Mon 30th
Today we would be moving back onto our beloved H&H. Hoorah! We were all packed and ready to go by 9am and piled into taxis and cars.
The boat was in a state of chaos but the main thing was that, where there had been a gaping hole in her hull, there was now a new shiny, apparently stronger than ever, bit of fibre glass.  Other than the missing branding she was looking almost as before. The final bits of woodwork were going into place along with the new block, the stanchions and the guard rail.  Our job was to do the biggest clean-up job, getting rid of every bit of fibre glass dust and strand and getting all the living quarters back in place.  We worked like Trojans all morning but as final fixings were still underway and the surveyor was yet to arrive to give his final ok, we knew that it was looking doubtful for an evening departure. As the afternoon went on into evening and the wind whipped itself up into a frenzy, confirmation came that we were set for a departure early next morning and listening to the violent clanking of the halyards, we decided might just be a blessing in disguise. Although we were all desperate to be off, having now had a substantial break away from sailing the thought of heading off at night, straight into a force 8 gale was not the most appealing. A few hours overnight would make little difference to our arrival time in Oz but at least might help to ensure we get there in one piece!