November 13, 2005

NOVEMBER 13 , 2005

October 20 - November 9, 2005

Where to begin??? We last told you that we were heading south. Well, because of our continued alternator problems, we turned around and headed north again and we've been back and forth to Airlie Beach several times. Airlie is not our favourite place to be - interesting town and good provisioning, however, the marina is VERY expensive and being at anchor is like being on a roller coaster.

Seawind Catamarans Inc. and the marine electrical company that designed our electrical system are trying very hard to resolve the alternator issues and we are very appreciative.

Despite all of this turmoil with the alternators, we have enjoyed ourselves in the Whitsunday Island area. We made sure to visit many of the islands and enjoyed meeting many liveaboards like us. Paul was able to snorkel a few more times and we made a point of returning to Blue Pearl Bay for a few hours (his favourite place to snorkel).

Paul's Account of his Battles with Fish -

"The story begins late yesterday afternoon, just about sundowner time. That's when most yachties sit back, relax (as if we haven't been doing that all day) and have a drink (THAT, we DON'T do all day). So, there I am trying to relax with a good book to read after a hard day's work. (I actually did complete four boat projects yesterday). While I was reading, schools of fish - not just one or two, but SCHOOLS of them were leaping out of the water at various locations in the bay in which we are anchored. This is very distracting to a fisherman who is trying to read. Every time a fish jumps, it challenges, "come and catch me". After a few minutes of this, I can take it no longer. I ask Mary, "How long before dinner?". She says, "As long as you like". I hopped into the dinghy with my lightest spin casting rod and reel - 10 pound test line and an old half broken floating Rapala lure. (I'll bet you can see where this is going and I'm probably loosing those of you who aren't really interested in fishing. If so, you are making a big mistake). Where was I? Yes. With my lightest tackle - I could see the fish that were jumping were only 3 to 5 pounds in size - I hopped into the dinghy and approached one of these boiling caldrons of leaping fish from up wind so that I could turn off the outboard and drift into the feeding frenzy. I had already learned that storming into them with the engine blasting doesn't quite work. They all spook and disappear. This subtle approach worked so well that I hooked a fish within minutes. Oh! Oh! It was a big one and it was taking all of the line that I had on the spool. Just before it reached the end of the spool, I managed to get the outboard started and went careening after the fish, trying to operate the throttle, steer and take in line ALL at once. Each time I caught up, it would take off again, and again, and again. Very gradually, the fish was taking me farther and farther out to sea until I could barely see Bella Via.

Frequently the fish would turn and run straight at the boat as if to play a game of chicken with me. It was at these times that I caught a good look of him and subsequently determined that what I had hooked was an Amber Jack. Although the book says they can grow up to 80 pounds, this one looked to be 20 - a small one as Amber Jacks go. The see-saw battle went on between the two of us for over half an hour when finally it gained its freedom by wrapping the line around the outboard prop. It was very near dark by the time I returned home for dinner empty handed.

Now, that is NOT the story that I am here to tell you about. That was just the preamble. The real story happened this morning just after breakfast when once again the fish were
jumping in schools, all over the bay in which we are anchored. THIS time, I was smart; I grabbed my 25 pound test equipment and remembered to bring the gaff - my puny little net would never have landed yesterday's Amber Jack. Sure enough, within minutes, the same strategy used yesterday had me doing battle with another BIG one. This time it soon became apparent that this fish was a 20 to 25 pound tuna. After a 15 minute tug-of-war between me and the fish, I was finally able to get it to stay almost close enough to the boat to begin to think about picking up the gaff to land him. Just as I was reaching for the gaff, another much larger fish circled my prey. It took my brain a moment to comprehend what I was looking at. Yes, you've guessed correctly, a six foot long shark was about to make my catch it's mid morning snack. In an instant and with almost NO tug on my line, it took my 2 foot long tuna into its mouth and chomp, all I was left with was the head. My first reaction when I saw and recognized what was about to happen was to shout, "NOOOO, That's my fish". That shark pretty well ignored my cry of protest. As I lifted the bloody head out of the water, I was laughing hysterically. I immediately dropped the head into the boat - blood was dripping all over everything - and raced back to Bella Via to show Mary my morning catch. As I approached her with the BIG head held up high in the air, she said, "Where's the rest of it?" not even thinking about a shark. When I described what had happened, she said, "And you swim in this water!"

"Where's the rest of the fish?", Mary said to Paul as he returned to the boat.




                       Click on Pics to enlarge

Failing Electronics

Another positive experience for us was a resolution to our failing electronics. We were unsuccessful in our attempts with the Raymarine distributor in Australia to have them honour the world-wide warranty. This states that "…Raymarine will, … authorize onboard warranty service by the nearest Raymarine approved service agent, … on products, where proof of installation, or commission by Raymarine certified installers, can be shown. The installed warranty provides for onboard repair or exchange…".

We interpreted this warranty to mean that we should be able to have a Raymarine service technician come aboard and diagnose our electronics problems. We were informed by the Australian distributor that they have a different interpretation of the warranty phrase and under no circumstances would they provide, at no cost to us, a technician to diagnose and solve our electronics problems. We would have to pay for this service.

A few years ago Paul had heard a documentary on CBC Radio that described how effective "appalled and dismayed" letters are with companies. We decided that it was time for an appalled and dismayed letter. When we were in Mackay we faxed the letter to Raymarine International and within two days we received a response. After several days of correspondence, we obtained agreement from Raymarine International that we would be refunded in full for any warranty service and product replacement While we were in Airlie, a Raymarine service technician came aboard and identified a faulty GPS antenna (we had already diagnosed that ourselves) and replaced the antenna. The receipt was faxed to England and we have been refunded all costs. Our Raymarine electronics are fully functional again.

November 9, 2005

We decided to head south fairly quickly as we want to be in the Keppel Bay area by November 23rd when friends from Windsor, Pat and Brad Somers, come aboard. We spent one night each at Cid Island, Goldsmith Island, and Keswick Island.

We left Keswick Island at 5 a.m. on Wednesday, November 9, as we needed to travel about 70 miles to Middle Percy Island. It was our hope that friends from three other boats would still be at Middle Percy for one more night and we could connect with them. We had a good travel day, although had hoped for more wind than what we had. As we neared Middle Percy at about 2:30 p.m., we called the other boats on the VHF radio and learned that they had just left for an overnight crossing to Great Keppel Island. The most recent weather forecast called for a southerly change and that prompted the boats to move immediately.

We discussed this recent weather forecast for a few minutes and decided to continue on to Great Keppel Island with the other boats. So at 3 p.m. Paul plotted our new course and we readied the boat for an overnight passage. All that had been left lying about in our day travel was stowed away, our life vests were in the cockpit and ready to don, our side curtains were put up to block the wind in the cockpit, and hatches were closed. The temperature was still quite warm but we knew that it would cool down with the setting of the sun in a couple of hours.

The reason that we had to do an overnight passage is that a large area on the coast, called Shoalwater Bay, was closed due to army exercises. This happens three or four times per year and no one is allowed into the area. So, although we made several anchorage stops on our way north through this area, we couldn't stop there on our way south.

We both had something to eat and then Mary slept for a couple of hours while Paul took the first watch. We basically were on watch for three-hour stints all night.

The wind picked up for about four hours and it was nice to shut the engine down and just sail. When our boat speed dropped to 5 knots we started an engine. We had the radar on and watched the paths of several other boats. Mary remarked that, because of the Shoalwater Bay closure, we were seeing more traffic that night than we have seen during the day in all of our travels to date. It was the only way to go - so, a busy highway.
There was a bit of lightening in the distance about 2 a.m. when Mary was on watch, with no significant change in wind strength so Mary decided not to wake Paul to take in the sails. She maintained a close watch and eventually the lightening stopped. Later we learned that our friends on the other boats had all taken down their sails.

It started raining at about 4 a.m., just as Paul was finishing his watch and stopped raining about 7 a.m. The sun came up at about 5 a.m. and Mary, on the last watch, enjoyed the sunrise. Paul was sound asleep in the forward cabin as we were nearing our last turn to Great Keppel Island and didn't hear Mary shout "Fish on!" On the second and louder shout he roused and came out and landed a small (16 pound) blue-fin tuna. What a good ending to an overnight passage.

And so, after 29 hours from the time we left Keswick Island, we anchored at Long Beach on Great Keppel Island at about 9:30 a.m. and immediately went to bed. Neither one of us felt well and wouldn't you know, couldn't sleep! After a couple of hours we gave up and showered and had something to eat. Paul then went around to our friends' boats and asked them over later for sundowners as he was going to serve sashimi (raw tuna in a sauce).

Sundowner session was nice as everyone talked about their experiences in the overnight passage. The conversation was very helpful to Mary as this was her first overnight passage and she had not been looking forward to it. It was not enjoyable but she survived it. What was surprising to Mary was that none of the other cruisers (and a very experienced group) enjoyed night passages either. They all talked about how disoriented and sleep-deprived you feel and how much better you feel when the sun comes up.

Everyone was in bed early that night!

November 13, 2005

We continue to relax at Great Keppel Island for a few days with our friends. We had a great lasagna dinner on Jams last night. Anne and Pam both brought salads and Mary brought one of her famous apple pies. Today and tomorrow the other boats will be moving on. We will be picking up our friends from Rockhampton on Wednesday at Keppel Bay Marina for a 4-day stay.