Coopers Quest

[David Fox]

Good day sailing, disasterous preventer swap over
10 October 2021
25 03.764'S:160 40.921'E,
At sea on passage from Fiji to Brisbane
Weather: sunny, wind 7 -18 knots, waves 1.5 meters

Another good day of sailing. The sun was out, the swell was tolerable and the wind was pretty constant on our port side and just aft of the beam. There really isn't much to say about the sailing, it was easy and pleasant for a change. We did 154 NM in the 24 hours and didn't run the engine at all.
Interestingly as we are now sailing directly west the sun isn't on our solar panels for long enough each day to top up our battery bank as the sun is blocked out by the sails so having to start either the engine or the gen set is a must to keep enough power in the bank to run the electrics (the auto pilot, navigation lights, fridge and freezer) during the night, the wind generator works as long as there is wind to drive it but it doesn't supply enough power on its own to meet the boat's needs.

Gerry had been saying all day that there was supposed to be a wind direction change and we were going to have to gybe and change the spinnaker pole over but by the time the sun set (no green f lash - there's a surprise!) the wind was still on our port side but moving very slowly towards dead astern, not time to make the change over.
The crescent moon came out along with the stars and a covering of cloud began to build behind us. The moon soon disappeared below the horizon and the cloud cover began to envelope us turning the sky to that horrid pitch black that we seem to see each night. Around midnight the wind had finally moved to the stern and about an hour later was decidedly heading more to the starboard side than the port, the time had come to do the change around, of course it couldn't have done this during daylight hours! Gerry decided that we were only going to gybe and move the main across leaving the spinnaker pole where it was until the morning and to this end he got geared up to go out on deck. The process by now should be a well-oiled one but this time things didn't go quite to plan.

We started off OK , taking the running backstay off and moving the main across to the centreline on the traveller and then Gerry went out on deck to move the preventer across and it went to the dogs. I have talked about the preventer a few times so for those of you that don't know our preventer is a 4 stranded pulley system, one end attaches to the boom at about the midpoint and the other end attaches to a track on the cap rail with the bitter end of the rope strands running back to the cockpit, through a block and then onto a winch. The purpose of it is to stop the boom from crashing uncontrolled from one side of the boat to the other when the wind or boat changes direction.

7So Gerry is out on deck, he undoes the pulley from the deck and passes it across to the other side of the boat and then goes around to that side to secure it, only for some unknown reason this time when he passed the end across he managed to twist the pulley system in such a way that the lines were all crossed, there was much mumbling and a whole lot of sailor speak going on for the time that it took him to unwind the tangled mess, which he made worse by unravelling it the wrong way to begin with but finally got it straightened out and attached to the track on the cap rail.

The bitter end got thrown to me as normal and I threaded it through the block and got it onto the winch, by which time Gerry had returned to the cockpit and we began to ease the main over to the port side. As we did this I noticed that the preventer was on the wrong side of the line which runs to the spinnaker pole and alerted Gerry to the fact, much more sailor speak followed as he then had to go back out on deck and undo the pulley from the track, pass it over the top of the offending line and re attach it once more. This done and Gerry once more in the cockpit we recommenced moving the main across, only to realise that the bitter end that he had thrown to me was caught under the Yankee sheet which meant we wouldn't be able to deploy the Yankee, oh dear, the sky was turning blacker by the second with sailor speak. Once more unto the breach, or maybe I should say back out on deck for Gerry. The bitter end had to be undone, pulled all the way back to the pulley then threaded the right side of the spinnaker sheet, thrown back to me and re run through the block and on to the winch, this time it was right and we managed to move the main across and tighten down the preventer to keep it in place. To say that was the worst go we have ever had at changing the preventer from one side to the other is no exaggeration. I was so very happy that we weren't going to be moving the spinnaker pole across at this point, I could just imagine the disaster that could have been. For the remainder of the night we flew just the main and managed to move along at a reasonable pace.

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First job of the day once the dawn broke - moving the spinnaker pole across to the starboard side so we would be able to goose wing assuming that the wind direction remained aft.

Even before we had breakfast the job was done, not with a happy smiling face from me, it's the one job that I have come to dread and hate doing, the winching leaves me exhausted before the day has even begun and the niggly instructions and answering back is part and parcel of the procedure unfortunately.

Any how it was done without the drama of last night being repeated and we deployed the Yankee to balance out the main until the wind clocked around even further onto our beam but unfortunately dropped its intensity at the same time to under 8 knots. We are currently sailing along at around 5.5 knots, with the main and the staysail deployed, the swell has died away to less than a meter, the sun is struggling to show its face, there are clouds ahead of us and yet again we are cold. I really don't know what is up with this temperature but I don't like it! We have made the decision to continue on our original course and head straight to Brisbane, we think we should just avoid the predicted (?!) high winds as long as we get a decent run today and early tomorrow.

[David Fox]

A very quiet day
11 October 2021
25 41.635'S: 158 24.609'E,
At sea on passage from Fiji to Brisbane
Weather: Overcast then sunny, wind 4 - 12 knots, waves 1 meter

The cloudy overcast sky that we began the day with gradually improved over the course of the morning and by lunchtime it was a glorious sunny day once again. The swell remained light and of no great concern which made a pleasant change. The wind was noticeably absent so we motor sailed for almost all of the day averaging around 5 knots.

There was nothing to see and very little to occupy ourselves with so we read, ate and slept on a repeat cycle.

By mid-afternoon there was apparently still not going to be any wind to speak of so the decision was made to put the spinnaker pole away, oh joy! At least this went without mishap and I don't mind so much the putting away as it doesn't involve much, if any, winching. With the spinnaker pole safely tucked away it was time to try flying the Yankee and the stay sail out on the same side as the main to see if we could put some wind into the equation, there was little of it about so it was a doubtful move but if your name is Gerry you have to try these things.

Whilst we didn't get much lift from them at least they weren't collapsing on us, probably due to the fact that we were making our own wind with the engine running! We continued to motor sail like this for the entirety of remaining day and all through the night. We are still having an issue with the hydraulic boom vang panel which is leaking hydraulic oil almost as fast as we can top it up which is a big concern and needs sorting out sooner rather than later, if only those new seals had arrived into Fiji before we had left!

Gerry is getting quite worried about it and has come up with a cunning plan (so cunning that he can pin a tail on it and call it a weasel - for those Black Adder fans, sorry to those who have no idea what I'm talking about!) anyway the plan is how we can deal with not having an operational boom vang for the remainder of the trip. Gerry got out a couple of blocks and a very long length of spare line and proceeded to make up a spare pulley, the idea being that he disconnects the boom vang from the boom and attaches the said pulley in its place and uses a winch to tighten down or release the boom as necessary - what could possibly go wrong????

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For the moment though the spare pulley is stashed away in the lazarette and hopefully won't see the light of day but it's there ready and waiting, just in case. The night motor sail was pretty much the same as the day, nothing much happening. I saw one Asian fishing boat at around 3am but it was a good distance away from us and didn't even show up on AIS. I was also entertained by a couple of Asian fishermen having a long conversation on the radio using the hailing channel which was a little irritating, it was a good job no one needed to use the radio hailing station for an emergency! Apart from that the night was boringly quiet with nothing to report. Again it got cold at around 4 am, I think we are growing more wimpy or thinner blooded as the years go by, who gets cold in the tropics???

Today began with a light cloud cover which is slowly being burnt off, the sea remains fairly flat and innocuous, there is no sign of anything living either on or in the water or the sky. We are continuing to motor sail with all three sails deployed and doing about 5.3 knots. In 24 hours we covered a further 129 NM and ran the engine for 22 hours. We are slowly eating our way through all of the prepped meals and should arr
ive with hardly anything in the fridge to hand over to bio security.

We have managed to have enough chocolate to see us home by some miracle and careful portion control. I am so looking forward to a roast dinner once we arrive though, it will make a change from food that can be eaten out of a bowl and with a spoon!

[David Fox]

Slowly getting there
12 October 2021
26 18.073'S:156 00.246'E,
At sea on passage from Fiji to Brisbane
Weather: Overcast then sunny, wind 4 - 12 knots, waves 2 meters

The wind was yet again noticeably missing in action for a good part of the day which meant that we had to run the engine and in fact ran it for the entire 24 hours. Having said that though we changed our clocks during this period, putting them 2 hours back to be in line with Brisbane time (we hope!) so we did actually have 2 hours without the engine running. Our speed was slow, making an average of 4.5 knots, the swell was negligible so it was quite comfortable for most of the time.

We saw no ships, no signs of life in the sky or in the water once again. Our day was spent reading and staring at the horizon after writing a few messages to our companion sailors - one of whom should be reaching their destination of Southport today whilst the other two will be a day and two behind us arriving if things continue as they have been, these are the two boats that took the northern route. as things stand at the moment we should reach Rivergate Marina on the 14th , late in the afternoon but with the winds that we are currently (not) getting it might just push out to the 15th.

Our night sail was also uneventful and we both managed to get a good few hours' sleep in. Today has started out with a very early dawn, making us wonder if we actually have altered the clock to far back, possibly due to daylight saving hours, I'm sure it will all become clear when we get to the marina.

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We had a huge line of black cloud surrounding us at dawn and we expected to get wet but it just moved past us without dropping its load and the sun followed it and gradually the cloud evaporated leaving us with a sunny sky and a few fluffy clouds. The wind has clocked around slightly and is trying to fill our sails and failing miserably, so we are still motor sailing for now. the forecast is for a decent blow on the beam - if only that were what we are getting! We have spent the early part of the morning finishing up the odd bits of food stuff, we have no eggs, no bacon,
no hash browns, no more brownie mix, next to no oil etc left. I think we will be able to take the last bits out of the freezer today as they will make up lunch and tonight's dinner so we will be able to turn the freezer off and save a bit of power that way. Gerry has been in touch with the guys who can apparently fix our hydraulic boom vang leak so that is in hand, we just have to keep it going for another day or so and mop up the leak on a regular basis. So far we haven't put the second pulley system into action but it is ready, just in case we need it.

Our total mileage was 135NM (but that covers 26 hours) and as I have already said we ran the engine for 24 of those hours. The wind is supposed to increase significantly in the next 24 hours so I might have to leave tomorrows update until we reach the calm of the Brisbane river.

[David Fox]

Nearly home now and then into Quarantine Prison, or you would think so when you read Nicky's blog. Coming up shortly. Hope everybody has enjoyed Gerry & Nicky's adventures. You must have done as we are up to 34992 views as of 16th October 11.15 GMT ( +/- an hour). Anybody else embarking on similar that can have a shipmate follow your progress. Feel free to add any comments to the intrepid pair, its not exclusive. They are killing time and you know by now how Gerry is, so would welcome a bit of external input. Somebody must have been a cadet with him and sailed on the Timaru, Benedict, Starman Anglia and any other ships. David

Home soil at last
15 October 2021
27 26.662'S:153 06.434'E,
River gate marina, Brisbane
Weather: Cold and wet , wind 4 - 22 knots, waves 2 meters

Gone are those "Bounty Days" or those "Full of Eastern Promise"

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So our last day at sea had finally arrived and not a moment too soon! It was a cold and overcast start to the day. We managed to sail for most of the day but each time the speed dropped below 5.8 knots we started up the engine as we were determined to get to River gate marina today. The swell was lumpy and we tried to stay comfortably seated in the cockpit for the day. By lunch time the swell had calmed down enough that I could go below and cook up our last hot meal, or maybe I should say reheat it, as it was our last pre-cooked meal in the freezer.

As we approached Morton Bay the weather turned nasty, it began to rain like there was no stopping it, the wind increased and was coming at us at 22 knots on the beam, we were roaring along with just the main deployed at this point and wondering whatever happened to the "Queensland, beautiful one day and perfect the next" that was used so extensively in advertising the state. Maybe it was a different Queensland!

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Going through the bay there is a shipping channel that avoids all reef and is the safest passage to reach the river, did we take this option? Of course not, Gerry thought we would be perfectly OK taking a smaller route through the area which had a reported depth of 20 foot all the way through it - until it didn't! it was Ok to begin with but all of a sudden the depth reader began to drop rapidly, panic began to set in as it reached 6 foot (this is below the keel reading) and increased rapidly as it went down to 3 foot, 2 foot, 1 foot 9 inches. Before we grounded the boat Gerry took it out of auto pilot and hand steered us to where he hoped was deeper water.

Thankfully the depth increased gradually and we were once again in water over 6 foot deep under the keel which was just as well because there wasn't room for us to turn the boat around and we were under sail which would have made it pretty difficult to do anyway. A short while after the depth scare the rain finally let up for a short while and Gerry suggested that we get the main down and away before we got swamped once more - it was obvious that it was going to continue to rain, it was just a matter of how long we had between downpours. As quickly as we could manage we dropped the main, it wasn't pretty and didn't entirely drop into the bag but the rain had begun its relentless pounding yet again so we repaired to the cockpit and made sure we were back on course as the channel was quite narrow with reef on both sides, we didn't need to be getting any closer to it.

The rest of the trip up the river was uneventful and by the time we were close to the docks the rain had disappeared and the sun was getting hotter by the second. We had notified Border force and the marina that we were close to arriving and continued until we were in sight of the marina where we had been instructed to go into Berth B13. There was a fair tidal current going through as we approached the marina and Gerry wasn't confident that we could get into the slip we had been allocated without getting pushed sideways into the boat in the next slip so the dock master suggested that we go onto the quarantine dock until slack tide.

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This dock is a T dock and easy to get alongside so we were soon there and ready to tie up, at this point we were told to wear masks and gloves to throw the lines ashore. REALLY??

Gloves to handle lines that have been handled by us all year, wouldn't it make more sense for the line handlers on the dock to be wearing gloves if they were worried? Anyway we didn't rock the boat (pardon the pun) and wore gloves to throw the lines to the dock master. We were quickly tied up and given the rules for the moment, no stepping off the boat under any circumstances and no disposal of rubbish as yet. A security gate was then locked which shut us off from the rest of the docks. We spent the time clearing out and bagging up the foodstuff that we knew bio security would take off of us, referring to the huge notice boards about what we couldn't import which were attached to the security fence, luckily there wasn't too much as we had managed to eat just about everything that was banned prior to arrival.

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At slack tide the dock master reappeared and directed us to go across to the berth we had been allocated. The fenders and lines were swapped across to the port side as that was the side we would be tying up to and we motored across the way and into the slip where we were once again throwing lines to the dock master and tying up. At this point we noticed that there were 4 uniformed officials waiting at the end of our slip. As soon as we were settled the first lady approached, she was from Bio Security, wouldn't come aboard as we were "in quarantine" so we sat out on the deck to answer a heap of questions about what we had on board that might present a bio hazard. The lady was very pleasant and we were soon done with the questions, there was no inspection at this point but we were told that after we had finished with the hotel quarantine we have to call Bio Security who will then come on to the boat and do their inspection (after the horse has bolted!).


Next the other 3 officials - all from border security (customs and immigration) came onto the boat, gloved and masked and sat in the cockpit to carry out their questioning. So we filled out the usual in-bound cards and Gerry had already let them know that we were carrying a fire arm so for the next hour there were a million and one questions about the firearm which is a WW2 gun originally belonging to a German soldier which Gerry's dad owned and Gerry had inherited. As it was still operational it had to be surrendered and if we want to keep it it has to be rendered un fireable by a gun smith, all of which we were aware of and prepared to do. We had kept the gun in a small pelican gun box and offered the box to them to transport the gun but they had their own boxes and refused ours. Now this gun is small and fits into the palm of your hand easily, so not very big, it has 2 magazines both of which were empty and we had no ammunition. The border security guys produced a huge pelican case about 2.5 feet square and 1.5 feet deep, then inside that case were 2 smaller complete cases, both of which were bigger than the case we had. They put the gun into one of the smaller cases and the 2 magazines into the second case , put seals on the small boxes and noted the numbers, put both the small cases back inside the big case, applied seals to that and handed us a heap of paperwork.

Finally they had finished with their clearance, no further questioning about goods, alcohol limits, prohibited substances etc. we were cleared in. Whilst we were going through this process 2 police officers appeared at the side of the boat and waited until the border security officers had finished and left before they began their spiel about why they were here - basically it was to escort us to the quarantine hotel. Again there were a heap of questions, iPad filling out, data gathering and we were at last told we could get our gear together and make our way to the quarantine hotel.

And not the Bars your thinking , burp.

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The police called for a taxi to take us there and followed behind as a police escort, how to make you feel like a criminal 101! Once we were at the doors of the hotel the taxi driver told us not to get out of the car until we were told to, all we were missing were the handcuffs! Eventually the 2 police who had escorted us, following the taxi in their car, handed over our details to the police who were milling around inside the hotel foyer (nine of them) and one of them came to tell us we could exit the taxi and collect our bags from the boot. With bags in hand we went to enter the foyer and were abruptly told not to step up onto the side walk but stay in the road and come around to an entrance at the side.

Here QLD health had a table set up which they were sanitizing as we approached, Gerry was a little in front of me and as I went to join him at the table I got told to wait back and socially distance from him - WTF???? We have spent every day together and slept in the same bed for years and now I have to socially distance????

Any way the health people told him to remove his mask, issued him with a fresh disposable mask, sanitized his hands, asked him some questions and then pointed him through the doors to the foyer where another table was set up with 2 police officers standing behind it. Meanwhile I went through the interrogation and got asked if I had any questions, when will I learn to keep my mouth closed? I just had to know the reasoning behind 4 PCR tests - in my thinking it is overkill on a mammoth scale. I told them I could understand the arrival test and the day 13 test but why another test at day 5 and again 3 days after the quarantine period is completed - I just wanted to know the reasoning behind them.

The answer I got was "because it's the protocol". Oh boy, I just couldn't shut up and said "that's not a reason" to which I got asked what I was expecting as a reply - the science behind it maybe? The final answer I got given was "so that we can move you quickly to hospital if you test positive". I'm still unclear about the extra 2 tests so if anyone with a science background can help me out here I need to hear it! (I didn't mention my background at any stage and at no stage have we been asked if we have been vaccinated or had Covid).

So eventually I got pointed to the desk where Gerry was waiting and had a quick intervention from a policeman to assure the 2 behind the desk that it was OK for me to stand next to Gerry. These 2 police gave us the "rules" for the hotel stay - mask wearing at all times except when in the room, escort to our room (not allowed a key in case we can't be trusted to stay inside), no leaving the room for any reason apart from emergency evacuation, if the room has a balcony we can go out on it but no talking to any other guests, passing stuff to them etc, food will be delivered to the door - a 3 raps on the door, wait 15 seconds before opening the door fully masked and with the light and fan going in the bathroom to retrieve the food parcel and follow the instructions on the booklet in the room.

The first PCR test will be done in your room tomorrow. Then there was a bit of a discussion as to whether we could travel in the lift together! In the end they deemed it OK - what a hoot!

The next thing, as we are about to make our way behind the policeman to the lift, is we see another police officer with a mop going over the areas we have walked through, I almost wanted to look around for the hidden cameras and the guy who jumps out and calls the prank it was so ridiculously OTT but to be honest we were both knackered and ready to fall into bed by now.

As the police officer opened the door to let us into our cell, oops I mean room, he reiterated the facts that we couldn't leave the room and that we must always be masked when opening the door to collect packages or put out our dead, oops I mean rubbish and that there is a surveillance camera watching every move outside in the corridor and no mask equals fines.


So my understanding is that we can go out of the door stark naked as long as we are wearing our masks - who would have thought! Apparently the hotel would send us up some food shortly as it was past dinner time by now. We were now in our home for the next 14 days at the Hotel Grand Chancellor, the room is a typical hotel room, queen bed, 2 bedside lockers, a 2 seat sofa, small desk and work chair, coffee table, wall mounted TV (only viewable from the bed) empty mini fridge, small wardrobe with iron and ironing board, small ensuite, shower, toilet and basin.

NO bath which was a disappointment as I was looking forward to a relaxing Radox Moment to get rid of some of the aches and pains, as expected all the comforts of prison without the ability to go out for exercise. Oh and we do have a balcony which we can go out and stand on - whoop de do! I was very glad at this point that I had packed up all of our snack stuff, biscuits, chips, crackers, cheese, chocolate, cake and rum and coke. A short while later there was a rap on the door and 15 seconds later Gerry masked up and retrieved our "dinner". Two paper sacks each containing a throw away cardboard container with Nachos, a plastic knife and fork, a second small cardboard container with 2 doughnut holes in it, a bottle of water, a sheet with instructions on how to deal with the trash, a plastic trash bag and zip lock tie , this was dinner! Too tired to care we ate it and followed the instructions for disposal of the trash. Next it was time for a Hollywood shower (thank goodness for decent hot water and good water pressure) and bed. We were both exhausted and needed to catch up on some sleep. I'll fill you in with more tomorrow, I think that s enough reading for today. My last thought is that of all the countries we have been to and gone through quarantine and testing this is the most draconian and OTT system imaginable, there is no science to what is being done, it is all just thoughtless protocol and someone needs to justify the actions that are being applied. The Australian government has a lot to answer for!

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Yes, Minister,! comes to mind. What would the Australian comedians make of the above. Protocol made up by a committee, everybody wanting their ideas included, but nobody putting their name to anything in case it goes wrong. As we know in Britain its almost a free for all, very few countries with a red card and those with are not ones you would want to go to anyway, such as some of those places we have taken frozen lamb after a long anchorage, or places we have loaded bananas by hand.
So like I said above , Gerry and Nicky could do with a bit of external input during their prison sentence, at least so I am told in the 'nic' they get exercise and mixing with other inmates and better food than Nachos, such as porridge, bread and water. Doubt if they willl be eating any juicy steaks if they are dishing out plastic cutlery.

So you have all enjoyed their adventures so drop a line on the blog or to me by PM that I can pass onto them both. I have asked Gerry for a list of ships and people he can remember which I will publish here. The sun is streaming through the port as I type, so going to get a few rays of vitamin D , may be the last for a while.

[David Fox]

Hotel Quarantine ( Not California)
22 October 2021
'S: 'E, Grand Chancellor Hotel, Brisbane

Take these chains from my heart and set me free !!
Will there be a "Jail house Rock" tonight.
Looks like somebody is getting a bit Mozart & Liszt. Get them in Gerry, you have earned it.

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Here is our Jailhouse Doll, trying to make a silk purse out of a sows ear, no not you Gerry. You cannot keep a good woman down. Our reporter in Downtown Brisbane reporting from Grand ( though not so grand) Chancellor ( and obviously he has hold of the purse strings pretty tight) Hotel, Brisbane , the one an only Nicky !!!!


We find ourselves at the end of the first week in quarantine hotel / prison. To be honest the week has flown by with lots of head scratching and wonderment at the stupidity of the whole quarantine debacle as it applies to us. I don't disagree with the premise of quarantine but it shouldn't be a "one size fits all" blanket rule. As many of you know we did apply for a quarantine exemption based on the fact that we have been tested many times (always negative), have been double vaccinated with Pfizer, and would be spending at least 10 days (11 as it turned out) isolated on a boat travelling to Queensland with no physical contact with anyone else but each other, we were quite prepared to do the balance of the 14 days in hotel quarantine and be tested on arrival but we got a resounding "No" to our application with no reasons given for the decision. To say I am a bit angry about it is an understatement especially as the cost of this incarceration is over $4000 and we have to agree to 4 PCR tests in the period. Why 4 tests I have asked every health care worker that we come into contact with and to date no one can give me the scientific answer that I can understand and live with, well to be exact they haven't given any sort of answer apart from the fact that "it is the protocol". If we don't agree to have the 4 tests they keep you in quarantine for a further 14 days at your expense "to be certain that you haven't got Covid".
I know from some of the feedback on the last post that many of you think it ridiculous about the way we have been treated after all we didn't just get on a plane in Fiji and land in Australia a few hours later on the same day, we took an 11 day sea passage, with no contact with anyone else. Our sea passage is verifiable on our instrument panel which will show that we didn't stop anywhere before arriving at Rivergate marina so to today we have spent 18 days in isolation apart from the border security guys, quarantine police and Queensland health nose pokers, presumably all of whom are fully vaccinated ( if not, then why not). I can't believe that we haven't once been asked if
a) we have had Covid
b) if we are vaccinated and have proof.

Surely both questions are relevant as we would have some immunity to the virus.
I seriously wonder if they have picked the dumbest of their employees to "manage" the quarantine hotel policing, whilst everyone has been very pleasant, some of their thinking (like if Gerry and I are allowed to travel in the lift together was a prime example) leaves a lot to be wondering about.


Our first night in the hotel was a case of eating food (remember the nachos?), standing in the shower for ages until our skin was prune like and dropping into bed as soon as we had finished in the shower. I think we slept like the dead that first night as we had been almost 48 hours without much sleep by that stage. I'm sure you will be thrilled to hear that the food has improved slightly over the week, except for the first morning when we were presented with muesli which looked like something the cat threw up - not my breakfast go to meal!

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We entered quarantine towards the end of the 2 week menu rotation so I have put the menus for both weeks in the gallery in case you are interested in what they are serving up. What the menu doesn't tell you is that they throw in fruit each day, usually at breakfast, which can be either a fruit salad (fresh or tinned), an apple, pear or mandarin along with a snack of some sort at lunchtime for the afternoon muchies like a bag of chips, shapes, rice crackers, trail mix, chocolate bar, then there are 3 small bottles of water and a bottle of fruit juice each day to round out the menu.

Most Chief Stewards would have been sacked if they produced that

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It's certainly enough food but you don't have any choice of the main items - it's whatever they have dictated, whether you like it or not. All meals arrive in a brown paper sack containing cardboard takeaway and / or plastic containers with the food inside, a plastic knife, fork and serviette come in a prepacked plastic bag along with a sheet of instructions detaining how to dispose of your meal remnants in the provided plastic bag with a zip lock tie. If a spoon is required to eat anything it is one of those bamboo things.

Or made to walk the plank

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Now you would think that they would be a bit more "plastic and waste conscious" in this day and age but we each get the entire content every meal. We do our best to reduce the waste by putting both sacks, the cardboard and utensils into just one plastic bag for disposal and save the extra plastic bag for Ron. I don't get the need to send us instructions on the disposal every meal - surely they could have just laminated one copy and stuck it on the back of the room door for everyone to follow? It would have saved 27 pieces of paper in our room and if there are 2 people in one room they could just use one paper sack for both meals and cut out the need for a second sack. None of the meals come with salt and pepper but we asked reception for some and got sent up a cup full of individual packets so that was OK. Whilst I have said there is no choice in the meals there is the ability to order extra or different food from room service but this isn't included in the quarantine cost - you get billed separately for anything extra you order plus you have to pay for the provided meals whether you eat them or not. Tea bags, coffee and milk are supplied on request, which is just as well as we seem to be drinking them out of house and home.

Yuck!!

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I think I've mentioned before that there is a limit on the amount of alcohol we are allowed to order each day, one bottle of wine but I'm not quite sure if that is each or per room so it's a good job that I brought the bottle of rum off of the boat with us!

The other comment I have about the meals is the times of them, the breakfast arrives at around 8.30, lunch turns up between 12.30 and 1 and dinner arrives at 6.30, for me they are far too close together but I guess they can't please everyone. Oh and one last thing is the heat of the meals, most times they are just warm enough but we have had a couple of meals that have been cold and if we had been in a restaurant they would have gone back to the kitchen - this isn't an option with how the meals are served up.

Double Yuck!!

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If anyone is local and can bake a cake, please hide a ladder inside it. What about you Steve Pelecanos, your a local lad, dress up as a flying tab nab and deliver some spiritual counselling to the pair.(Rum is the spirit of choice). Or you could go as a Greek Unorthodox priest, dress the wife up as a nun (Nun tonight and nun tomorrow night as well)in a habit a clean habit as well. His Grace Archbishop Makarios Pelecanos and her disgrace Mrs Dianne Pelecanos G&T and Bar.

You have to be proud of an Engineer sailing from Jacksonville, Florida to Brisbane without a sexton or Norry's tables in sight, just using sea temperatures and the seat of his pants ( plus SWMBO's at times) and a school atlas the one with all the countries covered in red that was our Empire until Labour gave them away.
Looking at that food (if you could call it that) make hospital food edible. When I used to go away to Scout Camp for a week and cook everything over a wood fire, it was far better than whats been served (or shall we say is morphed up), it might have been a little smoky at times, but it was hot and healthy. You want to try roasting a joint of beef in a large biscuit tin covered in clay. All of that Gerry and Nicky are eating looks disgusting. No doubt that hotel will be getting a bit of stick on Trip Advisor. Definately needs improvement in the commestibles area. I happened to be carrying out a pressure vessel inspection at one of the HM Prisons in the UK and the cook/baker had baked some pies, and I thought they look after them in here.

[David Fox]

More Days in Purgatory.
UK
The transport secretary also announced that a further 30 new countries and territories, including Peru and Uganda, were being added to the list of locations with approved COVID-19 vaccine programmes. It brings the total number of countries on the list to 135.

Those travellers arriving in the UK from these destinations, who have had a full course of a COVID vaccine, do not need to quarantine for 10 days on arrival, take a pre-departure test or a day eight post-arrival test.
By contrast, those who arrive in the UK from a country or territory not on the list of locations with approved COVID-19 vaccine programmes do not count as fully vaccinated at the UK border.
The system of managed hotel quarantine was introduced by the government in February in response to the emergence of new coronavirus variants in different parts of the world. It only remains to be seen what this Winter brings. David

Ministers had also been under pressure to introduce a hotel quarantine system to follow the example of countries like New Zealand and Australia in keeping COVID rates related to international travel low.

As to the housekeeping stuff - well basically there isn't any. Our room isn't serviced at all in all of the time we are here, and we are paying hotel rates for this? We can order a clean towel pack which is left outside the door as per the meal rules - 15 seconds to answer the knock, turn on the bathroom fan and light before opening the door and make sure the balcony door is closed, wear a mask and don't step outside the room. All dirty towels are to be placed in a provided orange bag and zip tied before putting outside the door for pick up. We can also order a linen change pack for the bedding, we tried this yesterday but nothing appeared so we rang down today to make sure we get clean sheets today, still waiting!
The other thing that we can order is a cleaning pack containing a spray bottle of disinfectant, a spray bottle of glass cleaner, a bottle of detergent, 2 cleaning clothes and a washing up sponge. So we can self- service our room! I think I might have to prepare an invoice to give to the hotel when we leave for hotel housekeeping services rendered against our hotel bill!

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Our room had a welcome pack when we arrived which basically consisted of a booklet which gives you the hotel rules and instructions (including what to do with meal residue!) and a Red cross "Quarantine wellness kit" - a book of things meant to help you survive in quarantine. Having flipped through it Gerry and I are certain that they are messing with our heads. On one of the activity pages there is a suggestion to do "colouring in" of this picture - good idea, if only they had supplied the coloured pencils or crayons to do it! There is a hotel pen that maybe we should use but with everything coloured in blue it might get a bit monotone. Oh I almost forgot to add that in the lunch sack each day we get a puzzle page - 2 sacks equals 2 of the same puzzle page!

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My next observations are about the balcony stupidity. We are allowed out on to the balcony as long as we have our masks on, don't attempt to speak to anyone on another balcony, don't pass anything to another guest on their balcony, no smoking, maintain 1.5 meter distance between people on the balcony (even if you share the same bed?), don't climb on to another balcony. One of our neighbours is evidently a smoker as we can smell the cigarette smoke when they are outside. If we are going to open the room door to retrieve anything we must make sure that the balcony door is closed first, I'm not sure why - maybe Covid is waiting to make its way into the hotel via the balcony door? There is no other obvious reason. I know there are some numb nuts out there but really, we need instructions for use of a balcony?

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Our second day saw the Queensland health reps appearing and poking sticks down our throats and up our noses, not particularly pleasant but we knew it was coming. The day passed in a blur of reading, watching crap TV and not doing much. Then on day three we had a phone call from Queensland health to check on our well-being, remember that this is day 14 of isolation for us, Gerry was polite and informed them that we were fine and obviously didn't have covid as this was day 14 for us and we would have had symptoms by now. We got asked all the relevant questions, like our names, dates of birth, home address, phone numbers etc and assured the rep that we were as well as could be expected for a pair of seniors being held hostage. The final question had us wanting to give a sarcastic answer, the question was "and are you available to have you next PCR test on day 5?" the temptation to say let us just check our diaries for availability was overwhelming but we resisted and choked back the sarcasm.

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We are both finding it hard to adjust to the floor not moving beneath our feet with each step, we are getting used to not having to brace with every step but are both having a few issues with "watch sleep" we tend to drop off to sleep but wake after a couple of hours ready to go back on watch, so although we try for a decent night's sleep we are both struggling a bit and still needing nana naps during the day - Gerry is a master of those, I don't do so well. The bed has taken some getting adjusting to, it is big, doesn't rock from side to side or bounce up and down and is considerably softer than the boat bed. Of course the pillows are all wrong, the covers are too heavy and Gerry hogs the sheets! The other thing we have found difficult to get used to again is the air conditioning, it's very drying to the skin and noisy which we aren't use to. Gerry checked the filter to make sure it was clean, someone did a good job on that as it was in fact the cleanest hotel filter we have ever seen, and yes he checks in every hotel room we go into.

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The TV is on from the minute Gerry has his eyes open and we have realised that we haven't missed a single thing in two years without regular TV. Has entertainment seriously come to this idea of "reality TV" like Love Island, SAS, I'm a celebrity, get me out of here etc? I liked The Block when it first began but I'm disappointed to see it has turned into another "bitch and bark" program pitting the contestants in personal battles each week, so that's another one to cross off my list I just can't watch that crap. Thank goodness we have Netflix etc at home to watch. Even the news has me shaking my head and wondering how some of the segments qualify for a news program.
I have my ancestry stuff to occupy my imprisonment so I'm good, Gerry watches all sorts of rubbish on YouTube, some of which is interesting but most is just his sense of humour.

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So we got to day five and it was time for our second nose poke, again negative and then came the Queensland health check up on day six. Gerry answered the internal phone and got stuck with the stupid questioning which was being recorded. He made a point of telling them that it was day 17 for us and of course we were well. Then came the questions about name, date of birth etc. I thought he would explode as he asked why they keep asking this as they obviously have all of our details in their data base and they called us in our hotel room from which we can't leave and the chances of us changing our name, DOB, Home address, phone number from confinement are pretty unlikely. Things went very quiet and the poor girl on the other end said she would call us again after our day 11 test - brave (or stupid) girl!
Well with one week still to go I'm sure I will have more to say at the end of the quarantine period so there will be at least one more post on this site before I close it off and deprive you of my ramblings.

I believe from what Gerry told me they might well have escaped and on parole subject to a 4th PCR test. They must have bruised noses by now having been poked so many times. There is a medical centre walking distance from the Marina, but the downside is its a drive through, so they have to get a taxi to take them 20 yards say. How stupid is that not to have walk up facilities as well. The UK hasn't got the monoply on stupid officials, perhaps it comes with the job spec regardless of country. Decisions by committee only.

So they're out on parole.

By email from Gerry.
We have to isolate on board until we get the results of the final test which we will take tomorrow.

We're not completely out of food - eating the canned stuff like tuna, chicken, castelet, corned dog etc. we went to a cafe nearby yesterday but it’s a public holiday today so we’ll have to go and see if they’re open. Frankly after 25 days of isolation we don’t care. Gerry 

[David Fox]

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Are you free sailor?
Yes, got our negative results overnight. So, after travelling roughly half way around the world during a pandemic we’ve returned a negative test everywhere we’ve been tested. This is mainly due to the fact that by default we self isolate - it used to be called being antisocial.

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I understand the fuel and tanker driver shortage has miraculously fixed itself - but the price has gone up, which is a worldwide issue.


As far as I know the old vaccinations were a one or 2 shot deal which lasted for years, some for life. It appears that now with the new and improved vaccine we can still get and pass on the virus - progress?
Gerry

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Good news, though if you had been +ve you could have only caught it from that shower of ***** or the room.
So what are your immediate plans?
A decent meal ashore somewhere?
A new suit of clothes?
Where are the Family?   
Are they going to be visiting you or is everybody in lockdown still?
Back to Tass on the first silver bird?   
Will it be another quarantine there even though its part of Auss?
David.
The marina isn’t near any good restaurants so we would have to taxi. We might wait until we get back to Tas.


This week is cleaning the boat and removing items we don’t want then fly to Tas on the 7th. At the moment there is no quarantine between Queensland and Tas unless you happen to have visited an infected shop or building like an airport terminal between certain dates. If you say you have you’ll be tested on arrival then into home quarantine.
Our daughter is in Perth so no plans to visit plus the border with Western Australia is closed as they haven’t got the vaccination rate up.
Gerry.
So any local Blueys in Brisbane want to meet Gerry and Nicky now's your chance. Pm/Im me with your contact details and I will pass them on to Gerry. David

[David Fox]

Alongside in Brisbane Marina 4th November 2021. Progressing with the Work List.

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Here is Gerry via email with an update

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We now have the hydraulic control panel back in and recommissioned plus I’m in the process of ordering the RO plant motor brushes. The sailmaker is coming today to take the mainsail away for repairs. The customs broker organized for a valuer to come to the boat and we should have the official customs valuation today or tomorrow.

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Then the boat can officially enter Australia, with import tax to pay at 5% , despite being 30 years old. Then it can be sold.

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[David Fox]

Home Sweet Home. 8/11/21 Sunny Tasmania.
Gerry & Nicky are home now at their house in Tasmania and not a moment too soon I am sure they thought.
Well the work list started. I will let Gerry from his email tell the rest.

So, arrived home and things look ok. The grass is a bit long but we can soon chop that down with the tractor. The ride on mower battery is flat and so is Nicky’s car but I managed to get that running early this morning. I now get an auxiliary battery malfunction warning come up**. This battery I think controls the transmission shifting so I’ll phone someone to check. The biggest problem was the house water pump had stopped so no running water (until I switched over to the emergency supply, gravity fed). The pump was free to turn so I suspected it was the start capacitor. A local pump guy had the capacitor in stock and fitted it - $90 all up which isn’t bad consider the travel. A new pump was $720!

Traveling back from Brisbane we had to wear a mask in the airport and the plane plus while in the airport had to maintain 1.5m distance until of course you got on the plane and sat next to someone while breathing in recirculated air - what a load of bolloxs. You can’t say anything as it’s ‘safety’. Or some 'jobsworthy', rules by committee.

** Wheres 'Snip Snip' when you need him. You won't have anymore trouble with those alarms as he cuts the wires.

[David Fox]

Since arriving home Gerry has been busy in the garden, that is if
you call several acres a garden or an estate. Cutting down grass with his ride on mower until hitting a hidden rock which resulted in the 42" blade deck being badly dented and blade also requiring replacement. More expense. I am sure they are happy to be home. They did comment on how quiet it was no rattle of rigging, glugging of bilges, the hum of the reefer compressors etc and thats just alongside. It did take them a while to get used to trying to sleep on a non moving bed in the quiet. We are all reading about the quarantine hotel ( pri$ons) in the UK, much the same as what Nicky & Gerry experienced. The people who run them must be the grandchildren of your worst nightmare seaside landladies who charged you to have a bath in their establishments which smelt of frying and boiled cabbage. And as for the security guards they had to really scrape the bottom of the gene barrel.

On the run up to Christmas I will pick out a few 'wish you were here' of the past two years.

18th December 2019 saw them in the idylic West Caicos Marina at the start of thei voyage after leaving Jacksonville Florida. Covid was just something happening in the Far East, some local problem. Nothing to worry about, thats a Chinese problem. Little did we think it would be ours as well. Masks, social distancing, bog roll shortages whats all that about?

Talking to Marina staff they learnt here was some good fishing off the entrance to the Marina, including lobster, the down side was there was a resident tiger shark that would feed off the 'offcuts and guttings' thrown overboard by the local fishermen. They decided to keep to turkey that was on the menu.