we only ate at one Mexican restaurant in New Zealand. Kiwis don’t have a taste for the spice or maybe it is the lack of lamb and Aussie’s only seem marginally more interested. The food was good and did the trick in a pinch, but it was still a far cry from all of our favorite haunts in Mexico. Our waitress is here in Australia studying and is from Guadalajara and was thrilled when we told her we had been there. She was delightful and was very happy to make Scott and Phil a “special” coffee with secret ingredients.

More rain on Monday, but too bad we had to venture out armed with our umbrella to get the boat ready for her new iron sail is supposed to arrive on Wednesday. We spent the afternoon beginning the process of cleaning the engine room. I have never really spent any time in there and it became clear fairly quickly it has been a long time since anyone else has with anything that resembles cleaning products. Between the oil that had leaked out of the engine, the salt water that had sprayed out of a hose that had come loose, the dust, grease and bits and pieces that were laying about there was no way it was going to be a one hour job. Scott mopped up the big puddles of oil, he decided if there was a prayer of me going in there he better at least get it to the point where it didn’t totally test my edges. He did a good job and I set out with the Simple Green and a bucket of soapy water and felt like I only scratched the surface after two hours. At dark we were happy to be leaving the boat to head to drier land, the boat felt very damp, she was squeaking up a storm as the fenders rubbed ferociously against the dock and the cockpit was a virtual bathtub as water poured through the window that was not zipped properly due to leaving it undone, since the engine was coming in a week and it never rains. We are very supportive of this surprise rainfall. Especially since everyone is dancing for joy, but apparently though it is raining more than it has in years they would be happier if more was going into the catchments. When we got back to Marshalls at Paddington we made a big salad and had a prepared roasted chicken for dinner while the rain they never have continued to pour down.

On Tuesday Scott woke up not feeling well, but he didn’t really think much of it. We packed up our stuff and readied the house for David and Donna’s return. It was back to the boat, our week of being land lubbers and the storm were over, what great timing. David and Donna’s gracious offer couldn’t have come at a better time. They came home just as we were heading out to the store to buy them some treats as a thank you. David offered to drive us back to the boat, so we trudged through the remaining mud puddles and fallen branches up to Edgecliff Center to take care of our secret mission and when we got back we caught up with one another on the week’s events and then headed back to the boat. The sun was out for the first time in five days and we were able to get her feeling more ship shape and less like a submarine with a hole in it.

As the day progressed Scott was feeling worse and by the time it was time to go to the Cruising Yacht Club to give our presentation to the Cruising Division he was feeling “crooked”. At this point he had become very suspicious of the chicken from the night before. It had been discounted $3.00 because it was the end of the day, but in passing I said I hope it isn’t yesterday’s chicken. You know the power of suggestion can be very strong, he decided for sure it had to have been a bad chicken. I felt fine but I didn’t eat the stuffing, so who knows. We had been invited to give a half hour presentation about our trip so far. When we arrived we were met by Pat who had originally invited us, she helped organize the set-up of our computer and Scott only had to make one trip back to the boat for a missing cord. It was really cold out and besides being there at all it was the last thing he wanted to do. I would have gone, but I never would have found it in the snake pit of cords we have on board. We were one of two speakers that evening. The first presentation was about a rally in Turkey which had just happened and with enthusiastic testimonials they were recruiting for the next one. By the time it was our turn, Scott was practically turning green, but determined to keep our commitment. The presentation went well, thank goodness it was only a half hour. He said later it was pure will, focus and probably the thrill we both get from sharing our experiences that got him through. I was very impressed with his ability to rise to the occasion, but when it came to accepting their invitation to dinner he had to call it a night. He crawled in bed immediately with our little electric heater on high hoping he would feel right the next morning for the commitment we had to give a 10 minute spiel at Vision Australia’s awards ceremony.