Almost a done deal...

...well, the deal on Lucey Blue was supposed to have been done some time last week, but AQIS decided that she needed to be inspected for termites (which I think a pretty boat like Lucey Blue would find kind of insulting ;-)!

Nick went to Sydney on Friday and met up with Buc and the people from K9 and their cute little beagle/termite detection dog, Mandy. I wish he'd got a picture of her because she sounds cute...but he didn't. Mandy even sat on his lap, in the dinghy, on the way out to Lucey Blue.

We hadn't really been concerned about termites at all. We'd seen Lucey Blue in Fiji...and she didn't look infested with anything but fun! This all changed though, because on Monday night (7th December), as we were quietly sitting at our kitchen table at home, we noticed a swarm of winged insects attracted to our kitchen light. Nick caught a few and went and looked them up online. He came back a short while later and said he thought they were TERMITES...NNNNNOOOOOOoooooooooo!

So we got Rentokil in the next day and the guy confirmed that the winged insects that Nick had caught were termites. We discussed the fact that we had had a termite inspection with them only 4 months ago, and the house had come up clean. This being the case, it was unlikely that a mature colony could have sprung up in the intervening period. We didn't have the gum trees in the front yard tested in August, so we have decided to do that now...they are going to come and drill them the week after next. The man from Rentokil did say though that termites can travel (especially on warm, still nights - as Monday was)...so it is possible that the colony is not on our property...and after chatting with the neighbours (who also had a swarm)...we are hoping that the colony is SOMEWHERE ELSE!

With this disturbing episode fresh in our minds we were wondering if the termite dog would find something on Lucey Blue afterall...but luck was on our side, and the little beagle didn't find any termites (apparently they bark when/if they do)...so the sale should go through this week. FINALLY!

The organisation of this sale has been a task of epic proportions for Nick...and I highly recommend that anyone considering purchasing a boat that has foreign registration, insist that the owners go through a boat broker...I think that whatever they charge...it'll be worth it to you, your sanity and your pocket in the end!

While Nick was in Sydney he bought some of the Navionics Platinum Charts for the East Coast of Australia...so we are all charted up here, with no place to go (yet).

I thought I'd also pop in a picture of where Lucey Blue has been moored while she has been in Sydney Harbour (for the last two weeks):

Hopefully next time I post here...we will be the proud owners of Lucey Blue!

:-)
Sam.