Friday night in 'da club' ... Plus - Inverter? or Converter?

There was a time - too many years ago to recall - when a Friday night in 'da club' would mean too much fun (of the naughty/feel awful the next day type) and too much dancing.  Those were the days when Saturday would mean hugging the toilet bowl as I threw up too many wines and my knees would ache from dancing.  Things are much more sedate at this point in time...and I can't say I'm at all sorry.

The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club...with a little Miss Molly in front.

The 'Alfreds' from the water side.

On this past Friday night we went to another kind of 'da club'... the Alfreds Yacht Club ... for the monthly First Friday dinner.  Staid behaviour aside there are still enjoyable times to be had.  Now that we've been to a couple of these and we're becoming more involved in the activities of the club, each dinner is more and more enjoyable because we know an increasing number people.  With only a month or less to go before Coral Coast Cruise 2013 departure a lot of the participating boat owners sat at the same table for this Friday's dinner.

It was very interesting to talk with some of the couples going up the coast ... to hear about their plans and their boats.  I discovered a number of wives are flying in to key destinations instead of doing the every day sailing.  I must say that thought has crossed my mind.  The idea of not having to endure the night sailing and the bar crossings up the New South Wales coast does appeal to me greatly.  But, I'm not going to let Mr G down, I WILL do this and I WILL LIKE IT!  I'm doing this whole journey as much for me as for anyone or anything else.  What a great accommplishment to sail up the east coast of Australia and then over to the Louisiades Islands - wouldn't miss it for the world!  Next time though, the possibility of flying in to a lovely warm Queensland destination for some tropical island sailing without any rough weather or other hassles certainly remains - in my mind at least - an option.

As far as getting the boat ready, Mr G and our friend John - who joined us for the First Friday dinner - spent all day yesterday installing an inverter or converter on 'Southern Belle'.  The reason I say 'or' is because I've always called it a Converter because it converts 12v electricity to 240v electricity.  I think that makes sense.  Mr G used to correct me but I've worn him down and now he says it too....sometimes.  John, who is a very good electrician, corrected me with the term Inverter...and explained why it is technically called that.  Blah, Blah, Blah enough of that technical stuff!  We now have one so I can run my hairdryer plus we can use a toaster, charge my new computer and phone and even run the washing machine while on our trip.  Luxury!!!!

Men at work...lovely new blue converter!



The whole cabin was a mess..and Miss Molly and I were confined to the v-berth.
 It was raining outside and work going on inside ...so we stayed put.

There's a busy week planned next week.  My focus will be finalising the meds kit, provisioning and comms plans.  There's really only 3 weeks to go before we move on the boat.  Whenever I think about that my heart starts to hurt ... I think about leaving Molly.   I have to keep pushing that way down in my psyche or I will cry.  Now - and way too much.