owlrigh

The first sight of home was from the bus as we wound our way towards Airlie. Or -- I saw my family's catamaran, for theirs is an unmistakable red. It was only then I saw my own yacht, which is a nondescript white. I could see the bullets of wind as a mass of white water moving across the bay. The gale warning my father had told me of was in full swing.

As soon as I stepped off the aeroplane I could feel the wind. Had I note been holding on I would have been blown away to the side, over the barrier. It was raining. My umbrella, when I ventured to take it out, nearly went for a world voyage without me!

The swell across from Hamilton Island was so that the ferry was thrashed. One of those catamaran ferries, which don't normally feel the swell, and with that odd half-roll which confuses those feet used to a mono. Spray covered the windows and waves beat against the sides. Quite thrilling, really, if one does not own a yacht one fears for and worse -- has to get to in a half-metre wind-driven swell.

( Smelly welcomes and dinghy adventures. )

I was at least no longer nervous of anchoring when we finally left Bundaberg. That one I conquered a few days beforehand by going off down the river and setting at anchor a few times. I have it down pat now: putting it down is "easy" -- I am not certain of how much chain to put out yet -- and despite my brother's helpful "more the merrier" injunction. It may be so for holding purposes but not so much for my arms.

Lifting anchor was more interesting: I pull up a bit, run back to the wheel and motor forwards a bit, run up to pull more up, and so on until I get the anchor up. I forsee this being a problem in rough conditions -- there is no solution for it but that I develop some mean biceps.

When the afternoon came that my dad pronounced us leaving, I could handle the anchor and turning on the engine -- no mean feat when you've to figure out why the dad-blurned thing won't start. (It was the battery.)

On went the engine.

"Don't worry," shouted my dad from his catamaran when I asked for clarification of the river channel. "Just follow us."

( Don't trust the people on catamarans. Rather long. )