Floatation Test and Generosity

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Yesterday (Wednesday) was the boat floatation test. We all woke up and got everything ready, hooked the boat up and drove to the Cannonvale boat ramp. The man doing the test was supposed to meet us at 10:30, but he didn’t show up until around 10:45. During that time I wandered the local beach and went searching for shells. I found some really pretty ones and saw a few geckos and fish hanging around. Finally the man showed up, and we started to get things underway. He spent a good amount of time talking about unimportant things and wasting a bit of time before we got underway. We had to hop in the boat and drive to our normal marina because of the way the test is set up. Once there, we measured the distance from the railing of the boat to the waters surface in the aft, midship and bow when the boat was empty, with people, with people all leaning to one side and then flooded. When we flooded the boat we realized that the boat’s hull was broken up into three independent sections. Not really that important, but a good thing to know.
After the test was finished we headed back to Cannonvale and started unloading the boat. Katharina took a bucket of water and started to chase the boys around. Luckily for her, she is taller than both. I on the other hand was grabbed and thrown into the water! It was warmer than I expected and actually really refreshing after spending a few hours docked during the test.
Back at the house, Daniele settled in to work more on his PhD and Katharina, Guido and I headed into town for lunch. We stopped at a local organic restaurant and got some delicious sandwiches! Back at the house we settled in for a bit of work. I took a small nap, and when I woke up Katharina and I went to the pool for a swim. When we got back we started on dinner. We ran out of a few ingredients, so I took the truck and ran down to the store. It’s such a strange feeling driving on the opposite side of the road in a right hand drive vehicle, but I made it without crashing! Daniele has been the designated chef seeing that we all love his food so much. He cooked spinach and ham cannaloni; so good!
Today we woke up to a gorgeous day! Finally the sun is back and the wind is starting to die down a bit. The boys have been saying for a few days that they would like Katharina and I to give presentations on our past field experience, and we decided today would be a good day to do it. I started to get some pictures and information ready for mine, while Katharina worked on hers a bit. She decided to do her presentation on her honors work that she did a few months ago. Meanwhile, Guido got a call from some of Daniele’s friends and they said they were in town. The two girls, Anna and Suzanne, were supposed to arrive Saturday and drive down to Yeppoon with Daniele and I. Daniele and I went into town for cake for the presentations and to pick the girls up. When we got back, I gave my presentation first then Katharina did hers. Everyone though the strand feeding from last summer was extremely interesting, and they were asking me plenty of questions about it. Talk about small world, the two girls arriving knew Dr. Connor, a professor at UMass and have even worked with them. We were able to talk about him for a bit, what he does, and they work they have done with him. Afterwards Katharina gave her presentation. She has been doing a study on behavioral interactions between dolphin species and swim with dolphin tours going on in Australia. It was really interesting hearing what she has been working on, and what she plans to do next with her data.
Afterwards we all sat and talked for a bit, and Anna and Susanne told us that they were going on a 3 day 3 night tour leaving tomorrow night and would be back Monday. This meant that they would be taking a bus down to Yeppoon. Also, Daniele has to go to his University from Sunday until Tuesday, so hearing this information meant that I would be alone in Yeppoon from Sunday until Monday. Daniele insisted that I should go with the girls, and that if I did he would pay for the trip instead of having to rent a house for $559 just for me. I am so excited! #1 for being able to go on this trip and #2 for having such an amazingly kinda boss! Three days and nights on a yacht sailing around the Whitsundays and the Great Barrier Reef with multiple stops at different beaches and other attractions! Hopefully I will be able to go diving and snorkeling again 😊
We are cooking on the ‘Barbie’ (hehe) tonight and hopefully will be on the boat tomorrow. I am going to have to pack everything tonight so when I leave tomorrow for the boat trip I can have Daniele take the rest of my stuff down to Yeppoon with him.

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