Tuesday 22nd Port Macquarie

A leisurely start to the day as Lil doesn’t need to depart for Sydney until eleven o’clock and the Port Mac airport is but a hop, skip and eructation from the marina. The boys drive her to the airport and Curvy runs amuck on the boat in their absence. They return to discover TS tidy and as a result, can’t find anything. The Camry has been returned to Budget Johnny and the Admiral feels they deserve each other.
The remainder of the day sees a little bit of reading, a little bit of lunching and a lottle but of drunking….some resultant afternoon napping and a lot of wobbly blogging. Much music into the evening then the major achievement of the day, the lads happen on a perfect name for their band; “Eric and The Disappointed Superannuants.” We really have to stop checking the ASX while we’re away.


Wednesday 23rd July Port Macquarie
R and R day as we are all feeling a bit exhausted having all this fun.
And today was a new experience for everyone on board. Both bars with which we have a relationship were closed. Taking our morning constitutional to the end of the breakwater ended the argument about whether we do or don’t sail on the morning tide. It was largely settled when we saw 4 metre waves breaking across our escape route. In order to clarify our thinking we repaired to the Royal Hotel for a meeting of the Lords of the Admiralty. Finding the bar didn’t open for another hour and that coffee did not energise our brain cell we returned to the boat for stimulants.
On studying carefully the reconnaissance photographs taken by Curvy it was agreed by a majority verdict that we should padlock ourselves to the mooring. So we sit in the river, our movement restricted by lifejackets and immersion suits having posted the key to the padlock to the Coast Guard. So to paraphrase Scott of the Antarctic we may be some time in the Hastings River.
We amuse ourselves by rehearsing the Twin Spirit Orchestra and organizing tea dances on the poop deck. We haven’t, as yet, sold many tickets but are ever hopeful that this may be the means of sustaining life in the Hastings River given the parlous state of the stock market. Failing this we will be reduced to the six dollar roast at the nearby Panthers Leagues Club. Oh how are the mighty fallen. In fact as I speak the Admiral has just received the account from the RMYC for slipping the boat prior to departure. He’s responding well to smelling salts and I fear that the roast at Panthers might have to be split betwixt the two of us. Thus we suffer the privations of the cruising life. On closer examination, however, the facts seem to suggest that it’s superior to work and at least we’re not annoying the Pope. The Admiral has discovered ‘barcam’ which is the maritime service that shows real time video of various bars up and down the coast. He has left his post at the computer to put an extra padlock on the mooring. The fact that he has thrown the key into the drink suggests that the seas have not noticeably abated.