BIG NEWZ!

 G'day All, From the bouncy land of "The Galleycat!" We are currently 18nm offshore from Townsville heading 4 Broardhurst reef in the Great Barrier 54nm away(11 hours). And itz just a little bumpy. Thatz a severe understatemint (unusual flavour). We've just passed Cape Clevland,the sun has set and we'll steam through the night with our destination arrival somewhere around 5am. I can now safely let the proverbial "Cat out of the bag" Not only is Brother Mark here!, But Dad is also here!
Nothing strange bout that except 4 the simple fact that Dad had absolutely no idea he was coming here until he took Brother Mark 2 the airport.At which thyme he waz "kidnapped" and put onto the same flight out of Perth as Brother Mark.
This kame as a rather huge shock as he had zero, nadda, zip or no idea that he'd B spending the next 9 days in Townsville. Let alone parked on the Gr8 Barrier Reef catching fisch. Hopefully!
Needless 2 say both of them R passed out from sleep deprivation (wkoa) And I have a very LONG nite ahead of me! As I keep watch over my  precious, now sleeping, cargo.
Now 2 the foto'z. The opening shot is just 1 of the "superboatz" that R here 4 this weekendz round of Formula 1 offshore powerboat racing. We were going to spend Sunday at a lesuirely anchor watching these Supercharged boatz rip around the course at "ridiculous" speedz. However the weather godz have got 2gether and made a special conspiracy with lotz of wind and as such itz going 2 blow itz tits off on Tuesday. So we've foregone the powerboat racing and instead headed offshore ourselves.
 The second foto is Robin proclaiming a "new piece of Australia" as "The land of the Galleycat" Did I mention how bumpy it is out here? Just trying 2 type this is a major mission! Back 2 the new piece of Oz. We had 9 tonne of crushed granite delivered 2 the yard during the week and the only spare spot was just behind Galleycat. This created a new Island as the tide rose and as of now I own a country! Not very big or mineral rich but still itz proclaimed as THE LAND OF GALLEYCAT!
Who know's I might even B able 2 collect "a carbon tax!" Anyhow did I mention how bumpy it is. We spent the afternoon trying to solve a major generator issue. Once again Kenny came 2 the rescue with a borrowed genset that'll power the Yot during the next week. Don't even get me started on the useless people behind the company known as Adventurers Corner or alias AGR machinery. I'm still waiting 4 my replacement generator after 5 weeks! And numerous fone callz!
Still we are underway and heading 4 The Gr8 Barrier Reef with Gr8 food which is in essence the purpose (little dolphin) of Galleycat.
After a hectic few hours of last minute shopping, loading, organising and preparing.
We were ready just in thyme 2 set off around the corner 2 catch a feed of Mudcrabz 4 dinna! B4 the Yot floated on the incoming tide.
Mission accomplished!
With both Mark and Dad filling thier faces with boiled crab as a simple  appetiser. The main meal was tomato and basil cream penne pasta. Which was devoured by all onboard.
There is lotz more 2 report and much more 2 say but 4 now itz way 2 bumpy 2 continue spell checking every line. So I'll sign off now with another installment 2 follow.
B cool!
Captain Felix (shaken not stirred)

RAIN DELAYZ=FRUSTRATION (WKOA)!

 G'day All,
As the title suggestz itz bean a very frustrating week in "catland". Itz kind of trying to rain sort of ! This means you get the gear ready to do a job and it gets heavier, you pack the gear up and it slowz again and so on and so on. This slows productivity considerably. I don't handle this type of frustration(wkoa) very well, as I'm on the final  countdown to Brother Mark's arrival on Saturday morning.
The Mermaid pictured opposite, arrived in the yard this week on the bow of yet another Catamaran. I immediately photographed her and sent a copy off to Miss Mermaid in Ireland. Amanda is now on the mend and looking forward to her trip Down under somewhere around Septemba. I should have the Yot somewhere between here and Sydney around then on my pilgrimage to Bathurst. If all goes well I'll catch up with Amanda and maybe Ellie too, on my way. I probably won't get all the way to Sydney but I'll just see how far I get and bus the rest of the way.

We've had a run of Catamarans through the yard since Adrenaline left, each of them having sum really good idea's and layouts. I've been using the rain delays to do mainly internal work to galleycat with Noah (crazy Canadian) taking over the daily jobs in the yard while he's on holidays. This was fortunate 4 me as a racing cat arrived and the owner wanted the hulls stripped of antifouling completely. Which in itself doesn't sound too bad a job but if you look at the second picture of Noah you'll see itz very DIRTY work indeed. We wear full protective suits and masks as the black dust that fly's off the grinders is extremely toxic. I couldn't help but grab the camera and snap off a few foto'z when I saw Noah come out from under the hull of the racing cat "covered" from head to toe in black crap. It wasn't until he removed his respirator and glasses that I fell over laughing "what a sight" I don't think he'll be pulling to many chicks down the pub tonight!
The down turn in the weather has pushed the cooking side of  

 things towards soups, pasta's and curries with last Friday's lunch being a 2 course event of Roasted Japanese pumpkin soup with croutons and sour cream followed by a Yummy chicken and mushroom cream pasta with grilled garlic and herb bread. Needless to say after lunch everybody headed to there respective Yachts for a nanna nap, Myself included.
I've also made a lovely thai fish curry, chilli mudcrab plus Baked potatoes and a butterscotch self saucing pudding with icecream. Real hearty warm you up type of food. There has also been a few salads as well for lunch with a gr8 caesar and a mixed bean,chick pea and tomato salad that was rather different.
The work on Galleycat is progressing well with the inside kitchen receiving its splashback's and the new bar being covered in front runner material instead of paint (because as I've made perfectly clear I hate painting!). Unfortunately itz also been a week of break downs with the battery charger dying on Saturday followed by the fresh water pump on Monday morning. This is something I simply didn't need with Brother Mark just 6 days away. So first thing Monday it was a scramble to organise a new battery charger plus get on the fone to the company that was supposed to have my generator back last week. No battery charger and no genset means "no sailing" as they make up 2 of the back-up power generation systems aboard.
I've been assured both will be here before Friday so itz Finga's crossed. Luckily I had 2 spare fresh water pumps onboard so that break down waz more of an inconvenience than anything else.

 The inside of the Yot is now looking quite habitable and almost respectable. Now its simply a matter of clearing the clutter, packing up all the tools and preparing the Yot for the open sea. I'm also making the rear deck bed operational as Brother Mark is even taller than Big Ash and might find the smaller beds inside a little uncomfortable.
After Big Ash and I arrived back from The Palm Islands the list of things needing attention aboard was rather long, 16 items in fact, and as of yesterday all of then with the exception of the sail track have been repaired or fixed. I'll be going up the mast tomorrow morning to re attach the sail track that has come loose up the very top.
The new fishing flood lights arrived this week and have been fitted to the support posts over the fishing platform giving more light than is required.
That is until you've got an angry shark on the end of your fishing line in the middle of the night! Then every bit of light will be most welcome. I don't think I'll have 2 much trouble with other ships not being able to see the Yot as itz kind of brighter than your average light house.
The motor racing in Darwin was brilliant with Jamie Whincup claiming the round win,also Marcos Ambrose has put his Nascar in pole position for the last 2 races and Mark Webber also had a great race at the European Grand Prix coming from 19th to finish 4th.
I've had the dinghy out of the water for a high pressure clean to remove the barnacles  and general growth. So yesterday arvo I headed out front of town for a couple of hours and came home with a nice Cod for tonight's dinner. So I guess the dinghy passed its test run quite well.
That's about all the news for this week. Keep smiling and my next update should be from the Great Barrier Reef with Brother Mark. That is if the weather gods are on our side.
ciao 4 now
Captain Felix