The Dumb things some people do when visiting the Great Barrier Reef

Today we woke up to almost 80% of heat as the sunrise shown in the hatch window of the stern of the ship.
The breeze from the outside was a welcome . The rians fell softly on our ship and seemed to dry up instantly.
Cereal was on the menu followed by cold Wrapped Sandwiches , and some time Rob got to read and i blogged and sent a few messages. Surprisingly the cockpit was cooler ans we had our tea up there along with skipper gabbing away and talking to himself in his mirror . The clouds are kinda dark but the wind is a steady 15-20 knotts E/SE and try to dry our laundry after it got a sprinkling . Yesterday we seen a odd sight dont ask me why people have to set fireworks at Halloween but they sure did , then some daft idiot set off a red flare and we thought someone was in distress :/ you dont need tv just look outside at all the things going on. Like the other day 2 young bloaks were speeding in their jet skis the first guy was hauling down like he had caught fire and all a sudden the engine stopped and he was thrown in a summer salt in mid air and on the water he laid on his back , i seen his buddy yell " i told you to slow down " lol but he was showing off and he got towed back to the mainland :P   It never ends you find someone that just pushes the limits on safety at the marina and you wonder why more people are not injured ??  the worst is when you are sailing in?at night and there are no anchor lights on the ships that are moored ??? huh thats Insane ! what if a ship sails at night like us and we run into another ship ?? " whoopsie " ?? not  or your asleep and a catamaran rams you in the night and you find yourself in davy jones locker ! i  think they need a law about moored ships that are anchored out side the marina .

Set aside that thought and i have seen another sad sight
beer bottles and glass floating in the sea
paper bags and trash where people just are too lazy to pick up after themselves
Sure lets junk up the Great Barrier Reef ! it will take care of itself !  The saddest sight i seen was at 5 Island where so much trash had drifted on shore it was like a junk yard :(
it was hard not to want to pick it up all of it ! i feel sorry for the sea life and the mammals that call the islands and the sea home . We a humans need to be reminded this is not our home , we are just visiting and we need to show respect for the Great Barrier Reef and the sea and land life around it .

you think that with a ocean so big people would respect it
but there are a few that have No respect for anyone but themselves

and everyone else suffers in the process .

Passing the time away

We are still in Arlie Beach until the gear box that Rob ordered comes back from Brisbane . Rob has been sanding the deck for something to do , I have been doing crossword puzzles
and im reading a chapter in the Good Book a day ;)
 The march flies are so bad near Cid Harbor and Hook island , we have heard they are attacking the tourists
and its almost impossible to rest or enjoy a day at the beach . They are concidered a Horse fly in the United States and those buggers will bite you hard! and we thought sand flies were bad . Rob had to buy 2 egg flips (spatuals) to kill them they are that big ! luckily we dont see but a few of them since we have been stuck in the bay here at Erlie Beach. The winds have finally died down here 10-15 knotts so its more comfortable now
We bought the Cd " are you being served ?" it has some good episodes in it , i love British Satire ;P
rob also bought Johnny Cashs Cd with June Carter Cash and we listen to to in the evenings cause the radio stations are frilled with the rap music and techno be bopping crap lol

You can always tell when its laundry day in the Bay  half the ships have laundry hanging on the lines on their ship to dry lol looks like a Chinese Junk Boats lol
but its cheaper than burning them up in those gas dryers
and spending 5 dollars a load for a small wash ! Not !
the marina i filled with boaties using the facilities so we seldom do our laundry for that reason if you can get a good sunny day and s/e breeze its perfect for drying the clothes ;)

happy sailing !!

I CAN NAME THAT SOUND IN 2 NOTES haha

Now that i have been living on "TRAX" our home that floats lol we have become adjusted to some pretty strange sounds . Creeks and bangs, strange sounds that seems to appear when your either sleeping or having a meal . The topping lift is a weird one , this is part of the boom of the main sail that will vibrate with the wind , its goes wawawawawawaw lol and its quite annoying . or theirs "WINDY we call the wind generator shes always humming wildly when the wind picks up , and when it drops she will slow down . No way can you sleep with her going all night so we shut off her Life supply with a flick of the switch  at night . then one night we kept hearing a sound like rattling teeth when we was eating our "tea" and rob investigated it and it was the solar light switch that has a ball on the end of the string and banging on the glass as the ship rocks lol  N ext is the inverter that hums on and off while charging the freezer and frig ( hole ) haha it works ever extra hard if i have to plug in the computer to charge when it gets low :P  and then you have the main stays those wires that come off the mast for stability. they also vibrate zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz no wonder Skipper sings and yaks all day long and squaks when all are going at once haha  hes picked up sounds of the barn swallow and he can imitate them to a tee !   im gonna try and see if he will copy the sound of a kookaburra lol 
The most obvious sign is the toilet door that slaps back and forth i you dont jimmy a pillow inbetween her and the wall or she goes fllip bang flip bang  lol and lastly is the motor to the ship that has to run one hour to get the water hot and charge the ships battery sound like a pile driver on cement  :P  and my computer oh and the mp3 player and batteries.   mom and dad didnt call me sonar ears for nothing rofl



AHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhh the quiet of sailing in the Serene soundings of the sea  haha

I will Go where YOU send me , from sea to land and beyond

Hi there just been staying at Erlie Beach for now the winds picked back up at we had 2 days of swells of over 30 knotts at times . I didnt even attempt to fix dinner , we opted for soup and bread for the night and went to bed early . The rain poured down all day and into the night . The boat rocked fiercely almost heeling over from the gunnel at times. It is not always pleasent when trying to read or even take a hot shower before bedtime . We did manage to take the dingy to Erlie Beach point and rope her to the jetty and walk in town to get a few books and rob had a ice cream at Mc donalds i had a sorbet' at baskin in robins . It was kinda wet and muggy and rained in patches the whole time making it more humid . Its almost Summer here in Queensland so that means more heat and humidity .Funny how i have family in USA and its October and they are having cool weather and fall and we are Roasting lol . You dont realize how big the world really is untill you fly across the ocean to another continent. We are getting ready to head back to Yeppoon in a few weeks
if all goes well if not sooner. The gear box is still getting repaired at the marina . We could sail back with the Northerlies but there is no chance in that untill mid November and we need to have the motor fixed to help send us back. I used to think having upkeep on a house or even a rental was expensive ! Geesh it insane all the things that go wrong from the toilet to the autofurler acting up when we sail !  Its been almost 7 months since we first set sail to the Whit Sundays it has been more than a vacation to me more like a life adjustment to the ocean ;)  I dont know where GOD will send us next , but He leads and WE follow . We have seen over 3 dozen islands including harbors and inlets from the most beautiful to the plain but all of them have their own beauty and wonder GOD has created them all beautiful in their own way . Amidst the mozzies and the biting march fies we have had to wack with a egg flip and kill by the dozens , there is still the moments that are the most serene like the 15-20 knot winds and sunny weather when sailing ! or the encounter of the Humpback Whales and their babies a sight to behold to anyone that has never seen such a huge mammal . God is so amazing so unspeakable in all his creation .

above all

Today was one of those wonderful sailing days . Although the motor to the ship was not working we had plently enough wind in the sails for a short time till it dropped off. I took advantage of that time and laying face up on the deck as she gently sailed with the breeze in my hair. I looked up into the sky it was full of pufft white clouds everywhere and the sun was shining through them . The Sun was warm , my laundry was hanging to dry , and it was a good day . I sat and as i looked up into the sky i thought WHAT A MIGHT GOD WE SERVE ! all around me was ocean , ships sailing by and nothing but the hum of the wind generator as it picked up the wind . Lots of questions come to mind when looking up into that endless sky , wonder how far heaven is ? wonder if the angels see me down here ? and these and many more questions come to mind like a small child that asks her father why why why ?  All i know is the Holy Spirit is the Wind in My Sails ;)
as i take a deep breath in to just fill my lungs with the air i Thank God for every blessing he has given me , my family my children , the people i met in the hospital at OSU and Grant Trauma , all the nursing homes and the prisons i was blessed to sing to Gods hurting children . I thank HIM for getting me through the hard times the times i cried so hard that i could not breathe from grief , the times i prayed for the dying . And although people in the USA were constantly persecuting me for sharing the gospel of Jesus i count it all Joy because what i did i did it in Love just as Jesus  did for us on that cross

HE was crucified and laid behind a stone
HE lived to die , rejected and alone
like a rose trampled on the ground
he took the fall
and thought of me
above all                       

The Anchor holds

   

I often wonder how such a huge ship that weighs in over 11 tons can be securely held in place by its anchor .After all it is not very big , nor does it know where to adhere below the sea surface . Man has to find a spot that seems suitable for anchorage, then carefully lowered while adding extra length of chain . Sometimes we find ourselves trying to anchor in the mud or the sand . That would not be a problem but for some anchors they will not secure themselves in the sand without a certain type of anchor called the reef anchor that has arm like projections like a spider on each side allowing to grip the reef or dig into the sand securely .

Most ships whether they are owned or chartered out will have a wench that has a motor to raise and lower them . I often wondered how the sailors threw the anchor overboard without a motor !

You would have to be either very strong or have a dozen men help you . The amazing thing is that a piece of the boat that is so odd looking can securely hold that ship down in the water ! when the wind and swells are raging and the boat will either swing in a half circle and then back again or facing the beam of the swell it will rock the boat side to side or hobby horse her bow to stern .

Personally i dont like the rocking as much as the hobbyhorse ing espically when trying to sleep and your in the stern of the ship . you tend to slide from head to foot and when the swells are very big you just might meet your significant other half way as you are sliding back and forth . I am lucky i have not got sheet or rug burn from it lol

 There is more to a ship and living in her than meets the eye ;)

 above all we have our anchor 

his name is Jesus and he keeps us securely in his sight and under his wings 

and in his precious care 

other anchors may hold for a time , untill the tide shoves them aground 

but our Lord will never leave us stranded He loves his children 

and HIS anchor HOLDS Eternally FOREVER ;)

Footprints in the sand

As most of you have been reading in my postings i do describe with my life experiences on the sea . Not everyone will agree on my views and that is ok ;) GOD made each of us different , no two alike on this Earth
With that when you read my postings i always put GOD in front of my travels , my walk my life . I think the experiences we are given in this lfe on planet Earth are like a footprint in the sand . once walked on the wet sand it leaves the impression of the travelers foot . Although we may not know what kind of person walked on that sand , we know it was a person by the footprint it left .  This is what Jesus did on this Earth .HIS footprint was not just a imprint but a gave us a path for us as sinful humans to follow . At the end of the Trail was the Shed blood of Jesus on that Cross . But although the trail is gone . Through HIS love for us the journey has just begun when We except him as our Lord and Savior .  We may see only one set of the footprints in life but that just means Jesus Is carrying us to our destination !


 We often stop at beaches to stretch our legs and look for shells  and i usually come across footprints of others in the sand , some big feet , others little children , all sizes and shapes coming to and from the beach
and it makes me think " Lord i pray that the people who made those prints know who you are so that in there journey that they take to their destination they are ready to meet you someday . Even just a print on the sand makes me wonder and i stop to pray for those who left the print behind .

A little rain must fall

We have relocated to Shute Harbor
 The rains and winds were getting stronger in the S/E so we had to relocate Happy Bay was not a very happy place to visit :/ i was amazed at the junk on the beach , twisted metal and the beach itself is not people friendly.
most places you can walk on the beach in barefoot . not this one . shoes preferably steel toe would be safer. The trail was about the only nice part of the Island .Sad to see something that is gone neglected by people. We have sailed to over 3 dozen places and this place by far is the most disappointing. The anchorage was good though and it held back the winds up to 25 knots !
 Its now raining very hard on our ship , we have the windows and the hatch battened down ;)This time is used for reading , and sometimes if i am brave enough to tackle the oven and that refrigerator that is a "hole in the ground " lol i will make muffins or a cake . Shute Harbor has a jetty and the marina and bus service all we have to do is get in the dingy and go to the jetty and take a bus to go shopping in town ;)

Its been wild and windy all day long , but hopfully in a few days we will see the sun again :/
I am looking foward to doing my yoga its too cramped to attempt it in the cabin lol
We did do our laundry and Rb hung his outside the cockpit on lines lol then the rain came , mine was inside on a rack thank the Lord :P

Lord Let me be a "light house " for the Lost at sea

It was more than a hearts desire to live in Australia . About a year ago i felt the Lord calling me out of United States , the doors to my life were shutting all around me . And i remember as i was driving home from work one day it felt like i no longer belonged in America , like a ghost just passing through  the strangest feeling to know your there but only for a time . I told the Lord " Lord where ever you need me to go i will follow , send me " then after confessing that i though " just great you dummy what iif he sends you to Africa or Antarctica ?
i was not selective in where God was sending me ! But HE knows are heart , and In November 2009 I met Rob who lived in Queensland , and we feel in love and the rest is history ;)

So with me being a christian and trying to let my light shine , has been a challenge while sailing on the ship.
Nothing stops me from praying for other boaties in my silence. and at times i have chucked a note explaining Gods love and the Salvation of Jesus on it , with a prayer and a hope it will reach someone that needs HIS love . Once i met this lady in the bakery that was crying and i didnt even know her and i told her " i will pray for you dear " i t was as if i felt her heart breaking , she had all she could do to keep half a smile on her face .

Please dont get me wrong i have my moments i enjoy the sea , and have seen so much and feel so blessed
but i am a person that thrives on personal contact , and if i cant talk to someone about Jesus or just be there to comfort them i feel lost out at sea.   Letting my light shine on the sea , being a beacon for the Lost like a lighthouse leading the ships in from the darkness to a safe harbor to anchor , my desire is to be like that .
I know i cant lead them all to Jesus , but Lord let my light shine strong let the warmth of your love be that beacon for them in the dark passages of life . That reminds me of when we motor in the darkness and sometimes you cant see a hand in front of your face only the navigation map and the port and starboard light to guide the way . Jesus is our compass  the Holy Spirit is the wind in our sails  and through faith alone can we navigate safely to our destination .

Some days are just pure Magic ;)

I know i have wrote many of a posting on the negative things with sailing
but its not all negative and gloom and doom with living in a sailing yacht .
Some Evenings when the wind is just a breeze and cool as we are watching the sun go down
on the horizon , Rob and me will have cheese and crackers and fruit and a small glass of wine to end the day. The nice thing about living on the sea is the constant sea breezes that come across your boat . to me its  a built in air conditioning system from The Good Lord Himself ;)  and although the sun may be beating down on you at times , we still have the coolest place to rest in our bunk in the stern of the ship . The hatch is open and the breezes fill the room , it has invited us many of times to take a extra cat nap , and finding ourselves waking up in the middle of the afternoon lol

I have been waking up at 6 am " yes mom 6 am lol " to do my yoga on the deck of the boat
its so nice right when the sun rises , its still cool and the sea breezes surround you too .
In the distance i hear the Sulfur Crested Cockatoos yakking away in the trees , the sea gulls whining and fighting over the bait fish on the shores , and the welcome of the Barn Swallows that land on the ship , just to aggravate Skipper and get him started  lol

Sometimes when Rob is out exploring the mountains or the trails i will set on one of the side wells of the ship and just sun bake like a lizzard untill i hear the humming of his outboard motor ;)
Its the most wonderful place to Read the Good Book and listen to what the Lord is speaking to my heart today .
when the water is calm we take advantage of it with a little snorkeling  
Its something you have to experience for yourself to appreciate the vast beauty of the sea and the creatures in it .
When i look down from my mask and take slow deep breaths from my snorkel , and let me body just float on the top of the water , i feel like im apart of the sea. The fish swim in schools and somtimes right up to look you in the face to see " what the heck is that in our backyard ?" lol  The coral is so huge and so many different types and colors its just amazing . Rob pointed out a blue star fish ! it was cobalt blue and so bright i have never seen something so beautiful .

Days like these are just pure Magic ;)
and these are the days you enjoy living on a boat !

just like home Things get broke , wear out and wont work even on a boat !

Just like a home from the minor to the major repairs and mishaps , things get broke on the sailboat too.
We have went in one month to first the wind generator to the water pump that decided it would give up the ghost when we were in the middle of the ocean trying to motor in 0 winds ! and then came the toilet that stopped flushing and Rob had to rip out the lines , and clean it out and figure what was blocking the piping . Next came in Inverter the power supply to the boat , it decided to blow up right after little over 5 months !
Just like a home , your boat will encounter the lovely little things that are a pain in the backside.!
Now its the anchor wench ? ! Oh why not just add to the beauty of more complication on a nice quiet sailing adventure lol  Guess its a blessing we dont have a washer and dryer ( portable ) those go on the fritz too after while so handwashing is the least at expense . If your Skipper is handy at fixing things count yourself blessed and that GOD has sent a mechanical angel amongst a skilled sailor. If i was just me on the boat i would be fixing EVERYTHING the yankee way with DUCT TAPE ! lol    when we have the radio on and we listen in on the schedules of report from the charter boats that people will spend thousands to just have a few days to sail for their vacation . We hear anything from " my toilet wont flush " to " the anchor will not lower"
to " i cant get the water recycle r to work "      and they are stuck till help arrives at their own expense of sometimes 150.00 a hour !  so much for enjoying a relaxing time with family when the Lou wont flush !!

It gets down right comical to hear some of the reports that come in you wonder why cant they keep a check on the charter boats and make sure they are in running condition before turning them loose with inexperienced people that just wanna feel the wind in their hair and sun on their face !  but things break they wear out just like home sweet home  the good thing is  We dont have to make sure the Grass is mowed  hahah

to keep up with the Joanses.

what me and Jessica Watson have in common ;)

Remember the young girl that sailed in her pink sailboat across the Ocean alone.
did you know we both have one thing in common . It is not sailing , or that we live in Australia , its not even that shes a girl .  We both have  Dyslexia 
what is it ?
dyslexia is a learning disability that can hinder a person's ability to read, write, spell, and sometimes speak. Dyslexia is the most common learning disability in children and persists throughout life. The severity of dyslexia can vary from mild to severe. The sooner dyslexia is treated, the more favorable the outcome; however, it is never too late for people with dyslexia to learn to improve their language skills.
t is caused by an impairment in the brain's ability to translate images received from the eyes or ears into understandable language. It does not result from vision or hearing problems. It is not due to mental retardation, brain damage, or a lack of intelligence.

All my life i have had problems in school , it seemed as if the words or letters were turned around like looking into a mirror. and direction , spelling as you can see in some of my words that dont get spell checked will either be mixed up or doubled or even missing or misspelled . Jessica Watson also has those problems
but she didn't let that stop her from her goal of sailing around the world . I still to this day at age 46 get wind direction and even processing information backwards . I just have to do things hands on and over and over again untill i get them right . That includes tying knot's , steering the ship in the wind  the right way .  It can be frustrating for me when learning new things . I have always wanted to memorize the Bible scriptures but that was hard for me when i would get the index of the chapters backwards :/  So i just take one scripture at a time and read it over and over till its locked in my memory .  It was always a struggle in my work life working around charting with being a medical Technician the patients lives are in your hands and the charting has to be done the right way or someone could get hurt or even killed .  I would spend hours going over the patients charts making sure i wrote in the right area the vitals .   Its not  something you tell everyone it is kinda embarrassing. But i have found in the scriptures that most of GOD"S disciples had problems not one of them was perfect but GOD used them in mighty ways . I used to think my disability was a shame to talk about
but when i heard about little Jessica Watson and what she did in spite of her dyslexia it made me realize that i too can do anything if my heart and mind is set on it . So now you know why my spelling looks funny at times or theirs typos or missing letters lol
I have over come so many difficulties in  my life and dyslexia is just one small thing compared to
others . God is so good he takes the Ashes and turns them into beauty like a piece of coal that looks useless
 except for warmth , little do we realize when pressure is added to the coal over time that ugly looking lump of coal turns into a precious diamond !  We too are like that in Gods eyes he puts the pressure on us at times not because he hates us but because he loves us , and tempers us like gold tried in the fire heated until one day we can see our refection in it !  the Reflection of God .  Not over night will this process happen , it will with time and trial , fault and sometimes failure . At the End of the journey when a christian is then called home to be with the Father in heaven  we will be Transformed from that lump of coal to one of his precious diamonds !So when you feel the pressure in life and you think HE dont love you remember that lump of coal and what happens to it .

We have a GOD that loves us beyond all our faults and disabilities
What a loving father
his name is JESUS !

Winds and Swells and Rain Oh my !

We have been in both Nara inlett and Maccona inlett for almost 5 days now
the winds are topping 25-35 knotts with open sea swells of 3 meters ! It is too swelly to sail to Erlie Beach right now , Nara  and Macoona are safe  anchorages for the boats from the direct winds in open waters
sailing is far too dangerous for a sailing yacht let alone a catamaran that is even lighter ! Me and Rob try to find things to do beside aggravate each other lol  We read books , he plays the guitar and writes poems for songs , i blog and facebook when i can get reception , we cant do laundry the wind will rip it right off the line into the sea . We take alot of naps , and we keep lots of popcorn on hand for a movie on the dvd player on my computer . It has also been raining and the winds will seem to die down then gust out of nowhere.
A couple of days ago we anchored near the reefs edge  NOT! and we had to move trax cause she was dragging her anchor into the reef . Here we was in the dark with only a few stars around and had to navigate her farther away from the other boats . They Have Anchor lights on their masts so we could see them
but the visibility was crap ;/ so we inched our way farther out away from the reef . Later on another boat tired to anchor where we was and sure enough they had to move cause they was also dragging their anchor .

Soon as the winds ease we can hoist the sails and head back for Erlie Beach
we are getting low on vittles lol thats yankee talk for food  ya'll lol
 Since we are sheltered from the direct wind from the S/W we still have to deal with the tide swinging us in a circle and a occasional "thump" from Elvis our dingy smacking into the boat . i used to hate anchoring in windy weather but after awhile you get used to it . some nights you dont sleep as well for fear of running a ground with the boat in low tides , or swinging into another boat by dragging anchor . Its all apart of living on the sea and now that i have been on the sea for about 6 months it does get easier to adjust to ;)
I guess if i had prior experience with a sailboat like Rob my Skipper does it would have made the transition easier from city Gal to Sea Worthy lol
Skipper our budgie is already Australian so no wonder he is adjusted to the sea life hehe
but i am learning and i finally know how to tie a stinking bow line and cleat off the rope when we have to put her near the ramp to fuel up . It used to be a nightmare for me i almost fell in water trying to help rob get her cleeted off and close enough to the jetty but not to close that we would scrape the paint of her side she still had side fenders to protect her from the rubbing but we popped a few of them trying to get her in the jetty and away from the other boats . I hated that part and tried to hide from Rob but you cant hide to well in a 38ft yacht he will find me anyway lol  so i swallowed my pride and kept trying till i finally got it right !
maybe cause im dyslexic could be another reason for why its been so difficult for me to learn the knotts and even the wind direction lol    Thats another story :P  

Happy Sailing !!!