Come on now Shrek - get up and have a look at our email - and send one back too.
 
 
To bring you up to date - we need to have a quick re-cap from the other day.   Remember how I told you it was getting really windy and choppy - and remember these pictures . . . . . .<
 
 
Well as it turned out - little Penny - right on to the problem - had every reason to be worried - because she knows that when it gets really rough - our little boats (which aren't all that little at 12' by the way) can sometimes have a difficult time of it back there - especially when we start to get about 2-3'  high waves breaking all around us - and bouncing them about.
 
So we slept through the nasty winds and the bouncing chop - and emerged early the next morning to a relatively calm scene - except for a few things being as they shouldn't be:
 
 
 
 
So as you can see the white runabout - went under - again - and while it is kind of 'unsinkable' as you know, being filled with a fair bit of foam - it is a fairly low sided boat - and in rough weather tied up like that - it can take water over the front until it actually becomes front heavy and fills completely.   It then turns into an iceberg, with only about 5% above the surface and the rest of the boat pretty much underwater (engine and all).
 
I had placed about 30 litres of water in containers in the stern of it - and that's helped it ride a bit 'nose higher' - in normal bay weather - but it made little difference this time - once it took a couple of waves over the front.   And unfortunately when it goes under - the cushions, fuel container, and anything else - not really tied on very well - will eventually be washed out.   And so it was that we lost one of the good aluminium oars.   It was tied, as was the other, but apparently not good enough to withstand a whole night of pummelling about.
 
The continual waves still coming into the runabout made it a difficult task to make any progress with the big 240 submersible pump - which I dropped in to it.
 
 
 
Eventually after about a good half hour - I started to make some progress and another half hour later - I bailed out the last of it - recovered the outboard motor - back on to the yacht for repairs - and refilled a few more water ballast containers for the stern of it again - and we were pretty much back to normal.
 
 
 
 
But that little incident had been only a sideshow to the main drama of the bay.   Namely, that several huge barges moored over towards shore - which also had a couple of large workboats tied to them as well - had dragged in the stormy weather - and caused havoc and damage across the anchorage.   Here is where they started out - the day before.
 
 
But this is where they were at 7am the following morning.
 
 
Clay, off the big ferry behind me - went over in his Jet Ski Inflatable - and struggled to shorten up the ropes and haul the barges away from the yacht - and closer up on the small Ferry.   I made some telephone calls ashore - to tell them what was happening - and that the Miramu was in peril too.   I couldn't get over there myself because at that stage of the morning - my runabout was still under water - and the other red speedboat was not running.
 
  
 
The conditions had subsided - and although there was still a good 10 knots about - there wasn't much danger of anything further happening - except for the barges constantly banging on that old ferry's side.   And as time went by, everyone started to arrive - from the Maritime Services - to the owners of the Barges and the ferries involved.
 
 
 
By lunchtime - they had 2 tugboats hooked up and started to get the big barges out and around.   The wind was still significant and they were forced to work with it - and put the 2 tugs alongside the barges and 'drift' them sideways - behind me - and right out into the open and around - and back to their original moorings.
 
 
 
 
 
It was actually a few days before I got the full story of what had transpired - because Colin had come over on the Sunday - enquiring if I'd seen which boat had struck his yacht - and I was unable to help him - we even had a look at the photos I'd taken over the days but couldn't find anything.
 
It now seems - that the story goes - that there were 2 huge barges - all tied together on one mooring - and so it dragged.   In the course of their travels they crossed the mooring rope of Ricardo's large white 60' Ferry (not the one they're tied to in the photos) which caused it's mooring to become dislodged and sent that large ferry moving backwards too.
 
It dragged backwards and struck a smaller 30' yacht, 200 metres back (belonging to Colin - a weekender - who keeps it immaculate) - damaging the bowfitting, bending over all the rails on one side, and scratching up the boat.
 
 
 
 
 
 
So there you go.
Sunken runabouts - dragging barges and ferries - damaged boats.
 
It always pays to take heed of Little Penny's advice
after all - she's been a yacht dog - nearly all her life - on land and sea.
 
 
Let's hope we have a quieter and calmer week - I think we will - in fact I'm pretty sure
because it's more than half over already.
 
Let's just follow Penny's lead - as she sit's back and relaxes
and ponders the 'big questions' of life - like . . . .
 
and that other worry
 
Maybe she'll figure it all out this week - who knows - we can only hope.
 
 
Bye for now.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sydney, Australia