Cairns, Yorkeys Knob and Rally Preperation (6th - 17th September)

Super Yachts @ Marlin Marina

After checking out the range of super yachts tied up at the Marlin Marina we headed off to Yorkeys Knob on the 6th September.  The trip is only a couple of hours so we were tied up by early afternoon.  On the way we had a go at making another version of bread which turned out to be a real winner and looks like the option that we will be making out on our trip to the Louisiades.

Our Second Loaf

For our first night at Yorkeys we were lucky enough to catch up with John & Cathy (good friends of Mark's folks) that now spend there winters up north.  We were very lucky to catch them as they were heading off to Singapore on the 7th.  We had a great night and very much thank them for their hospitality.

We weren't at Yorkeys for long and we met Guy Chester - the rally organiser - and started getting into the swing of getting ready for the Louisiades Rally which is scheduled to leave Yorkeys on the 17th.

Bruce at the BBQ

Guy soon roped us in and we were helping to sort out donation goods on the dock which were going to be distributed between the 15 yachts partaking in the rally. At this point we were trying to identify how much we were going be given to take on Sally as storage is going to be at a bit of a premium on the boat but figure we will be able to squeeze most of it into our stall shower so looks like bathing is off for a while!

Saturday arvo and our new crew Bruce and Gina flew in and before we knew it are off to the bar for a catch up drink and meal.  We thought Sunday would be a good opportunity to take a day off before the chaos started so we headed into Cairns for a day of rest and relaxation.  The rest of the week was a bit of a blur with provisioning, last minute boat preparations, rally and safety briefings as well as a number of social events which was lots of fun as we have pretty much met all the other crews on the rest of the rally by now.  Today (Friday) we are doing our final briefing and customs clearance and all being well with the weather we will be departing on our 520NM voyage to Louisiades tomorrow morning.  We  will be out on the rally for 5 weeks and expecting to make landfall in Australia again till around the 24th October so will be out of communications for a while.

Sorting Trade Goods for the Rally

There maybe some updates on the Rally Website on http://www.louisiadesrally.com or you will have to wait until we get back in October.