...And a Bottle of Rum, continued

Where was I? Oh yes: just as I was getting ready to board a bus back to Schute Harbour to catch the ferry back to Hamilton Island, I received a call from a yachtie, Craig, who saw my notice in the Whitsunday Sailing Club. He lured me from the bus stop back to the club by suggesting that perhaps I would like to join him for the Dent to Dunk rally--a sailing voyage from Dent Is., near Hamilton Is., to Dunk Is., near Cairns. And so we met and chatted (long enough that I almost missed the last ferry back to Hamilton Is.) and decided that I would go along if a) Craig's other crew approved, and b) I could change my flight back to Washington.

Because you are reading this, you have probably guessed by now that that ride fell through. The following day I found out that Craig's boat suffered a grand mal cutlass bearing failure and that the trip was cancelled. But that's not all that was cancelled that day. First it was the sea kayak adventure I'd signed up for in the morning, due to wind and waves. Given the wind part of that cancellation notice, I signed on to the Banjo Paterson, a yacht built originally for the Sydney to Hobart race long ago. I scrambled to get to the pier on time; everyone was waiting for me. And off we went. We even got the sails up. But then came the notice that there was a crack in the heat exchanger and we were taking on water a bit faster than the pumps could handle. So we turned back. The crew was apologetic and offered us free drinks. I had a glass of champagne while sitting on the bow pulpit. I understand that they drank champagne on the Titanic too. Back on shore; back to the tour desk. I booked onto an afternoon snorkel safari in the Coral Gardens in the Great Barrier Reef. So off I went--back to the harbour and into the dive shop, only to find that there were not enough people for the trip. They needed a minimum of 6 people and had but 3. You'd think I'd know when to quit. But no; I signed up for the next day's excursion.

And now you'll have to wait for the next installment because the masses are staring me down as they circle for computer time.

The weather has been spectacular. Just lacking wind.