Nettoyage d’automne

Une visite de Merlin etait prevue dimanche dernier. Frenetiquement nous avons nettoye l’interieur et l’exterieur de Merlin, polisher les coques et les inoxs, brosser le pont et les jupes, epouster les moindres recoins, ranger et trier les etageres et les tiroirs. Au final, la visite a ete annulee 2 heures avant son heure. Frustrations…

Neanmoins, une nouvelle visite est prevue demain (un autre eventuel acheteur). Nous avons ressorti les eponges et les chiffons. Aujourd’hui, des cales au mat, Merlin brille comme un sou neuf. Les chandeliers refletent le bleu du ciel de Brisbane, les coques renvoient des clins d’oeil au soleil, et les cabines sentent bon le propre et le frais. Pour epargner a la cuisiniere une nouvelle toilette de derniere minute, nous sommes alles pique-niquer a midi dans une foret d’eucalyptus et pour le diner nous sommes alles faire un BBQ dans le parc d’a cote.

Croissons nos doigts excories pour cette nouvelle visite…

Beware!!!

We love it, we look for it and we praise it. It makes us happy. It offers us a sweet caress and a goldish skin. It makes the plants grow. It plays with the colours around us. It is warm or even too hot. We chased its last glimpse at the end of every sailing day to have a new green flash.

It is our friend but we should be careful with such a friend. Its presents can be irreversible and dangerous. So we are super cautious and we are always protecting ourselves. Slip (on sun protective clothing) slap (on a broad brimmed hat) slop (slop on sunscreen) as they say: long sleeves (always for Greg), sun cream, hats, sunglasses and we avoid the hours when the sun is high. We try to be even more careful when it is water game time and we always swim with our sun tops on.

Now that we are in Brisbane, we have to be even more scrupulous as the sun is really really bad. It is the world capital for skin cancer and you feel it. The UV index goes on a scale up to 12. Here, between the summery months (October to May), the index is 11+ every day.

For us, parents we weren’t so protective 30 years ago and saw only the positive effects of the sun. So, we pay it more: Greg goes every 6 months to have his skin checked and had few suspicious moles removed. I discovered that I had a tiny spot in my left eye which is caused by sun damaged. We believe in prevention and try to pass the message on. The kids have their broad rim hat, they roll sunscreen before leaving Merlin and we still try to avoid being outside between 11 and 3. Prevention might not do it all but does help.

Music on board

Before we left, we thought we would listen to lots and lots of music so we got ready for that. We have on board what we call “The Black Box”, which is in fact a multimedia player directly plugged to the TV screen and the audio system (inside/outside). This black box can offer us hours and hours of entertainment and months of uninterrupted music. Nevertheless, we do listen to music only very scarcely. I feel that the space is too small to really appreciate the music. There is always some “noisy” activity around: kids swinging or playing, food cooking, or on the way, the water sloshing through the hulls, the wind singing and the boat working. I was more listening to some music with my Ipod in the cockpit during my night watches, watching the stars, checking the sails and enjoying “my” time.

We haven’t tried all these specials play lists friends did for us. However, from time to time, we have our musical moment where the music is (really!) loud, we all sing and dance. We try all kind of titles unknown to us but we always go to our favorite ones. So here are a few of them, just to share a musical moment and few swirling notes in our/your heads for the rest of the day (by the way, thanks YouTube!)

Rod Stewart: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpbuqh12oj4

Freshlyground: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLuSyqMlm_U

Ismael Lo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4dstdukAvQ

Update on Monday, March 26, 2012 at 9:36PM by Admin

J’en reviens a la musique… J’ai reveille Victor ce matin en fredonnant machinallement un petit air qu'en fait ma mere me chantait aussi pour me sortir du lit lorsque j’etais petite: “Debout les gars reveillez vous, il va falloir en mettre un coup. Debout les gars reveillez vous on va au bout du monde…” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwoO11Dpi2wSo). Sommes nous tant conditionnes par les refrains de notre enfance? !!!

Happy birthday Captain!

 Nutella and presents for breakfast.

Cakes for lunch

Cake and drinks for dinner

And soon a new bicycle to go zooming along the river or in the bush!

Reflexes

Pas de cours de francais en ce samedi matin. On profite donc des bonnes heures de marees pour s’echapper de la ville le temps d’un week-end. A partir du moment ou nous avons allume les moteurs et larguer les amarres, de grands sourires sont apparus sur les visages de tous. L’excitation de faire un petit tour dans la baie est presque comparable a celle d’un 24 decembre. Les enfants sautaient dans le cockpit en donnant l’impression de decouvrir la riviere de Brisbane pour la premiere fois. Il faut dire que c’etait tout de meme notre premniere sortie de nuit (depart vendredi a 18h30). Au port de Brisbane, les ponts illumines des gros cargos faisaient de la concurrence au Story Bridge et les balises scintillantes donnaient un air de fete a cette descente vers la baie de Moreton. Apres 4h de traversee, on a retrouve avec plaisir le dodelinement de Merlin au mouillage.

Comme a chaque sortie, on profite d’une eau sans requin mais surtout bien plus claire que la riviere pour brosser Merlin et lui rendre de belles coques toutes lisses et toutes rouges. Toute la famille s’y est attelee. Greg, ayant eu une petite intervention chirurgicale la semaine derniere, a eu droit a un pansement tout special.

Puis comme a chaque fois, nous sommes alles retrouves nos dunes preferees. Nos amis Sarah, Carlos et leurs enfants etaient la aussi. Nous avons teste leur surf de neige reconverti en surf de sable. Ca glisse super bien!

Le temps gris et la pluie n’ont pas reussi a saboter notre week-end. C’est plutot les 30 nds de vent prevus pour cet après midi qui l’ont un peu abrege. A l’heure ou j’ecris nous sommes a l’entrée de la riviere, le sourire encore aux levres.