Busting Rust, Washing and Big Fish

Phew! What a crazy last few days at the Keppel Bay Marina. We decided to take advantage of the calm conditions, water and electricity to power through some of the many jobs on our "to do" list. At the top of this list was eradicating rust.

Having a steel boat means that there is a constant war between evil Mr Rust and us, the owners. We had known about some of the spots for a while and it felt good to grind them into oblivion. Pictured left is some of the rust that was secretly growing underneath where the Aries self steering sits (Roger, this pic is for you). We painted the freshly cleaned spots first with Jotamastic and then with Penguard. We even tried to fix up our dirty waterline... managing to cover up some of the messiness but also managing to inhale far too many paint fumes. Oh dear!

Stress levels were getting high when we had to leave the marina. There were too many jobs to do and time was running out! Somehow, with a few arguments with each other and some crazy times, we managed to get out of the marina 2 hours after their requested time of midday. We motor-sailed out (in very light winds on the nose) and anchored off Middle Island (a short 2 hour trip). The first thing I did was to hang out all of our freshly cleaned washing. I'd put on a few loads at the marina and baulked at the cost of drying it in their machines (about $8 per load). So, thanks to Yawarra 2's idea, this picture records our $16 washing, hanging out to dry on the decks for free! If we'd paid for drying it would have added up to over $40 or so. Crazy how much people charge for such a basic service.

Anchoring at Middle Island resulted in a very rolly night - the swell was much bigger than we'd anticipated.
Today, Rene started putting together his wind generator built with parts bought online off ebay. Pictured (right) is Ren putting the blades on. Tomorrow he'll try wiring it up to see how much power it can create! Pictured left is just one small piece of the many thousands of absolutely beautiful corals and rocks that are to be found here in Keppel Bay. I've had such fun just admiring all of the different colours, shapes, patterns and designs that mother nature has provided. Thanks to Mellissa for inspiration for this picture. 

Before moving anchor to Great Keppel Island today, we checked out the old disused observatory off Middle Island. Rene went snorkeling and saw the most big fish he's ever seen! Pity it's a 'no take zone'! These fish were so tame that he was able to get to within centimeters of them to take this picture. The most impressive though, was a GIANT groper, wider than Rene, over 1metre long... apparently, as Ren was about to take a picture of the giant, it opened it's massive mouth and Rene made a dash for the dinghy - so there's no photo sorry. I saw it too though (from the safety of the dinghy and can vouch for how big it really was! OMG!!!:)

We'll stay here for a bit before heading further north. There's still plenty of boat jobs to do.. and it would be nice to relax for a bit!