Author: Di Fitzgerald

The moral of this tale is never ever assume anything. Ever. (I thought we’d already learnt this lesson, but obviously not well enough). Continue reading “Chain of Fools”

It’s been a week of celebrations here, big and small. The biggest (of course!) was my birthday last Wednesday, which really started on Tuesday evening Australia time, so I got to celebrate for 38 hours! It was very special to hear from both my wonderful boys, Nick and Rob, and to receive so many lovely birthday messages from family and friends, including a skype video call with our Mandurah ‘family’, Chris, Heidi, Kieran and Drina. Modern technology really does help to make us feel as if we’re only just around the corner instead of half way round the world. Continue reading “Independence Day”

There certainly hasn’t been much sittin’ on the dock or wastin’ time since we arrived in Annapolis, but we’re now cosily ensconced on the end of the dock at Petrini’s boatyard in Spa Creek, one of the oldest marinas in town. Continue reading “Dock of the Bay”

Our mission on Thursday was to collect our 33 boxes of sea-freight from the shipping company in Baltimore and get them onto the boat. Moving house is never a pleasant experience, but moving onto a boat has additional challenges: first, get a cab to the truck rental company. Continue reading “Moving Day”

D-Day, the day Toucan got splashed! “Slim” finally arrived and fitted the new prop, we filled in time doing some more polishing while we anxiously awaited our scheduled time of high noon to be lowered into the water. The last few days there hasn’t been a breath of wind, but wouldn’t you know it, today the wind was up and blowing a good 15 kts (thanks Murphy). There wasn’t much manoeuvring space beyond the travel lift area, so Raphael the yard manager came over to check whether Bruce was still happy to go ahead  – hmm, let’s see, wind is going to be a problem, never driven this boat before – ‘Ok let’s give it a go’. The man is a legend. Continue reading “Waterworld”

Feeling a bit like two stuffed geese after our over-indulgence at Ed & Carol’s, we waddled onto the plane at Denver, bound for Baltimore. Continue reading “Our New Home”