Minding our P's and Q's

Managing to wedge in a last little visit to Brisbane family was not a unique idea. Richard and Marianne - SV Tauranga, are also Downunderrally Go East rallyistas and had planned the same. The news was good, with a weather window opening up on Tuesday. Yes, Tuesday! We managed to synchronize with an early morning pickup to return to our boats in The Hope Island Marina with 'The Ranga's'. Spirits were high and conversations locked on what was yet to be achieved prior to departure and timing of some last minute errands on Monday - assuming that we were on track for that Tuesday dawn departure.

Flags at the ready including Blue Peter and Pratique Q signal falgs

Then the email arrived from the Rally organiser - John Henbrow. MetBob had signed off on a suitable weather window. This was our 72hour confirmation. What were we all thinking? This was IT - the message we'd been preparing for with great intensity over the preceding months. Oh gosh what a seismic shift. The change in mood in the car cabin was palpable and it was as if something had just eaten Monday.

Giving Rom and Basia some spare charts

The washing was done by 10:30. More fresh provisions brought on board by noon. We chose this marina for it's proximity to resources. The giant Coles supermarket at the top of the jetty ramp has had a workout. The bottleshop was visited for beer to- ups plus a Veuve Clicquot to have after we arrive in Noumea. Why not! We'd arranged a get-together with other rallyistas on shore at a local Thai restaurant for the evening. We sure felt pumped.

View to the shops from the boat at night

The Bloke showed exceptional cool by refraining from installing the replacement AIS aerial he'd bought the day before. Why mess with what is currently operational, even if a bit wobbly? It's always been wobbly. We now have a spare. That's sufficient an offering to offset that meddlesome Mr Murphy and his Law. Instead, the bloke occupied himself with something equally non-essential like repairing the the handles on Tweetie Pie - my kayak. It had spent the entire summer under its cover and the webbing handles had disintegrated. Reasoning for the repair? The Bloke doesn't like anything on board to be broken. And you can't argue with that.

    Fixing the handles was not going to defeat The Bloke
The last few essential jobs will be completed on Monday in between our Australian Border Force and Customs clearance booked for 8:30 and the Departure Briefing at 12:30. After the ABF clearance we'll be flying our Blue Peter flag. It's a 'P' nautical signal flag indicating “All persons should report on board as the vessel is about to proceed to sea". When we arrive in Noumea in a weeks time our 'Q' flag will be at the ready in order to request 'Pratique'. This is the license given by the authorities to a vessel to enter port on assurance from the captain that she is free from contagious disease. Oh yes, we've got lots of reasons now to mind our P's and Q's!

Our Rally Flag is soon to get relocated