Year 2 – 17th April 2025 – Gladstone Marina -Guest Blog
We woke to mill pond waters as they are again this evening within the marina at 2100 as I write this blog. After I wrote last night’s blog notes for Nick, I received a very sad message from him to say his brother had passed away that morning. It did not seem right to send the photo of the day of us enjoying ourselves so reserved the photo for my own use. I did not know Nicks brother Andrew but felt an immense sense of sadness for Nick and his family.
I suggested to Paul I make a fry up for breakfast which he appreciated. I then went to the marina for a shower and to wash some shorts. By time I returned Paul had the fry up well underway, which was a lovely change to the usual cereal.
I wanted to run through the safety equipment onboard Stormbird and man overboard (MOB) procedures with Paul which proved a well worthwhile exercise for an hour or so after which we walked into town to stock up provisions onboard Stormbird. We then arranged the marina courtesy bus for the trip back with our food shopping to the marina.
We made lunch then chilled for a bit. I tried to contact Volvo to see if they had made any progress on the engine alarm, but the engineer was not available. After a bit of sunbathing which I try to do daily 😊, we then stored the dingy on Stormbirds davit system, then looked at some passage options North, but I suspected Nick already has this in his own voyage master plan. Nevertheless, it was a worthwhile exercise . I then set about cooking a grilled tuna salad which went down very well, during which Paul undertook cleaning of the stainless steel around the boat with a paste Nick brought just before he left for England 9 days ago.
It’s an Easter festival week here so Paul and I went for a nosey around the festival park this evening, arriving just as the firework display started ( see picture of the day) which was wonderful (see photo of the day). We thought about going on a few funfair rides but decided to leave it to the youngsters. I reminisced on the wretched covid experience in 2020 and commented how I now always love to see people out and about enjoying life. I am not sure if we will see Matt, our friendly adjacent boat owner, before we leave tomorrow so I wrote a small thankyou note for his friendship to him and will leave it on his boat before we depart tomorrow.
All in all, we have had a good day. I heard from Nick earlier with his travel progress and will ready the boat to head North on his arrival late tomorrow morning.
Finally, this is my last guest blog as Stormbirds skipper during Nicks absence. I have enjoyed the experience immensely even though we have not been able to sail too much. We have had some great and memorable experiences. I am grateful to Nick for entrusting me with Stormbird and very much look forward to rejoining him for the Indonesian Rally and maybe beyond in 2026 once I step off in Mackay after 5 weeks onboard on Tuesday next week.
David & Paul