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On a boat the two most valuable things are power and water. We can only make power when the sun shines, so we are careful on what power we use. Our water tanks hold 320 litres of water, so we are also careful of how much water we use. We don’t have a washing machine as it uses too much power and water.

We are thrifty with water when washing and showering ourselves every day. No fifteen minute showers. When it comes to washing clothes, it’s hand wash in a bucket. We use salt water and detergent to wash the clothes then rinse off in fresh water and on the line for drying.

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The weather forecast showing easterly winds for the week, making it ideal for anchoring at Moreton Island. So we set off.

Heading down river with an outgoing tide we reached the bay in only 1.5 hours. Less than .5m swell and 15knot winds made it a great leisurely sail across the bay.

After dinner we sat on the back deck. The bay was very still, showing no signs of what was approaching. We could see in the distance natures light display lighting up Brisbane with one of its summer evening storms. The lights of Brisbane slowly turned to black as the storm headed west across the bay. We were in the direct path.

Within a minute the calm bay was hit by the westerly wind. We raced below to shut all the hatches, then returned to the cockpit to watch the torrent of water pouring from the sky. The sky lit up with both fork and sheet lightning, reminding us about a yacht that recently got hit by lightning. That strike blew several holes in the the yacht’s hull.

It was over an hour before the storm cell left us. Cup of tea time. We went below for a cuppa and discovered one of the hatches hadn’t been closed properly. Which one? Of course the one above our bed. Luckily we have other dry beds.

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Our time aboard Imagine started in the Brisbane River and we were soon headed along the Brisbane River, unfortunately against an incoming tide, that said, it was a lovely gentle time to get to know the yacht and partake in a lovely prepared lunch, courtesy of Sue.

Once in the mouth of the River, heading into the Bay, it was time to assist in putting up our first sails. Again, Andrew was such a patient and calm teacher, he had to be, neither myself or my girlfriend had even been on a yacht of that size, let alone assist in putting sails up. 

We both quickly got the hang of which ropes went where and did what. The sail across Moreton Bay was beautiful, the wind was up a bit which was great for sailing in. 

Andrew and Sue expertly dropped anchor in a calm little cove, just South of Tangalooma Resort. Sailing over for the day we were able to relax, even more, and partake in a beautiful cheese board and a couple of wines while watching the sun set from on the deck. 

That night I had the most amazing sleep, rocked to sleep by the gentle movement of the ocean. I slept that well, didn’t even awaken for a rain squall passing overhead. 

The next day, was just as amazing, moved a little closer to Tangalooma, went for a leisurely walk and swim on the beach, before setting course for home, and sadly the end of a day and a half of great sailing, relaxation and great company. 

We cannot wait until the next time we board the yacht Imagine.

Michael and Terese

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For the last few weeks we have been we have been continuing with the maintenance of Imagine and just chilling. Last week I’ve been helping a couple with a catamaran (Simba). They had discovered some rot in the steps on one pontoon and were going to take it to be repaired. To lift it out of the water and get it repaired is very expensive and it is always good (and cheaper) to know how to do repairs on your boat. So I’ve been helping out and showing them how to repair it themselves.

At the beginning of this week we received our new sail cover. A slightly different style to the old one. So we had to go out sailing to see how well it worked.

We had some friends we had just met before Christmas, that had a couple of days off work during the week. What other excuse do we need to sail across to Moreton Island for an overnighter.

Michael and Terese came aboard at lunch time and we headed off. This time we had the tide going out so it only took two hours to get to the end of the river and start sailing. With 16knots of wind and 1/2 meter waves it was ideal sailing weather.

We arrived in time for sundowners, but unfortunately after having a beautiful day a slight shower had developed. This meant that drinks and nibbles were only being served in the cockpit.

Thursday morning we went ashore for a walk along the beach and a skinny dip before returning to Imagine for lunch on the forward deck. Once again we had great sailing weather and sunshine for the trip back. A wonderful two days with good weather and good company.

Oh, The new sail cover worked well too.

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Some friends and their two draughters joined us for a three day get away to Moreton Island.

They arrived nice and early and we set off down the river. About quarter of the way just as we were about to go past one of the ferry terminals everything went quiet. Now that’s how we like it when we are sailing, but we were motoring down the river. “Were” being the operative word.

We quickly dropped anchor and Sue called up on the VHF radio to let the ferries know we had problems. It didn’t taken long for me to work out that the fuel pump wasn’t pumping. Because of the way this boat is set up, I could switch over to the electric fuel pump. The electric fuel pump pumped fuel to a twenty litre header tank which could gravity feed the engine.

Back on the road again, well river. We headed down river with a now incoming tide, which meant we were down to quarter our normal slow speed.

Once out of the river the sails went up, motor went off and the quiet was wonderful, just the sound of the water lapping against the hull and the breeze in the sails.

Two days of fishing swimming and climbing the sand dunes, then it was back to Brisbane and fix the fuel pump.

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Happy New Year everyone, hope this is a much better year for all of us!

We spent time at Christmas with Ben, Amie and our two grandsons, Lachlan and Robbie. It was great just to chill out and relax with them. Ben, Lachlan and Andrew set to making up one of Lachlan’s Christmas presents that Santa had brought him – a fantastic table tennis table and set. Unbelievably, they did even look at the instructions … once! After it had been set up all of us had turns with Lachlan until it got just a bit too hot to be outside and exerting ourselves after our lunch! Amie, Robbie and Sue were more sensible by staying inside in the cool (although they did come out to have some games with Lachlan).

Then we are back to doing maintenance on the boat. Sue is still looking for a job whilst Andrew has been trying to tick off some of the jobs on his ever expanding list (one gets taken off and two get put on!).

We discovered a leak in the salt water pipe for washing down the deck. When it had been installed there was a join in the pipe as the pipe went through the deck. That where the leak was. It had been leaking for a while but we hadn’t seen it as the deck is plywood coated in fibreglass. Water and plywood don’t like each other, so we ended up with a rotten patch in the deck. To make things worse the pipe was next to the anchor winch. Yes it has rotted the deck under the winch.

Now we are anchored in the Brisbane river. To fix the deck we have to remove the winch. This meant we had to tie the anchor chain securely to the bow. We then had to hope that there was no reason to have to haul anchor such as a Pylon catching the anchor or dragging anchor in a big storm.

Anyway, after four days of Sue constantly checking the weather and watching where we were in the river, I was able to repair the damage and remount the winch.

We now have new plywood and fibreglass deck at the bow. Also I have changed the piping so there isn’t a join as it goes through the deck.

There is always something to do or repair on the boat.