20/1/2020: Back on board, Pittwater

We arrived back a week ago after what felt like a neverending journey,  not helped by a 9 hour layover in Bangkok and the fact we had return flights to Brisbane but the boat was in Sydney. Forty four hours door to door! Thank God we were at least flying business class and got some sleep.

After a surprisingly good first night's sleep we unpacked, washed down the decks (so much ash and dust in the air because of the terrible fires) and then welcomed Peter and Nicky from Chanto (another WARC rally boat) who brought lunch and we provided the wine! Off to a great start!!

Sadly Tuesday didn't dawn too well as after a poor night we both woke to the onset of a flu bug, presumably caught on the plane. As the week progressed we deteriorated getting to the point where we were running temperatures well in excess of 100 degrees, feeling nauseous, aching all over and with blocked sinuses. Yuk. Throw in the jetlag, then we were really feeling sorry for ourselves and Tumi became a quarantine ship!

We were zero company for Chanto and Nikitoo, another rally boat who arrived on Wednesday. All this gathering was building towards a WARC mini-reunion on Saturday night, something we hoped we would be better for.

Saturday arrived and while Paul had turned the corner I was dragging my heels and by 4pm, still feeling pretty rough, I asked him to reiki my head. And it worked! By 5pm we were enjoying pre-reunion drinks and banter on Resolute 2 who had the owners of two other rally boats on board, and by 7pm the eight of us made our way over to Nikitoo.

What a fun night! Lots of laughter, hugs and anecdotes, all washed down with whatever we wanted! And our latest night yet, well morning really by the time we were back on board Tumi and going to bed for a few hours before we all met at a local waterside restaurant for a loud and lively breakfast. It was the first proper meal we'd eaten for a few days and so we tucked in with gusto!

There was other dimension to our first week back on board: the negotiation and sale (subject to survey) of Tumi. We'd taken the hard decision last September to list her for sale and she went on the market as we left to fly home in early November. Despite a very quiet market for yachts of our size, we were lucky enough to have an acceptable offer made. It was a bit touch and go for a few days whether the buyer would go ahead with Tumi or another Jeanneau 469, but it all worked out in the end, although it didn't help on the sleepless night side of things! So on Wednesday this week the survey will be conducted and assuming all is well, then by the end of the month Tumi will no longer be ours.

We don't want to tempt fate and arrange any land-based travel until the sale is all done and dusted (just call us superstitious sailors!) but we plan on flying to and touring both Tasmania and New Zealand before we head home, and more of Australia too. So while the mode of transport will change, the adventures continue!