Adventure Begins!

In just over a week we fly out of Sydney Australia bound for upstate New York.
Two years ago we bought a Diesel Duck that was laid up at Oak Orchard on Lake Ontario.
This year we will recommission her and motor across to Rochester for a repaint and refit as necessary. Hopefully she won't be a can of worms!

We plan to cruise the lakes and Great Loop over a period of years.
For the past thirty years we have sailed up and down the Australian East Coast in our 36 ft steel yacht, so a Duck in the US will be an interesting challenge!
Her present name is 'Gaijin' and she will be re-christened 'Wombat', which is an interesting and deceptively cute Australian marsupial.

Look forward to meeting some of you along the way.


Cheers,
Beth and Richard.

Would love to hear about your adventures as they unfold. Please keep us posted (with pics), start a blog, whatever works well for you. Best of luck!

Congrats! We may be exploring that part of the loop ourselves in a couple of months. Good luck with the refit.

D.D44
We are currently S of you on the NY Finger Lakes. Starting plans for next year and we are planning on cruising for 3 mos (that's a normal season up here in the NE [emoji24]) up the Trent-Severn to Georgian Bay and the North Channel.

Good luck w the refit and NE cruising... lots of great places to explore around the area.

Well done Beth and Richard from a fellow Aussie Looper, best wishes for your trip of a life time, we enjoyed the loop and the wonderful American and Canadian hospitality. Will think of you as we cruise to the Whitsundays in July, Cheers Colin

Hey, is that the red hulled DD that was up on Yachtworld for a while?? I came really close to going to look at that one on several occasions, but never did. Congrats on your new vessel, and good luck with the refit!

Thanks everyone for your good wishes - will keep you all posted!
Yes Dave, it is the red one that hung around for a year or so on Yachtworld.
The boat was really poorly presented but under all the garbage she is basically a good vessel.Neither the surveyor or I could find any major issues.



Cheers,
Richard.

Hoping all goes well for your expedition Richard and Beth. Keep that boat RED !!!!
Thx for the hospitality shown to me while I was at your local Pretty Bay in Brisbane Water.
I spent a couple of weeks in Bundaberg on the Burnet River on my way to the warmer regions of northern Queensland. Presently anchored in the 'duck pond' in Townsville.
regards Brett

Hi Brett, was nice catching up. Just got back from Norfolk, and its cold and rainy here! Will keep you posted. Not keen about the red.


Cheers,
Richard

Nice find!

How do you manage visitor's visas for that length of time?

Australia has a visa waiver agreement with the US. We are allowed a three months stay and are heading home two days short of that. That is about all we need, as the season will be just about over anyway by then.