Leaving The Safe Harbour

Peter, Andrew, Andy and Ollie waving us off from our pen yesterday.

We finally managed to leave the marina on Anzac Day. We awoke to the sounds of a choir singing the national anthem for the dawn service. Still so much to do! I raced about on deck with the fresh water hose washing off all the city dust and bird crap that I could find while we still had access to unlimited water. Once leaving the marina we'll have to make do with our 800 litres of stored water until we can find places to fill up. Rene was busy in the engine AGAIN! This time he was trying to solve a different problem – the oil was leaking out of a connector pipe that he undid last month while working on the engine coolant. He has since discovered that this particular connector is not designed to ever be undone. The simple act of unscrewing it, damages the thread and causes it to leak. Ollie came over to see us off but instead found us kind of stressing out about the oil leak and stuff still to lash down or stow away. He jumped right into help mode. Next Andy dropped over too, he also got right into helping and fixed the oil leak with Rene using an O ring. 

After racing about cleaning up and having our last showers (probably until November) we cast off with waves from just some of the lovely folk we've had the pleasure of meeting while staying in Breakwater Marina. Most yachties are incredibly generous folk – certainly, the majority that we've met have been amazing people. Living in a marina, surrounded by yachties is very different to living in an apartment building or suburban street. Yachties are much more chatty and willing to stop and share stories or share advice/skills/knowledge/sympathy about whatever problem their boats are having. It's a lovely community to be a part of.

Sunrise smiles at anchor in cruising mode again.

Ren doing wing chun on the foredeck this morning.

I'm writing this as we're anchored in what the locals call 'the duckpond' just outside the breakwater. We're all pretty exhausted. Before leaving we continued to be super busy preparing Anima for the journey ahead. Rog finished installing the HF radio and tuner. He also put the whole area back together so that the wires are contained by panelling. I helped him out by cutting all the wood to size with the jigsaw. Rene mounted the engine and put it all back together again. It's running really smoothly now – the stove doesn't shake like mad anymore! I filled every jerry can, tank and storage area available with fuel, water, gas and food. The boat leans over starboard from all of the stores we've loaded onboard. I put things back together and tried my best to clean up the mess that accompanies boat work and trip preparation. 

Last night we watched a fireworks display while eating dinner (Rene cooked for the first time in 6 months!!) which was pretty incredible. What a nice start to being at anchor again! Today is the first day I've had time to relax a little. There's still loads to do but hey, we're cruising! We don't have to pay to stay here. Rene is just running the engine now and it seems as though he might have finally fixed the oil leak. If so, we'll set off to Orpheus island tomorrow. 

Anzac Day fireworks as seen from our cockpit. It's so tricky to get a steady photo on the water at night!