Back Home aboard Nine of Cups

 

We are HOME! Each time we return to Nine of Cups, there's a sense of wonder and excitement as we walk down the pier and see her sitting serenely … patiently … waiting for her crew. Our friend, Ross, was waiting at the airport for us when we arrived. All flights were on-time or early arrivals. Immigration and Customs were a breeze … quick and efficient. Though the flight time was long, traveling together is always a plus. David watches non-stop movies and I … well, we've already discussed that.

We wrestled the four big duffels, two suitcases and various other carry-ons onto a big cart and managed to stuff it all into Ross' car for the one hour+ ride back to Mandurah. E-mails from local friends had indicated it had been cold, rainy and windy here during July. It was grey and drizzly when we arrived, but not as cold as we expected … 18C / 65F. A contrast from the 40C/100F temps we experienced in Las Vegas, but still not as bad as anticipated.

Cups looked great. We used two yacht club wheelbarrows to get all the gear down the narrow pier. The rain and drizzle conveniently stopped for a bit. We unloaded all the luggage, got it below and then just looked at it for a few minutes … hoping it would unpack and stow itself. No such luck. David opened the first duffel and was pleased to see the new cabin fans we purchased were still intact. That's all it took for me to dive into the duffels and begin the unpacking process. Though we buy and pack all the stuff ourselves, it's still like Christmas as we unpack and stow it for use on Cups. We unpacked two duffels and had stuff every place but the right place before our fatigue got the better of us.

There's plenty of food aboard Cups, but neither of us was hungry. We opened a bottle of wine to toast our return, but neither of us drank more than a sip. The salon is a mess. Gear and clothes are strewn all over the boat. Right now, however some sleep is in order. We'll get busy first thing tomorrow.