Back on the water

Hooray! We are floating again and it's about time. September 7 saw Sokari loaded on the trolley and being backed down the ramp at Cardwell. We were soon motoring out of Eumundi Creek and over to Hegarty Point for the night.

Dunk Island was our next stop, the following night, Mourilyan Harbour for another night and then Innisfail where we stayed about four relaxing days. We managed to sail a couple of days but generally the winds were very light so we motor-sailed most of the way to Cairns. It was just wonderful to be on the water once again and we revelled in it. With a lot of our cruising paraphernalia removed Sokari danced on anchor, eager to be on the move.

Fitzroy Island was our next stop and we were amazed at the changes since we were there last. I had a chat with the Project Manager who told me that ALL the resort's facilities are available for boaties to enjoy when they drop the pick. It's always been a friendly spot but seems even more so, now. We'll be back soon.

With someone renting our mooring for another week, we grabbed a mate's empty mooring (with his permission of course) until ours became free. We were heartened by the welcome home we received. Every day visitors popped in for a cuppa and to say "welcome back". There always seemed to be an extra dinghy or two hanging off the back. Now, this is what I remember about cruising and why I love it so much. The friendliness of other boaties. What a life! Do I really want to give this up?

John came down with a flu-type wog, so once we were secured to our mooring, we packed up and returned to the house to recuperate. We still need to paint the decks and cockpit but that can be done on the water. We have all the paint needed onboard already so it's just a case of finding the time and the weather.

Work in progress

August 2010 and we have finally had the time to give Sokari a facelift. She got three coats of Imperite on the hulls last week and looks lovely and shiney again. The next job will be to paint the coachroof and cockpit next week, hopefully. John can only manage a week before his injuries get the better of him and we have to come home to recuperate. I am getting quite excited about being back in the water and although there will still be work to be done on the interior, we both think Sokari's had long enough on the hard. She will be itching to get moving again, too. Soon ...

What did I say?

Did I actually say that the rain had stopped? Well, it did - but just for a few days while we were tied up elsewhere, then for a couple of hours when we visited Sokari. Although we had intended spending a week onboard the rain drove us crazy and we returned home after only two days. The rain is certainly good for the country but we're not appreciating it while we're paying hardstand fees but not getting any work done.

I will be really relieved when it finally dries up, we can get work done and have her back in the water where she belongs. It never feels quite right being onboard without the gentle movement of the water. Oh well - good things come to he (or she) who waits!

The rain has finally stopped

It seems as though it has been raining forever here in the north. But finally it has stopped and we have seen the sun a lot for the last week or so. With the drier weather we can soon get into some little jobs on Sokari. She is sitting happily on the hard and very shortly we will go back down to her, do a bit of sanding, give her a repaint, new signage - it's always a shame to have to remove the signwriting which is all still looking really good - but to do a proper repaint it has to come off. After being hit a few times by dragging boats in Trinity Inlet it will be nice to get rid of the scratches and have her looking fresh and shiny again. The antifoul needed to be redone a little while ago and the cans are all sitting there just awaiting our willing hands.

I have certainly missed Sokari while we've been working on the house and it is always wonderful to get back onboard, although I know on the hard I'm going to miss being rocked to sleep every night. But before long we will once again be back on our mooring in Cairns and I will be able to sit in the cockpit, wine in hand and watch the migrating yachts arriving and leaving. Watching them leave is always the hardest as we both want to be on the move too. I don't think John will need much prompting to lock up the house and head north so maybe, if she doesn't sell soon that is just what we will do. I am going to really hate not having her when she does sell. What a life she has given us! What adventures we have had with her! What wonderful sights we have seen from her decks! The countries we have visited - the people we have met - the cultures we have learned about .....What on earth are we doing selling her?

For more Information

For more information and slideshows please go to www.svsokari.blogspot.com.
You can also see Sokari's adventures at our website, www.svsokari.com

Note to potential buyers

We are receiving a lot of interest in Sokari, lots of emails and phone calls. We respond to all emails received and are always happy to discuss her with anyone who is genuinely interested and to show people over her. If you are only browsing the boats and not really serious about buying, we would appreciate it if you would tell us. We'll still give you advice over the phone or by email if that's what you are after. If, on the other hand, you are really interested in Sokari, and wish to arrange an inspection, we'd appreciate it if you would do us the courtesy of giving us advance notice so that we can make arrangements to travel down to meet you.

We understand that everyone is looking for a bargain and there are some to be found. While we are negotiable on the price we have a limit and it's obviously not as low as some would like. We would, however, look at a real estate trade. But talk to us. Our phone number is 0418 886 794 so if interested you can ring us and have a chat. We do occasionally receive emails instructing us to "ring me" but we simply can't ring everyone who contacts us. If you can't afford a phone call, you can't afford the boat. If you're not prepared to ring, you aren't really interested.

Computer glitch

Boatpoint relisted Sokari today. There must have been a computer glitch that knocked it off the site. We must go in and note that she is at Cardwell now and that we are including a new Netbook and USB GPS Dongle in the sale.

SOKARI IS STILL FOR SALE

John received a huge shock last night when he logged in to do his regular check of our listing on Boatpoint and SOKARI WAS NOT THERE. There was simply a sign saying that the boat was no longer available. BS. So for anyone still interested in Sokari SHE IS STILL FOR SALE.

The other notable fact is that Sokari is no longer in Cairns. We have moved her to Cardwell.

Hopefully, Boatpoint will do the right thing and reinstate Sokari. We didn't cancel the listing. John is fanatical about renewing every month, despite the fact that Boatpoint is often lax in sending the renewal notification.

So, rest assured SOKARI IS STILL FOR SALE

2010 Sokari on the move

A couple of weeks ago Cyclone Olga fizzled over the coast with little effect on us as we sat in our favourite cyclone hole but when we returned to our mooring the strong northerly winds gave us a bit of curry for a couple of days. Olga wandered west then reformed heading SE and sent heavy rain and galeforce winds over Cairns. We were able to check out the boats on Cairns webcam and from our home on the Tablelands it appeared really horrendous. Phone calls and text messages were flooding into us from friends on their boats, and John considered racing down to be onboard in case of problems. But when he rang Cairns Met. he was told that they didn't expect anything higher than 20-25 knots. They were wrong and reports of 38 knots were reported from boats on the piles and other very experienced yachties anchored near our mooring said they experienced up to 50 knots. Many boats dragged damaging many more but Sokari's mooring held fast. Thank goodness. But perhaps that is due to the fact that John has the mooring serviced at least twice a year. It had only just be redone a few weeks prior. John drove down the next day and found no damage except the winds had done a job on her side covers so I guess I have another job, making new ones. John had wrapped line around the main and boom cover before the cyclone and left it there for security. He had also removed the wind generator to give it a service.

We recently purchased a new Netbook, loaded a navigation program on it and with one of the USB GPS dongles that we import plugged in, he headed off a couple of days later, taking Sokari south to haul out. He enjoyed the sail, with northerlies the first day but the second day they dropped out to absolute calms with light headwinds coming in a little later. He dropped the pick on the southern side of Dunk Island where he spent the afternoon and night and pulled into Hinchinbrook Marina the following day. For the moment, there she sits. I drove down by car to spend a few days onboard but the heat was so unbearable that we decided to return to the more civilised climate on the Tablelands until it is time to pull her out of the water.