Monday (7 June) having finished the blog, we chilled out and just waited for emails to come in with the quote for the work plus an acknowledgement from our insurance company of receipt of the documentation. We then had a quiet evening on board catching up with Netflix.

Tuesday we headed out in the Marina’s courtesy bus and got dropped off at Bobby’s car hire and picked up our car for the day. We proceeded into the town centre and stopped first at Coles and Liquorland to do a provisioning run before returning to Morphie where we stowed everything away.

Then we went out again to the large central shopping mall. Bundaberg centre is around 30 minutes drive from here through farm land which is quite flat and it is harvest time for the sugar and sweet potatoes if the activity in the fields is anything to go by.

The town centre seemed a bit depressed with lots of closing down sales and boarded up shops so I guess the lack of international students, backpackers and tourists has hit this area quite hard. We picked up a few things and I managed to get my hair cut before we headed back to the marina via the scenic route, including Burnett Heads, which hadn’t changed much since our last visit in October 2019.

Back at the marina we were relieved to hear that the insurance company had received all our documentation and were covering all the damages (minus our excess of course). The quote from the stainless fabricator came in under our excess so that’s down to us but at least our insurance company are going to deal directly with the third party claims so we don’t have to get involved, which was great news! So despite the nightmare of getting the documentation to them in the first place they have been very responsive.

Wednesday we were up early and headed out and did our customary run to Bunnings before returning the car. Was a wet, windy and stormy sort of day. Check out this sky.

We were lucky when we returned our hire car as another couple were picking up a car and were returning straight to the marina so we got a lift back. Back at the marina we headed over to the workshop to find that a lot of our work had been done and they had even fabricated replacement connectors to match the undamaged side as these original (US-manufactured ones) are not available in Australia. Very happy with the work so far….

We then took ourselves off to sit at the benches near the office (which is where the best marina internet is to be found) but it was so cold we gave up pretty quickly and returned to Morphie admiring the cormorant who had made himself at home on top of our neighbour’s mast. Guess it is a good vantage point to spot those pesky fish! We then had a movie night tucked up down below with blankets as the temperature continues to plummet.

Thursday we got busy on some other minor jobs while we waited to hear from the engineering shop. So I took the rugs off the boat and scrubbed them clean, then dried and hoovered them on the dock. Richard re-bedded the screws on the hoyt boom; fixed the zip on the canvas that had been damaged; got a top up of diesel; and soldered the new cockpit light wires that had been snapped in the collision so got them working again. Woo hoo!

I continued on a bit of a clean up and washed all the floors down below. We then left Morphie and checked in on the engineering company – they were coming by later to polish out (as best they could) the damaged arch rail and the rest will be ready for installation on Friday. So we confirmed with the office that we will now be leaving here on Saturday if all goes well.

We tried to download some more Netflix content but, again, got driven back to the boat by the cold so gave it up as a bad job. We were both hungry so got some fish and chips again to bring back as they are just so delicious they just can’t be ignored.

Later on, as promised, Trevor came by and worked hard on polishing out the damage on the 2-inch arch rail. The only way to “fix” this rail would be to remove the whole structure; remove all the wiring that goes inside it to our solar panels, AIS, GPS, satellite communications etc; and then to get the damaged piece cut, a new piece welded in, and the whole structure reinstalled. This would probably mean living on the hard for a couple of months and would still not be perfect so we had decided that Morphie will live instead with a ‘battle wound’. Anyway, here is the ‘before’ picture followed by the ‘after’ pictures – we were amazed at how good Trevor got it to look actually.

We then had another quiet night on board and checked out the latest on the weather to see that snow had fallen heavily in some parts of New South Wales. Some of the locals had never actually seen snow before so this was quite an exciting event for them LOL. Because it was so cold we added some more blankets to our bed before we had an early night.

This morning, Friday, and Richard went over to the engineering shop to collect our steel which was now finished and to pay the bill. He then came back and we worked hard to put it all together and, yay, we are all fixed and ready to go back out there! It had been a stressful week but we were very pleased with the work that had been done and the speed in which they fitted us in. So kudos to Trevor and his team at All Quality Engineering – thank you so much! Here are some before and after shots.

After we had done the initial install of the steel I headed into Burnett Heads to have a facial as a bit of a treat. Richard stayed behind and got on with reinstalling the canvas, the cockpit lights and then moved onto engine checks; a water top up. He also did the final bits of laundry. So here is a final picture of the cockpit ready to go once more.

We had a few more jobs to do today which we have just finished – we have planned our passage for tomorrow; we have taken the outboard off the dinghy and onto the rail. So once this blog is published we are ready to go

Tonight we are going into Burnett Heads for a celebratory dinner at the Lighthouse Hotel Tavern and then we’ll be having an early night in preparation for our departure tomorrow. Hoping to see some big red kangaroos too on the walk….fingers crossed.

Wow, what a week! So very glad to be putting this behind us and we are both looking forward to more adventures in new destinations in the weeks to come. When we leave tomorrow we’ll be off line while we visit Lady Elliott Island (followed by Lady Musgrave Island) so don’t be worried as we will not be able to get a signal out there, although we will have our satellite communications of course to check weather etc.

If you want to find out where we are check out our live tracker on the ‘Where are we now’ page of this blog. After that the itinerary is a bit flexible at this stage, as so much depends upon the weather conditions. We are very excited to be heading out to island anchorages and even hope to go snorkelling, although I think we might need to wear our wetsuits LOL. Take care everybody and we will be in touch as soon as we get back online. Hopefully the restrictions will continue to ease and you’ll be able to get back to some sort of normality. Sending lots of love and hugs

Jan

Sunday morning (30 May) the wind eased and was more favourable for us to move on. So we picked up anchor and headed out of Tin Can Bay. We weren’t going very far, just 19 miles to Garry’s anchorage at the bottom of Fraser Island. The next stretch has to navigated at or near high tide because of the shallows through the Sheridan Flats so we were going to stage ourselves in preparation for going through this tricky area the following morning. So decision made we upped anchor and had a lovely downwind sail in light airs under genoa alone. Was really lovely and we thoroughly enjoyed it despite the real chill in the air.

We had our anchor down by 1.50 pm and we took particular care to watch the swinging circles of the other boats as everyone moves through almost 360 degrees in this narrow, shallow and tidal anchorage. Happy that all was well we headed down below and warmed up the saloon by cooking dinner and put all the companion way boards in to retain the heat overnight.

Monday morning our intention was to head out about 10.15 to ensure we were at Sheridan Flats one hour before high tide. As we left the anchorage we were being followed by a catamaran who was obviously heading the same way and, in fact, he kept behind us all the way. We sailed under genoa in flat seas and light airs until we reached Sheridan Flats then motored slowly and carefully through before hoisting the genoa again for the remainder of the trip to Kingfisher Resort, Fraser Island. We got our anchor down in 6m of beautiful sand at 3.15pm having sailed 21 miles and settled down to watch the sunset. Just a beautiful place and quite serene in the anchorage apart from when the barge comes and goes each day bringing day trippers and guests to the resort.

Tuesday morning we went ashore and walked the boardwalk up to the resort keeping an eye out for dingos. Yes there are wild ones here on Fraser Island….

We then gathered information on how to explore the island. We had been considering hiring a small 4WD but we thought that $400 a day was a bit rich, especially when we could do the 4WD Bus Tour (including lunch) for not much more in total. So decision made we booked the full-day tour for Wednesday. We asked at the hotel reception whether there were any restrictions on our use of the facilities and they said that we had complete access for no charge – definitely a very cruiser-friendly place. Here’s dink on the beautiful beach.

The rest of the day we spent by one of the pools, relaxing in the jacuzzi, had some lunch and then made our way back down to the beach and to the rustic (but oh so powerful) showers at the Sand Bar before walking onto the large jetty for sundowners at the Sunset bar. We enjoyed a couple of cold ones before returning to Morphie for dinner just as it was getting dark.

Wednesday we were up really early and by 7am we were dragging dink all the way up the beach to lock him to a fallen log as we were going to be out all day so wanted to make sure he stayed safe above the high water mark.

We then walked the planked boardwalk to the resort, picked up pool towels, and headed to the ‘Village store’ where we picked up some breakfast and coffee whilst we waited for the bus. The tour bus driver/guide turned up on time at 7.50 am and we climbed on board this brand new vehicle which has been specifically designed for the terrain here on Fraser Island. We were lucky that this tour was only about 30% full so it felt quite personal.

As we drove out of the resort we quickly ended up on sand roads which were fun / interesting / scary all at the same time with the first part being called the ‘rollercoaster’ as we headed across the island to the west coast. Fraser Island’s traditional name is K’gari and is the land of the Butchulla people. It is 76 miles long and 14 miles wide and is considered to be the largest sand island in the world at 710 square miles. It became a World Heritage listed site in 1992 as it is pretty unique with rainforests, woodland, mangrove forests, peat swamps, sand dunes and coastal heaths. The sand has been accumulating here for approximately 750k years on volcanic bedrock and the island has some unique geographic features such as fresh water barrage dune lakes which are formed by sandblows damming a natural watercourse and, in terms of quality, this region has the freshest naturally running water in the world. There are all types of critters living here and the majority of them are very dangerous such as great white sharks, salt water crocodiles, wild dingos, brown snakes and huge monitor lizards. And that’s without the spiders LOL. They call this the most dangerous island in Australia!

As we drove across the island towards the west coast we saw evidence of the huge forest fires that had wreaked havoc when the whole island had had to be evacuated for two weeks and despite lots of manpower and machinery the fire was only put out eventually by heavy rainfull. But there were signs of some new shoots of growth admist the blackened tree stumps although the guide thought it would probably take a decade to fully recover. As we drove along we stopped for our first glimpses of a sandblow which is where strong onshore winds erode and transport sand inland. Weak points in the shoreline dunes develop into ‘blow outs’ where sand is blown inland from the coast spreading grain by grain engulfing vegetation in its path. The power of nature is just so awe inspiring at times…..

We arrived on 70 mile beach and it was completely amazing with huge breakers coming into shore. This beach is navigable by 4WD vehicles and there were plenty of ‘wild campers’ around as we drove along.

Then we suddenly came across a small aircraft sitting on the sand – this is one of only two places in the world where you can take off and land on the beach (the other being on Barra, Scotland).

Jerrod (our tour guide and driver) was happy for us to take some time out to do the scenic 15 minute flight and to pick us further down the beach afterwards so we quickly put our hands up and climbed on for the most amazing trip with Rafe, the English pilot. Wow what a fantastic thing to do. We were just blown away by this trip. Photos don’t do it justice but it gives you an idea of what a special place Fraser Island is.

Landing back on the beach, while some more of our fellow tourists climbed on for their plane ride, we went off to check out Wadi creek and, as we took a detour from the beach to avoid some large rock outcrops, we spotted a wild dingo sunning himself on a slope. Wow, just wow!

Arriving at Wadi Creek we did have a paddle in the cold water and enjoyed watching the families floating down in the current in their inflatables (including bizarrely a cactus) towards the beach….and then walked the boardwalk back to do it all again.

At this point the plane landed again and with our full complement back on board we continued on the beach drive to the wreck of the SS Maheno which had an interesting history of being a 122m luxury liner on its launch in 1905 plying its trade between New Zealand and Australia (at an impressive 18 knots) before being pressed into hospital duties in 1915 playing a major role by picking up Anzac troups from Gallipoli and transporting them to Malta. Eventually it was decommissioned in 1935 and was being towed along the coast of Queensland when a major storm came up and, as the ship had no means of independent propulsion at the time, it was wrecked on the beach when the tow rope snapped. What a sad end to a mighty ship….

After visiting the wreck we continued driving on the beach and then stopped off at some coloured sand mounds before finally arriving at the Eurong resort where we had a pre-organised lunch. Afterwards we had a quick coffee and bun at the bakery for our desert before rejoining the bus and our fellow tourists. Then another quick trip along 70 mile beach before we started travelling back inland. Oh yes and no swimming is recommended on this side of the island with its strong currents, rip tides and vast numbers of sharks and there have been shark attacks in the area resulting in fatalities.

After lunch we started travelling back inland and the next stop was to the majestic freshwater Lake Mackenzie (which we had glimpsed from the plane) where we braved the elements and had a bob in the water. Was very refreshing and very different because this lake water is so pure there is virtually no buoyancy offered by the water.

Moving on we headed into the rainforest and did a walk around the boardwalk through the forest which was eerily quiet. There was a small creek running through but even this water was silent. Was really interesting and we were pleased to note that the Queen was involved in recognising the conservation of this ancient land. Back at the bus we were treated to tea and cakes before climbing onto the bus for the final time and returning to the resort.

Back at Kingfisher we walked back down to the beach and had sundowners before we returned to Morphie having had such a special day. Pretty shattered we had an early night.

Thursday we enjoyed the resort again spending time at the pool and in the jacuzzi. We stayed a bit longer than planned and, when we got back to the beach, we found that dink was actually floating on his anchor as the tide had come in, so Richard was brave and went for a paddle not realising that he would have to swim the last bit trying not to think about sharks, although to be honest, they are not present in huge numbers on the sandy straights side of the island and it is considered safe to swim here. He then clambered in and drove dink back to the beach to collect me. My hero! Suffice to say once we were back on board safely we didn’t venture out again, instead having a quiet night in enjoying, once again, a beautiful night sky.

Friday morning we were up at 4am and left the anchorage in light airs. We motored for a little while in the dark just to get through a couple of skinny passages and sand/mud banks until eventually we were on our rhumb line to go all the way to Bundaberg Port Marina.

The sea was calm and the wind was fickle with spells of light airs of 8-9 knots and other times we were seeing 23 knots. Was a pretty cloudy and chilly day. But we were on a beam reach and we both thoroughly enjoyed our sail. It felt really good to be out there remembering our first time through this area with the wild fires raging around us in November 2019

We had been allocated a berth (Grey 2) in the marina and so, as we turned head to wind into the leading channel into the river, we furled the main and the genoa and motored in. At this point the wind died too which was helpful although we were getting a lift from the incoming tide. We phoned the marina to ask for assistance on the dock to be told there wasn’t anyone available but, luckily, Sharon and Chris (SV Watusi) were still in the marina so we phoned them and they agreed to be our line handlers. Phew!

We turned to port into the fairway between the Grey and Purple docks with the wind (at around 10 knots) on our starboard beam and the tide on our port beam so Richard reduced speed and kept us to the port side of the channel to ensure we could make the turn into our slip which was virtually at the end without being pushed over too far towards it as there was little turning room beyond our allocated berth.

Then it all went pear shaped! A strong gust of wind came out of nowhere and we were pushed sideways towards Purple dock. In Australia most marinas ensure that boats fit perfectly well within their pens so if this happens (which is not an uncommon occurrence in a river marina with strong tides) you come to rest on the pilings and avoid damaging other boats. Well, Bundaberg are not actually doing this and, of course, at the moment the wind blew us sideways towards the dock it was alongside a huge 21m Galeon which was overhanging his 18m berth by quite a way. We took a picture later – check out how far this guy sticks out into the fairway.

Richard was powerless to do anything and the next thing we know we are heading towards this boat’s bow and his huge stainless steel anchor. There was no chance of avoiding the impact as it happened so quickly and so unexpectedly and, before we knew it, we were pinned. The stainless steel bimini frame took the brunt of the anchor coming into our cockpit and so it snapped and bent in places. Our canvas looked like it had been ripped as it was hanging down and our new cockpit lights were broken. Our bow was resting on the front of another motor boat and the owner was holding us off with a broom but we were pinned for a while.

Eventually there was a lull in the wind and Richard was able to physically extricate us and we finally went into our berth without any difficulty. Sharon and Chris had watched the whole thing and were as shocked as we were by what had just happened. They saw that we were going along just fine until we literally went sideways as the wind caught us. It was clearly sickening to watch and hear the noise as our bimini steel was ripped apart on the port side by this monster anchor. After that ordeal we were so grateful they were there to help us!

By the time we were safely secured, the captain of the large motor yacht had come over to give us his details and we said that we would be over once we had checked into the marina office. We then went over to the two boats involved to take photos of the damage and share our insurance and contact details. The motor yacht’s anchor roller was bent out of shape and a few gel coat marks but, thankfully, they were still able to deploy the anchor. So that was a big relief.

The other motor yacht had a small scratch at the top of his bow (along with numerous earlier ones) and the guy was very relaxed about it, so we don’t expect a claim from him.

After exchanging contact details we headed out to see some trades and found one guy who was happy to come along on Monday to give us a quote for the repairs. Looks like we’ll be staying in Bundaberg a little longer than we had planned….sigh….. Here is a picture of poor Morphie and her bimini frame damage. We both feel so sad. But, as Richard said, we got off lightly really as we could easily have lost our shrouds and mast if we had been pinned in a slightly different position. And, of course, a few feet back and it would have been our solar panels and our electronics at risk too. We think that there is a possibility that the damage to the two-inch arch stainless steel arm may not be repairable but it has not affected the strength of the structure so we’ll have a good go at polishing it out and see what it looks like then.

And if you want a reminder of what it is supposed to look like from the cockpit, here is a picture of the starboard side of the frame.

After all that excitement – and still feeling quite shocked by it all – we headed to the Cruisers Cove for the Friday night BBQ and enjoyed spending time with Sharon and Chris. Back on board for the night but neither of us slept much….

Saturday morning and we started the day off properly by having a great breakfast in the marina cafe.

Returning to Morphie we started the insurance claim process. We filled in the interactive online claim form and then started producing all the documents (including embedded pictures and sketches) to go along with it in response to their questions. Eventually five documents had been created and saved. They just needed to be sent to the right people. So we started emailing and got ‘undeliverable’ messages from the claims team at our insurance company. Hmmm…..not good! So I did a bit more research and found an SOS email address that could be used out of hours – well it was the middle of the night in the UK – so tried that instead. The first email went through with an attachment but, after that, all the other documents were rejected as too large by our internet provider. So we started cutting them up and saving them into smaller chunks and even compressed the files, but again they refused to send.

So by now we were losing patience but didn’t resort to extreme measures…although certainly felt like it a few times….

We decided, eventually, to get round the email sizing issue by uploading the documents to the cloud – which took hours with our slow internet speed. We then gave appropriate read-only access to the SOS email and sent the link to them. Feeling very relieved until this bounced back too! So I decided to send an email to our main contact at the company – the guy who had sold us the policy – asking him to pass it on to the appropriate team. Well, he did, and finally I got an email from the claims guy who said that a new IT system had meant that the original (published) emails were no longer working. Thanks for that, seriously?!?! Oh yes and his system wouldn’t accept my microsoft cloud provider either so could we please send them via WeTransfer instead. Great, yes we’ll do that, but of course by now it was late and we had just had enough. We were invited out to dinner with Sharon, Chris and their friends but decided not to go as we would definitely not have been good company. We both felt a bit sick actually with the stress of it all. So we just called it a day and went to bed.

Sunday morning and we couldn’t sleep worried about these documents needing to get into the right hands asap. So got up around 6am and started uploading the files again to their preferred system. This wasn’t a quick job either but finally I managed to get them to upload completely. Then I was provided with a link to access them so sent this through to the insurance company. So hopefully that is done for now.

Afterwards we did a few other online chores before heading to the laundry. We sat outside in the sun chatting to some day trippers who had come to the marina for fish and chips while we waited for the laundry to finish. Finally, all done, we headed back to Morphie but had to make a detour via the fish and chip shop as we had watched everyone munching for the last few hours and we were hungry LOL. They were absolutely delicious!

Richard then tidied up the boat, did a few jobs like filling up the water tank and washed the salt off Morphie while I started blogging. As the internet was so slow uploading photos eventually I gave up and put it off for another day. Oh yes and there is a cold snap coming and some areas of Queensland even had frost overnight – shocking or what LOL?!?

This morning, Monday, and Richard has started to dismantle the damaged steel pieces and has found that the joining bracket which have been torn apart (which are from the US) are probably not available in Australia. But the guy we have found is confident he can help us (on the basis of seeing some photos we sent him over the weekend) and he has just visited us and can fabricate new ones so that’s good news. The quote will be coming later tonight and we can then take this forward. There is not a great variety of trades here in Bundaberg so we hope that the insurance company will accept this on the basis of one quote only.

Anyway that’s our news. Oh yes, something to ponder. There is a sailing superstition about heading out to sea on a Friday and, yes, we did break this rule and sail to Bundaberg on a Friday. So guess we’ll be more superstitious in future! Don’t know how long we will be here for but it will take as long as it takes. Probably just as well we are not on a schedule right now….

Bye for now folks. Sending lots of love and hugs to you all.

Jan

Sunday afternoon (22 May) we headed into the Surf Club to listen to the live music. It was very busy and loud with not much notice being taken of the two musicians set up in a corner (who were average at best). So a tad disappointing but it was nice to be out and about again. During the afternoon the lifeguards (which rely on charitable donations here in Australia) did a raffle – so I entered – and won the first prize out of a $50 gift voucher to be spent in the Club. Woo hoo!

We decided that we really didn’t want to spend it there and then as we were about ready to head back to Morphie, so checked the expiry date (12 months) and decided that we’ll just have to return to Mooloolaba on our way back south to have dinner on them then! On our way back to the marina we sat for a little while watching these really interesting cloud formations.

Monday morning around 7am and Richard headed out to find Alex the marina’s recommended guy to have a look at our outboard. He was just opening up and came down the dock straight away. With a few pulls and a bit of a spray he was confident that it was a carburettor problem and took it away with him for a ‘sonic’ clean. It was a relief that we were able to get someone to look at it so quickly with a promise of being fixed by the end of the day.

In the meantime we were getting ready to leave Mooloolaba so we used the dinghy to go round and wash the salt and river grime off Morphie’s hull. Then we filled up the tanks with water. I then headed into Mooloolaba and managed to get some cash out; some last minute fresh provisions; topped up our GoCards (for bus journeys in Queensland) and put on the lottery. Richard in the meantime headed to the fisherman’s wharf and purchased some diesel and unleaded petrol. He decanted the diesel straight from the cans into the fuel tank and we were now half full, so enough to keep us going for a while. Later in the afternoon Alex was back, the carb was reinstalled, and everything worked! OMG what a relief. Apparently the problem relates to ethanol in the petrol which our two stroke was not designed to deal with. So lesson learnt that we need to check the ethanol content when purchasing unleaded petrol in future. We also found out that the valve in the outboard petrol can was leaking slightly so rain water had gotten into the fuel. A bit of gaffer tape fixed that problem LOL.

We then had a quiet night in as we intended to be heading out first thing in the morning. Tuesday morning we were up early and slipped away at 6am to go out at slack high tide across the bar into the river watching the trawlers returning as we passed them in the river.

The weather report had included a swell warning about coastal bars but the height forecast was manageable so we decided to go knowing that we could always abort and turn around in the river if they were worse than forecast on the day. As we approached the bar there were swells breaking across the entrance and it was pretty feisty conditions but Richard pushed on. He gunned the engine and drove us through managing to avoid the swells pretty well. We weren’t the only people out there as a number of catamarans followed us out and all thankfully made it through safely although it certainly wasn’t pretty!

Our destination was Double Island Point where we planned to stage until the conditions allowed us to cross the Wide Bay Bar to get inside Fraser Island. Well the conditions on this passage were miserable with lumpy big seas and we sailed downwind under genoa alone.

We certainly got a lift from the swells with our speed surfing up to 9 knots at times. At one point there was a huge crash and the sound of glass breaking – we both just looked at each other – and Richard headed out onto the deck to see what had broken. Well, it turns out, that our radar reflector had broken away from the shrouds and had fallen and smashed onto the coach roof. Thankfully there was no damage to the gelcoat and it wasn’t anything more sinister!

As we came around the headland into the bay we were joined by the biggest wave we had ever seen – it was at least 20 feet high and the white surf was blowing off the top as it built and built towards the beach. We had never seen anything quite like this before and the picture certainly doesn’t do it justice!

Luckily we were able to stay out of its way and got a good anchor set in sand at around 3pm having travelled 52.5 miles. The anchorage wasn’t absolutely calm as it surged a bit but we felt pretty secure. Once we were settled we contacted the Coast Guard to let them know of our safe arrival and spoke to them about the possibility of crossing the Wide Bay Bar on Wednesday morning. They said it was very unlikely as the swells were refusing to lay down and were actually increasing with the conditions being much worse than the forecasts so they recommended that we contact them again in the morning for an update. As this is a dynamic sand bar they did, however, send us through the waypoints for the crossing (which actually weren’t that much different from when we crossed the bar outbound late 2019). So we put these into the plotter ready to go whenever that may be.

We had a quiet night on board, having been treated to a beautiful moon before heading to bed really early after the excitement of the day.

Wednesday morning and we awoke to see the sunrise.

We checked the wave buoy at the Wide Bay Bar online and found that the surf was still too high for a crossing in our opinion. So we phoned the Coast Guard at 6am and they confirmed that conditions were definitely iffy so we would wait another day. Oh well, never mind, chance to turn over and go back to sleep LOL. We lazed around all day just reading and chilling.

During the day we picked up the news that our friends on SV Begonia – Kyle and Maryanne – had had serious difficulties at the Tweed Heads bar. The YouTube video footage we saw later was absolutely hellish and we are just so very grateful that they were able to get back to safety unharmed despite some damage to their boat. Very sobering viewing and we just wish that arm chair sailors would hold off on their online criticism whilst this couple recover from this dramatic event and before the whole story is known. These guys are very experienced sailors and the initial report suggests that they lost power due to being propped by some rope in the water which resulted in them losing both power and steerage putting them at the mercy of the waves. Despite this they managed to navigate their vessel to the entrance of the river where they dropped their anchor and were then helped by the authorities.

In the evening we sat on the coach roof (suitably togged up in hoodies and joggers) to watch the lunar eclipse. It was a bit disappointing as the bright red moon wasn’t bright red at all but kind of deep cherry. But the night sky was amazing and we even saw two shooting stars so made a couple of wishes. Fantastic sight and so glad we sat up to watch it. Retiring to bed we were disappointed that the surf was up again so the anchorage wasn’t as comfortable as before.

Thursday morning, once again, we checked the conditions and there was a mass exodus of boats heading to the bar so we contacted Chris on the boat behind us (SV Watusi) and confirmed that we were going to head over there to take a look and would make a judgement once we had spoken to the Coast Guard and had eyeballed the situation. Chris and Sharon had been at Double Island Point for six days waiting for a window and had never crossed before so we were more than happy to lead the way for them. So we picked up anchor – as the moon set and the sun rose – and headed the 10 miles to the first waypoint having confirmed with the Coast Guard that it was doable. It was just a beautiful start to the day.

We were overtaken by a few catamarans at this point and reached our first waypoint. The waves were breaking around us as we headed to the next waypoint and we realised that, actually, the next waypoint was in the boiling surf and so Richard cut the corner to avoid this and Chris followed our routing.

By now we were surfing down and along waves towards our next waypoint and this catamaran (SV Asif) came alongside and sat way too close. We were not impressed, all we needed was for a wave to pick either of us up in the wrong direction and we could potentially have collided. But we were at full speed and didn’t want to back off in these conditions. He was the ‘overtaking’ boat so should have kept clear. I took a photo of him just to make sure I had his boat details and he had the gall to wave back as though we were the best of friends. You just can’t fix stupid….

Here’s a copy of our plotter – the outbound track follows the Coast Guard waypoints but the new inbound track definitely cuts the corner. Thankfully we managed to see no less than 11 feet below our keel.

We finally made it to the river mouth and I spoke to Sharon on Watusi on the phone. We were heading to Tin Can Bay which we know is a nice anchorage and they followed us in. We were settled by 9.45 am having covered almost 21 miles. We celebrated our safe arrival by having sausage sandwiches for breakfast – naughty but nice! We then tidied up, cleaned the salt off Morphie, relaxed a bit and then made ourselves presentable for sundowners. Chris and Sharon joined us later that afternoon for a few celebratory drinks and we had a lovely evening together.

Friday morning we had a leisurely start and waved goodbye to Chris and Sharon as they headed out as they need to get to Bundaberg to fix a few issues with their boat.

There is some inclement weather due over the weekend so we have decided to stay put for a few days and will move on after this has passed. The forecast is for 4-5 metre swells offshore again so don’t think there will be any boats crossing the bar towards us anytime soon. We want to spend some time in Kingfisher Resort (which is yacht friendly apparently) and really would like to explore Fraser Island so we are just waiting for a few nice settled days before we head up through the Sandy Straits to get there.

Later on we went ashore for petrol. We headed to the Tin Can Bay Marina and the outboard was spluttering away and then died although thankfully we made it to the dock first. We filled up our cans with petrol and then moved dink away from the main part of the fuel dock so Richard could start pulling it apart and checking it out again. You can only imagine the language….sigh…. Whilst we were debating what to do (especially as it was a very long row back to Morphie) this guy working on a neighbouring boat came over to see us. He explained that he had previously owned an outboard repair shop and recognised that this was a fuel issue from the way it was responding. We explained what had happened in Mooloolaba and he knew straight away that Alex probably hadn’t reset the engine properly after reinstalling the cleaned carburettor. So this guy talked Richard through changing the air mixture and how to reset the idle as well and, would you believe it, the outboard started and just purred!!! Thankfully we have learnt a few things too. Talk about lucky that this guy was around and he gave his time freely and without charge. We were very very grateful.

Feeling much more confident that we could get back to Morphie, we left dink tied to the dock and walked to the IGA supermarket for some provisions. We then stopped for coffee and a scone in the local bistro Mother Cluckers which had some interesting art work dotted around. Was really lovely.

We then walked back to the marina to pick up dink and headed back out down Snappers Creek – with a very happy dinghy captain – towards the anchorage checking out the prawn fishing fleet along the way. Do you think one of these might be owned by a Londoner?!?

When we got to the river we found that the tide had gone out quite a long way which we hadn’t anticipated due to the delay in sorting out the outboard so we had to go very gingerly along to stop the outboard from hitting the sandy / mud bottom. We made it back and it was clear that Morphie was enjoying herself being back at anchor once again.

Back on board we stowed our goodies and had a lazy afternoon. As the sun wasn’t particularly strong and the wind was light we had to run our generator to top up the batteries in the evening before staying down below for dinner and another new Netflix series.

This morning, Saturday, and we had planned to go ashore (having checked the tide times LOL) but the wind had picked up and is howling through the anchorage which would mean a very wet dinghy ride back in the chop. Although the sun is out the wind has chilled the temperature right down so it only feels like 14 degrees C right now so we are wrapped up warm down below and I don’t think we’ll venture anywhere today after all.

Still watching the news from home and, again, it looks like there might be some doubt over the lifting of restrictions in June. So much uncertainty about organising events and we hope that this is all sorted out sooner rather than later especially in time for my friend Carolyn’s significant birthday celebrations! Missing you all and, this week, am sending an Australian kiss to make you smile. Take care of each other.

Bye for now, Jan

Sunday afternoon (16th May) we headed to The Galley and met up with Sandra and Nigel. After a delicious lunch we headed back to Morphie for a few more drinks and lots of laughs onboard. In fact we were having so much fun we forgot to take photos LOL. We said our farewells and promised to be in touch when we return to this neck of the woods later in the year.

Monday morning we went to the office to report the missing courtesy car key. They have a spare but it is not going to be inexpensive as this was an electronic key that opens / locks / alarms the car. Oh well, nothing we can do, as we really couldn’t find it and had turned the boat inside out looking. We settled our final Boatworks marina bill (or at least until they charge us for the replacement key) and headed into The Galley for breakfast bumping into Ernest on the way. We invited him to join us for breakfast and we enjoyed catching up with him – it certainly made a change from sitting around on broken chairs in the boatyard LOL. Very naughtily he paid for our breakfast despite our arguments and just wouldn’t take no for an answer. So thank you again, Ernest, much appreciated and see you out on the water some day soon.

Around 11am we slipped away from The Boatworks and headed down the river. The conditions were pretty calm and, when we arrived at Tipplers, we decided that we could continue up towards The Huts anchorage inside Canaipa Passage. Was a lovely day out on the water and we enjoyed watching the birds resting on the sand banks which uncover at low tide; the ‘jellyfish’ clouds; the wallaby on the beach; and wondered what the story was behind the latest sunken boat. We couldn’t go any further than this anchorage because of the shallow spots and the falling tide so we enjoyed a lovely serene evening on anchor with no other boats around us.

Tuesday morning we had to wait for the tide before we could leave so around 10am we picked up anchor and started up the river system. It was pretty skinny in places (often with less than 2 feet below the keel) but we made it through OK although we did have to do some sharp manoeuvring to avoid a complete idiot in a motorboat in the narrow channel. He was going at least 10-12 knots and clearly didn’t know that you are supposed to pass port to port in a channel. Basic stuff! In fact, with the shallow water to one side and him bearing down on us so fast, we actually had to turn to port to get out of his way and stay safe. If we had gone to starboard he definitely would have t-boned us and we would probably have run aground. We shouted and swore at him but he just carried on regardless. Was a bit of a dodgy moment!

Trying to get our hearts back to their normal pace we continued slowly through and out of Canaipa Passage into Moreton Bay. At this point we were on a downwind run so we got the genoa out and sailed all the way to The Sandhills anchorage on Moreton Island including executing a few jibes. Was a really good run and we both enjoyed it.

As the anchorage was relatively empty we decided to chuck out a lot of chain (as we had some rusty spots) and was glad we had done so when the wind picked up which meant the wind generator earnt his keep topping up the batteries. We enjoyed a great sunset and retired down below. Annoyingly the wind then switched due south which meant that we had very little protection from the fetch so we had a bit of a disturbed night as we nodded up and down.

Wednesday morning we were up early and had weighed anchor by 6.40 am. It was cloudy and raining with limited visibility but the wind was about 15 knots sustained with higher gusts and we enjoyed sailing just outside but parallel with the shipping channels through the top of Moreton Bay and into the ocean. It was freezing though! We were not far offshore but the sea state became quite swelly and as we were running downwind it was a bit wet and feisty with us reaching speeds up to 8 knots surfing down the waves at the northern entrance of Bribie Island. Although not at any risk both of us felt uncomfortable with the constant side to side movement. There was quite a lot of big ship movement out there too which, luckily, were nowhere near when we had to cross the shipping channels although I did change course at one point for a big tug boat.

Eventually we rounded the headland to go into Mooloolaba. This is a river entrance between two walls and can offer some shallow and challenging conditions. So we headed into the bay and got our fenders and lines ready (having already made a reservation in the marina whilst underway) and started our entrance lining up with the leading lights and made it through at slack high tide (and avoiding the dredger that was working in the entrance). So we were very pleased to have completed this 45 mile trip and be tied to our slip by 2pm,

Yes another marina…. The proposed next leg after Mooloolaba involves going through the Wide Bay Bar which needs settled conditions as it can be very tricky and we need to sit out the current strong winds and swells for a while. We really enjoyed our land trip here so decided this was as good a spot as any to wait it out….

Having checked into the marina we had showers and headed over to Pier 33 for a couple of beers to celebrate our arrival.

Then back on board for dinner and a Netflix evening. Oh yes and I spotted that our tracker had not followed us on our passage which really annoyed me. I had not changed any settings from the previous day when it had worked perfectly well, so ‘pinged’ our GPS coordinates so that, although it just shows a straight line from ‘a’ to ‘b’ at least it actually is showing our current location. I think I have fixed this now so fingers crossed for the next passage – looks like another problem caused by an update to the app.

Thursday morning it was a lovely calm day and we had a late start. Richard fixed the bow wash down pump as it had come adrift the previous morning. We then headed to the fresh seafood markets to purchase some fresh fish – this is stocked from the trawlers which come into port directly behind the market. They had a great selection so we stocked up with about eight meals worth.

We returned to Morphie and put the fish in the freezer before then walking into Mooloolaba via the waterfront and the Wharf. We spotted the bus stop and decided to head to the nearest shopping mall to get the rest of the things that still remained on the shopping list. We got off the bus at Kawana and managed to get everything on our list and even avoided the very busy food court LOL.

On the way back to Morphie we had a couple of drinks in the pub on the Wharf before having a quiet night on board.

Friday morning we had another leisurely start. It remained sunny (despite the forecast for rain) but the wind had picked up and we were creaking on the dock. The conditions were currently looking favourable for a Wide Bay Bar crossing on Thursday so fingers crossed. In the meantime we are going to enjoy being based in a different location. We then did a few jobs like the laundry; fixing Richard’s flip flops; fixing my Gill jacket; and eventually we were lured out of the boat to the fish market again for a takeaway of fish and chips and the battered red band snapper was absolutely delicious. We then had a quiet night on board.

Saturday morning we were going on a fuel run – there is no fuel dock here in Mooloolaba – but there is a floating one for small boats up one of the canals. So we got some cans off the rail and left the dock and as we meandered up the river the outboard conked out.

We couldn’t believe it. It is only months since we had had this serviced and repaired along with a large bill – so really not happy! We rowed back (thankfully wind assisted) and tied up to the back of Morphie. Richard spent most of the day trying to work it out. He changed the spark plugs; changed the fuel lines and connectors; cleaned the carburettor; and even changed the fuel. But it just won’t work. So after a very wasteful day we gave up and returned dink to the davits and we’ll see if we can find a mechanic on Monday. Damn….

We then walked back into town and joined the Surf Club as members. We enjoyed sitting outside (wrapped up warm) watching the sun going down. We were surprised that there were people in the sea as it was freezing cold! Eventually we were driven back indoors by the cold and had some dinner before returning back to Morphie.

Today, Sunday, and I’m blogging while Richard is reading. We had a list of jobs to do today but, of course, it’s raining and thunderstorms are forecast for later. There is live music at the Surf Club this afternoon so we might go and spend a few hours there enjoying the entertainment.

Still keeping a watchful eye on you all at home and hope that you are enjoying the easing of the restrictions. Nothing new to report here about international borders so we remain uncertain about what is going to happen next – but we have decided to park it until we return from this trip north, looking for some fun in the sun, before we have to run back south for cyclone season. Today you can have a virtual hug from me….

Bye for now, Jan

Friday afternoon (7th May) Richard had his telephone consultation with the hospital consultant. They confirmed that not much had changed and, although there remained some damage to his heart muscle, he was doing well and was able to tolerate the drug regime. And, the best news of all, was that they don’t want to see him again for another year! Woo hoo, we can go sailing, finally….

Later in the evening we headed to the works yard and was treated to a beautiful red sky en route. We had sundowners with Ernest and other tired cruisers taking time out from working on their boats. Was a nice social evening.

Saturday morning, I headed out to get the car cleaned while Richard stayed behind and the new genoa tracks were installed. So another job off the list.

We then drove off at noon (in two cars) heading towards Manly pick up Steve and Jo. The roads were absolutely rammed and we crawled in traffic much of the way north. When we got there, sadly, Jo was feeling poorly after having her first Covid jab so we headed out to lunch with Steve at the Moreton Bay Trailer Boat Club. This place has a great Fijian Indian chef so we couldn’t not have the curry of the day LOL.

We dropped off Steve and Jo’s car and thanked them again for their kindness in lending it to us. We are both sailing north in the coming weeks so we hope to catch up with them in a few anchorages along the way. Having said our sad farewells we then returned to the Boatworks in the courtesy car we had borrowed for the weekend.

Sunday morning and I was up and out early to do some shopping while Richard stayed behind to give the boat a good tidy up down below. We then got ourselves ready to receive guests – Andrew and Lynne from SV Mischief – who are on the dock behind us. We had a fun evening and it felt really good to have a social weekend again after all the hard work of the last couple of weeks.

Monday morning and boat jobs started again. I used a compound to ‘cut’ the gelcoat on the topsides and used the polishing machine to get the best finish. Phew was pretty hard work in the heat of the day. Richard stayed below and washed down the gelcoat with water and vinegar to stop any mould from forming. He then moved on to oiling all the teak cabinetry and finished off with the hoovering.

Afterwards we got ourselves cleaned up and while Richard was off having a shower I relaxed on one of the sofas only to get splattered in bird poop through the open cabin hatch. How the hell this damn bird sitting on top of the mast could get it through the hole without hitting the boom is beyond me LOL. So my idea of relaxing went out of the window as I had to clean it all up before Richard got back. After that was done I headed up top and the bird was back – I could have sworn he was laughing at me – so I shook the rigging to get him to leave and he did, but only after sending another large deposit onto the deck. So more cleaning to do……sigh….

Later on we headed over to see how Ernest was getting on with his jobs and he had now antifouled his boat Crossbones and she was looking very smart with her new name decal too.

Tuesday it was time to wax and polish the topsides so we both worked together doing that. Afterwards Richard started to put the boat back together – lots of little jobs like putting the boards back on the rail in readiness for the fuel cans to be reinstalled; running the lines back to the cockpit; putting the blocks onto the new genoa track etc. I kept busy washing down the two dodgers and the ‘infill’ sunbrella canvas from our bimini on the dock. Once they were scrubbed and dried I started to re-waterproof them but ran out of products half way through. Never mind, we managed to get a last-minute courtesy car overnight, so headed out to buy some more and also did some provisioning while we were out. Oh yes and during the day we chased down to the gelcoat man yet again as he still hadn’t finished the job on the stern, although, thankfully it is watertight. Not impressed at all! Back on board we had an early night.

Wednesday morning and I was a bit sad because it had been three years since I had lost Mum. Really can’t believe that she has been gone for so long and I still miss her so much everyday. I carry a photo of her in my purse so I had a little chat and sent her a kiss. Love you Mum.

We then spent a few hours in the cruisers’ lounge downloading some more Netflix content making the most of the time whilst the laundry is going around in the tub. All done we returned to Morphie and Richard got on with more jobs like reinstalling the lifebuoy on the rail and ‘burped’ the dripless stuffing gland which means letting water run through it to avoid any air locks. This is a simple job but, of course, not in an easy location being buried in the bilges beneath the aft cabin berth so the ‘garage’ had to be emptied to give access to the locker.

Finally getting to the end of our lists so we had sundowners again with Ernest and other cruisers in the works yard and was treated to a huge thunderstorm so we all ended up sheltering in an old shipping container LOL. Thankfully the storm circled us rather than a direct hit on the river so we didn’t get any hailstones this time. All very dramatic though…

Thursday we concentrated on the sofa cushions and took them all into the cockpit where we cleaned them (with a new product we had found), then finished off with some leather wax and then buffed them. They certainly look a whole lot better for getting some care and attention. And that was it for the day.

Friday we started on the cockpit and cut, waxed and polished the gelcoat. The gelcoat man had still not turned up and Richard went out to see the guys to complain – well that didn’t work, so we decided to accept defeat. The damage isn’t bad, it is sealed, and we will need to get other gelcoat things done anyway at the next haul out. The driver of the boat that hit us – a salesman for one of the local powerboat companies – has been great throughout all this and was as fed up as us about it. As some compensation he gave us some company rash shirts…. The stupidity of the guy though was that he was working on another boat on the same dock. He very quickly did a runner when he realised we were still around and, if he had done the job well, we would probably have used him for more work in the future so talk about shooting himself in the foot. Marine “tradies” in Australia often have a poor reputation and this is the first personal example we have had. Most people have been great! Oh well, never mind.

At 4pm we picked up the courtesy car and headed out to Tim’s house to see how he was doing after his recent spinal surgery. He was walking surprisingly well and we shared a nice bottle of wine while we caught up. Oh yes and the kookaburra was waiting to be fed outside on the deck so I had another close encounter. They are just so beautiful and, despite their huge beaks, they are very gentle too.

We picked up a takeaway on the way home and had a quiet night in.

Saturday morning and we were up early and headed to the doctors. As we are now leaving the area we wanted to get prescriptions for our medication and also to find out how we go about this down the road. He is happy for us to do phone consultations and can send us future prescriptions via email so we are good to go!

We popped into the chemist to get a month’s supply and then did a huge supermarket provisioning run. We got back to the boat and I started unpacking the first trolley load while Richard returned to the car for the rest….well, he came back and we put everything away. Then I asked him for the car keys. And, guess what, he couldn’t find them!!! So we retraced his steps and even ended up diving in the big bins to check they had not been thrown out with the packaging rubbish. Nope…can’t find them…and, of course, because this is a courtesy car they actually had the registration printed on the tag so this makes the car vulnerable to being stolen. But we had to ‘park’ the angst as we had Tim and Naoko coming over to see the boat in the afternoon. So we prepared some food and invited them on board. We were a bit concerned about Tim climbing on and off but he managed it well and we gave him the helm seat to sit on for more stability. We had a lovely afternoon in the cockpit, in the sun enjoying being on the water with friends….

After they had left we went through all the food cupboards and did some more searching but, alas, no keys. Damn! But at least the security gates are locked at 6pm so we know the car is safe overnight. Richard has been to the security guys; the works guys; and the Galley to see if they have been handed in but no. Really don’t know where they could be….

This morning, Sunday, and I’m blogging while Richard has stripped the bed and is doing more laundry. We were both relieved to see the car still in the car park this morning. We are definitely leaving on Monday and heading north so very excited about the possibility of going sailing again, although of course the immediate forecast isn’t perfect but we are not on a schedule so who cares…. I had wanted to pop out this morning to get some last minute things – particularly some fresh fish from the trawlers and a propane refill – but having a locked car with no keys has stopped that although we have loads of food on board so definitely won’t starve LOL.

This afternoon we have a reservation in The Galley as Sandra and Nigel are coming over for lunch so we can see them again before we depart. So looking forward to another social event. Morphie is looking absolutely beautiful and it is definitely worth all the hard work, especially when we have been receiving compliments all week from the tradies working on neighbouring boats. Feel like very proud parents right now!

Well, things at home seem to have changed a bit with the highly infectious Indian Covid variant being introduced. Really don’t know why the Government didn’t ‘red list’ India sooner to avoid the inevitable transmission with returning travellers but guess we all have a PhD in hindsight in these situations. Hopefully it can be contained and more lockdowns can be avoided. Here in Australia things changed again with the announcement in the Budget that the international borders would definitely not reopen this year and maybe not until mid 2022. Although they are going to be letting boats in directly from New Zealand as part of the Tasman travel bubble this is not allowable the other way. So will we get home this year? Not sure is the honest answer…

Anyway, on a more cheery note, as you can have hugs at home again now, here is an Australian hug to make you smile.

Bye for now, Jan

Friday morning (30th April) we were up very early and got everything stowed away in preparation for the boat coming out of the water. We got a call asking if we were ready as they had an earlier slot than scheduled so we left our berth and stooged around in the river until the travel lift was in position and then headed in. The operator was not sure we would fit going in bows first but we managed to resolve it in the end by tying off the strops to ensure that the front one would not slip from the leading edge of Morphie.

We were then lifted and got off and had a coffee whilst we watched the guys jet wash the hull which was covered in slime plus a heavy covering of barnacles from the time spent in the river.

At this point the heavens opened (and, of course, our jackets were on board) so we loitered around near to where she was going to be situated and tried to keep dry.

Eventually Morphie was in position and we were able to get back on board. We tidied up and then headed out to The Galley for an early lunch whilst the rain continued to fall heavily. After lunch we washed the hull down but rain stopped play again as the heavens opened and we had thunderstorms all around us so we just had a quiet night on board.

Saturday morning it had rained heavily overnight and the forecast was for showers throughout the day so we started early at 7.30 am. We both worked on removing all the barnacle residue from the boot stripe, which was a real mess and it took us quite a long time.

Afterwards Richard concentrated on rubbing down the antifoul which, for the most part, wasn’t in too bad a condition.

I started sanding the propeller and the rudder stock.

We both then used a compound to try and restore some of the boot stripe paint – this is in pretty poor order now and so we’ll probably get this taken off and repainted in the next year or so. By 4pm we were both pretty shattered so called it a day and had an early night.

Sunday morning we had another early start and, by 9am, it had started raining so we stopped for breakfast while we waited for the showers to pass through. We then climbed into our scissor lift and cleaned the stainless steel below the rail and the rubbing strip. We then followed this up by doing an initial cutting and cleaning of the hull’s gelcoat.

Once we had finished I rested up while Richard took himself off to Bunnings for more supplies and, along the way he was stopped by the police for a random breathalyser test. Richard had had a couple of beers the night before but wasn’t concerned by this and the policeman was very happy with his ‘no alcohol recorded’ result and let him go on his way. We then had a quiet night on board once we were cleaned up although the boat looked like a bomb had hit it with tools and materials scattered everywhere in the cockpit….

Monday morning we awoke to a nice sunny day so uncovered the rail which we had protected from the rain where we have prepared the wood for the new genoa track to be installed. The rain stayed away and we walked around the hull and looked at our efforts from the day before. Well the steel was gleaming but we still detected some chalkiness in the gelcoat so decided to go around again and used a heavier duty compound. We then went around again for a final wax and polish and were both very happy with the end result!

While we were working Ernest, from the boat behind us in the yard, came by to say hello. He had recognised our boat name and we realised that we had met this Australian guy in Havana, Cuba. What a small world! So after we had finished working we got together with him and his neighbour Neil and had sundowners in the yard. And yes Ernest is not normally blue – he was enjoying his beer before his evening shower LOL. Was a fun time.

Tuesday morning we were up early again and visited the on-site chandlery to buy the Propspeed (for the propellor and the rudder stock) and some barrier paint for the antifoul before treating ourselves to breakfast in the Galley.

Afterwards I headed out to the nearby Westfield mall to pick up some items for dinner (as we have no working fridge or freezer whilst out of the water) whilst Richard started rubbing down the ablative antifoul. The areas which had deteriorated the most were then painted with a primer so we now had a spotty hull LOL.

I finished sanding the propeller then Richard reinstalled the teardrop zinc so that I could continue with the next stage which was to apply the Propspeed. This was my first attempt at using this material which had quite specific mixing instructions, so fingers crossed! I found it a bit gloopy to apply but was pleased with the end result….

Once I finished doing this Richard applied some additional underwater sealant around the rudder stock and the propeller shaft. Richard then applied the first coat of antifoul and was quite blue when he finished LOL. Because of the dire forecast overnight we covered up the rails once again to stop water ingress into the screw holes.

Wednesday morning the forecast was dire with heavy rain forecast all day from around 9am. So Richard was up at 6am and started to apply the second coat plus a third coat on the leading edges and the waterline which he got finished before the heavens opened. Great effort!

In the meantime I was out shopping on a trip to Bunnings – this time for some pre-ordered rubber gaskets for the fridge and freezer – and then to the supermarket for dinner ingredients, followed by the liquor store for more supplies, finishing up with a visit to the neighbouring Gold Coast City Marina to pick up some new marine stainless steel screws for the zincs.

I came back and Richard was still working below the boat trying to keep out of the rain. He fixed the other zinc; removed the bow thruster, which I then cleaned up; and then cleaned up the refrigeration plates and the grounding plate. All three of these plates were heavily calcified and the end result is just amazing….

Have to say that Morphie was, by now, looking absolutely beautiful after her time in the boat spa and we really pleased with the results of our efforts so far.

Thursday morning was our date to return to the water. First thing I headed to the office to pay our bill as there is a no cash, no splash, rule here. I came away with a goodie bag and Richard is very happy that we now finally have Boatworks hats LOL.

On return I waxed the boot stripe (now that the masking tape had been removed) and Richard cleaned and tidied away all the tools. We got our spare fuel cans back on board too (although not reinstated as we still have to finish waxing and polishing the topsides first). The gelcoat man came to fix our minor stern damage – which we had largely managed to polish out – and started the work but didn’t finish by the time the travel lift turned up for us to be lifted up.

We were lifted up into the straps and then Richard was able to antifoul the patches caused by the stands and underneath the hull which had been sitting on the blocks. Morphie was left hanging for a while to give us some drying time while the guys had some lunch.

After an hour or so they were back and we were moved through the yard to the slipway.

We climbed back on board, we were splashed back in, and then reversed out towards our allocated slip around the corner. The guys were there to catch our lines and we were happily in position by around 2pm.

We then got ourselves cleaned up and headed to the doctors for our flu vaccinations. Afterwards we had a wander through the mall before going to our favourite Thai restaurant for a lovely meal to celebrate the end of another week of hard, but satisfying, manual labour. And if you think we look tired, that is because we were LOL.

This morning, Friday, we were supposed to be going to the hospital for Richard’s final consultation. However, during the week they changed it to a phone consultation instead, which is fine as it means we don’t have to rush down the M1 to Southport and we can carry on getting on with things. We are currently in the Cruisers’ Lounge where I’m blogging and we’re doing the laundry at the same time. Going forward we intend to stay in the marina for one more week as we have some jobs to complete so no rest for us quite yet!

We hope you are all well and enjoying the increasing freedoms at home and perhaps even dreaming of a holiday this year!?! Stay safe everyone, sending lots of love and hugs. Today you get another indigenous cutie, this time it is a tree kangaroo that can be found in northern Queensland. Not sure what they eat but he is definitely a bit tubby LOL.

Bye for now, Jan

Thursday afternoon (22 April) we both felt a bit better after our Covid jabs so started preparing the boat for varnishing (although most of the rail didn’t actually look too bad). We washed Morphie down; ran all the lines forward; took the spare fuel cans off the rail; removed the dodgers and taped up the eyebrow. We then relaxed and took it easy with a quiet night on board.

Friday we were up early and I sanded the eyebrows whilst Richard started working on the stanchions. We had two of them where the stainless steel screws had severely corroded (with some heads sheared off) so it was obvious there had been water ingress. So he started removing the screws….

Once he had a couple out he headed to the specialist marine screw and bolt store at the neighbouring marina and purchased some new ones. I continued sanding the eyebrows while Richard, on his return, continued to remove the stanchions (with some of the broken screws needing a bit of encouragement) and then I helped him re-bed them. Phew, job done, we were happy with the end result. By now it was getting late so we called it a day at that.

Saturday and we were up early and had to dry the boat as there had been a heavy dew overnight. We wanted to sand the edges of the capping rail (both inside and outside) as this is where we get the most wear and will be the initial varnish coat. But we had to wait a while until the sun had heated up enough to dry them out completely. We then started sanding and got them finished, cleaned up the dust and wiped down. We then varnished the edges and the eyebrows and was finished by 4pm. Phew! Had been a busy day but we were pleased with progress so far. We then had a quiet Netflix night down below wrapped up warm as it is quite chilly now at night when the sun goes down – so much so that the duvet has been reinstated on the bed LOL.

Sunday morning we woke up to another heavy dew and were really upset that our varnishing had gone chalky. Damn! And to top it off the forecast had turned against us and we were looking at rain towards the end of the week so the timetable was looking a bit tight to get many layers of varnish completed successfully. We decided that, instead, we would rub down the whole rail this time rather than do another ‘edges only’ layer. But again the sun was needed to dry everything out properly before we could start and, as the cupboards were bare, we decided to go food shopping instead. We had run down our fridge and freezer in preparation for coming out of the water when the fridge and freezer will not be operational as they are keel cooled. So we took ourselves off to the Westfield Mall to find it closed! We then realised that the shops were closed because it was Anzac Day. Oops. We returned to Morphie and, by now, it was dry enough to start sanding.

We finished sanding and decided that the best way to play this, due to the very heavy dews we had been experiencing overnight, was to leave it ready for varnishing first thing in the morning which would then give it a day of sun to dry. So job done we then got ourselves cleaned up and headed out to the local tavern for some dinner.

Monday we were up very early and dried the boat off. We also had to deal with some large bird deposits as they seem to have been sitting on top of our mast pooping blueberries onto our deck! We varnished both the rail and the eyebrows and had the whole job finished by 11am so felt pretty pleased with ourselves. We then went shopping and picked up some essentials to tide us over for the week. On our return we filled up the car with diesel and made the most of a completely empty car park (as it was a Bank Holiday) and hand washed and polished the car. We then headed to do the laundry and some Netflix downloads before returning to Morphie for dinner and a movie night. This week’s film was the Trial of the Chicago 7 – based on a true story and definitely worth a watch.

Tuesday morning the weather changed on us completely, with rain forecast, so we abandoned the varnishing. The rail actually looked quite good considering so we thought we’d leave it at that for now although I did manage to sand and varnish the eyebrows once again.

Richard was trying to remove the genoa track cars as the wood around them had been heavily damaged by UV and he wanted to find out what was causing the problem.

He struggled, and struggled, and many of the screw heads were gnarly and difficult to get any hold on. Eventually he managed (with some borrowed tools) to remove them and we were really unhappy to find them completely corroded as they had clearly never been sealed properly to the rail in the first place with a total lack of any galvanic corrosion tape.

So he went off to source new ones and luckily there is a Ronstan dealer on site. I kept busy sanding down the boards that hold the fuel cans and gave them a quick coat of varnish whilst we had the materials out before then removing all the masking tape from the boat apart from the area near the genoa tracks.

As we are now purchasing new tracks we have to rub down the rail in preparation for the new installation. This is a big job as we need to get the actual track area back to the wood so that we can seal it first too. I worked sanding on the port side while Richard set to on the starboard side. As I was now finished I headed to the chandlery to pick up varnish, antifoul and wax supplies in preparation for being on the hard in the working yard as the forthcoming weekend is another Bank Holiday and the chandlery will be shut so we need to think ahead.

What a day! We were both pretty shattered by the time we settled down for the evening.

Wednesday morning I started cleaning the stainless steel while Richard reassembled the fuel can boards now that the varnish was dry; he then reinstated the anchor chain protectors; and we were able to get our dock lines put back properly onto the cleats. Richard then chopped out the soggy wood on the rail which had been under the track before replacing the hinge in the main saloon hatch which had broken a few weeks ago. Whilst we were busy we watched the clouds build as rain was scheduled for one o’clock and it actually arrived at 10 past – must be the first time the forecast was actually so accurate LOL. We had, in the meantime, covered up the affected parts of the rails in plastic to avoid any water ingress whilst this work was going on. We then got ourselves cleaned up and headed out to the doctors for our post-Covid vaccination check up. Whilst we were there he used us as guinea pigs for a GP peer review (which they do every six months in Australia apparently) so we both got a free medical thrown in LOL. We were then scheduled for our flu jabs and our second Covid jabs so feel relieved about that. On our way back from the doctors we came across a shop selling bedding at half price in a sale so was very happy to get some new 1000 thread count cotton sheets.

Back on board we had a quiet night in.

This morning, Thursday, Richard headed back to the mall to get his bloods taken. Only a precautionary test to ensure that his platelet levels hadn’t dropped too far as a result of the Covid vaccination. I carried on stainless steel cleaning. On his return he turned into a mixologist to make a epoxy mixture to fill the wood area that he had chopped away.

While we were both working I heard a squeal of brakes and a crash so sent Richard to check that Steve and Jo’s car was OK in the car park. There had been an accident between a lorry and a truck near the car park but their car was unscathed. Relieved or what?!? Anyway, Richard needed another tool from Bunnings so took himself off and I was now cutting the gelcoat on the port topsides in preparation for waxing. So here is a photo of the pre-wax finish – pretty happy with that!

I heard a bit of a commotion and realised that a motorboat had hit the bow of the boat next door and was coming backwards towards us. And yes he did glance us on the starboard edge of the transom. Damn!!! I quickly climbed over the stern and checked out the gelcoat and, of course, there was some minor damage despite the guy on the dock shouting that he didn’t see the boat actually hit us! He changed his mind when I shouted back at him LOL. Luckily the sales guy driving the boat was more honourable and, once he had finally managed to get into the berth safely, he came over to see me. He checked the (slight) damage and took our contact details. Richard came back and I told him what had happened and very soon after the owner of the company was with us inspecting the damage and he agreed to fix it for us whilst we are on the hard next week. He was very apologetic. That edge of the stern is definitely fated as this is exactly the same spot that was damaged in the Panama Canal back in 2017….

At around 3pm the heavens opened and rain stopped play. So I’m blogging while Richard is putting away all our tools and materials. He has also done an engine check in preparation for moving into the travel lift tomorrow morning for our trip to the works yard – so we will be living up the ladder for the next week continuing with our maintenance schedule.

Still watching the news at home and glad that things are going well with the fight against Covid although with the terrible news from India and the recent outbreak in Fiji it would seem that there is some way to go yet until the world can return to some sort of normality. Thinking of you all and sending lots of love and hugs wherever you may be.

Bye for now, Jan

Thursday morning (15th April) we were up early and walked down the road to the bus stop (after Jamie had dropped Budd off first at doggy day care).

We had a quick bus ride to Gosport and then joined the double-decker express train to Sydney. It actually travelled quite slowly but we were in no hurry and enjoyed the sights along the way.

On arrival into Sydney’s Central station we changed trains to Circular Quay. We then had a wander along the waterfront and towards the Sydney Opera House admiring the views of the famous Sydney bridge and the unusual sight of its flags at half-mast as a sign of respect to Prince Philip.

By now it was time to take our place at Quay 6 to board our Captain Cook’s lunch cruise.

It was very well organised and we were shown to our table promptly and gave our orders from the fixed three course menu. We had to order our drinks via an app (which is so much slower than actually talking to a server in my humble old-fashioned opinion) but eventually our drinks turned up and Hayley and I shared a really nice bottle of pink bubbles. Whilst dining we enjoyed the sights of the City as we motored along and it was a really lovely few hours. But all too quickly we were back at Quay 6 and the family had to get off so that they could return home to pick up Budd in time.

We decided, however, to stay on the boat as it was such a lovely day so we said our farewells to them. We eventually got off at Darling Harbour an hour or so later having spent the rest of the time on the top deck taking in the breeze. We enjoyed walking along the harbour front promenade here taking in the sights and sounds and tried out a couple of hostelries. We then went up to the 26th floor of the new Crown building and enjoyed lovely views across the City although not so keen on the cost of the wine!

Moving on we headed back to the boardwalk and walked through to the historic area of The Rocks before ending up back in Circular Quay and then hopped on another train to take us home. Had been a fantastic day and we were very grateful to Jamie for coming to meet us at the train station to take us the final leg home.

Friday we had already designated a rest day after a hectic week and this turned out to be great timing as it had turned a bit chilly and drizzly. In the morning Hayley and I headed out to the local supermarket for some supplies and we had decided to have a family roast that day. Later on we all headed to Erina Fair for some retail therapy for a while. On our return Hayley and I prepared and cooked all the food for a real family feast which went down a treat!

Saturday morning we awoke to another rainy day. So we changed our plans and went to the Bateau Bay 10 pin bowling alley. We had two games and I was my usual rubbish self and managed to come last in both games…. but, nevertheless, we had lots of fun.

In the evening it was takeaway and movie night so we had pizza and watched Godzilla… Not sure I would have chosen this film but, hey ho, it’s the boys’ school holidays so we were happy to go with the flow. After the boys had gone to bed we stayed up late to watch Prince Philip’s funeral – all very sad, especially seeing the Queen sitting alone due to Covid restrictions.

Sunday morning and the weather had cheered up so we headed back out to Terrigal to see the new walkway bridge which has just opened and joins The Haven and the town centre around the cliff thus avoiding the very steep hill walks. It had been really nicely done and we enjoyed sitting half way along watching the sea beneath us.

Arriving in the town we had a walk around and then headed to The Grand Pavilion – an Indian restaurant – for lunch. Well, this has to be the best Indian food we have found in Australia so far by a long way. Was very very good!

On the way back to the cars (again via the new bridge) we stopped off for some more of those fantastic donuts which we took home for tea. We left the family at this point and headed back via the car wash and the petrol station for some diesel in preparation for our trip back to Queensland in the morning. That evening we had our donuts and another nice family evening at home along with more giant doggy cuddles.

Monday morning we were up really early and, by 6.50 am, we were saying our sad farewells after getting lots of love and hugs from the family. Had been a fantastic 10 days and we had really enjoyed ourselves, just couldn’t believe it was already time to go. We promised to return for more family time later in the year before we head home to the UK, whenever that may be!

We drove for a few hours until around 9.00 am and stopped for breakfast at a cafe. We then drove until about 2.30 pm when we stopped at the Italian Historical Village (which was a bit strange to say the least) and had an average lunch at the Italian Cafe. The birds were really noisy and we wondered what was going on and then we spotted the python at the top of the post. Guess they were warning each other about the snake then?!?

Throughout the trip the roads were only busy near big towns and, largely, it was pretty quiet so we enjoyed the drive. Love the road signs in Australia too – not sure you’d get away with that one at home LOL.

We arrived back around 5pm and quickly got ourselves back onboard Morphie. We were very pleased to see her safe and sound in her slip. After such a busy time we had a leisurely evening on board before having an early night, pretty weary after the 800 km drive.

Tuesday morning we were up reasonably early and popped into The Galley for breakfast. We went into the office to pick up some post and another parcel before heading down the M1 to the Gold Coast University Hospital where Richard had an appointment in the cardiology measurements clinic for an echocardiogram. We won’t, however, find out the results until his next outpatient appointment on 7th May.

We drove back up to the Westfield Shopping Centre in Coomera and did a bit of food shopping before popping into our doctors. We were then given our first Covid vaccinations and were asked to wait for half an hour before we left to ensure no ill effects. All went well and the next one will happen in around 10-11 weeks time….. The doctor has also asked to see us again next week just to ensure our platelet levels are OK and unaffected by the vaccine. We were very lucky to find this doctor, he is just great!

Back on board we enjoyed sundowners in the cockpit before a Netflix evening and another early night.

Wednesday morning neither of us felt great which wasn’t totally unexpected. So we took it slowly although Richard did manage to install some lovely new Luci stringed solar cockpit lights….very cleverly using bra hooks to hold up the cable…. and stitching them into seams to avoid making new holes in our cockpit canvas. This installation also means we can take them down easily when we need to.

Here they are, job completed. They give off a nice warm white light and really illuminate the cockpit well. We are both very happy with the outcome and look forward to using them at anchor.

Whilst sitting in the cockpit we were chatting to one of the office girls who was searching for another free marina berth as one of the motorboats had taken an allocated one and she had a yacht coming in very soon. She told us that there had been a terrible accident in the yard with one of the guys getting injured by the boat lift which had resulted in catastrophic leg injuries. As a result he had now lost his leg below the knee. Such sobering and shocking news, we really feel for him and his family at this difficult time.

We then headed to the Boatworks laundry but found every single machine busy with lots of time left until they were finished their wash cycles. These machines are pretty slow too so, as we still had the car, we decided to go to the public laundromat in Coomera instead.

Yes we had to pay but we were back in the marina with all the laundry done in much better time than we would have been otherwise. Back on board, with us both feeling still feeling a bit rough, we decided to take the rest of the day off and were in bed by the early evening.

This morning, Thursday, we are feeling a bit better but still not ‘normal’ yet so another day of blogging for me and shopping for Richard as we go through our material supplies in preparation for the next few weeks. Our plan is to work hard on Morphie and prepare her for a cruise north (now that the cyclone season is at an end) with some general maintenance like antifouling, varnishing, waxing and polishing etc. We will stay here in the Boatworks (both in and out of the water during this period) while we wait for the results from Richard’s heart tests and we are really hopeful that this will be the final hospital sign off that we are both looking for, so that we can cast off the lines without the constant need to keep returning here on a monthly basis.

We have had a few people ask us recently when we are coming home. Well how long is a piece of string?!? Even if we could get a flight home, the transit hubs remain either closed to transit passengers or are on the UK’s ‘red’ list which would mean hotel quarantine. With Australia still closed to international passengers we would also be abandoning Morpheus with no way of returning to her…. So we’ll continue to sit tight here until there is more certainty and, hopefully, get some proper sailing in very soon!

Anyway, things appear to be returning to normal at home, and hope that the good progress made to date continues so that restrictions continue to be eased. But guess you might still need some love and hugs so here is another indigenous Australian animal picture to make you smile. This one is a bandicoot which is another small marsupial but with a difference, as it’s pouch is on it’s back so that it doesn’t get filled with dirt when the mother digs.

Jan

Monday morning (13 April) we headed out early to drive north to Port Stephens. Our destination was Irukandji Shark and Ray Encounters. Sadly Hayley had to work so it was just the five of us. We arrived around 11am and got checked in.

Jamie, Jack and Adam got changed into their wetsuits and we went through into the facility. We were given a talk about the rays and sharks in the enclosure and the boys walked into the shallow water to get up close and personal.

Richard and I walked the perimeter but we also fed some rays and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Afterwards we headed to the local tavern for lunch which was nice.

After lunch we headed over to Birubi Beach, Anna Bay, which is a lovely place with sand dunes and even camel rides. It was pretty chilly and windy but we had fun anyway finishing up with ice creams before piling back into the car for the long drive back.

Back at the house we had a quiet evening in.

On Tuesday we remained local and headed out to Terrigal to buy some doughnuts which, according to Jack, were the best ever! Well, we were sceptical, but having made our purchase and sitting on the sea wall eating them, we had to agree with him LOL. We then moved up to the Haven and the boys enjoyed playing on the rocky shore.

Back at the house it was lovely that Hayley was now on holiday with us and. for the evening, we had a mezze-style selection for dinner before turning in.

Wednesday morning we headed out in the cars to drive north again to visit Hunter Valley Zoo. It was pretty busy as we queued up to enter. We picked up bags of feed and first to check out were the koalas. One was actually awake and eating which makes a change! We then headed into the aviary where we met some very friendly (and hungry) parrots.

We then had close up encounters with goats, sheep, deer and saw lots of other species including hand feeding some kangaroos. They even had white ones here, which was the first time we had seen them.

We then took a break at one of the BBQ areas and cooked our lunch. Afterwards we headed over to see the alligators, camels, more goats and the ostriches.

Then it was on to see the white lions. We assumed that they were probably albinos but, in fact, it is a specific genetic strain from a part of Africa where the sand is whiter and they are more camouflaged because of the colour of their coat. So many animals….but our favourite had to be the baby orphaned monkey who was abandoned at birth and was currently being hand reared.

Leaving the zoo we headed back in the cars to the house and enjoyed another relaxing evening in after another great family day out.

And that’s it for now….there are lots more adventures to report in Part 3. Take care everybody, hope you are enjoying the continued easing of restrictions at home, and please stay safe. And to make you smile this week is another picture of our best friend Budd who does like to squish us on a regular occasion LOL.

Jan

Sunday afternoon (4th April) it continued raining….hard…..so we had a lazy day completed by a Netflix film called The Judge. Great movie, thoroughly enjoyed it.

Monday it rained on and off all day. We headed out for breakfast but found everywhere completely rammed with queues out of the doors so, instead, popped into the Marina Village IGA and got some crusty rolls and some fresh ham and enjoyed that instead once back on board. During the afternoon we cleaned and tidied up before welcoming Steve and Jo for dinner – we had another fun evening.

Tuesday it was raining again, hard!!! Pretty fed up we just stayed down below like hermits throughout the day and evening.

Wednesday morning and we were up pretty early and headed out for a coffee which was nice, now that the Easter crowds had gone home. We then checked out of the Marina feeling quite sad to leave, we had thoroughly enjoyed our month in Sanctuary Cove, just such a shame that the weather stopped us fully utilising the facilities!

At around 11ish we slipped away into the Coomera River for the trip north back to The Boatworks. We arrived in squally showers with strong winds but made it into the slip without any difficulty. Once we were fully secured we headed to the laundry and the cruisers’ room to do some more Netflix downloads while we waited for the machines to finish. Finally all done we headed back to Morphie to get out our cases and start packing

Thursday we were pretty busy. We had breakfast at The Galley then got busy packing for our trip to New South Wales. We then picked up our courtesy car and headed back to Sanctuary Cove to meet Steve to borrow his car. Again, so very grateful to both Steve and Jo in lending us their car, otherwise our trip would probably have been cancelled yet again as the hire car pick up was in a Queensland covid hotspot.

I then headed to Westfield for some last minute bits and bobs – including a hair cut – and met Richard back at the boat. Finally we were finished packing and had dinner in the cockpit watching the thousands of fruit bats flying somewhere to roost for the night. Amazing sight.

Friday morning we packed the car and were on the road by 6.50 am with a trip of 800kms (497 miles) ahead of us. We were going to be sharing the driving so I did the first leg and picked up lots of traffic on the M1 heading south towards Southport. Once we were clear of Southport the traffic thinned out until we reached the border with NSW where it got a bit busier again. As we hadn’t been in any Queensland hotspot regional area there were no border restrictions at all so we sailed through. And then the roads just emptied and we had very little traffic at all.

At about 9.30 am we stopped for a break and some breakfast before moving on. Some nice sights along the way and also surprised at how some people stack their cars – not sure they would get away with this in the UK!

The next stop was just after 12 to swap drivers, then again at 2.30pm by which time the traffic had picked up a bit again as we got closer to populated areas and arrived at our destination around 5pm. Was lovely to pull up and the whole family came out to welcome us.

We had a lovely evening catching up over a few cold ones and a Chinese. Fantastic to see how much the boys had grown up since the last time we had been here (November 2019) and despite being in Australia since March 2020 this was the first time there was any certainty over the interstate borders remaining open to make this trip possible. All very exciting!

Saturday morning we awoke to the very sad news about the death of Prince Philip, so we watched some of the subdued TV coverage for a while. We then went out food shopping at the huge mall at Erina Fair before returning to the house to rest. We had asked the boys to put together a list of everything they would like to do in their school holidays and we had quite an interesting selection to choose from. So Hayley and I sat down and planned the time we had together before we shared our news with Jack and Adam – they were very excited! We also caught up with Budd the dog who had grown a bit since the last time we had seen him….can’t believe he is still only a 19-month puppy. He is huge and you certainly know it when he decides to sit on you LOL! Oh yes and Velvet the cat tolerates him pretty well too…..

Later on we had a BBQ with the biggest prawns ever! This was followed by a family movie night – which was a Jurassic Park film. We didn’t stay up too late as we were still weary from the day before.

Sunday morning and we headed out to Soldiers Beach, Norah Head. Although the sun was out the wind was pretty fierce and felt quite chilly but we enjoyed sitting around watching the surf and surfers whilst walking the beach while the boys played happily in the sand dunes. There were some surfing competitions on too and loved watching the really small kids having a blast in the waves (with those in the competition being tagged by an adult). Later on we headed to the Craken cafe for fish and chips before returning home for a lazy afternoon. Great start to the trip so far…and lots more adventures to come….

Hope you are all OK at home and enjoying the easing of restrictions. Catching up with family and friends must be a great feeling now that it is possible. Although we have been living a ‘normal’ life here in Australia for the last 13 months just seeing family again after such a long time is pretty special so I can relate to how you must all be feeling. So it must be time for more Koalas to make you smile….

Jan