Things Australian

Just wanted to share a few pictures. One of the striking things about Australia is all the indigenous beasties they have. Like Plate Spiders. They're called that because they are the size of dinner plates...

Here's a picture of an Australian house cat. They're not that different from American house cats except the slightly longer aft legs:

















This Saltwater Crocodile was *extremely* well trained and mellow. They also feed him a lot before bringing him out for the photos. Also, I think liability laws are different here than in the States:




























This is a less well behaved "Saltie". He weighs more than 2,200 lbs. They don't let the kids near him:














A bit of civilization:

Landlubbers Down Under

Apologies for the quiet spell. Lots going on here, but not much blog fodder.

So now the big news: We've sold Océalys! And we're ready to open the next chapter in our lives. Of course, what that chapter holds is completely unknown at this point. We start with a totally clean slate.

For now, we will be exploring the possibilities here in Australia. We'll continue to post here, although the stories might be less nautical in nature. We will try to relay what it's like for a couple of Euro/Yanks down under in the Southern Hemisphere.

So, g'day for now, mates. The barbie's waiting. (Look for a future post on the whole Australians and barbecuing thing)

Christmas Down Under

Ho ho ho! It's Christmas Day here in Mooloolaba, Australia. We're the first ones in the world to celebrate (cause of the date line and time zone and stuff).

It's been a little hard to get into the Christmas spirit since it's 85º and extremely sunny here. We're making an effort nonetheless. Last night we enjoyed our big Christmas dinner. We had duck and cake. There was a bowl of green stuff on the table too, but I managed to ignore that in favor of a second helping of cake. Santa came by in his speedboat last night and left a pile of presents under our decorated artificial house plant. All the stores here were out of Christmas trees when we looked. Since they don't have real ones, the fake ones sell out early apparently.

The kids opened their presents in front of the California grandparents via Skype.

Now that all the presents are open, we're heading across the street from the marina to the beach for some surfing (Annabelle got a new pink bodyboard).


Merry Christmas!

Morning Day 5 to Brisbane- Arrival

Ship's Time: 0545H
Date: Dec 16
Position: 26º 53' S 153º 34' E
Course: 245ºM
Speed: 7Kts
Wind: 10kts E
Distance Last 24hrs: 167nm
Distance to Brisbane: --
ETA: Weds Dec 16th, 1300H at Customs Docks

Light wind all night, we doused all canvas and motored.

Lots of traffic starting at 2300, requiring multiple course changes.

We're abreast of Cape Moreton now and only have fishing boats around
us as the sun is coming up. Next challenge is navigating all of the
shoals as we move into Moreton Bay. Then we will be in the major
shipping channel which will undoubtedly be very busy. Will send an
update tonight after final arrival.

That is all.

Re: Morning Day 4 to Brisbane

Ship's Time: 1800H
Date: Dec 15
Position: 26º 38.47' S 155º 03.48' E
Course: 244ºM
Speed: 7Kts
Wind: 10kts E
Distance Last 24hrs: 180nm
Distance to Brisbane: 94nm (Distance to entrance of Moreton Bay. 40
more miles to customs docks)
ETA: Weds Dec 16th, 0600 (our intended target)

Wind has been light. Motoring all day. Sea has gotten a little calmer,
so things are more comfortable.

We're switching watches around tonight so I will do 9-12 and 3-6 so
I'll be up on the approach to Cape Moreton.

That is all.

Morning Day 4 to Brisbane

Ship's Time: 0600H
Date: Dec 15
Position: 26º 23.24' S 156º 38.34' E
Course: 245ºM
Speed: 7Kts
Wind: 13kts E
Distance Last 24hrs: 180nm
Distance to Brisbane: 160nm (Distance to entrance of Moreton Bay. 40
more miles to customs docks)
ETA: Weds Dec 16th, 0600 (our intended target)

Wind lightened and backed overnight so we didn't make great time. This
morning it is dead astern and light, so we're motoring with the main
up (which is doing nothing but slatting around...).

Things are still pretty uneventful. No traffic spotted yet.

Sea is becoming a little rougher and a lot more confused, so we're
rocking and rolling a bit.

We expect tonight to be tough because of all the traffic. We may need
to put the other engine on today to keep to our timetable. It will
take us about 6 hours to get from Cape Moreton to the Customs Dock,
and we want to get there early enough to avoid overtime fees. Did I
already say all of this in a previous email?

Thanks to our friends the Smiths, Patrick has given me a shortcut that
avoids a very lengthy tour around the banks in Moreton Bay, shaving at
least 3 hours off our trip.

That is all.

Evening of Day 3 to Brisbane

Ship's Time: 1730H
Date: Dec 14
Position: 25º 51.7' S 158º 14' E
Course: 242ºM
Speed: 8.8Kts
Wind: 16kts ESE
Distance Last 24hrs: 185nm
Distance to Brisbane: 271nm (Distance to entrance of Moreton Bay. 40
more miles to customs docks)
ETA: Weds Dec 16th, 0530am (our intended target)

Motored all morning and then the wind picked up around 1500 this
afternoon. We're starting to have to put the brakes on a little bit,
otherwise we will arrive in the dark. We have a full main up and the
genoa is reefed in to cut our speed down.
Sea was relatively calm today. Austin was more seasick than me, for
once! We went through a big squall but only got a few drops of rain.

No traffic sighted so far on the trip, but we expect tomorrow night to
be very busy as we approach Brisbane.

Everything is going well, but we are anxious to arrive.

That is all.