New address for photos

Oh dear it has been a while hasn’t it?  So, all the photos of our trip can now be found here:
https://get.google.com/albumarchive/115175406968458943880

Which as you can see, isn’t actually working - bear with me while I work out how to get a link to my google photo archive!

Sorry guys! 13/02/21

Please update your bookmarks

The Asterie blog is now non functional, we'd love you to follow us as we embark on a new adventure, this time aboard the gorgeous Namaste V.
The new (and the only current ) blog is at:

Living our Dream

I can't quite bring myself to delete Fully Involved's blog, so I will keep it here without updates for sentimental reasons, and hope that our following for the new blog lives up to expectations.

4th July update

We can now report that Fully Involved is now fully repaired J ....It took 6 Months to the day but it is all done.
After many Man/Woman  hours of polishing, washing, scrubbing with various chemicals, the yard at last saw sense and got in a professional cleaner to put right the white residue staining damage done by them when they tried to remove the rust staining they did when drilling out the rivets on the goose neck. Now I guess you are all wondering what the magical cleaner was that put things right.....Well it was good old house hold Jiff cleaner, the white one not lemon!

We will be having a new Bimini and dodger made next week as we still have the original fitted and it is looking very tired. We will retain the side curtain and clear window set up, it will take some time to do, but will make her look fantastic.

The previously Bimini mounted 85W solar panel has now been relocated and will live permanently on the rear arch. I had to move around various GPS antennas to make room for it. I also added 2 stainless steel bracing struts for the rear facing radar to help relieve strain on the support welds.

So that ends that saga, all we need now is some decent weather to go sailing.....Or more likely, we will put her on the market and go get another yacht but take longer over the trip, any offers on a brilliant IP420????.......

Keep watching.......Mike.

Repair update June 7th

At last all repairs relating to the lightning strike have been completed J   We had the back stay with the HF insulators on replaced on the recommendation of “Ronstan” and tested the SSB radio, the Iridium 9555 Sat phone was the last item to be fitted due to a shortage in supply.  We now need to take her sailing to ensure everything works for an extended period and for us to learn how it all works. There are some pictures in Picasa of the new look instruments.

One of the reasons for the long delay, we were told, was that on the night of January 4^th 2012 just over 100 boats suffered damage from that same storm here in Perth and with limited tradesmen to carry out repairs, things dragged on and on...

Unfortunately we still have the yard people making good on the rust staining they did to our deck. As we are not on the hard stand we are ‘out of sight out of mind’ again and it is a weekly battle reminding them to fix it!!

A swam of nesting flies have made the outboard home for now, we have a flock of Welcome Swallows in a feeding frenzy every morning filling their bellies with the things. We kill thousands with fly spray each evening, but next day there are more, will we ever win????

Mike.

Repair update April 21st

Our repairs are still ongoing. We now have the 240/115 volt conversion finished except for the water heater conversion, so no more power cords in thru hatches with extension cords everywhere!!

 But it is looking like 2 steps forward and 1 back....

The test sail has been completed to set up the autopilot, unfortunately the electronics engineer decided to go on holiday for 3 weeks so we wait for him to return to programme the AIS and input the MMSI into the radios.The wind speed anemometer and new Tri colour light need installing.    We are still waiting for the battery charger to be fitted, this was found to be not working once the boat was powered up. The new battery monitor only showed we had 0.27Volts in the batteries so will be replaced with another new one. The goose neck fitting was cracked when it was re-riveted to the mast after re-bushing, so that has been replaced with a new one, unfortunately the guys allowed the metal shavings to fall on the deck and have now rusted into the GRP, so that damage will be repaired. We were on the hard stand for 2 days while the new earth plate was installed as well as the Raymarine transducer for speed/depth, unfortunately during this work someone put a solvent soaked rag on the varnished cabin sole on the master cabin and lifted the varnish, so this will be repaired.The rigging has been set up and tuned, unfortunately on advice from the manufactures, the 2 SSB radio insulators will need replacing after the lightning so we need a new back stay making up.  

The yard who are supposed to organise everything are useless, considering the percentage  of the repair bill they are taking, we are having to organise tradesmen to work and inform them of what is going on !!!

But we have made some good progress in the last Month, so maybe by next Month we will be out sailing someplace, fingers crossed!!!
Mike.

Oh yes, Jan now has a Thermo mix on the boat...... Happy Jan J

March 18th update.....With pictures

The mast has been removed and all rigging checked, no further damage was found. The mast goose neck was removed for re-bushing and new correct length bolts. The bolts were found to be too short with the threaded portion inside the castings; this is what had caused the castings to wear out. The mast was re-wired, new TV and VHF antenna installed and the lightning rod extended by 200mm so it is now taller than the VHF antenna!!!  The mast is now back on the boat awaiting final rigging tension. As we will need lifting again for the transducers and earthing plate to be replaced, the rigging was not fully tensioned  as we will need to remove the head sail furling gear in order for us to fit in the lift rig.

All the damaged electronics are out and at this time all the old multi strand B & G / Raymarine wiring is being removed to make room for the new Raymarine single wire “Back Bone” . We will have all the latest Raymarine equipment complete with touch screen chart plotter, wireless auto pilot control and colour instruments as well as new Icom VHF & HF radios.

The boat is now mostly 240Volt. It was found to be easier to do this than try to get new 115Volt stuff out of the USA. Even the onboard generator has been converted to deliver 240V. The Air conditioners will still run on 115Volt as I bought a converter from the US before departure for this very reason, much cheaper and easier than converting them to run on 240V!!

So if you think it is hard living in a house when the builders are there doing your additions, try living on a yacht when all the electrical and electronics are being repaired/modified/added to !!!

Mike J

Damage report....

Fully Involved was lifted out on the 11^th to make sure there was no damage below the water line, there wasn’t any.  On the electronics side, so far we need to replace...... Chart plotter and card, Nav pod to accommodate a wide screen E120 Plotter, 48 Mile Radar, wind, depth speed, autopilot, AIS, both VHF radios, HF radio, both hand held VHF radios, Iridium phone and docking station, 4 Amp solar panel, solar controller, Nav station repeater  display, all nav lights, all associated antenna, hull lightning discharge plate, speed and depth transducers.  On the 115 Volt side, only the inverter is damaged so that will be replaced.

 At the same time as all this work is going on, we will have her converted to 240V ( via the isolation transformer we previously bought in the USA) change the Microwave oven and water heater to 240Volt. In a Marina we can plug in 240Volt use all our 240Volt equipment as well as the US 115Volt stuff.  Away from shore power we will have added a large 240V pure sign wave inverter so all the 240 Volt equipment works and have the Generator and battery bank, via the new 115V inverter, to run the Air Conditioners and battery charger.  

It has been recommended that the mast will come out not only for a thorough rigging inspection but also to make it easier to replace all the electrical wiring in the mast as it runs up rather like a U trap bend under a house sink.

So there it is, unfortunately we won’t be going anywhere for a while except maybe up the Swan River to the City once the mast is removed!!

Mike.

An Enlightening experience

Moored up after a small cruise-lette to Rockingham over New Years, Fully Involved was unfortunately struck by lightning early morning of January 4th!
At this stage we appear to have lost all instruments and have suffered damage to internal wiring. Rigging and sails to be assessed later today, and a haul out on Tuesday to try to find an exit hole.
Ironic, hey?
We came all that way only to get zapped less than 30 miles from home.
Thank goodness we are insured.

Lift out

On Dec 7^th we lifted “Fully Involved” onto the hard stand for a well earned clean and antifouling. We were amazed at the lack of growth on her bottom after the 12,300 mile trip; needless to say the zinc anodes were all eaten away to nothing!!!

After she was pressure washed we noticed that the antifouling was still in very good shape all things considered, it was a 50/50 decision to repaint but in the end we decided to give her a coat of blue over the black put on in Mexico as she would probably be in the pen for more time than out sailing. The prop speed was still OK for another 12 Months so that was left as was. The bow thruster blades were replaced for the new improved 5 bladed “Q prop” giving us 15% more thrust and 10% less noise, this extra performance was very noticeable once back in the water.  Jan spent many a hard day on her knees scraping, sanding then re applying the varnish to the toe rail and coach top cheat line, she now looks magnificent again. The name on the Starboard side, damaged when we deployed the sea anchor mid Pacific was replaced. The yard guys had the job of replacing the blocked rear head outlet pipe, something they achieved with remarkable speed!!!!

So now she is back in her pen at HYC waiting for the next adventure, but in the mean time we are doing some small jobs on her that have been put off .

Mike.

Geraldton, Mindarie and finally HYC.

Sorry for the delay in posting but as you can well imagine it has been a very hectic 2 weeks since our return home, so here goes for the final rap of the trip.

Departing Geraldton on in the morning of the 9^th November via the shipping channel, we aimed to be at Mindarie by the 11^th to meet our family and special friends as well as celebrate Jan’s Birthday. A good sail down was enjoyed in 10-15 Kt South Westerly, the 211 NM leg was done over two nights giving us both time to reflect on the journey we had just done and ready ourselves for the welcome back.

As we neared Mindarie we were met by 2 yachts of fellow club members who took pictures of our return. The following day more members sailed up to Mindarie to see us and a very pleasant day was spent chatting, drinking and eating.

On the morning of the 13^thwe put up on the port burgee lines all the countries flags we had visited, on the starboard went all the yacht club Burgees we had collected and on a Spinnaker halyard we raised the “Boxing Kangaroo” and Pacific Puddle Jump flags!!! Departing Mindarie at about 14.30 we  sailed down to Hillarys Yacht club with our Daughter and a couple of good friends, a fantastic run South was had doing 6.5 SOG in 10 Kts of wind shame it was only a  9 NM leg!! As expected, going thru the entrance to Hillarys was a very emotional experience for us but that was far overshadowed by the sight of 150+ club members coming out of the club house to greet us as we came up the fairway to dock on the VIP jetty in front of the club house.

And a so dear reader that concludes our Blog of the trip, what happens now is still undecided. We have both had a remarkable time and learnt a lot about sailing and ourselves. It is time to take stock, reflect and catch up with friends.

Thanks to you all for reading and being part of this adventure.....

Mike.

Home....

We arrived back at Hillarys Yacht Club on the 13th November 2011 after a trip of 12,333 NM.....A full rap up and pictures will follow shortly so stay tuned!!
Mike.

Clippers

The round the world clipper fleet left here yesterday, bound for New Zealand.
I have such mixed feelings, I want to go home and see all those I love, but part of me would have jumped onto one of those clippers in a heartbeat if I could have!
What on earth am I going to do after we get back?
Suggestions please, on the back of a self addressed stamped envelope....LOL
Jx

Carnarvon to Geraldton.

This is the last multiple night leg on our adventure from the USA. The Gods blessed us with good 10-15Knot North Westerlies that enabled us to sail down the coast without drama on a dream beam reach. Even in such light winds Fifi romped along at 6.7 SOGs with all 3 sails out, what a feeling!!! We saw quite a few whales frolicking in the water as well as sea snakes. As previously mentioned we had our friend Mark with us and I must say it was nice with 3 of us doing the watches allowing 6 Hrs sleep each of the nights. Our thanks Mark and Di for being so hospitable while in Carnarvon J

As I always seem to do, we made our approach to Geraldton at night. Personally I find it easier as the channel marker lights of the shipping channel stand out so well, crossing over Geraldton bay, we entered the marina and made our way to the yacht club pens. Opposite us are the 10 Clipper Round the World 65 foot yachts. Interestingly our first yacht “Sirocco” was launched for its first time at Fremantle while the clippers were visiting there in December 2007, so with this coincidence we went and bought a weekend Lotto ticket !!!

This was a quick leg of only 282 Miles and 2 overnighters. From here down to Perth is a little over 200 miles so we are more than likely to day hope and time it so we arrive just before Jan’s Birthday.

Mike

Fifi in the Fascine

Thanks to Di for taking these beautiful photos during her early morning walk

Darwin to Carnarvon

During our stay in Darwin we managed to do some sightseeing in the local area as well as fix a few problems we had encountered with the yacht. Priority was the water pump that was refusing to pump airless water, this was replaced with a new piston type and I tried without much success to unblock the rear toilet outlet hose. The main sail was repaired enough to get us home to Perth.

While in Darwin we purchased a washing machine that has a 2.2 KG load and will run off an inverter as it draws only 280 Watts even on the 800 RPM spin cycle. The purchase was forced on us in a way. Very close to the Marina was a public laundry. Jan was doing our washing one day when a couple of young lads in a camper van pulled up outside and proceeded to remove every bit of clothing and bedding from within the van. During Jan’s conversation with the guys about the size of their load and the 4 machines it occupied it was revealed that the van was infected with bed bugs!!!!!!!!!!! Hmmmm end of public laundry for us!!

We departed Tipperary Waters Marina prepared for the leg to Broome where we would stop for 36 Hrs for a rest and to re-fuel if required, we would then sail the leg to Carnarvon. Departing Darwin was achieved without drama and the course set for the Westwards crossing of the rest of the “Top End” The wind was not playing the game and was on our nose the whole time so we were forced to motor sail much of this leg. Once again the Australian Maritime Patrol Aircraft over flew us every day to keep us company. At about 3.00 AM on the 3^rd night there was a loud bang and we both thought we had hit something in the water, an inspection of the hull was carried out and nothing unusual was found. At first light however we noticed the radar reflector was lying on the deck, so that explained the loud bang.

We had pre booked a mooring in Roebuck bay Broome mainly as there is a 9 Meter tide range there. Arriving into Roebuck bay in 25 Knots of wind at 2.00AM we proceeded  to the co-ordinates we had for the mooring only to find a 60 Foot fishing boat  firmly attached to it, bummer!  So we had to anchor for the rest of the night. The following day revealed our plight, heavy seas, 25 Knot winds and 2 miles to shore. We tried to launch our dingy but every time we tried the thing got blown under the bucking stern of Fully Involved. A friendly passing fisherman in a 25 Foot Aluminium boat offered us a ride to shore. Once ashore we arranged for fuel, did some quick shopping for milk and bread as well as thanking the local VMR staff for providing a listening watch over us on the leg. The following day we proceeded to the ships jetty to take on fuel. Again we were subjected to 2.5 Meter seas and 20 Knot winds during the whole operation. We took on 400 Litres of diesel and in the process got our toe rail wood crushed by the unforgiving jetty.  We had wanted to fill the 10 jerry cans but decided against it due to the conditions, as soon as we had fuelled we were off. The log shows Darwin to Broome was a total distance of 818 NM done in 10 days, so no sailing speed records were established on this leg!

Departing, what to us is the most unfriendly yacht port we had visited so far, Broome soon faded in the distance as we once again continued our progress West. Again we found ourselves head to wind so we set up our ¾ NM tacks to make progress to the way point. Even doing this our speed over ground at times dropped to 1 Knot so the engine was used to give us water over the rudder and steerage. The AIS was again working overtime as we neared Port Hedland and Dampier. We were tracking the maximum 100 ships the system can handle. At one point we counted 28 ships anchored off Port Hedland with another 6 on their way bow to stern and a full harbour of 8 ships taking on cargo. But more amazing was the flagrant abuse of channel 16 by the crews of these ships. They used 16 to carry on conversations (NOT in English) between each other as well as playing music at night for at time 30 Minutes. Now I know Australia relies heavily on exports to these countries and they do own some of the mines, but I strongly suggest the authorities educate them on the correct use of Ch 16 before  some poor soul who is in real strife has an accident as he couldn’t get his May day thru...End of soap box....

Dampier was the same as Hedland ship number wise and, sorry to say, radio wise. Only once during the crossing of these 2 big congested shipping areas did we have cause to use the radio to call up a Tug as he was closing in on us to within 2.5 NM at night with no moon. He kindly did the right thing altered course and pulled away from us.

Once past Dampier we passed north of the Montebello Islands and headed for North West cape. Turning almost due south at the cape we hugged the coast until we were abeam the Dampier salt mine at Coral bay then tacked out away from the main land for our last night at sea on this leg, this would give us a good approach course for Carnarvon.. First light found us in Shark Bay and just 18 miles out from Carnarvon and surrounded by whales and dolphins.  We stopped for an hour or so in absolute becalmed conditions and watched the show being put on for us, one whale we watched tail slapped the water 24 times in one session and many more were broaching the water, we actually heard them calling to each other with that haunting sound you only get to hear on the TV or films, a truly special time. We proceeded to the markers at the entrance to the fascine where our friend Mark was waiting for us in his power boat to guide us into this interesting piece of waterway where we were to moor on his mooring for a few days. The fascine is right on the edge of town so a short dingy ride and walk and there are all the shops, banks etc.

We are hoping to depart Carnarvon for Geraldton on the 1^st Nov as a good weather window is coming. Our friend Mark will join us on the leg and maybe even carry on down to Perth, this is our way of thanking him for all his hospitality while we are here in Carnarvon.

Just in case you were wondering we have sailed a total distance so far of 11,831Nautical Miles since departing Long Beach California USA.

Mike

In Carnarvon

Just a brief posting to say we haven't forgotten you dear reader!
We will be posting very soon describing our voyage from Darwin to Carnarvon and the stop off on the way in Broome.
Currently on a mooring in the Fascine enjoying the hospitality of the Nymans and renewing our acquaintance with the area.
Planning on arriving November 13th at HYC
Stand by for more!
PS.  Can you believe we're nearly home???!!!!!

Cruising vs. delivery/Darwin

I think we can safely assume that having taken about a year, our adventure started off a cruise and is ending as a delivery in order to be home before the cyclone season begins. We certainly stopped off at and enjoyed exploring many many islands and atolls along the way – where there were islands and atolls to stop off at, bearing in mind that we ARE talking the Pacific here – you know, the largest body of open water on the planet.

I have been staggered to find that some individuals consider delivery a good option for the less skilled sailor and have been amazed that because we are making a run for home rather than cruise the Kimberly, we are being considered as taking the easy option.

To me, whether you are delivering a boat or cruising, it's all sailing – the skills you need to possess and use on a daily basis are surely the same, are they not?

I am now and will remain proud of what we have done, I consider it a major lifetime achievement and to those who think otherwise, I would love to see things from your point of view, but I can't seem to get my head that far up my own bum.

-end of subject-

We are liking Darwin, it's a small city with a good feel about it. Here at the Tipperary Waters marina we are a five minute bus ride to the city center and we have most of the usual facilities here at the slip like laundry, showers, shop etc. We entered the marina via a lock, neither of us had experienced anything like that before. It was a straightforward process and not difficult at all.

The climate here takes a little getting used to, it's coming towards the end of the dry and boy can it get humid in the afternoon!

We think we may stay another week here before continuing South.
We are parked opposite Dan and Elise (Babar) from HYC and have enjoyed catching up with them, we believe they plan on staying a few more weeks.  It's handy to have someone tell you where things are and we're certainly in awe of their voyage up here from Hillarys. Good on you guys!
Meanwhile we have a blocked head - great fun in this heat.......NOT

More from us in a few days, meanwhile, thanks for reading :-)

Townsville to Darwin.

We arrived in Darwin on Sunday 18^th September after a 1,491NM 13 day trip.

Departing Townsville at 07.00 on the high tide, we headed North round Magnetic and Palm islands. We had decided to take the inside route up the Great Barrier Reef as seas inside are 1 to 2 Metres less than outside in the Coral sea, and the distance to Cape York 130 odd miles less.

We wanted the authorities to know that we were out there so we logged on with our trip details to the Townsville Coast Guard by VHF and asked that Cairns be informed of our intended route North and over to Darwin. Cairns CG was contacted on the second day and we were passed on to Cooktown CG who tracked us by VHF and then HF radio until we could contact Thursday Island. From Thursday Island all the way to Darwin we were over flown by the Australian Maritime Patrol Aircraft daily, it sure was a comfort  crossing the Gulf of Carpentaria and then the Arafura Sea to know someone was watching over us!!

It took 4 days and 3 nights to get to Cape York. Sailing in 15 to 25 Knots we made good progress assisted by a 1 knot current. Sharing, at times, a 1 Mile wide shipping channel with 800+ foot bulk carriers was at first a bit unnerving, but with the AIS on it soon became apparent that separation was not an issue. Personally I would not have considered this route without AIS. On the photo page there is a shot of the chart plotter that gives all the AIS targets we had at that time, note it even picked up ships at 400+ miles!! Providing we kept to our side, it was possible to watch the ships approach us and at 10 miles the ship symbol on the plotter would show that the rudder of the ship had gone either left or right and its heading would change, the ship would then pass us between 600-700 Mtrs away. No ship we saw was doing more than 14-16 Knots so when they pass there is minimal or zero wake from them. The passage is marked with all the “Normal” channel marks, what we found is that ships “aim” at these marks thus they take a zig zag path up or down the winding channel, again with the AIS showing where they were, we too were able to employ this shortening tactic!!....OK enough on AIS!!!!!!!!!!

Jan had the watch when we rounded Cape York at Dawn, wow what a sight, the top of Australia. As we came thru the Endeavour Straight the seas calmed right down and so did the wind to 5-7 Knots on our stern, yet we still had full sails up, 2 Knots water speed and 5.4 knots over the ground, we were glad not to be going the other way!!! Crossing the Gulf took almost 3 days followed by 2days to crossing the Arafura Sea, all was very peaceful. There is a photo showing just how peaceful it was, it shows our wake stretching back to the horizon!! During this crossing, I decided to try my hand a fishing, a bit late I know but I had to have a go. Putting out the line and lure that had been so successful for Captain Kimbo in the Pacific, I soon had a 6-8 Kg Tuna on the hook. As I pulled him in it became obvious he was not a happy fish as the hook was thru his top lip and came out of the eye socket L....With pliers in hand I managed to extract the hook, held him up for Jan to photograph then let him go, (No I did not kiss him/her first!!) The next day I caught 3 more, and like the first, were all returned to swim another day...

On board we have an extensive library of cruising books, among those are the “Bibles” written by one Jimmy Cornell. On this leg to Darwin he suggests going to the North of Melville and Bathurst Islands making a South Easterly approach to Darwin in the marked shipping lane, this he says is preferable to the shorter route between the mentioned islands and the main land. The reason being is the current.  The charts show it can race up to 7 knots and if that is against you it will make for a long trip. So round we went and timed our arrival into Darwin for 09.00, high tide (+6.7 Meters). There are 4 marinas in Darwin and all are accessed thru a lock system due to the large tides. We had pre-booked a berth at Tipperary Waters Marina for our stay, so as we passed the Naval base Jan phone the lock master only to be told that as our yacht had not been Anti Fouled in Australia in the last 12 Months and we would need a hull inspection performed prior to entry to the lock/Marina as required by the Fisheries Department....A call to the Fisheries confirmed that we had to return back past the Naval base and anchor in Fannie Bay for this inspection to be carried out. This we duly did, a diver arrived checked the hull and put a disinfectant up our sea water inlets to kill any bugs. This then prevented us from starting the engine/generator for 14 Hours, if we did then the a fine would be imposed.  We were given clean bill of health and permission to enter the marina the following day, total cost for this service was $0.00.....Neither of us had been thru a lock system before but with the expert guidance from the lock master on VHF Ch 8  this was achieved without drama. We are now in a pen with our friends from Hillarys YC, Dan & Elise on the Yacht “Baba” in the pen opposite.

And now a word on the iPad......You will have read we bought 2 in Townsville.  One has the inbuilt GPS and the Navonics gold card I downloaded onto it for less than $50. We compared it against the chart plotter and paper charts throughout this leg. It is very good and well worth the money, especially when coming into Darwin and I needed to zoom in quickly, bingo it was there, no 2 second delay while the redraw is done, same for zoom out. There is also more detail on the pad, the shipping lanes were more clearly marked and directions shown. It also showed at least 2 lanes that were not on the chart plotter, we used these two and so did ships so they must be an addition that our January 2011 34XG card did not have. On the negative side, I didn’t like the continual up date of heading and SOG, this was done a little too quickly for my liking, SOG rarely agreed with the chart plotter and the heading was continually left/right, it seems to refresh every ½ second. But that is it, a tool worth having and when the “Imux” is installed we will have radar and AIS info displayed on the iPad.

We are staying here for 2 weeks to do a few urgent repairs. The fresh water pump has been playing up for some time now, so a new one has been bought and is now installed. The rear toilet outlet is blocked so that needs to be sorted, hummmmmmmmmm  and we have a 12 inch separation on the main sail Luff that needs attention by the local sail loft.

All for this time, next will be the leg from Darwin....Mike

Jans thoughts on arriving in Oz

Well I had started to feel as if we were 'going home' as soon as we crossed the equator into the Southern hemisphere!

Our passage from Vanuatu to Townsville was, to say the least, trying. The wind was either not there at all, or howling from the wrong direction. I think we motored more on this passage than any other to be honest. The sea was larger than we expected too, nothing we couldn't handle though.

About 170 miles outside Townsville, we were overflown by a border patrol plane who asked us a lot of questions, all of which, of course, they already knew the answers to as we had provided all of our details to the authorities a good 96 hours before our ETA.

Not that we minded at all – this was the first 'official' Aussie voice we'd heard, and when he signed off by saying 'Welcome back to Australia' I'm afraid I completely lost it and burst into tears – yeah, I know, it was a girly thing to do but I had no control and just gave up all resistance (a frankly scary trend, as time would prove, but you'll read about that later).

So, buoyed by our first contact with home we carried on through the day and into the night, transiting through Palm Passage and into the inner Barrier Reef, the passage is a shipping channel dredged to 60 meters, so imagine my surprise when I saw the depth meter go from 65 to 58 to 25 to 17 to 10 then 5 then 1.4 meters, then back again in a similar way up to 65 – this happened three times in all and knowing we were surrounded by nasty sharp pointy coral reef this little black duck wasn't happy..............however, nothing seemed to hit us and the rest of the passage was uneventful.

First glimpse of Magnetic Island and Townsville was around dawn, a truly magnificent sight after so long away from this amazing sunburnt country of ours. As we headed for the marina, we contacted the harbourmaster who advised us what was going on traffic wise and suggested which approach to use, then in a beautiful broad aussie accent said 'welcome home guys' and I think it's fair to say my eyes then stayed wet for about the next 12 hours.

We pulled alongside the marina fuel jetty to be greeted by the marina manager who welcomed us; we couldn't get off the boat as we had to be cleared by immigration, quarantine and customs, who were all expected after lunch. I was so emotional I could barely speak, and I think I may have hugged the marina manager.

The authorities duly arrived. I have to say at this point that we both spent a great deal of time defending the Australian policy on what you can and cannot bring into Australia foodwise to the many foreign yachties we encountered – a lot of people are terrified by what they believe will happen when they get here, and some even refuse to visit rather than sacrifice some of their food.

The crew that boarded Fully Involved were absolutely brilliant, I can't praise them enough for the way they processed us, I voluntarily handed over any dairy we had left from provisions and happily let them go through our fridge. All they were interested in was dairy and meat – so yes, we kept all of our dry, tinned and packaged good – including all of our herbs and spices. This is my country too and I am happy to do my part in keeping it disease free. I also managed not to hug the customs man, although I was still misty eyed and a bit wobbly on my feet (ok, I MAY have had a celebratory gin and tonic to mark our arrival).

After describing the events coming through Palm Passage to a few local people, the concensus was that a whale passed under us.......

So, there you have it as promised – a small insight into how arriving home in Australia felt to me. I have yet to work out if I keep crying because I'm glad to be home, or because the adventure is almost over.  All I can say in closing is if anyone reading this plans on meeting us as we sail into Hillarys Yacht Club you'd better bring tissues for me.

Darwin

Sitting in Tipperary Waters marina, safe and sound.  New pics here more words soon Jxxx