Admirals Update No.1
Greetings to Everyone,
Yep, the Baileys are still on the planet. Since we returned to Australia in November we have been busy. We had been hoping to buy a second-hand campervan this year as trying to get around to see family and friends by public transport was impossible and the last couple of years we had been blessed with the loan of a vehicle from one of our friends.
As we were sailing south in December we were held up with southerly winds to the extent that at Bundaberg I went shopping and Phil decided to go looking for campervans. He ended up walking for miles and eventually found one that was within our budget and in very good condition so we bought it. We then decided to leave the boat on a mooring at Bundaberg and travel south by campervan. As it turns out, Bundaberg is a very good place to do maintenance on the boat as it has all the facilities we need so we have decided to make it our base. This also saves us the problem of trying to sail south in December and gives us about two extra months to visit people. We have really enjoyed the couple of months we have had there. We had time to get attached to the warm folk at Heritage Christian Church and also to attend the Queensland State Gideon Convention which Bundaberg hosted. The place has a warm country town hospitality and we have LOVED all the local fresh fruit and vegies and Sizzelers.We were able to visit 56 different lots of people thanks to the van. Unfortunately there were still some that we missed due to time restraints and some being away or sick at the time. We will make up for that next time.
We spent a couple of months working on the boat at Bundaberg before slipping it in mid May and then had a good 72 hour trip to Airlie Beach with 15-20 knots behind us. We stopped here to pick up some equipment to take to PNG and while we were here Phil discovered a problem with the engine salt water/fresh water heat exchanger. God’s timing is good, it so happens that we have a Christian friend here who has a business doing mechanical repairs on the yacht charter boats. He has very generously looked after the repairs for us.
We collected an enormous quantity of goods, more than the van could handle and Warren Jolly kindly freighted them up to Bundaberg for us through his business. We have several hundred Bibles (& eight more boxes to pick up at Townsville), three boxes of school books, 72 pairs of reading glasses, a large box of assorted hand tools, study Bibles to equip church leaders,two guitars and heaps of guitar strings, ten tambourines, a box of flannel-graph pictures, children’s clothing, dishes and pots for the Bible college at Rossel and probably some other stuff that I will rediscover when we unpack. Then there is the huge quantity of food we take for the next six months. Phil does his own “nibbles” and has secreted them in hidyholes all over the boat like a squirrel with its nuts and will no doubt find many pleasant surprises as time progresses.
We are now just passing Bowen on our way to Townsville to clear Customs and then OFF!! Please pray for a safe and smooth ocean crossing for us and for Des and Merleen, another Coastlands boat heading for Vanuatu at this time. Many thanks to you all for connecting with us. More from PNG when we get there.
God bless you all,
Phil and Pam
PS You will note above that we have a web page — thanks to Sam Doyle one of our friends on the Central Coast who is into that sort of thing.
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