DAILY LIFE ON BOARD



There are lots of beautiful places to go;
lots of challenging things to do;
and lots of interesting people to meet.



We've seen a lot of Australia
using the boat as a launching pad. 
Broken Hill anyone?

Clubs are a feature of every Aussie
Port town. We sample them all. Fish and Chips is the safest order.

A common definition of cruising is
"boat maintenance in exotic locations".
Can't remember which exotic location
this was. Probably Coffs
after our dousing at the Port Macquarie
Bar

Public transport is the best:
ferries, bikes, busses, trains.
So the waiting.... Here waiting for our
friends at Avis to deliver a car.

Trial Bay Goal.  There are lots of
interesting out-of-the-way
places.

There is plenty of opportunity for quiet
contemplation of the natural world.
Here at Mutton Bird Island
overlooking the  marine park at Coffs 

Moonraker loves anchoring. 
Here at Yamba Boat Barbour



I like zooming around in the dinghy.



Even the ritual of papers and coffee
can be interesting.  Here on a Ferry
crossing the Clarence River

We love the marine rescue people and talk to them by radio every day we are on the move. (Our call sign is Victor Juliet November 3565).  Bless their cotton socks.

I like the quiet contemplation of the better things in life too.

We like to keep in touch with the real world.  But it is hard, even with the help of 3 VHF radios, one 27MHz radio, one UHF radio, one Sat phone, two mobiles, 2 x 3G internet accounts, 3 computers, an am.fm radio, a TV and and AIS system. 

My favourite time of day.

The tools have their own cabin (it's true!)
but they always seem to
come out and join the adults in the saloon.

Moonraker isa cutter-rigged sloop. 
Here she is with genoa, jib and main.



Dean on watch, well out to sea.



Me on watch. 
No-hands is OK as the
self-steering works most of the time

Off to do the shopping and washing

Dean and trusty dinghy, which planes at the drop of a hat.

This is one bar (at Brunswick Heads)
that we decided not to cross. But Moonraker has
surfed waves like this on
Port Macquarie, Yamba and Wide Bay bars.

I loved Nimbin.

And we love having friends, both new and old, on board.



Here we are with our MPS flying.  Beautiful sail.



Dean keeping a look out for a marker.

Sometimes all you needs is a
cup of tea and a nice sit down in
the saloon.

We are learning heaps.  I can do a
Locking Brummel splice on Dyneema.  Can you?



Bed-time reading. We have had 50 knots and storms
out to sea and 70 knots when
on a mooring.  Hope thats it for us.
But we are parepared anyway.



This is our engine and I know most of the parts now AND how they work.