Back to Townsville, Rene and Magnetic Island 14th - 24th April

 

Picnic Bay Magnetic Island

 

Peter and I flew into Townsville in the late afternoon and were met by Andrew, Peter's dad. Caught up with all the news and installed ourselves into his unit ready for the next few days. On Tuesday we took the ferry to Nelly Bay to find out how Rene had fared over the long, hot summer months. It has been a very dry summer here with no wet season to speak of. Apparently Magnetic Island usually has 800 - 900 mls of rain from December to March and they have received 40mls. Unfortunate for the locals, but obviously good for boats, as when we opened her up there was no dank smell of a long unaired interior or any sign of mould. The hull was barely covered with a fuzzy green slime and the propeller edges sported a rim of prickly barnacles. Peter removed these quick smart and the slime dropped off as we motored to Horseshoe Bay a couple of days later. This year we can give a miss to the haul out and anti fouling rigmarole, a considerable saving for us. Peter used Altex 5, (8 litres) which provided two coats and we are impressed.

For the last ten days we have spent time socialising with the family, restocking Rene ready for our 2015 sailing season and taking her for a shakedown trip of five days to Horseshoe Bay. The family are all well and enjoying their busy lives, Rene is ship shape and the short stay in Horseshoe Bay was perfect. We even had a lovely dose of rain one evening. The next morning we found about four inches of water in the dinghy. The rain was persistent and heavy as it can be in this part of the world. A welcome relief for the vegetation here and a distinct cooling of the temperature, which I have enjoyed.

Maud Bay Magnetic Island

Before we left Albany one of the teachers at a school where I was relief teaching asked me what we do all day. Of course there are all the usual jobs that one associates with a home: cleaning, washing, food shopping, cooking etc. Then there are the maintenance jobs on the boat. Periodically we need to refuel and take on water which usually requires some research to find out where this can be done and in what time frame. Research on chart plotter and paper charts as to where the next trip will be, anchorages, weather forecasts and blog etc take up more time. Peter and I spend much of our time keeping fit by walking either on designated walks for fun and health or to the shops, which are not always close, to purchase stores. Reading, socialising and for me stitchery projects fill in any gaps.

Most of these activities take longer on the boat. 'Shanks Pony' is not a quick form of transport. On Wednesday we decided it was time for a proper shower. Bucket baths in the cockpit are good, but eventually one feels the need of a hot shower. We are paying for the facilities at Magnetic Bay Marina so we thought it would be a good idea to make use of them. This involved an hour and a half walk, over a small mountain range and around two bays on the south side of the island to reach our destination. It was one of the best showers I've had, but it took time to get there. To be fair we took care of our exercise for the day at the same time.

I lost my morning tea apple to this mum and her friends at the old ferry wharf at Arcadia, Magnetic Island

Horseshoe Bay was beautiful as usual and we had a perfect few days there. An interesting walk took us along a sandy ridge next to the mangrove creek running parallel behind the beach. The paperbarks and pandanas palms were huge and provided welcome shade as we walked. Bird and reptile prints criss-crossed the path and one of the slithery tracks lacked the claw marks of a lizard. It was huge!!! Luckily we didn't sight the maker of that track.

For the next week or so we will be back in Townsville for 60th birthday celebrations and four or five days farm sitting for Peter's brother Clive and his partner, Virginia while they have a few days holiday. When we get a weather window we intend to sail/motor south to the Whitsundays to explore the places we missed last year.

We discovered this interesting letter box in Horseshoe Bay. Maybe they're trying to keep the bills at bay.