How much can one do in 6 months?

Someone wise once said, “Minutes are worth more than money. Spend them wisely." ¹ I think I can safely say I have done that over the last six months. With a combination of land and sea adventures it really has been Carpe Diem at its best.

After our brief Delvy adventure to Cairns in early September, we returned to the Whitsundays to take old friends out on a Big Red Yacht adventure around the Whitsunday Islands. Keeping close to the mainland we enjoyed champagne sailing conditions with delightful anchorages at South Molle Island, Shute Harbour and Funnel Bay.

From sea back to land we took the inland route to Urangan Boat Harbour in Hervey Bay to do some work under the Australian Yacht Deliveries banner. We followed route 67, then the A3 to Biloela for a morning tea catch up with family who were also enjoying the nomadic lifestyle, then spent the night in Gayndah, the oldest town in Queensland before welcoming the sight of the sea once again.

It was back up the Bruce Highway to return to Airlie Beach for a scheduled sail and dive adventure to Bait & Fairey reefs. To say this trip was amazing is an understatement. The Great Barrier Reef is in fine shape and we all witnessed the wonderful diversity of marine life that it is known for. Not to mention the sailing. Fifteen knots of hull speed in 15 knots of breeze – we flew out there! This was to be our last voyage on the 71-foot Pacific proa as we have since sold her to another adventurer and his family.

For the month of November, we secured some work as Master and Sea Cook on board a vessel hired to do a hydrographic survey of Whitsunday Passage, our own backyard. From Abbott Point to Mackay, we motored up and down, up and down at 6.5 knots in an average depth of 40 metres, mowing the lawn as they say. There were varying weather conditions, superb sunrises, good company and lots of dolphins to keep us amused.

Following this it was off to the Sunshine Coast so I could complete a Coxswains course to gain my first commercial maritime certificate. We visited friends on the Redcliffe Peninsula where we spent last winter with the Big Red Yacht, and ran away just in time to avoid the huge storms and floods that were forecast along the east coast in mid-December.

We chose the inland route to Central NSW for our next Delvy adventure. Covid-19 made us (and most of Australia) have a change of plans for Christmas, so we stayed in Oberon with family and enjoyed all four seasons over 10 days. It was nice to stay put for a bit. However, due to the uncertainty of border closures we cut our NSW stay short to quickly return to Queensland (as quick as we can in the bus!) as we had commitments that needed committing to.

It was a wet journey as we Delvied back up to the Whitsundays to farewell our sailing boat at Shute Harbour, but it dried out for the return leg to Hervey Bay and our preparations for a yacht delivery to Tasmania. Coincidently, it was the same boat inspected previously but a different buyer. It was an extraordinary 12 days of sailing down the east coast of Australia with a 2-day stopover in Newcastle to wait out bad weather. It was so exciting to return to the Apple Isle and even more so to sail into our former hometown, Kettering.

Just when we thought life couldn’t get any better, we were then treated to a wonderful motorhome holiday around the north east of Tasmania thanks to the generosity of good friends. We covered about 1300 kilometres exploring new areas and revisiting old favourites where around every bend is a picture-perfect vista and a free camp. It’s been 8 years since we left Tassie and we’d nearly forgotten how beautiful it is and how kind are its people. We loved the long summer days and twilight that goes on forever: so much daylight to pack so much in. We now needed a holiday from our holiday.

February saw us back in the Sunshine State for some sail training onboard the sail training tall ship South Passage. With 30 knots of wind and rain for two days it made for an exhilarating sail around Moreton Bay. 

Wondering what to do next, another request came in for a boat delivery to Hobart of all places. We jumped at the chance to return so flew to Melbourne, caught the train the Bairnsdale and then a taxi to the delightful town of Paynesville, an area I had not been before. So Australian Yacht Deliveries was on the move again, taking 2.5 days to cross Bass Strait (again!) and motor down the east coast into Hobart. 

We spent another glorious couple of weeks in Tassie before flying back to Queensland to collect Delvy and head north for three weeks work in Bowen at the beautiful Whitsunday Sands Resort. That is keeping me occupied while Australian Yacht Deliveries delivers another vessel across Bass Strait this year.  

In six months we have covered a bit of ground, air and water. Flying 5745 kilometres, sailing 2000 nautical miles, and Delvying about 7500 kilometres. Plus, cycling, boogie boarding, kayaking, and paragliding in between, and catching up with old friends and meeting new. 

As another wise person said, "I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well."² 

I wonder what the next six months will bring?

¹ Thomas P. Murphy 

² Diane Ackerman