The Struggle is Real.

9 nov 2018 Well that was 5 days i’d rather not do again, and before i tell the tale, i need to most humbly thank those who have sent words of encouragement and most critically have donated your support is invaluable. I can not under state how grateful i am to you all, and i appreciate that it is difficult to see where all this money is dissapearing to. Believe me i will be the first to admit that i underestimated both the amount of immediate work needed to move the yacht from Port Stephens as well as the costs of remaining there. The $ 30k i had raised myself for this years budget was exhausted by the end of the haul out and we were dipping directly into Pat Angels pocket. This was why we took a chance on tying up to the Public Wharf at Lemon Tree Passage. The idea was to try and get the engine working again ASAP and then return to our arranged mooring location on the other end of Port Stephens, at Nelson Bay Trawler Pens. As with all things boating this has proved more time consuming and complicated than one would expect and so we remained stuck with Armageddon Ready on the public wharf, myself some 900km away and Pat some 400km. The local Marina wanted $1200 in advance to moor us for three months and distance and beauracracy prevented me from figuring out how to get her towed back to Nelson bay from where i was. Leaving me marooned on the sunshine coast, very concerned about the very real possibility of the boat being impounded. Thankfully Jo Elles family being long time yachties and environmental crusaders, donated the $350 i needed to make the return journey, and so last Sunday morning i took off for Lemon Tree Passage in Port Stephens. The 16 hour road trip which included a couple of hours lay over at Pats, saw me on the dock at Lemon Tree Passage 01:00hrs monday morning looking at Armageddon Ready still Moored where we had left her with a yellow ranger tag on her mooring line, indicating that the vultures were circling. Monday proved to be increasingly frustrating as i attempted to either find somewhere in Lemon Tree Passage to moor up to, or find some way to get her towed back to Nelson Bay. This frustration resulted in an unsucessfull attempt to move the boat upriver and at least for a day or two put the anchor down to buy some time. That nearly didn’t end well, but thanks to the assistance of Mike Harwood from Lemon Tree Passage Marina, no harm done and another steep climb in the learning curve for me. Tuesday was a bright sunny day, but was seeming pretty bleak to me, and the arrival of the Ranger on the wharf did not improve things. Not to say that he wasn’t sympathetic to out plight and was happy to give us another day or two grace, to try and get the engine moving again so we could bugger off. Pat arrived at that time and we chewed over the options and the possibility of re installing the injectors in the faint hope that the engine might start but ultimately we were left with only the tow out as an option, which was possible but i was still having difficulty finding the number for the local rescue boat crew leader, who i knew would do this service for us, but every time i called the number posted on the wharf for the service got an operator who either couldn’t fathom that we just needed a tow for a donation and kept asking for our co-ordinates, or thought that i wanted to join the rescue service. All this complicated by being on a public phone with questionable reliability. Pat had to return home and as the sun set i was faced with the very real possibility that by the next day Port Stephens Council would impound the boat to be Sold. Standing on the Aft deck with a silver coin in my hand watching the sun set i named all the water Gods and godesses i could think of and then flicked the offering into the darkening water where it splashed with phosphoresant acceptance, Some may find this a contradiction in my characht

er but logic tells me that all gods eventually trace to the source realization of the Sun the Moon and the Earth, the first placement of humanity within the universal triad of existence, and it is just cultural dichotomy which provides the different versions. Therefore all manifestations of life and death are the very gods we seek. Tuesday night as i lay in the car in the vacant lot where i slept, i was not at all confident that things were going to work out, and so was when i posted my recent plea. After which i sat on the tail gate smoking. A small black rabbit came out from under the truck that was also parked in the lot and then a Tawny Frog Mouth, swooped in to perch in the tree above me. As the Frogmouth is my totem i took this as at least the universe was listening and went to sleep. Wednesday morning i managed to finally catch Johan from the LTP Boating & Fishing shop, who after five minutes of phone calls informed me that the rescue boat crew would be there at 10 o’clock to tow me to Nelson Bay. This was in my mind quite literally a gift from the gods, and the events of the day continued to seemingly confirm that. At ten i went down and introduced myself to the rescue crew then began to prep Armageddon Ready for the tow. I could hear Ravens calling and looked up to see two perched on the main mast of the yacht moored on the other side of the channel from us called Recluse. I acknowledged them as Odin’s eyes, then went back to the ropes. The rescue boat pulled in front of us as as i dropped the last of the mooring lines, and out of habit looked up into the rigging saw that one of them had now landed on our mast. But then once it saw i was looking at it flew off in a huff. The tow went smoothly, and at about the middle of Port Stephens they let me know that the crew from Nelson Bay would be coming out to take over. All the while a storm had been forming to the North and as we hove too, broke brightly above us for ten minutes, then blew out. By this time the other boat had arrived and we had transferred tow lines, the storm was spent. Twenty minutes later Armageddon ready was rafted to the side of the rescue boat and entering Nelson Bay Marina entrance. Ahead lay a pod of dolphins who casually continued straight for us and passed beneath the hull, another good sign. The rescue crew placed the yacht into the four posts that make up a pen and a six weeks after we left we were back securely moored onto four posts. I haven’t got any pictures of any of this was too busy with other things so instead i have attached a pic of the toe i broke for the second time in two months scrambling about. Same toe same place on the boat, and yes i also see that as a sign from the gods. Then the 900km trip back up here to the Sunshine Coast. to arrive home last night about midnight. Again i cannot thank those who have donated and shared enough, and David Royes, David Diggles,, Hélène Zalien Lil Crump, with a particular mention for Jay Bryan who has donated three times now and kindly posted the link to the crowd funding page, Thank you, thank you one and all you have been a light in a very dark day. One day soon i hope you can come sailing with us, as this is your project too. We can make a difference and we can grow our way out of this of that i am certain, but time is short and so sometimes i get frustrated..lol again thanks for reading and if you would like to help out or become involved do contact us via Facebook or our website https://crystalfyrestudio.wixsite.com/charter4conservation and if you can help with our next goal of $ 5000 for the next and final haul out before heading north then you can donate at. https://www.gofundme.com/pacific-expedition-against-plastic