Summer’s gone and it’s time to head back to Tassie. Alex has been checking the Predictwind forecasts daily and it’s starting to look like there will be windows available to get to Australia – at least somewhere in NSW, if not directly to Hobart, in the next week or so.
Rusalka’s crew for the return journey, David and Anne, are on their way to Nelson. Alex and I have been busy getting the boat ready for passage. Alex has done all the engine checks, changed fuel filter, sealed the leaky vent in the heads and done various jobs around the boat.
We’ve moved the dinghy onto the foredeck, set the inner forestay, the storm jib is ready to be hanked on before departure and Alex has used the hookah to check the bottom and clean the propeller of recent growth.
I’ve been cooking up a storm, freezing away meals to make life easier for the crew, although David will also get a chance to flex his culinary muscles! Since we all know that ginger is good for seasickness, I’ve made my (and Alex’s!) favourite ginger cake (with a splash of rum for good measure!)
So, apart from last minute boat jobs and provisioning, fueling up, briefing the crew, and waiting for the weather, we’re good to go. I fly home on Easter Sunday, so we’ll see who leaves first!
I’ll be posting about Rusalka’s passage as I did for the trip over, updating based on messages I get from Alex via Iridium. You can also see where the boat is by clicking on picture of the globe to the right of the blog page.
