MUM & DAD'S DEPARTURE DAY

Well, I guess the day had to finally come, so it was very sad to see my Mum & Dad leave us at Airlie Beach last Thursday, 23rd April. After nearly 6 weeks of having them onboard, a hole was left the following morning when Mum & Dad were nowhere to be found. Dad wasn't in his usual spot in the cockpit eating his weet-bix & Mum wasn't sitting on the transom, soaking up the sun with her morning cup of coffee. We'd had a great time together during their holiday but it was certainly hard to say farewell & a few tears were shed for a couple of days.

When Mum & Dad first boarded in Tingalpa Creek, we all weighed in on my rusty set of scales, determined that none of us would gain weight during their time with us. With "happy hour" every afternoon at 4.00pm, it's always very tempting to have the usual nibblies that accompany the beer & wine, so an effort was made to avoid those extras most of the time, although I must admit that temptation got the better of us on a few occasions. Anyway, with weekly weigh -ins it kept us conscience of what was happening so we were all quite happy with our results when we weighed in for the last time before Mum & Dad'd departure. We'd all remained the same weight, with the exception of Dad who had actually lost a couple of kilos.

We have had amazing weather since being here at Airlie Beach & ordinarily we would've been at the reef with glass out conditions. However, after visiting the local doctor the other day to have our second Hep B shot & pointing out a worrying looking mole on the side of Rees's head, the doctor suggested cutting the mole out & having it tested. Therefore, Rees now has stitches & can't go into the water for the next week, which is killing him considering the weather conditions at the moment. Of course he'd prefer to be diving over anything else, but we've taken the opportunity to get some cleaning jobs done around the boat.

Over the past few days we've met up with friends who have just purchased a 40ft CHINCOGAN catamaran, the same as ours, so we've spent time with them & will continue to do so as we sail north together. They live in Albany, WA, & plan on taking the boat back there, spending a season in the Kimberly as they as they go, so we'll probably see quite a bit of Brian & Maxine over the following weeks. It'll be great sailing along side another yacht of the same make to compare sailing abilities, especially when their yacht has mini keels & we have dagger boards!

At this stage it looks as though we'll be leaving Airlie Beach next Wednesday after Rees has been back to the doctor, so next stop will be Townsville, where we will again have internet & mobile range.