Author: Ning Xue

11/09/2020

Took a taxi in the afternoon to get the alternator sent off before the post office closed, then we walked 4km back the way we came and it was quite nice walking in breeze. Went to bunnings and supermarket to buy some stuff for the boat. Made chicken satay in the evening and it was not nearly as good as it should have been.

I just fished with a small piece of bloody chicken, the hook sank for a second and then a big fish was hooked. I worked very hard to pull it up and it was a huge catfish, over half a metre long! It’s said that catfish have a very good sense of smell. So it’s true.

Unfortunately, J thought it was a low-end specie eats filthy stuff so he let it go. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed. Since I grew up in Guangdong, I know how good the garlic catfish casserole is.

10/09/2020

Went to Bob’s at noon today to get the $500 cash for selling the spinnaker of Mustang(too big to use)and sat down over coffee and tea to chat. Last time he mentioned that he had a boat named after a Greek goddess, but he couldn’t remember what the name was (he buys and sells too many boats), only that he remembered the goddess’ hobby of detaining heroes in her island, one situation was later interfered with by Zeus. I looked it up later and knew it would be Calypso, and when I asked him today if that was the name, he said it was! In fact, the goddess detained Odysseus for seven years, and she used all her talents to charm the hero. Athena, the guardian goddess of Odysseus, couldn’t stand it and asked Zeus to help her, so Zeus sent Hermes to tell Calypso to let him go, and the goddess was reluctant, but she had to obey the fate of Odysseus to complete his odyssey…… The end of the story to a section of Cui Jian’s “Flower House Girl” is quite appropriate: you asked me where is the Somewhere you want to go, I point to the direction of the sea…

And then there was a chat about the French pioneer of underwater exploration, Jacques Cousteau. Cousteau’s boat was also called Calypso. Wes Anderson was inspired by his story to make Life Aquatic.

Grocery shopping in the afternoon and sweet chili shrimp for tea in the evening.

08/09/2020

We actually got a deal made today.

In the morning the Brisbane guy said he was willing to put down a deposit and seemed to be able to offer $33,000-35,000, but he wanted to lift the boat up and get a third party to evaluate it before deciding whether to buy it or not, and J asked at two marinas when they could lift out but there’s no space for two weeks.

The buyer in Perth, Rory, called and made a new offer of $32,000 and J said to consider it.

Then a guy from Mackay said he was coming over to look at the boat, J explained the situation that we already had two people wanting to put down deposits and didn’t want to waste his two hour drive, but he still insisted on coming and said he would offer more if he liked it.

Then got a call from a lady in Townsville asking a bunch of questions about the boat, didn’t seem to have much sailing experience, but she and her partner were looking for a suitable boat to start a boat life and J explained the situation to her as well.

I wasn’t expecting Dagmar being so popular and J was worried it would stay on the market for months. It must have been Cal’s good reputation and the sailing photos we took to put on the brochure I made that made the buyers imagining a new life on the water.

After the guy from Mackay left, J called Rory in Perth and asked for $33,000, and they promptly agreed! It seems that people become a bit irrational when they really want something, they can’t wait for fear that someone else will take it. Rory is doing a big online shopping and hopefully he won’t be disappointed when he sees the real thing.