Manatee celebrates the holiday season

We started our holiday celebrations by attending a local street party. Charles and Linda live down the river from our berth and invited us to join in with the party. We met a number of very interesting locals. Linda is an admirer of dogs, so Jacki and Ruby also enjoyed the celebrations (and the sausages!). Charles is a co-owner of witch doctor and completed numerous Sydney-Hobart races on her. Their fishing run-about is called sea witch.

AK's father Don arrived from Bateau Bay for Xmas so we enjoyed many lunches with the family. Xmas day was celebrated at Carmel's at Telegraph Point and was extremely pleasant with the contribution of Mark's cookies.



Don, AK, Joan & Gwen ready for lunch

The population of Laurieton seems to have trebled over the last 5 or 6 weeks, with the arrival of children visiting their grandparents making a big impact on the demographic. We are so used to seeing the street full of people with walkers/gophers, it's weird to avoid stumbling over toddlers.

Holiday makers have brought with them a variety of vessels and we have seen everything from jet skis to a yacht with a removable mast. We have never seen one of these masts before but apparantly they are common on the Swan River in Perth.

"lets drop the mast before we attempt this bridge"

a family sized canoe

Marg spent the eve of the new year on Manatee watching the local fireworks and keeping the dogs calm while AK was at Point Plummer State Forest working and enjoying the local fireworks. AK has worked a bit over the holiday season, enjoying the money but not the 12 hr shifts!

Early January saw our friend Jan from Sydney in the area. The girls were very happy to see their Aunt Jan as were we.

Pearl and Aunty Jan at Wauchope

We spent the day at Wauchope with Jan (at her friend Jacki's property) and we enjoyed reminising and re-connecting with gardens and the earth.

Marg, Jacki and Ruby making friends with the locals

Jan visited Manatee on her return to Sydney and we went for a swim at WashHouse Beach and had lunch at SandBar after a cuppa on the boat.

We also had a visit from the terrific twins from Port Stephens who we met at the marina at Nelsons Bay. Phil and Stu have sailed up to Qld many times. One of the great things about this life is re-connecting with interesting people that we meet along the way.

life and times of Laurieton

No we haven't been consumed by an enormous vortex, we are still mooching along at our berth in Laurieton, and managing to get a few things done!

Like the head.........

AK finally gets the electric toilet plumbed.

.......the floor has been re-built, the rust removed, ply walls varnished and lami-panel replaced, the floor fibreglassed...aagh what a job!

We are also repainting the deck and embarking on a few other enhancements.

Marg had her right hand operated on and is recovering well, everyone else is well and happy, although Pearlie's connection to this life is diminishing.

We are enjoying our time in Laurieton, the sky is clear, the air is fresh and we are peacefully settling in to our new life.

full moon over our berth

we have begun feeding Manatee's resident bream

the smiley face created by venus, moon and ??

photos

Here are some of the photos Victoria took while she was visiting.....

Marg on Manatee's jetty.

Idgi pleased with her visitors

AK & Marg pleased with their visitors

Vic was also able to download some pics off our ruined camera.....

Manatee & another Tas boat on the public moorings at Nelson Bay...yep that is the beach in the foreground

as the weeks roll by.......

So what have we been doing since our last update you may well ask........

Marg, AK and Pearl went to Southport (by car) with stuff for the storage area that we had left with Aunt Joan. We also did a re-arrange of Manatee's storage areas with a "do we really need this" question on most things. Stuff, like books that AK isn't ready to part with, also went to the storage area. We took the opportunity to inspect our unit at the same time.

On our way back we stopped at Yamba overnight to check out the town, river and marina for our expected stay there. The town is still relatively laid back, the river is clean with good anchoring spots and the marina is huge. It was bought by Kay Cottee (solo around the world) and Peter Sutton (her husband) a few years ago and they have added a art gallery which was closed when we visited. There is a great little cafe attached and the place feels secure and clean. There is a little chandlery and a good hard stand where Derek had silver cloud out for a soda blast. The local papers talked of a proposed marina at Grafton which appeared to have the support of locals as a way to garnish the tourist dollar.

Jacki and Ruby stayed with Jean and June, sisters who live at RossGlen on an acreage. June is a dog whisperer so the girls came home very content (and better behaved!) Idgi stayed on Manatee to keep things in order. While we were away a southerly blast came through overturning dinghy's and creating havoc. Luckily we had pulled Ini on to the deck before leaving!

a good spot to anchor at Yamba

The following weekend Victoria and Phil visited from Sydney. They stayed at Diamond Head caravan park which is across the river and down a bit from Manatee. Everyone was excited to see them, so we took them to our favourite spots.......

Dunbogan beach...

art by the river.....

the river walk to North Haven (and Sandbanks Cafe!)

We also drove through to the National Park camping area at Diamond Head as Victoria has fond memories of the area and is aways on the lookout for the perfect place for camping. This spot is a little disappointing as it has got very popular so looks like a caravan park at times.

After waving farewell on Sunday we took a day off before embarking on our next project.....

the bathroom (or head).

There has been a small leak as the area didn't appear to be properly sealed. Manatee's previous owner had re-designed the area, making it smaller to give the saloon and galley more room. It is still large enough for us, but the leak gave AK nightmares.

So for the rest of the week out came the toilet, part floor, wall linings, basin etc. It appeared that the leak had caused some rusting of the floor supports...so out came the saloon...table, couch and supports. Luckily the rust didn't extend far.

On Thursday Marg had her appointment with the specialist for her carpel tunnel. He warranted it important enough to operate on the following Monday...aargh! Marg hates hospitals but the pain was unbearable.

We then had a call from Lesley who wanted to visit with a friend...aargh....had to be this weekend...aaaargh. Thinking there was something important happening AK succumbed and spent Friday and Saturday morning putting the saloon back together while Marg assisted best she could and hurried around looking for a cottage to recuperate in for a few days. We realised she wouldn't be able to get off Manatee at low tide. Without a bathroom she would need to get off lots!

Monday came, the operation went well and we moved into a little holiday cottage at

Dunbogan.

the view from the lounge room...a great place to recuperate

Marg tolerated AK's cooking for a few days and spent time sleeping and recovering. The girls went to June's as it was too hard for them to keep quiet at the cottage that allowed no pets! Idgi stayed on Manatee to keep things in order. AK kept working on the bathroom.....sanding and treating the rust, rebuilding the floor, building a pedestal for the new electric toilet, to be upgraded from a manual.

We drove to Coffs Harbour for the day as it is the closest chandlery to pick up the new toilet and the bits and pieces needed to attach it to the holding tank. We also bought a new small sink to replace the largish one we had. We decided to reposition the toilet next to the sink to give more room for the shower and to take advantage of Manatee's sloping sides.

Marg was impressed by the marina at Coffs, the area is quite beautiful and we can't wait to get close to the Solitary Islands.

Idgi wanted to stay at the cottage as the bathroom project was taking longer than expected. We had a spell of wet weather and everything took longer so we extended our time at the cottage.

We have just moved back on to Manatee and what a relief it is to be home. Life on land doesn't seem to suit us anymore. We watched far too much TV! The bathroom, although not yet finished, is going well. The new floor and pedestal has been fibre glassed (what a yucky job that is) part way up the walls to ensure no leaks. The shower plumbing has been reconnected with no leaks..yeah.

Marg is having her other hand operated on 8th Dec so she will be mobile for the large Xmas AK's family is planning.

So even though it has been ages since the last update, there has been lots happening!

southerly arrives at Laurieton

A southerly was forecast for today (it's actually Wed!) so a few boats made plans to head north (SW 15-20kts with slight seas). So we were up at 0530 this morning to wave Derek and silver cloud off. He has been planning to head north for a few weeks, so we went to the North Haven side of the bar with the girls (Idgi stayed in bed).

silver cloud heading toward bar-note weather on mountain!

just off Pilot Beach

motoring through the very calm bar

Just the otherside of the bar, some dolphins appeared and swam under the boat. A few NM away some whales were breaching. Silver cloud then turned south, after a few "what the's"(it was early!) we realised he had turned into wind to get his main sail up without getting tangled in the lazyjack.

the main going up

first stop Yamba!

We started to make our way back until we saw two more boats coming up the river. We think they are from the coastal cruising club-salty lady & ??.

dolphins surfed the bow wave of the first boat-note the weather on mountain now

they too headed north-possibly Grafton for the sail-a-way

The dolphins then started surfing the breakers of North Haven beach, getting about 10m off the beach. The weather continued to surge east, bringing a blanket of rain, so we returned to Manatee dreaming of the day we too can head north.

socialising and messin' with boats

We have met a few great cruisers since we have been at Laurieton and we routinely pick their brains for tips. Just like flying, boating is very weather dependant-we were hoping to do a lot of sailing while we were here but the combination of the river entrance, tides and weather keep us, and a lot of other boaties, in the river. It is possible to do some ocean sailing, but overnighters as it is difficult to get out and in on the same day. Owen, an +80 year old who has been sailing single handed (on a Roberts 36- sand piper) for the past few years got sick of waiting for the winds to provide a good northerly passage, so turned and went south after waiting 1 month! For all those people tired and feeling old, we hope Owen can be an inspiration!

Another couple built their boat, Goanna, an Adams, 25 years ago and have been living on and cruising her ever since. They give us plenty of tips, and are very happy to share their experiences.

Derek from Silver Cloud, another steelie, has taught us to coil and throw ropes correctly and has given us many tips, including the art of slipping your own boat. AK, Marg and Derek with other boaties at various times, helped Trudi slip a Hartley(yacht), her ferro-cement home. Another inspiration-Trudi is a +60 year old who bought a neglected boat cheaply and has done some amazing work to turn it into her waterfront home and riverboat.

AK has done sail-making 101 with Mark, altering our mizzen sail by removing a panel which will allow us to move our boom higher, which will give us room for a solar panel rack. We spent the day and night on land at Mark and Marti's with the dogs who had an amazing country adventure-Ruby chased and then got chased by a goat, Jacki found herself grazing next to Sophie's pet duck, Duckell who is as big as Jacki and Pearl saw a really big lizard. Mark, yet again explained to us how electicity works in relation to solar panels.



Mark and the kids



The house that Mark built- note the solar panels, the battery bank (old Telstra batteries) is under the house. Spot the peacock!




Idgi stayed at home guarding Manatee!

time swims by.......

Looking at our 'ship's log' the other day it was surprising to see how long we have been in Laurieton!

So to all those people who ask "but what do you do on a boat all day?"

Well....besides AK searching for work and Marg visiting doctors (she has found out she has severe carpel tunnel-can't work/can't sail-until it's fixed)....it takes ages every morning to 'tidy' Manatee, living with all the girls is time consuming. It takes us about as much time to clean the boat as it did to clean our house! Floors to be swept, then washed, washing to be done, it goes on and on. Then walking with them. We are all enjoying our walks..AK, Marg, Jacki and Ruby walked a marathon 20kms the other day...we are all getting fitter. Pearl has a promenade at dusk as she is a bit beyond long walks.

Pearl on her promenade-the boats at anchor are members of the coastal cruising club on a sail-a-way

Then there are the hours of gazing....there is always an event happening when you live on a boat....a water bird catches a fish and another comes to steal it with the resultant squawking and squealing; dolphins glide through the water near the boat looking for a feed; hang gliders throw themselves off the mountain, a rainbow of colours floating down onto land; a school of bait fish swim just under the water's surface making the surface shimmer; we find the mouse that Idgi has caught on one of her on shore excursions and has left delicately balanced on a coil of rope on deck; a kookaburra perches itself on our main mast and cacks itself laughing; one of the numerous pelicans lands near Manatee looking for a treat, its pencil-like legs outstretched so its ungainly feet act as brakes, the wind whistles through the rigging, producing unusual music....see what I mean, the hours go by very quickly!

AK near the spot the hang gliders launch from. Spot the hang gliders!

The river is the Camden Haven, we are a few miles upstream.