Our first night at Kounungai wasn’t glorious at all… the predicted Easterly didn’t arrive, so instead of being sheltered on the west coast of Moreton Island we were exposed to both the southerly wind and the south-westerly swell.. a rocky, noisy night! Conditions settled the next day, BoM updated the forecast to southerly so we thought about going back to the north side of Peel Island… and then the Easterly kicked in. Having decided to stay put, I did some work remotely for NAB, then bit the bullet and got my tax done (unpaid leave is starting to take it’s toll). Richard got his fishing gear out and proudly displayed his first (and so far only) catch. I put the parsley to good use garnishing a pumpkin soup then had an hour coaching session with some French teachers – it’s great to be working with passionate people, in a space I’m passionate about.
Our second night was calm and uneventful. We felt luxurious on our new high-density foam mattress from Clark Rubber; the V-berth feels twice as wide now we’re not both falling into the middle! After a good night’s sleep we awakened to a lovely sunny morning, with some welcome swallows chittering happily on the lifelines. It warmed up enough to deploy the boom tent, go for a swim and try out the transom shower… the water pressure leaves something to be desired and some coral reefs would have been nice to snorkel over, but it was refreshing and on a positive note, an inspection of the anode on the sail drive confirmed it’s looking fine.
Today is really the first day I’ve felt like we’re living the lifestyle we set out to road test (sea trial would be the more appropriate description). It’s just the two of us on the boat, we’re not going anywhere or preparing the boat to go anywhere. We’ve both done the sorts of things we’d be doing; Richard busied himself making a leather sheath for the beautiful hand-crafted knife he picked up at the Forge Festival earlier in the year and I worked on some e-Readers and did some follow-up work for coaching clients. There’s a potential buyer wanting to look at the boat tomorrow morning, so we’re heading back to WMYC this afternoon – a short motor back across the bay. As we hauled anchor we were treated to a family of four turtles doing backstroke near the boat, waving their flippers at us. They’re much more timid than dolphins; they won’t get as close but they’re a beautiful sight nonetheless, playing at a distance.
As we motor off I remark to Richard ‘So this is what it could be like…’ His reply reminds me to be mindful; enjoy the present moment. ‘This is what it is like, honey… this is where we are…’ How true… for today, our dream conversion is happening, and I’m enjoying every minute of it!