The Five (or 6...)"P"s

15/3/2025

This was the middle of winter, its a little warmer now...

With only days to go before we set out on our Aussie adventures in ITIKI, we are checking and rechecking our preparations list. Its not the first time we have taken a break from cruising, having left ITIKI in Tunisia, Greece and Grenada for extended breaks. In the past we have packed up ITIKI and stepped off with just a suitcase of mostly unsuitable clothing for a short-ish break back in Australia (well except in the case of the infamous 2019/2020/2021 Covid-19 "interlude"). Getting back on board and setting off again used to mean reversing the "winterising" process, putting sails back on etc, getting the cocktail deck cushions out, provisioning and just taking off, leaving a port and often a country, never to return. This time is a little different. We stripped pretty much everything off ITIKI when set up our land home, so all of that needs to be dinghied back out again. At least it is not too far!

Well everyone knows what the 5 (or 6) Ps stand for**, and of course we prioritised the important stuff, which is kind of a good thing. We organised farewell drinks on ITIKI for a Friday night, planning to come alongside our neighbours dock for a couple of hours at high tide. As I waddled down the dock from the car, with seat cushions under each arm and a back pack full of cheese and crackers I got a call from Keith, who was already on ITIKI, telling me that neither engine would start! Both starter batteries were completely flat with readings of 6V! OK so this had been on the list of boat jobs, these batteries were really past their use by date, being originals from 2018, but so far we had been getting away with it. Our farewell drinks venue was quickly changed to our dining room ashore, and the next day a trip to Hobart to purchase 2 new batteries. Lets just go over that preparation checklist again...

Out with the old...

In with the new!

Needless to say that removing the old batteries and installing the new ones was not a 5 minute job... Basically the boat was constructed around the batteries!

In the lead up to our departure there have been numerous trips out to ITIKI in our $10 FB marketplace dinghy, which handles the shallow, pebble and oyster strewn beach much better than the RIB. Its hard to know what clothes to pack as even though we are heading north, we are heading into winter and still have a long way to go before we get to warmer climes. Best to include a bit of everything and hope for the best! At least we are heading towards civilisation, we may soon be able to treat ourselves to a trip down the centre aisle of an Aldi. Hopefully it wont take us too long to get back into good habits, following our practical and safety boat procedures on board. Of course its always important to ensure the RIB is firmly tied to the vessel before letting go of the boat to retrieve something you dropped in the water. Yes Keith did have an impromptu swim in the chilly Huon River, fortunately the RIB was drifting towards the near shore outside our neighbours place and not the opposite direction!

And so the day has arrived, we have our weather window and the first week is laid out before us. We decide to spend the the night before departure on board so its only a quick trip ashore when we realise we have forgotten something critical. Lucky we did, and fortunate that it was only after one glass of wine that Keith remembered his coffee percolator was still at home! He took the SUP, this time without incident, to retrieve this critical item.

Its the first time we slept aboard on our mooring and with the wind blowing down the river, it was a noisy and rolly night. I would give it 2 stars in that respect. We wake early and have our breakfast and as our trusty house-sitters, Michelle and Ocea, wave us farewell from the shore, we slip off our mooring and head east. Farewell Surges Bay, we will miss our new home, but our next big adventure awaits.