Break out

You can get snowed under by boat repairs and maintenance, and you can get marina-fied where, the longer you spend tied up safely, the less inclined and motivated you become to undo those ropes and head to sea.
Mind you, for four days of last week there was a gale warning in force so that's another reason (a very good one) to stay put.
With (fingers crossed) beautiful conditions forecast for the rest of the week, we managed to undo, unplug, un-shade, de-fender, dis-anode, and cast off from berth B13 and head for Magnetic Island this morning.
It was an uneventful trip out, apart from several horn-blasts and waves from our good friend Andi (Chimera) who was skippering the Nellie Bay (Magnetic Island) outgoing ferry. 
We dropped anchor in Horseshoe Bay on the northern side of the island at around 1.30pm.

Bye bye Townsville for a few days

The car ferry heading to Nellie Bay on Magnetic Island. Moments later the Nellie Bay outgoing ferry came through and there was our friend Andi waving from the skipper's deck (but by then I'd put the camera away).



Rounding the rocks after Florence Bay

No doubt the bay was full of people, boats and other leisure craft during this last fortnight of school holidays, but Queensland kids returned to school today and the island (or this part at least) is incredibly peaceful. We are one of only four boats at anchor.
We intend to stay out here for a few nights before a brief return to Vic (via plane) at the end of the week.
While we have been busy getting the boat ready for the season, we've also mixed it up with lots of socialising.
On Saturday night the marina held a jam session with everyone invited to bring any musical instrument along and have a go. It was a terrific turnout. Ted and Carolynne (Double Vision) set up a sound system and kicked off the night which started at 6pm and rocked on till nearly midnight.
Pete (Daze Off and sometimes caretaker of Sea Piper) was the hit of the night and was the mainstay in getting everyone dancing and singing till we figured the neighbours in the apartment block behind might complain.
Thank goodness the marina has recently fitted out a community room as it started to rain about 10pm and we were able to move inside.
No wonder it's a tough marina to leave!