Can hardly believe its been almost 6 months since we lost our beautiful Australis but life moves on and I'm up to my ears in the house renovations.
The house was stripped, lifted and moved sideways in preparation for the new extensions and I was able to introduce a different approach to raising and shifting a building that did away with all the hydraulic jacks and scaffolding.
Last week the builders erected the huge curved steel beams for the extension and this weekend was spent climbing scaffolding spraying a two pack primer on the steel before the floor joists go in and the curved roof attached.
Four carved panels I purchased in Kuching and swam ashore after we hit the reef have now become a part of our stairwell bannisters and in a week or so I start building the kitchen cabinetry.
I guess you could say we’ve been trying to keep ourselves distracted and occupied from having to think about Australis - perhaps it’s been the best therapy.
Mind you, I got to sail our 21’ trailer sailer Toots up to Lizard Island over Easter for a couple of weeks and it was so nice being back out on the water.
So where to from here?
The build is going to keep me pretty busy until the end of the year but I’m hoping to get Toots out on the water a couple of times to keep my feet wet. After that? Well I’m already looking at another blue water cruiser so fingers crossed, it will be out on briny and some extended travels this time next year.
Until then, I’ll follow all your adventures and live the sailing life vicariously though all our friends at cruiserlog.
Speaking of which, thank you for all your well wishes and thoughts. I fried a logic board a few months back and am only just getting access to past emails that went into the dark void, so my apologies if I missed responding to anyone.
I received a link from a yacht that dropped into the village where we were rescued. Australis has been refloated, although still holed and is now standing on her keel in the mangroves with masts removed and stripped down to a bare hull. The villagers have been selling her off in bits and pieces to passing yachties.
https://trippinturpins.wordpress.com...1/#comment-107
A sad end for such a beautiful vessel but a good and welcome income for a community who have nothing.
As an aside, A good yachtie mate of mine who unfortunately is now confined to a wheelchair after a car jack collapsed on him two years ago while he was underneath, decided to further test his nine lives when he reversed his wheel chair onto the first floor lift only to discover it was already parked at the bottom. *** over tit, wheelchair included, he plummeted to the ground and ironically, broke both his legs.
The upshot of all that was we all got together and decided we would make a new start to 2015 (Australis struck the reef on New Years day) and celebrate the Chinese New Year instead and start 2015 anew!
Fair winds,
Mico/Australis
Still alive and thinking about the big blue
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