Opua: the filthy rich
Opua: the filthy rich
Twenty years ago the marina in Puerto Banos, Spain, was reeking of oil and other money--each sunset a fleet of identical black hulled high speed boats left the harbor and turned south toward the African coast where they took on illicit cargo: we referred to them as the ‘fishing fleet’.
Ferraris were common place, and I once saw a young woman walking her pet cheetah on a leash. However for a thousand boats, there were only two showers, which were almost never occupied and thus gave new meaning to the expression ‘the filthy rich.’ Of course, the rich seldom used their boats, and certainly didn’t live aboard.
The biggest yachts were anchored Med style to a dock near the marina office. One evening I happened to be walking past as two Arab men, followed by three women in burkhas, went up the gangplank to a power vessel about 130’ long. I remember that it had three satellite communication domes, which were relatively rare at the time.
I watched as the professional crew did a very professional job raising the ship’s two anchors and powering out the breakwater, for what I expected to be a passage somewhere. But back on RESURGAM an hour later I saw the ship return, and next day it was in its accustomed place. What a lot of trouble, I thought, just to go out for an hour and watch the sunset. Then I realized that it hadn’t been any trouble for the owner.
The yacht pictured above reminded me of this when she anchored nearby at 10:00 this morning, and left again at 1:00 this afternoon. Note the literally man-sized furling gear. Did the crew come in to wait for instructions, or did the owners just want a quiet place to lunch?
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I didn’t go ashore today, which is overcast, although we’ve still had only spotty rain. I stayed aboard and watched the last two NCAA regional basketball finals, and have subsequently been studying a cruising guide to the Queensland coast. I am still undecided as whether to clear in at Bundaberg or Cairns.
What really attracts me is the 400 mile sail from Cairns north to Cape York, which I have done in both CHIDIOCK TICHBORNE and RESURGAM. But I’ve never sailed the Queensland coast south of Cairns. Bundaberg is 600 miles south. Most of that distance is inside the Great Barrier Reef, with many good anchorages. However it would take me longer to cover those miles daysailing inside the reef than passage making outside.
I need to make up my mind pretty soon. I expect to leave here in April, and tomorrow is April 1.
Monday, March 31, 2008