It’s all over now … take two!

Take two!  I’m trying to improve on my layout for you email subscribers. This is what your post update should have looked like …

It’s that time of the year again … when we swap ‘homes’.  Our 2018 sailing season has come to an end.

We have arrived back at Boatworks and packed our boat up over several days of 30+ degree heat and high humidity, all very tiring (I think we now need a holiday!). We are now ready to return to our land life.

Since my last post we stopped at Fraser Island and the Sandy Straits for a few days with Whiskers and Take It Easy.  We dashed across the Wide Bay Bar early one morning for a day’s sail to Mooloolaba.  We sailed across Moreton Bay with Sans Souci and enjoyed the hospitality of L’Attitudes at their house on Russell Island.  We then caught up with Cruising Kitty at Tipplers Resort for lunch.

Then came Boatworks!  While the main aim for us at Boatworks is to pack up, clean up and head home, everyone else is doing a similar thing so there are plenty of yachts here, particularly cats.  So it has been a very social time here at Boatworks too.  The new bbq area has been well used. Especially on Cup Day! Catching up with the yachts we’ve met and cruised with this year at Boatworks, has completed a great season of sailing for us. Some we will see again next year, others are sailing to New Caledonia in 2019 and some are selling, four in fact, including our good friends Pas de Chat 🙁  And we’re even getting driven to the airport … thankyou Marty and Brenda from Waterfront!

We’ve had a wonderful 2018 on the water.  We’ve met up with great friends, met new ones and visited new places. The Bossa has performed well with no major dramas, phew!  I want to mention two highlights. The first of course is my time in the water with my camera, especially the time at GKI and the Southern Reef (no surprise there). The second, is cruising with yachts who have become great friends.  So many shared interests, memorable experiences and fun times!

Here’s a few of my favourite memories from 2018.

Friends and family …

Great sunset pic Jan! Drinks with Waterfront & Pas de Chat.

The crew from TIE at Wistari Reef

Five Fusions gathering at the unofficial YC at Svendsens Beach

Manx, Chances, Pas de Chat … and The Bossa (we me behind the lens)

Success at last for my beloved Demons!

Music night with Chances, Waterfront, Pas de Chat & Bossa

Abbey came for 12 days in the Whitsundays

Marty’s catch! ‘4-of-a-kind’beat my ‘ace’ (a Spanish Mack)!

Another Spanish Mack!

Under the water …

The Manta experience at Heron Island was a highlight. You can see the Manta’s “horns” clearly.

Moorish Idols, spooked easily, but I caught this one napping.

Always tricky catching the Parrotfish at work as they spook easily.

Snorkeling with the turtles is always a treat.

This red anemone with the White-maned Anemonefish was a real find.

The soft coral regrowth in the Whitsundays was lovely.

I really enjoyed following these big Coral Trout …

These Blue Pullers always look so colourful as they duck & dive in to the coral.

The anemone fish … and so close!

Humbugs!

Clams are a favourite of mine. Love the intricate patterns.

One of my favourite pics! I have never seen blue Anemone. This pic gives you context to where these Anemone-fish live.

An up-close Scribbled Angelfish! I hadn’t seen these until Monkey Beach.

Two Butterfly-fish … but look at the tiny black Christmas Tree Worm.

So pretty at Monkey Beach!

The “wow” and the whales …

The “wow”!! The Reef & Island flight! Heart Reef … remember, it’s tiny!

The stunning Hill Inlet from the air.

… and again!

All at once!

And … the end …

Watching the Cup at Boatworks … and I won the sweep!!

Cup Day kicked on …

Time to haul out.

Thats it for 2018 … till next year!