#74 NOW November 5, 2005, 0955—UTC +10 hours (Queensland, Australia Time) East Coast Marina, Manly Harbor, Brisbane, Australia Temperature 82.9 Once again I was awaken at the crack of dawn by the Kookaburras (a medium size bird with a big mouth) making their hideous laughing cry. They are known as the jackass bird, which best describes what they sound like. When I say crack of dawn I do mean early. Australia seems to be a little confused as to what time they should be using. Queensland, where I am located, does not change to daylight savings time. However, just south of here in New South Wales they set their clocks back an hour to daylight savings time. Thus it starts getting light here around four AM. Brisbane is located about 27 degrees South, this is the equivalent of about half way down the Baja peninsula. It is a little more humid here and thus we have a semi tropical condition that produces temperatures in the 80’s during the day and cooling off to the low 70’s a night. This is a little warmer than I like, and I look forward to heading south and cooler climates. I understand that Tasmania is wonderful. Since my return I have been very busy installing, repairing, and doing general maintenance on the boat. The first order of business was to install the Newmar, Phase Three, charger that I brought from the US. It uses 240 or 120 volts, 50 or 60 cycle, and converts it to 12 volts DC for charging my batteries. It produces only 40 amps DC. However, I have found this to be sufficient for my needs while docked. When I occasionally use more for short periods, such as running the toaster through the inverter, it just runs down the batteries a bit, after which they are gradually charged back up. This three-stage charger appears to be a sturdy unit and should last me for many years, and serve as a back-up charger when I return to North America. Unfortunately, my air-conditioning will not operate unless of course I start the Genset. Other items included; installing a new power supply for the Shuttle computer, installing new C-map charts in my Raymarine Plotter (more on this another time), getting the outboard engine up and running after its dunking in Tonga, installing new navigation lights, and dedicating an hour a day to polishing the stainless steel on the boat. OK, I must confess the later item I have really spent only two days on, but my intentions are good. Therefore, you can see I have been busy. However, life is not all work. Thursday I took the day off, and took the train into Brisbane and enjoyed a wonderful day at the Queensland Maritime Museum. This is one of my favorite pastimes, and I have been to maritime museums all over the world. While the museum is not large, it is an excellent source for local maritime history. In addition, they have a wonderfully restored River Class Frigate the HMAS Diamantina. This 300-foot anti-submarine ship launched in 1945 saw active service during the war and later as a research vessel. What makes this ship so interesting to visit is the ability to peruse the entire ship. Nothing is off limits. You can even aim the 4-inch guns and move the turrets about. I spent several hours from the bridge to the bilge inspecting this piece of history. My self-imposed one page is up and I have so much more to say. It will have to wait until next time. For now, "Cheerio Mates!" Life is a Cruise, Larry Larry Rick Done Dreamin' Nordhavn 40 #33 Site: http://gricknet.homedns.org/Dads%20Web/doneDreamnHome.htm