The end of a chapter.

Ted and Ella begin their adventure, and we start afresh....

Well, we've done it, "Endurance Of The South" has a new skipper and crew, and we've moved aboard our great big shiny-white catamaran to continue our voyaging in somewhat different style.

Ted and Ella Dvorak taking over the boat. First day out, sailing on Darwin Harbour.

I've just spent a little over a week enjoying Darwin's sublime dry season weather, giving "Endurance" a haul-out onto the Dinah Beach careening poles, a fresh coat of anti-foul on the hull, and welcoming Ted and Ella to their new yacht. It was a busy week, a bit emotional, but the boat couldn't be going to better people. 
They're planning a mammoth voyage around Australia's West Coast and then across the fearsome Southern Ocean and Great Australian Bight to their home at Port Vincent in South Australia. 

Scrub, scrub, scrub.

I had help cleaning up the boat in Darwin from Graham Handy, who worked for the Gold Coast broker who managed the sale. (Terriffic help, and if you're looking to buy a boat I'd be happy to recommend Colin Maslen as a great dealer.)
The experience of bringing a deep-keeled boat in against a wharf at high tide, then waiting for the tide to drop, and then crazily washing, sanding and painting the bottom before the tide comes back in, is just a little wearying. But the boat came up a treat....so I was very pleased to hand her over in great nick.

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Job done! Shiny new bottom paint before the tide romps back in...

So that's the end of that chapter in our lives, and now it's time to focus on our Lagoon 44 catamaran, "El Gato".
Which is pretty much the opposite kind of boat to what we've become accustomed to, and we're basing ourselves on the Gold Coast for awhile in order to learn how to drive the big beastie. With an engine in each hull, a beam as wide as a two-lane freeway and a height akin to a medium-sized office block, there's a lot to learn.

Our big glamourpuss, "El Gato", looking comfortable amongst the Gold Coast bling.