So.... "what exactly have you been doing ?"

It’s now just seven months since I left my “permanent” and pensionable employment without much of an idea of what was coming next. Maybe it’s time for a little review.....what exactly have I done ?

Well, apart from lots of sailing....

I did some lazing around.........

I travelled to Malaysia on a container ship......

I visited Singapore, Brisbane, Sydney & Melbourne..........

I sailed around the Whitsunday Islands..............

I sailed around the islands of the Andaman Sea in Thailand............

I spent two weeks on Koh Lanta and in Bangkok............

And of course, there were a few beers along the way ...........


However, in the middle of all that idleness, the one constructive thing I did manage to do (and the one which is going to have the biggest influence on the next bit of my life) was applying to become a VSO volunteer. I’m still not 100% sure of exactly what my motivations were on the day when I decided to do this, but the die is now cast and I’m very much on the critical path to departure to Indonesia next Sunday.

Watch this space for more...

Whitsunday cruising

The week’s cruising has come to an end and we have reluctantly handed back the keys to “No Ties”. This was probably my ninth or tenth charter holiday and one could not fail to be impressed by all aspects of the service provided by Charter Yachts Australia. From the moment we were met and brought to our boat, to the excellent and very thorough briefing to the test sail before departure (that was a new one on us), everything had been thought of. We had ordered a provisioning package for the entire week and this had been delivered to the boat, unpacked and put on board an hour or so before we arrived - even down to the cockpit fridge having been well stocked with beer and Coke !

The cruising area covered by the charter is relatively small in terms of miles from north to south but almost unlimited in the number of anchorages, beaches, bays and sailing possibilities it offers. We spent most of our time circumnavigating Whitsunday Island and covering some of Hook Island and spent one night moored at the luxurious Palm Bay Resort on Long Island, where we had dinner ashore. The weather was consistently good, with winds ranging from 10 to 20 knots between NE and SE. Temperatures were just over 30° every day with some days being just a little too humid for comfort.

The snorkelling was of mixed quality (some days the wind was a little too strong which made underwater visibility rather limited) but we lost count of the number of turtles we spotted (almost impossible to photograph though), especially in some of the shallower anchorages.



Sailing a cruising catamaran was a new experience and certainly makes for comfortable sailing (no need to be too careful stowing everything away before setting sail) and good off-wind performance. Tacking, however, was another story and was best achieved with a little engine help. Having two engines with individual controls makes for really amazing manoeuvrability and it was very easy to spin the boat on her own axis. The boat was very well equipped and onboard kit included a chart plotter and autohelm along with all the usual stuff.




Although we started our charter at Airlie Beach, we finished at the marina on Hamilton Island, an island resort just south of Whitsunday Island, from where we flew to Melbourne for a five day stay. This whole small island is basically a holiday resort with its own airport, a 210 berth marina, about 1000 regular residents, 1500 staff and goodness knows how many holidaymakers all in full swing. Our three hour flight to Melbourne (with another hour added on for Daylight Saving Time) saw us arrive at about 4pm and we then had to face the navigational challenges involved in getting to our hosts in south east Melbourne, our home for the next five days.

A land down under

My first visit to Australia kicked off with my arrival in Brisbane at 0700hrs on Wednesday morning. This was a very brief stopover in “Brissy” as my train to Proserpine (nearest station to Airlie Beach) leaves at 1300hrs tomorrow so, between catching up on my sleep after the overnight flight and having a quick scout around, I didn’t have enough time to explore the city properly. However, from the little I saw I can say that Brissy is a city with a nice feel to it. It is a busy commercial centre with lots of activity and plenty of life, especially around the pedestrianised Queen Street area.

All the usual High Street stores are accompanied by carol singers, Christmas trees and Santa hats, all of which feel more than a bit out of place in this heat !


The temperature here today was 32°C (which is a little hotter than normal) but the main subject on the news was, you guessed it, the economy. There is speculation that the Central Bank will come back from summer holidays early in January to introduce an interest rate cut and that variable mortgage rates may be reduced from their current level of 6.7%. The Queensland government has just announced a package of tax hikes to prop up the provincial economy but is hoping that coal revenues (priced in US dollars against a falling Australian dollar) will help to fill some of the growing revenue gap. While having dinner, I overheard conversations at three different neighbouring tables about a slowing housing market, so apart from the weather (and being able to have bacon for breakfast), it’s just like being at home !

My overnight train from Brisbane to Proserpine left Roma Street station at 1325hrs on Thursday and was a very pleasant trip. My “fellow travellers” included an English guy who now lives in Papua New Guinea (PNG) with his PNG wife and two children, an English couple on a touring holiday en route to New Zealand for a family wedding and an Australian couple on their way north to Cairns. Comfortable accommodation, good food and interesting company.

Next update will be from Airlie Beach, one of the main jumping off points for the Whitsunday Islands. I'm going to hang out here with all the backpackers until Michael & Jane arrive on Sunday to pick up "No Ties", our twin-hulled home for the next week.