Preparations
Whilst we were living in Darwin, we would see off the rally boats that were heading to Ambon, thinking “one day that would be nice to do”.
Since buying Priscalina we still had it on the agenda probably in the third year. Well we then started seeing info pop up about the Down Under Rally with the destination of New Caledonia. After toying with the idea we decided to attend their info day on the Gold Coast in November 2017. We like the idea of support and resources that would be given to us to prepare both ourselves and the boat in a blue water passage. So, we bit the bullet and signed up in December. The rally had a departure date of early May, se we were thinking we would have heaps of time to do everything, but we found the next 6 months very very busy and were still doing jobs up until we actually departed. Some of these jobs weren’t on our original list (and in the end we had lists of lists). Some jobs were a result of something else being installed/maintained etc that led to another needing to be done. A bit like painting one room of the house only to look at the rest and have to continue painting.
We flew back to the Gold Coast in February 2017 to attend their weekend offshore cruising prep course, Steve flew to Brisbane to do a diesel engine course and also completed a First Aid Course in Airlie. Even after many years in the fire service and his involvement in ARRO (Australasian Road Rescue Association) he wanted to ensure his first aid skills were current and also marine appropriate.
I looked after all the jobs that required paperwork, research, changing banking processes to direct debit, new credit cards that aren’t linked to accounts, forms to be filled in for rally, customs, etc. We also decided not to go onto Vanuatu and applied for a long stay visa. Three months is ok without a visa but any longer you need to apply for a long stay visa. This required a mountain of paperwork. Three months of bank statements, police checks, stat decs as to our character and intentions, marriage certificates. This was sent to the French Consulate in Sydney only to have them tell us we needed to apply in person. This meant booking the next available appointment – another 2 weeks away, fly to Sydney accommodation – all for a half hour appointment. We only received our passports the week before pour departure. Slightly nerve wracking.
In the meantime we were fortunate enough to find some lovely house sitter’, but more importantly, dog lovers who we knew would love and look after Maddy whilst we were away. Bonus!
Our departure date from Airlie was set for 1st of April, weather dependant, which would allow us five weeks to get to Southport. Tropical Cyclone Iris put paid to that date and had us impatiently sitting in Airlie until the 10th. Even then, our first two days were ugly. Gust to over 30 knots, 3 metre seas and rain. Yuch…. This proved to be our ‘shakedown’ sail which was good as it let us fix, improve or better a few things that we wouldn’t have known about. We stopped at Yeppoon to catch up to my sister Brenda and husband Colin, at Bundaberg to see Steve’s Uncle Todd and Aunty Anne, and then a week in Manly to see Lauren, Ryan, Ellen, Lola and Violet.
