Marina life… Martin and I went to the Gold Coast City Marina on Saturday evening to visit friends on their Irwin 52 ketch. They are about 7 years ahead of us. They left corporate life and have been living on their yacht for 6 years now. We love their company and their positivity.
They have decided to base themselves on the Gold Coast for approximately a year while they do some work on their boat. Tim turns his hand to everything and does all the maintenance work on his boat as well. Jo has picked up a part time job.
Tom Jones was played a lot that night. After a brief commentary and various opinions about Tom Jones, his music became a half-forgotten background to the lively and engaged conversation of the gathered clan.
We were joined by Michael, a Swede and John, who had bought Phoenix (our old boat) and ended up staying the night. Then we crashed on “Crash’s” boat (who was away) and in the morning as I was returning from the the facilities block, watching the sunrise and loving the reflection on the water, I saw our old boat Phoenix and my heart skipped a beat. Truly it did! I still love her and we are thrilled that John the new owner is a truly passionate sailor.
We really needed that visit and sleep over on the Marina. Why, you ask? Because we were both feeling a little flat. Or, perhaps a more than a bit. The delays on our boat and the challenge of selling our stuff. On the drive back to Brisbane Martin said, he felt better today than yesterday. All the delays were making our dream seem so far away. And, it was so nice to connect with our dream again.
I think this gave him a renewed vigour to get rid of more stuff under the house.
He has sold, his Ducati 1198 race bike, his beautiful superbike. It is worthy of a spec sheet so here it is. I had to tap into him for this… as all I remember is lots of horsepower of the back.
Ducati 1198 Race Engine, Titanium rods and valves, lightened everything, Microtec engine management, 198rwhp. Ohlins suspension, Flat link rear, 25mm offset triples, slipper clutch, much, much, more and stupid fast…
Selling it was bitter-sweet. Sad that it is gone and happy that it went to one of our favourite riders to watch Ben Lowe, or the Lowe show. We love watching him race Ryan Yanko. The lead changes, the tasselling and the banter in the pits. I personally love watching Ben and Ryans’ kids play together and the moments we all share. It has been hard for Martin to step away form racing because of his accident. He is not a good spectator. He would rather be racing than watching. I was happy to hear him say, while we are still around, we might go and watch Ben on the bike. I would love that.
So endings and new beginnings.
A slightly amusing ending and beginning centres around the piano. Martin sold his piano and we agreed a day for delivery. So, it was kind of strange, to have it sitting there knowing it would be gone the next day. He opened it and played a few tunes. This time with a tinge of sadness that we all felt. Fast forward a couple of days, he grabs Bill a mate he was in a couple of bands with in his 20’s and a very talented musician. They disappeared for a while and came home with a keyboard, that feels and sounds like a piano, with a fewer keys. It is shorter than the piano and very narrow. It was great to see the smile on Martin’s face and to see and hear Martin and Bill have an impromptu jam session while I was cooking dinner.
We are learning that marina communities are punctuated with talented people, particularly musicians. And jam sessions are common. I loved our time on East Coast Marina, sitting on the deck in the cool of the evening listening to Charles play his saxophone. And I am looking forward to being back there for a month before heading to our berth at the Gold Coast. I love the communities we have been exposed to so far. You could own the smallest and cheapest boat to a huge and expensive yacht and we all sit around, having a whiskey and sharing a meal together.
I love Marina Life.
#Ilovesailing #Ilovemarinalife #whatareyouwaitingfor #liveyourlife
