Heading out

Maia and her crew are heading out of the marina tomorrow, without any schedule or particular destination. That is nice to write, after so much preparation. Our days have been full of completing all the tasks we've been working on: completing all of the rust remediation projects, putting the rigging back together, fixing the water tank, installing new water pumps and getting a filter, buying lots of cordage (ropes for the sails and to tie things down), propane, seat cushions, electrical parts, stuff to keep us from slipping on the deck, up to code safety equipment, storage bins that fit just right, charts (water maps), navigation equipment ... you get the idea, the list was much longer. We rented a little car to move all this stuff and drive to get the best deals in all the pricing we've been doing.

It is shocking to us that Maia has swallowed up all the of the things we have bought, and there remains a huge amount of space left. This is a real cruising boat with lots of of room for all the things you want to pack into it. We can't believe it is only 32' feet long. Evvy thinks it must be 40'. There is good people space too, for Evvy and Craig anyway -- truth be told, Dave's berth is pretty tight.

Maia had her rent pre-paid up until tomorrow for a while, so this departure date has been in mind from the time we moved aboard. We had hoped to do some travelling around on Maia before tomorrow, but with so many balls in the air, we decided to keep doing projects. The crew are very happy to put away the tools after 10 days of chipping rust, sanding, and painting, each and every day.

After almost two months here, we are getting our first real rain, which promises to make a gloomy departure. The rain is expected to abate on Friday, so we should dry out before long. Evvy heard from a woman in the marina office that it hasn't rained like this in Brisbane for 3 years. The area is in a severe drought, with watering restrictions - they truck in water to the marina to water the lawn. The former owner of Maia, Bruce is part of the government works project to quickly build desalination plants in the area. So we're hiding out from the rain, really enjoying our new bimini awning and marveling at how much catchment water is coming in.

OK, so we haven't taken any pictures of all this happening. For some appeasement, we will take some pictures right now, as Evvy is organizing, Craig is writing the blog, and Dave is mending a sweater, and we're all hiding out from the rain as you can see from the soaked aft deck. That's our latest, not sure where or when we'll next have internet access, it could be a week or more. We don't have immediate plans to leave Moreton Bay, so we'll check in by then. As the locals are fond of saying here, "too easy."