Mike returns the car early and we prepare for getting Jeannius out through the lock. I am somewhat apprehensive as my back is delicate to put it mildly and I can remember how difficult it was coming in. At least we have two engines this time.
Wild Tigris is booked to go through the lock before us but we let go of our lines to get ready to go straight out after them. The line around the piles worries me a little as I have to lean right over the side of the boat and lift it off with the boat hook. The guys on the huge motor yacht are watching and I don’t want to screw it up in front of an audience, bad back or not. I manage it first time though, and as they clap, I take a little bow, too frightened to take a big sweeping one in case I can’t get back up!
The tide is quite high when we leave which means that the progress through the lock is quite quick for Wild Tigris and very soon it’s our turn. Once in the lock, we tie one line to the top of the lock (aided by the huge hook lowered down to me) and one line to the huge rope on the wall of the lock.
Photo: The lock gates close behind us
Photo: Erica, the lock keeper, lets us through. Mmm, nice graffiti!
Photo: Out we go, Wild Tigris ahead of us in the distance
We start to head back to Fannie Bay, passing Wild Tigris and Brown Eyed Girl at the fuel dock. We are amazed to see so much activity in the bay by the Australian Navy, although on closer inspection, we find that what we thought was an Australian warship, turns out to be a Japanese one. Maybe they are playing war games!
Photo: Australian tugs push a Japanese warship towards the dock
I am lying down again when I suddenly hear Mike talking to someone and it’s not on the VHF. Listening in to the conversation, I realise that it is Bill and Rosemary from Crazy Horse. I pull on a tee shirt and go to say hello. They and Ocean Jasper arrived during the night and are waiting for their 14 hours of quarantine to pass.
We have lunch at anchor, and I look around the boat. She is in such a mess, inside and out. Stuff is everywhere.
Photos: Messy, messy, messy
We prepare to beach Jeannius. Mike has never done this before and is just a little nervous. He has checked the tide information and knows that we have to take her in at exactly the time of the highest tide, 12.30 pm. We hover around for a bit waiting for the right time then motor in. I count down the depth; 5.4 feet, 5, 4.2, 3.6, 2.5, 2.4 … and suddenly we glide to a gentle halt, bobbing backwards and forwards on the twin keels. Then we sit and wait for the tide to go out, watching as the water levels get lower and lower underneath us. It is really weird. It takes nearly two hours for the tide to go right out and in the meantime Mike gets busy scraping the green muck off of the hull where the anti fouling is missing.
Photo: Mike being a scrubber for a change
As I watch, the rudders start to appear and after a while I can see sand.
Photo: The rudders start to appear
Photo: Well and truly beached!
Eventually Jeannius is completely clear of the water and Mike and inspect the sail drive which needs to have its seal changed. He checks around the rest of the boat and is surprised to find that one of the propellers which we had fitted in Grenada less than a year ago is badly damaged. Then as if that wasn’t bad enough, when he is in the port engine room, he sees a steady stream of diesel leaking from the engine. Not wanting to mess around with it, and not really having the time to anyway, he calls an engineer that has been recommended by Joe. Nafea arrives within the hour and delivers more bad news. The fuel pump can be fixed it but needs to go to a workshop and it is doubtful that it will be back before Monday. How much more can go wrong?
We hear shouts and looking out see Maggie, Matt and Bob walking along the beach to the boat. I tell them our sorry saga of boat problems and Matt says he’ll take me to the Mindal Sunset Market later if my back is OK. When they leave, I take to my bed for a while, leaving Mike to fend for himself in a sea potentially full of crocodiles and unexploded floating buoys. Ah yes, the Australian Air Force announced over the VHF that an exercise which involved dropping these exploding things over the sea had gone wrong as they had failed to explode and were now drifting around the place. So now, in the vicinity, we have an outbreak of e-coli, salties, unexploded floating things, ‘controlled’ forest fires and the potential of box jelly fish coming into the bay because they think the season has started early (they normally arrive in October). It’s no wonder I head for bed!
Just as I go, I see one of the tourist amphibious buses. This is a normal bus (or seems to be) but then it drives straight into the sea and sails away. When you don’t realise what it is, it looks like a kamikaze bus driver having a bad day.
Photo: Tour bus with a difference
I am still lying miserably in bed when Matt arrives to take me to the market. He had been calling me for ages on the VHF but Mike had helpfully turned it off. I get up as quickly as my back will allow (this involves crawling backwards down the bed like a toddler and letting my legs drop over the edge, gradually sinking down until my feet hit the bottom – the bed is nearly 5 foot high) and have a quick freshen up while he waits. As I leave the boat, the sun is setting and Jeannius looks amazing just sitting there on the beach with Mike watching from the bow. While I am gone, the tide will come in and hopefully float Jeannius again.
Photos: Master and commander on his beached baby
We meet up with Rosemary, Bill and Jim for a drink then attempt to find our way to the market. Of course, by the time we leave, it is dark and none of us knows the way except that it is down the road. It’s a long walk through unlit areas and patches of grass. Rosemary is convinced that every rustle in the grass is a crocodile but I am more worried about getting bitten my mosquitoes. In the event, we see neither and after asking for directions a couple of times, we find the market.
Basically it’s a bit of a let down – lots of tourist tat and a bit on the hippy side – but there are a few nice stalls too and lots of good food shacks. We arrive there so late that we only have an hour to browse before it’s time to take the long walk back. My back is aching and some of it is uphill. Matt valiantly offers me a piggy back ride but I would cripple the poor boy so I turn him down.
When we get back to the beach, Bob is waiting for us in the dinghy to give us a lift back to our respective boats. He had turned up to help Mike by giving Jeannius a nudge with the dinghy if she didn’t get off the bottom easily as the tide came in. In the end, his help wasn’t needed. Jeannius is no longer on beach, but anchored further out in the bay once more. Tomorrow she gets beached again.
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