A stitch in time ...

After farewelling Andy and Donna to Darwin and the V8s, we caught up with ex-Rochy-ites Wendy and Onn in Trinity Beach.
They not only welcomed us with a delicious lunch at their beachfront house but also gave us an extensive tour by foot and by car of all the local beaches from Trinity to Kewarra to Clifton and on to Palm Cove. It was a great day and their hospitality was much appreciated. We were also very impressed with Onn's fishing photos and the fact that he has only to walk out his front gate to catch barramundi!
The wind has lifted several knots off, and north of, Cairns so we've decided to stay in the marina and have some repairs done to the sailbag which started to come apart on the way up. With the constant exposure to the tropical sun it is hardly suprising that the top stitiching holding the zip in place is disintegrating.
Getting the bag off the boom was another learning curve, requiring the removal of the lazy jacks (fibreglass rods threaded through the sailbag to which light ropes are attached to act as a guide for the mainsail to drop into the bag) then the edging forward of the sailbag's runners which slot into `tram tracks' along the boom. And of course the wind kept gusting at crucial moments requiring gripping the sail in a bear hug to prevent it spilling across the deck - and beyond as the protection of the saibag was removed.

A very naked looking mainsail, trussed like a chicken.

In the interests of having a smooth reinstallation of the sailbag, we took photos of every rope attachment and fitting. This worked a treat when we did the trampolines - and we wished we'd done it the first time we took the headsail off then tried to put it back on a few months later!
We borrowed the marina's courtesy car this afternoon (best marina idea ever) and dropped the sailbag to the sailmaker for a re-stitch of all the stitching which should alleviate the need for us to take it off again in the near future.

Chilling out at Yorkey's. The lunch crowd had left and the dinner crowd was yet to arrive. But the band played on.

Our pushbikes have come out again and a bike trip around to Yorkey's Knob marina and boat club was our first port of call. What a popular spot as well as a beautiful outlook. The music was pretty good too!