Leaving Townsville

It was time to leave Townsville and make our way to the Whitsundays. Saturday 30 December 2006 morning dawned bright and early and we were off…or so we thought but Sunburn had other ideas. We crawled our way out of the Marina with black smoke puffing out of the exhaust, and me saying we can go faster you know (I usually TRY and keep my mouth shut) and both of us wondering what on earth is going on. So the decision was made to go back to the marina, we turned around and limped back in. We phoned some people we had met – John and Leanne off a boat called Waterfrontier, John is a engineer and over the phone he suggested the prop was under load so possibly was fouled by marine growth.

Townsville marina is a haven for marine growth – some boats it looks like an old mans beard its so long. Anyway, in the 2 months we were there this growth had had a great time growing on our propeller, hence making it very difficult to go round like it should! So, John and Leanne came down, and Brendan donned the scuba gear and went diving to clean the prop (and lose his wedding ring!). It was a little nerve wracking as the week before a croc had been seen in the marina so a very close lookout was kept. During this time John suggested we alter the pitch of the prop, so we now have a go fast machine and John is now known as GOD!!!!! (John also spent a huge amount of time with us in Port Douglas helping Brendan with the engine...he knows his stuff this man!). John, if you are reading this - a huge thank you from us, you have saved the day on many occasions - we would probably still be in Port Douglas otherwise!

Because of all this we were now still in Townsville for New Years Eve – the fireworks for this was being held at the marina in the old hard stand (very close to a brand new fuel tank buried in the ground!!) – great we thought – we will be SOOOOO close to the fireworks - fantastic, first lot at 7.30pm and next lot at midnight. Yes we were close alright – it was so loud! I couldn’t stay awake till midnight (big surprise) but was very quickly woken by the sound of what I initially thought was gunfire! Awesome fireworks. So, it was on Monday the 1st of January 2007 we left Townsville Marina (at great speed) to head to Horseshoe bay to wait for a weather window to head down to the Whitsundays. Finally!