NERVOUSNESS !!!

 G'day World,
                       Life aboard the cat haz settled down lotz since Big Ash left 4 W.A.
Lots of upgrades and changes are being undertaken B4 the upcoming trip to Airlie Beach and subsequent arrival of Mum, Dad and Brother Mark.
With the Family due 2 arrive soon  I find myself more nervous and apprehensive than I've been in a long thyme.
But itz thyme to concentrate on the upcoming cruising season.
Last year "The Dinghy" waz the major problem aboard. That problem is "No more!"
We now have the ability to lift the tender out of the water (with ease) and secure it on the rear of the Yot.
2 electric winches have been fitted to the roof of the rear deck.
These support a 32mm stainless frame that will lift the tender onto itz new supportz.
With 6mm spectra cable wound onto the drums of these winches they'll have no problem lifting the new Savage 3.8 meter tender. The old tender that was damaged last year was not economical to repair, So the new tender has been sourced for the upcoming cruising season.
With lotz of modifications (wkoa) now complete itz thyme to finish the loading system  with lock down plates and heavier straps to secure the Savage Dinghy as a solid part of the Yot.
The other major upgrade is the practical use of the Spinnaker
I have managed another trip to The Reef since Big Ash left.
We left Broadhurst reef a few days ago. I set the spinnaker B4 a 50 nm trip back towards Townsville.
The spinnaker wasn't brought down until we arrived inside Cape Clevland some 10 hours later.
PURE MAGIC!
Itz probably thyme 2 introduce you all to Kane!
He answered my add on Gumtree B4 the Chillian night dwellers arrived onboard. I let him know he was second in line for a spot aboard and once Thomas and Chris left, Kane arrived to help get the Yot ready for the  big trip South.
We sorted a few of the base problems out then set sail for The Reef and itz associated phish.
It didn't take Kane long to get into the whole Galleycat concept with sum amazing fish keeping him busy over the 2 days we spent at the reef.

Lotz of Coral Trout, Sweetlip and Spangles kept us busy while the Mackeral action had abated somewhat since our last trip with only 2 landed this thyme.
Kane did do a Gr8 job fighting this huge cod to the surface for a few happy snaps B4 we sent him on his way.
All in all the trip waz a gr8 success and we had a ball, but it waz thyme to concentrate on getting ready for the trip to Airlie! so itz heads down,bum up and into it, for the foreseeable future.

G'day All itz 10 days later and we have just left Townsville for The Reef and Airlie.
Thank Christ thatz over!
 I know I'm supposed to be taking it easy (doctors orders) but if I didn't push, even with Kanes' help we would not have been ready 2 depart.
As a reward  for many dayz of hard graft the weather godz have sent us a forecast of smooth seas and next to no wind for the next 5 days.
So with the new tender firmly lifted and secured to the rear deck and a final shop for fishing gear we have set sail for The Reef once again.
My initial nervousness haz now been replaced with a sense of achievement at just how much could B achieve in such a short thyme.
Once the decision to source another tender was made everything sort of fell into place.
We spent nearly 3 days solid fitting out the new Savage with flooring, 2 casting platforms and a new wiring system complete with high water alarmz and auto bilge pumps.
The Yot haz also been improved with 4 new deep cycle batteries and a few new computer enhancements that should allow me to add dive videos to the blog.
It still amazes me that 3 years into this build I'm still bolting and welding improvements to the Yot on the day we are ready to depart.
You'd of thort I would have learnt by now.
But for now itz thyme to sign off and open a new entry
Gr8 Barrier and Whitsundays 2014


Captain Felix