16 days to go, time is getting short and thankfully so is the "to-do" list, still rushing around like a rusharoundy thing buying stuff so that Mike can fit it. Sorted the christening celebration and the gas man came today and fixed the oven...so now I can attempt to bake bread when we are offshore and hope it doesn't turn out like my friends attempt a few years ago...when, as we approached turtle bay at the abrolhos Islands, we radio'd ahead and asked if there were any moorings available.  The reply was  "sadly no"'  but that our friends partner had just baked some bread, so we could use that instead! :). My attempt probably won't fair any better, but anyone who dares to say so will be thrown overboard with said bread tied to their feet! :)

My wonderful parents have started provisioning for us, because we haven't had time to go shopping, so I will start taking the non perishable stuff down the boat very soon. I won't be vac packing broccoli, cauliflower or capsicum...made that mistake at Christmas and couldn't figure out what the disgusting smell was that came out of the fridge every time I opened the door! Putrid! Very embarrassing when you have people over for a sundowner and you are too scared to open the fridge door because of the horror that lies within!

I will also ensure that I store carrots in the fridge. They went very black on our trip to the abrolhos a few years ago and I had to throw the whole lot overboard - 'biodegradable waste!' before I get canned for throwing rubbish in the ocean! Someone else had the same problem and threw them overboard in Turtle Bay, where they all washed up on shore.  We were in deep ocean and left a trail of carrots behind us... Must have looked like we were trying to catch a rabbit instead of fish.  Probably would have faired better at that anyway!

Talking of catching fish... Mike did take a rod with him last time at the abrolhos ( having never experienced the delights of fishing as a child) , he caught a blowy (small pufferfish) on his first attempt, then as we were sailing between the pelsaert group and the Easter group, he chucked out a line and it took off.  After fighting hard with the sea monster on the other end for what must have been a whole 2 mins, Mike admitted defeat and cut the line....no more fishing!

Upon our return home a few weeks later we got a phone call from the department of fisheries.  They were conducting some research into the new fishing licences and what licencee's were catching.  The fisheries officer asked Mike where he had been fishing and Mike proudly replied "the abrolhos Islands".
"Excellent sir, did you catch any of the following....?" And proceeded to go through a very long list of fish, which, to each Mike replied "no"!

After an extended period of questioning the fisheries officer gave up and asked "So, what did you catch? To which Mike replied "A blowy!" fisheries officer: "you're not very good at this are you sir?"

Countdown to take off

OMG only 17 days to go before we set off on  our much anticipated voyage up the coast of WA, hopefully to the Montebellow Islands off the coast of Dampier on the aptly titled "full Monte" cruise (thanks Nick - great title :) !)  We were originally going to go last year but our yacht Mika was not even close to being ready as we were only half way through an extensive refurb and then our little dog Remi got diagnosed with lymphoma, so we cancelled the trip and rescheduled for this year. She went through chemo but sadly succumbed to the disease and died last week, but she did really well on the chemo and had an extra year. - she was very much loved and will be fondly remembered!

So there we were with Mika pretty much ready to go and then we decided that our lives clearly were not stressful enough, so we bought a new boat to cruise on with only weeks to go. This stemmed from the fact that our cruising buddies Nicka nod Robyn, went and got a bigger boat and we had a severe case of yacht envy! :)

So we have been madly trying to get the new boat ready to go, with a lift, bum scrub and hull polish.  Mike and I would like to thank Rob, Nick, Robyn, Dad & Mum for all their help with the boat and keeping the house running during this frantic time.

During the time on the hard stand, the first thing that came off was the old name and the renaming ceremony then took place before she was relaunched with lots of family and friends - and plenty of champagne of course. I get lumbered with the master of ceremonies role and there was expert champagne flinging from  chief champagne flinger Mike. The yacht now looks very smart with her new name "Aqua Vitae " which is Latin for "water of life"  (vitality water), which when translated into Gaelic means Alcohol - specifically 'whiskey' - most appropriate :).

Aqua Vitae is now back in her pen looking very smart, with several small jobs on her that need to be completed before we go.  She has had all new rigging and Mike has worked so hard replacing batteries, parts for the anchor windlass, new anchor - to replace the aptly named (by Robyn) deck ornament that previously posed as an anchor the fridge has been fixed, new hot water element,  new bilge pumps (the old ones didn't work -very helpful when you are sinking  - NOT!   Cooker being fixed Thursday. Fans been wired in (thanks Rob) and fitted....just to name a few of the jobs completed.  I have been jack of all trades, running around getting the parts, cafe extraordinaire, cleaning and being the trades apprentice. I am getting quite handy with spanner, hammers and power tools - watch out boys!! :).

We will be heading off on 12th April with our good friends and co pussy club companions Nick and robyn, on their Catalina "Divided Sky" and good friends and musos Margie and Jeremy on their yacht "Moonshadow" as they cruise off to new climes. Still have lots of of jobs to do, so had better go and get on with them. Aqua Vitae signing out for now........ Karen