Welcome to Zenitude’s blog where you can follow us while we travel slow in our Lagoon catamaran. We update this blog frequently when we are cruising to let family and friends know where we are. Check the complete story of our adventures that started in 2006 when Zenitude became our home and cruising our way of life. Graciela and Oscar

Wednesday 4 May 2016

Back on board – Plans for 2016

We are back. It was easy enough, last November, to move from Zenitude to an apartment in Sydney where we spent the summer working. It is a different story to come back to our life on board. We thought we had a small list of things to do before leaving the marina in Mackay. It is not working exactly like that.  
Beautiful Mackay Marina



Plans were optimistic; the idea was to do it all in about 3 days. Put sails, bimini and wind generator back in place, install the new anchor and do all the normal things like provisioning, get cooking gas, diesel, water, laundry, etc. Of course, check the engines and discover water coming in from a loose hose connection, so re-do the raw water pump connections. Unpack. Get Zenitude cleaned, inside and outside after 6 months on the yard collecting dust. 

The Jib, ready to be put in place


The new anchor. Will it fit in the old anchors' place?

It was never going to be less than a week. Three days and counting, trying to see if we can leave next Friday. The weather looks promising so we hope to be ready. One important thing we forgot, after 6 months of city life, our bodies were not exactly ready for the non-stop physical activity. We have to take it easy and there is really no rush.  

This year our sailing plans are very simple. We are spending two months around Whitsundays, with every weather opportunity to explore the reef around. We plan to be back in Mackay sometime in June as we are taking an extended land trip in Europe. Back from Europe sometime in September, our thinking is to sail down the coast to the Gold Coast, but this is a decision for later. In the meantime, we are ready to enjoy easy island hoping sailing.

G.

Sunday 3 January 2016

The end of 2015 - Zenitude out of the water


This year we chose to leave Zenitude in the yard in Mackay tightly tied to the ground as this area is not cyclone free. She is well prepared to face the weather but we surely hope nothing drastic will happen there.

We are back in Sydney until end of April, on our usual working life while waiting for cyclone season to end, plans for future travels on the making.


Out of the water in Mackay

Six of these hold her to the ground


Tight