07.10hrs All out of the scratchers, not feeling great, and knowing that we are well behind schedule for getting to the lock gates for the marina. We understand that the marina is like an enclosed marina, and it is located well up the Creek beyond Darwin itself.
07.30hrs We hauled the anchor (which was well embedded in solid mud) and motored south past the City, the blooming tide was ebbing at 3 knots, so progress was awful slow. When we arrived at Frances Bay, we were too late, the level in the river had fallen too far and we could go no further, so we tied ourselves onto a yellow mooring bouy straight across from this commercial port dock, and had to remain there until 15.00hrs when the water levels would be ok again.
We spent the morning, chatting, and reading, and a little sunburning was always available. Later on, we had a visit from one of our neighbors who was enquiring about our flag, so we invited himself and his girlfriend onboard for a coffee. Marcus is from Belgium and Cathy is Chilian originally, but she and her parents moved to the south of Sweden many years ago. Marcus only started sailing 4 years ago. Bored with his job, he looked around for something else to do, and decided to sail around the World. Grab this,,,,, He bought an "Oyster" an Oyster 395 called "Marionette". Skipper remembered the boat very well. He often raced against her in the late 1980's on "Heatwave" another Oyster 395, belong to Pat Hegarty... They were a one design fleet of yachts and very fast boats. I keep saying how small the world is. To think that after all the years we end up being moored beside her on the other side of the world. Skipper did not recognize her as she is now painted white. Originally all the "Marionette's" were red with the name painted all along the sides in white. Very, very distinctive.
15.00hrs We slipped the moorings and motored up the river to the lock gates, which were open, so we gently edged A Lady through a fairly narrow gate and into the lock basin. 20 minutes later, we were in the marina complex. This complex was impressive, it held approx 100 boats, and is surrounded with an upmarket residential development,shops, restaurants and pubs, all very tasty stuff, and security was very high on the list.... yeah, we will be happy here for the few days. Interesting thing, there are a lot of sailors here that live permanently on their boats (Families and all), and spend their time sailing all the wonderful places around here, including Borneo, Indonesia, New Guinea, Timor, Singapore, and of course all the Pacific Islands.
Later, we had dinner in the local marina fish restaurant called "Christo's" just a mere 50 meters from the boat. We all had Fish and Chips, just like we used to get in KC's in Douglas, Cork.. yum, yum. A good night!
Much later, we hit the scratchers and ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
That's it for now.
Signed :- Stephen Hyde (Skipper)