Bonfire Night with a difference!

Not my best angle......

This certainly was a bonfire night with a difference!  I normally host a party in my garden to celebrate early terrorism with 50 or so guests, all togged up for the cold weather, gathering around a stack of garden rubbish donated by my lovely neighbours and trying to stay warm, drinking mulled wine and smelling of smoke.

In Australia, bonfire night meant sailing for 5 hours to an island in the Coral Sea called Herald Island (next to the not so beautifully named “Rattlesnake Island”)

I feel so lucky to have met Mick and Val, who own the boat “Panacea”  Mick is one of the calmest skippers Ive met, he quietly watches everything which goes on and is very skilled in making his boat go where he wants it to – I was so grateful to this during the journey home as his skills were tested…..continue reading!

Our calm collected skipper - Mick

This makes a change from my back garden in the November chills!

Sailing is a serious business, particularly when racing, but in true Aussie style, frosty beverages are served …..

This is what sailing is all about!

Meet my new friend – this is Val!

My lovely new friend Val

We couldn’t complain of lack of wind for our race, with 20-25 knots, the skippers using spinnakers were tested to their limits.  This poor boat struggled and the spinnaker halyard got stuck – which necessitated the skipper sending one of his female crew up to the top of the mast to cut it off – imagine that!

Doesn’t this boat look fabulous!

Our destination for our party – a lovely beach on the island.  Just off to the right hand side of the photo is a campsite for a couple who set themselves up for a romantic weekend – only to have dozens of boats turn up and 100 people arrive on their beach to party until the early hours!

What a fabulous party atmosphere!  Ces and I thought it looked like paradise, had a wonderful time, and, ignoring the tales of a crocodile recently being spotted on the island, braved it out and went at regular intervals to relieve our poor bladders – each keeping a look out – well, Ive been given a lesson in how to fight crocs!!

The barbecue was fabulous with steak, sausage, salads, bread and buckets full of fresh prawns.  With far too much wine consumed, I did find myself snoozing off to sleep as I lay on the sand next to the fire………

This is the morning after the night before – and it looked far more beautiful than me!  A gentle sail back to Townsville was planned, but it turned out to be a very interesting trip.  Mick spent most of the trip in the engine room trying to fix the problem created by “dirty fuel” but the bowl for the fuel filter, which is made of glass smashed, with no replacement on board – we knew we would need to sail the boat into the marina and onto its berth.  Mick was completely cool about this, and we all tried to relax and enjoy the remainder of the journey back.

Relax we did, until the depth alarm sounded, and we had less than 1metre beneath the keel, this quickly turned to 10cm, then our keel met with soft mud and the boat came to an abrupt stop……..I would like to point out here that Mick was not at the helm, and Im far too much of a lady to mention who was steering – but he is a Wally!! (Sorry Wal!)

So, here we were, grounded, with no engine, but fortunately on a rising tide.  It took some effort, and the weight of the combined crew hanging onto the beam and dangling into the water to free Panacea from the gooey hold – Mick impressed me yet again!

So, a big thank you to Mick and Val for a fabulous weekend, and lots learned about sailing – every day is a school day (Ive heard those words somewhere before!!)