Cairns to Brisbane Day 1 Fitzroy

3rd January 2011

Day 1

Cairns Yacht Club

Last night we had guests aboard to say goodbye. Kerri and Kevin, Sue and Ken, John and Ifja, (I do have to find out how to spell her name!) and Ian came down to wish Dreamagic well on her sail south. Thanks Guys for making the effort and I will look forward to seeing you all again soon.

Early today Dreamagic’s guests for the voyage joined the boat. Isobelle and Mark I have sailed with before, Christian and Claire are new friends. All except Mark speak French as a native tongue and his French is very good. As we are storing more food than we took to the Louisiades aboard, and  the air is thick with excited French comments about our upcoming trip I am feeling very continental, N’est pas?

We had a celebratory glass of champagne with Susannah, who is Simone’s mum, and Isobelle’s sister in law, (do try to keep up!) before we let the lines go and motored over to Fitzroy Island for our first night. (Or Nui Une, mai oui!) The weather was very calm with threatening clouds. Christian fished for a while and caught a couple of unidentified reef fish on a handline, Isobelle managed to rig a hammock on the deck, and the boat settled into that lazy routine hopefully indicative of what is to come. At dusk, the clouds made good their threats as the rain decided to lash the deck during our first meal together. However, remembering Capt’n Willi’s edict about ordeal and adventure we grabbed soap and had our first fresh water shower on the deck. Nightcaps in the saloon finished the day before and early, if very hot with the hatches closed, night.