Well, it's official – kind of. Our South Pacific adventures may actually come to an end in the next few months. We have a contract to ship Oso back to the Seattle area from Brisbane, "loading between August 20 – 30". However, arranging the shipping of yachts appears to be more of an art, than a science.
An old lumber buyer once told me that when they rounded up all the horse thieves in the old west, they all went into the lumber business. From what I can tell, some of them escaped and became yacht shipping agents. The boating world is full of stories of promised shipping dates, broken promises, boats shipped 6 months late, and worse. But, our options are few and we are rolling the dice. Like every gambler on the way to Vegas, we are going to win.
Our plan is to continue exploring here on the northern part of Australia's east coast, including the Great Barrier Reef, until late July. We will then start back on the 1200 nm return trip to Brisbane. With any luck, all will go according to plan and we will load Oso for her month long "cruise" to Seattle on the deck of a freighter. Once she is on her way, we intend to travel for a few weeks and then meet her in Seattle sometime in late September. Our fall plans include trips back to Minnesota and North Carolina to see family before getting settled in Park City.
If the shipping does not occur as planned, we will park Oso in Brisbane and wait for 'our ship to come in'. If the delay is likely to be extended, we will return to the US and I will go back to Australia when loading occurs.
It ain't over 'til it's over.
Eric
