Port 1: Cairns

Finally enough down time to attempt to upload a posting at the super fast internet at the McDonald's in Cairns. I've been here for about 5 days now, the weather has been gorgeous...we've been really lucky because it had been raining for almost a week straight before I arrived. I can now confidently say that I have seen some of the most amazing things one can see underneath the water. I figured when near the Great Barrier Reef (even though it was not in my budget AT ALL) I should take a boat to the outer reef and try a dive and snorkel some. Turns out diving isn't as hard as it seems and is absolutely amazing. Hiring an underwater camera was something like 100 dollars so no pictures of the reef sharks, sting rays, pregnant sea horses, giant clams, baracudas, etc, I was swimming around with. 'Gutted'.

a not so good picture of the reef...

are you for scuba?

I met up with Chris (CEO of OceansWatch), Irene (the marine scientist) and her cousin Anna two days ago...finally the entire crew of the promotional trip is together! I've spent the last two days visiting yachts in the marina and the mooring field trying to talk to as many sailboat owners as I can to get the word out about our organization. There are some 'wankers' out there, but there were also some extremely pleasant people who could have chatted about their boats, sailing, and working in developing countries all day long. Other than chatting up yachties, the past few days have been spent getting groceries and essentials for a month on the boat, 'unpacking,' inflating the dinghy, deflating the dinghy, and getting the engine fixed. We leave for Townsville tomorrow afternoon...it should be roughly a 2 day sail.

my new home for the next month

my bed...aka the sloop