Friday, July 27, 2007

Gateway to the Whitsundays


Craig with our US Coast Guard Documents. So nice.

We've made it to MacKay (the Ausie's pronounce it McKie - like pie). It took longer than we thought even though the wind was blowing hard and we had some of our fastest sails so far. We really moved with just a little bit of our jib (the front triangle shaped sail) only. The ocean swell was some of the largest we've seen, making the passages rocky and rolly. Luckily, Maia's hard chine hull shape prevents the boat from being too tippy and prevents the waves from slapping the hull. The picture below shows the swell well above our lifelines which are unusually tall.

We spent one wonderful afternoon and evening in Island Head (22 degrees 25 minutes south and 150 degrees 32 minutes east) even without a stove and oven. There were so many turtles poking there heads out of the water checking us out that we were beginning to feel a bit self conscious.

This is a picture of Island Head as we left, notice the rainbow.

Our propane for the oven and stove ran out on our first night out at Island Head, which turned out to be four days before we got back to a town. We suspect that the bottle wasn't completely filled. We survived on cold food, but missed our fresh bread and hot meals. It made our landing in MacKay very welcome.

Back to our long term plans, we sent off our passports to the the PNG consulate the day after we got our USCG documents. Although we sent it in a return express mail package, we haven't got them back, so we still can't leave the country. At this point it is possible that we will spend the rest of the trip in Australia, given our short time frame. We will know more soon.

Evvy's visit with her mom was fantastic. They explored caves, fed kangaroos, sailed, and generally explored every tourist site within 20 miles of Rosslyn Bay. We are a little overwhelmed by the quality and quantity of pictures that we have from that portion of the trip. Marguerite is a spectacular photographer. Evvy is pulling together a slide show and we will include it in a post to come soon.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's good to see your latest chapter and photos - oooh that swell reminds me of a certain Hawaii experience! We're looking forward to seeing you and Maia in person soon!
Mom C & Richard

Lucky Penguin said...

hey, I've heard the story of that Hawaii experience, Craig's mom! funny! keep the updates comin' you guys, it's so nice to feel like we're in touch even though you're half a world away. keep your cup half full as you do so well and you'll love every minute of it. hugs, Cora

Lucky Penguin said...

wait a sec...if you run out of propane, but it doesn't happen while you're trying to impress your out of town landlubber guests, is it still cruising?

Anonymous said...

OK, it's been more than a few days...where are Maia & crew? Can't wait to hear how Gayle and Richard are doing and where you'll be sailing while they're visiting.

Regards,
D&V