Day 7 Thursday 17th june

Karin does last job on boat, securing errant backstay.

Emma realises she isn't going to die, now where is the food.

"Zenataos" at rest at last, Keppel Bay Marina

Spent over $50 on washing and drying and commandered all of the washers and dryers in the place. I have removed 100 litres of water from my cabin and all cabins seem to be effected by water ingress. The girls have accepted an offer to go North on the motor boat so we are parting company. The trip was not at all what was expected, my greatest regret being not able to show them some of the beauty of sailing in tropical waters and visiting another world by boat. They have however had an experience unlike anything that they could have imagined and I hope have found within themselves a resolve and resilience that will stand them in good stead.

I meanwhile have begun the task of repairing some of the damage, at least enought o get me out of the Marina. I will probably hang out over at Keppel for a while and as the Northerlies come in make my way back to Maryborough and some infrastructure to carry out some of the more involved repairs.

Some painful truths have emerged from the trip, one being that "Zen" will require some modification before attempting such a trip again Secondly, despite getting fitter and stronger as the days went on I am probably not up to the task of handling such a large boat, and having three extra cabins that I rarely use is a bit silly and all I do is aquire more crap to put in them. Therefore I have decided to put her on the market for $150,000 and will look around for a smaller boat probably a trimaran to continue cruising on. I was pleased to find that however bad things got I was able to make reasoned decisions, solve problems and find the strength and stamina to continue sailing despite lack of sleep (1 hour in 20 towards the end). The girls have been a great source of enjoyment and I wish them the best for the rest of their stay in Australia.

Thanks to Angelina for the dance tracks cd's, Abba for their great songs, Cat Stevens, dancing on the deck, dolphins, massages, friendships and hardships, waves that drench you, winds that power us, cans of Tuna, deep ocean blues, stars so bright and some that fall (catch a falling star Emma and put it in your pocket) and all the problems because each comes with a gift in its hands and we seek out the problems for the gifts.

A big thanks to those who have followed our exploits and for the calls of support and encouragement and anyone who knows me well will realise that this is not an ending and will never be regarded as such, but will have been yet another adventure to populate my life and experience and there is now an open door to go through and see what is on the other side, don't ever knock back the chance to open that door and go on through.

Lotsaluv

Al.