Preparation for Coral Coast Cruise 2013

Tamara and I decided to join the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club 2013 Coral Coast Rendezvous Cruise. We completed the cruise in 2011 traveling as far north as Lizard Island and had a great time but this year we intend to go only as far as Dunk Island.

 Scrubbing the bottom is not a fun job

Looking good. The finish before the splash

I started preparation is February with the bi-annual anti fouling being completed early in February. It was a tortuous week end. It rained from the minute the yacht was lifted on a Friday until Sunday morning. It left me one day to complete the anti foul and polish before being put back in the water on Monday at 9.30am. It is the worst form of torture. I think I am getting too old for it. I was very lucky to engage the service of a friend Nick who helped me on Sunday and to finish the polishing on Monday. Thanks Nick.
Every 2 weeks I would travel from Port Stephens to Billabong and complete the many myriad of small 5 minute jobs (that some take 5 hours) on the to do list. Eventually the list was reduced to a few last minute jobs.

We were prepared to depart on the 20^th May however some bad news came along with Tamara having to have an urgent operation and also her Mother in Russia becoming weaker and fragile. After initial diagnosis I decided we could not go north and I called the trip off.  It was extremely disappointing with all the new safety gear, fishing gear and boat preparation completed. However the news that Tamara’s mother is unlikely to survive much longer it was decided that she should travel to Russia before the operation as she would not be able to travel on a long haul plane for 4-6 weeks after the operation. With doctors recommending she travel first and have the operation on return it allowed me a month to take Billabong north to Mackay.

So the trip is back on. I plan to take a month to get Billabong to Mackay and leave it there for a month until after the operation and Tamara has recovered to be able to take care of herself with the help of a few girlfriends and her daughter.

A few quick phone calls to possible crew and we are ready. Unfortunately my original crew to take Billabong north had made other commitments after I called off the original trip. My friend Peter Russell jumped to the fore and volunteered to help to take Billabong to Bundaberg at least or Roslyn Bay. Graham Lithgo will join us at Bundaberg and sail to Mackay.

With a few last minute preparations and 6 nights of frozen meals prepared we were ready.

 This is Ollie our grandson learning the ropes before we set off. Future crew. Ollie was born 2 years ago when we were on the 2011 Coral Coast Cruise