Pandemic Preppers

24 March - June 2020
John and I really weren’t pandemic preppers more accurately just low level hoarders. I just like alliterations. This chapter covers the time of the pandemic shutdown to our escape north.

After Georgie and Adam went home the enormity of the impact of the pandemic hit us. Everything closed down at the marina and Manly village. There were no planes flying overhead. It was deathly quiet on the street. It’s hard to describe how we felt at that time – sort of running on automatic, feeling surreal. That lasted about 2 weeks. As the government started to come to grips with the new reality we started to get back on track preparing for our new adventure. People started to act suspiciously about everyone else.

We continued to spend most of our time at chandleries, Bunnings and

BCF which had set up widely varying social distancing procedures. One chandlery would serve you outside which took ages as they went to collect products one by one. We had to provision for 3-4 months of non-perishable food. Supermarket shopping became a military exercise in beating the product limitations – split up on arrival (John don’t talk to me or even look at me)and go to both major supermarkets resulting in 8 cans of diced tomatoes. We did get a bit obsessive in the end. Why, oh, why did I buy polenta – the last carb on the shelf - when I’ve never successfully cooked it!! We still can’t understand the toilet paper hoarding.

We continued our walks along the Wynnum-Manly esplanade which is a beautiful walking path about 6 km long. It must have become the most congested footpath in Brisbane with walkers, joggers and pet owners all out and about. It was quite devastating when the Manly Trailer Boat Club closed down. Our trivia team was REALLY good; maybe next year we’ll win the crown.

Living in a Marina
Whilst everything slowed down during the initial stages of the pandemic, life continued for the many “liveaboards” in the marina. We spent this time doing boat improvements we planned to do next year (like bench cushions, clears and mozzie screen) and learning about our boat.

If you look like you are fixing a problem (what was that funny knocking sound) everyone who passes by stops to offer advice, they’ll even jump on board and help with the heavy work. Sometimes I’d go outside and John would have 2 or 3 strangers helping him. Our immediate neighbours from Temptress, No Regrets, Twoflower, Imagine VI and Mandalay were really helpful and very experienced.

Living on a boat is so different to living on a house. We have all the essentials and some of the luxuries but are essentially glamping on the water. Your “house” is always moving; the environment is a continual challenge and salt is the enemy. Someone said “there’s always leaks on boats” which didn’t instil much confidence in me. Now I check the bilge pumps regularly – so far so good. You have to turn off the water and gas every time you leave the boat and at night. Marina showers are much better than boat showers with unlimited hot water. You are so close to nature which is wonderful – so many sunsets, big moons, wildlife but there are also strong winds and big waves.

Family and Friends
Everyone’s plans are on hold. Georgie’s 3 month trip to Europe followed by a move east has been put on hold indefinitely and Adam’s business degree majoring in tourism and events isn’t going to lead to any employment in the foreseeable future. Adam joined the navy, fortunately (we think) only for the training period of 11 weeks which consisted of extreme physical and mental challenges – who really wants to swim in the water in your overalls during a Victorian winter? He has since returned to civilian life in Adelaide.

We continued to visit Paul and Ness at “The Carb House” on a weekly basis. We were really fortunate to be able to do our washing, attend medical and other appointments and continue to help my mother with her house. One weekend they visited us on our boat with their friends. This couple, old sea dog John and wife Rachel lived on a boat for quite a few years and had many stories and advice for us.

We did a few more trips to Moreton and North Stradbroke islands but restrictions did not unable us to go ashore. My friend Louise came with us once and immediately booked herself on the return trip from the Whitsundays in November – Louise proved herself very handy in the galley.

John and I missed our friends and our work colleagues and came to the realisation that this was forever; that we weren’t going to come home from a long holiday. I received my final pay.

The dog
On a trip to the vet we discovered that Tallis has renal failure – well he is from Central Australia. We gave away all his dog food and bought 24 cans and 10 kg of dry low protein, phosphate and sodium dog food for a 3 kg dog. Of course, after a few days he refused to eat it. I will need to get Bernie and N@’s input. Now he has all the cream biscuits and corn beef that he wants. At nearly 16 he is still running round like a puppy which leads me to a story about an unfortunate event one night.

It was 2 am. Tallis was making an unusual noise. I thought I’d take him outside in case he was going to be sick. I put him on the jetty, regrettably without his leash on, and ended up chasing him for well over 20 minutes along multiple jetties, up ramps into the car park,

and out again (3 times). Not once did we run past our boat. I couldn’t yell out as it was 2 am and he’s deaf anyway. I had my nightie on and no shoes resulting in blisters on the soles of my feet. Tallis was having great fun, tail wagging at this great chasing/running game. Eventually I persuaded him to come to me. John slept through it all. It would have been interesting to see the CCTV footage.

Finally…
At last we were ready to go. We had a small, legal lunch on our boat with friends and family. We secured our car and van. The weekend prior to departure we had lunch at a Greek RESTAURANT with Paul and Ness. Great food but the eating out with strangers all around was the best thing. Would we start getting back to our usual activities?

Well and truly ready to depart we planned to do a tiny leg the first day

- Manly to Bribie Island - about 15 nautical miles.

And Now…
Now we are in the Whitsundays and the weather is finally turning good. It has been really windy for weeks now. More about the Whitsundays later. We have welcomed some guests and are expecting more soon. It's wonderful to share our new world.

We’ve had an emotional time recently with my father passing away on 13 September at the age of 90. We were fortunate to be able to return to Bundaberg along with all my siblings to see dad whilst he was still able to talk to us. He had a great time talking about events in his life and we smuggled beer into his room whilst revolting against the fluid restriction that had no purpose. RIP Mick.

Two weeks later an old school friend, one of my oldest friendship

group, passed away after a very difficult life. RIP Sull.

A few days later, the singer of "I Am Woman", an anthem for girls growing up in the 1970's also died. RIP Helen Reddy.

Today’s Reflections
What’s good: Retirement, the social life of cruising sailors, catching up with friends and family up the Queensland coast. Feeling fit and rested.
What’s bad: The 2020 NRL season is dead to me. I don’t like 30 knot winds. The only fish I can recognise is a marlin or a catfish which we haven’t caught. The reference book pictures look nothing like a real fish. Fish have sad and accusing (although rather vague) eyes when you catch them. Some of them are angry.
What we have learnt: Fish are really fussy, they only like certain bait;

they may live on the bottom of the water or any at any other depth in the water and they only like to be caught at specific times of the tide/day/month/year/lunar cycle. My brother calls anything too fussy to fillet “bait”.

Life is too short – Live it.

Photos:
P 56 The Marina
P 57 Life in the Marina
P 58 Inside Summer Breeze
P 60 Friends and Family
P 61 My Brother - Drinking and Fishing
P 63 The Dog
P 64 The Crew
P 65 Sunsets and Moonrises
P 66 The Sky
P 67 The Skipper
P 68 Random Photos
P 69 Summer Breeze

P 70 The Marina (Again)
P 71 Full Moon
P 72 Sunset at Stradbroke

Next: Brisbane to Bribie