7th to 17th December 2009.

Look at her go

New mob Simon, Elliot and Caitlin got on board from Mooloolaba and headed south to Brisbane. Cleared out and headed to sea in strong northerly conditions – made for a rough trip up Moreton Bay and then pointed her ESE for the top of New Zealand and a fast and rough few days on the Magic Roundabout. Early evening saw Sirius in the port shrouds and that was our course for a beautiful sailing trip highlighted by turtle, whale, sharks, flying fish, mahi mahi, sun sets and rises, clear night, new moon, milky way skies, phosphorescent night dolphins, glassy sets of great southern swell and shades of blue so beautiful Caitlin wanted to eat them!

One glassy day in the middle of the Tasman had us motoring before the wind came back up from the south and we were hard on the wind headed for Cape Reinga and down the coast to Opua. Thanks to OceansWatch and the Magic Roundabout who handled very well. We were really happy to be able to contribute to this the last leg of the trip for the 2009 season and look forward to getting involved again in the future.

So it’s Merry Christmas, Fair Winds and Following seas to you all.
Si and Caitlin.

We had a great sail down to Mooloolaba, a fitting end to a fantastic trip. Thanks to the Mooloolaba Marina for giving us a free berth for the duration of our stay. Rightfully it’s a popular stop for the overseas yachts. A short walk to town, easy entrance, lovely beach just 5 minutes walk away and it looks like there are plenty of services around town. Only problem is that you cannot clear Customs here.

As usual we were very busy, Ms Outreach (Katherine) visited every yacht for miles and braved shark infested waters in the kayak to do so. We had several visits from new and potential members and were helped a lot as usual by Julia and Roger Watson, parents of 16 year old Jessica Watson (OceansWatch member) who has now completed 7,000 miles of her round the world voyage.

Chris and Irene had a very fruitful visit to the University of Queensland. We discussed assisting them with specimen collection from remote Islands and giving their students some field experience. They may be able advise us on our surveying methods, especially how we can select Marine Protected Areas.

Highlight of the trip was the annual “Dress your boat for Christmas” competition. We had a ringside seat as the boats paraded in front of Magic Roundabout. We were inspired to put up lights and a Christmas Tree.
We said our sad goodbyes, most of which will be temporary we hope. Chris headed home to his family for a long overdue reunion. Anna carried on her holiday in Australia. Irene carried on with OceansWatch work, having meetings in Brisbane, Byron Bay and Sydney and Katherine headed south with an old friend but will be back at the OceansWatch Office by February.