Deciding that there might be a little more to life than what a regular pay packet and an overdue video library card might offer, we sold up, moved out and hitched our thumb on the breeze to rebuild and sail (hand steered - sob!) a 25' Swarbrick sloop (2' being bowsprit!) from Perth to Cairns. Best 'career' decision we ever made! Perth, Exmouth, Broome, Kimberleys, Darwin, Cape York to Cairns we braved the terrors of sailing journals and posts of other intrepid yachties who had gone before, and to our surprise arrived safe, trim, fit and tanned 10 months later in Cairns.
Fast forward almost 3 years (still in Cairns) and finding ourselves osmotosed back into the joys of modern life - work, business, mortgage and stubborn asthmatic lawnmowers - we find ourselves whilst still tanned - somewhat in arrears in the 'trim, taut and terrific' area - sitting in front of a design computer will do that to you!
Fearful of further 'depreciation' we purchased a veteran of a many long of ocean voyages - a beautiful 33' Alajuela cutter 'Mico' and once more find ourselves in the process of shedding the bulky apparel of urban life to dip our toes into the briny again. Formerly 'Mi Columpio' our trim vessel now sports new wiring, radar, holding tanks, pressurised water AUTO-HELM! and a heap of other updates that now find us God Parents to our bank manager's kids and major shareholders in the local chandlery!.
While we have sailed Mico up and down the Queensland coast, in March next year we head out into the unknown to try our hand on a more ambitious project - Blue Water. Our plans are to spend a month sailing down the coast from Cairns to Bundaburg, then take a left and swing up to New Caledonia, onto Vanuatu, Solomons, Luisades and back down the Cape to Cairns again.
While we figure 6 months at a leisurely pace we are also aware that we are Blue Water babes and would love to hear from any others with a lot more experience than us. Advice, hints, warnings, recipes and fishing tips - we don't mind - all will be gratefully received. Better still, an offer of sailing in company on any of the legs would ensure your immortality by having our grand-kids named after you!
Thank you for allowing us to join your family and we look forward to hearing from you.
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