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| Our Life Story in a NutshellHello! Our names are Dennis and Annette Ford and we are currently living in Darwin, NT. We have not always lived in Darwin. We sailed up here from Perth in 1982 for a planned three week visit and we are still here. Our roots are in North Queensland. Dennis was born in Bowen, then lived in Mackay before studying and lecturing at James Cook University (JCU) in Townsville. Annette was born in Brisbane, but moved to Abergowrie near Ingham in the 1950's then down to Townsville to also study and tutor at JCU. After marrying and having two children in Townsville, we relocated to Melbourne in 1974.
In 1978, a rather unexpected career change involved a move to Perth, where Spindrift III was completed at Maylands Slipyard and launched on the Swan River in January 1979. For the first year we moored near South of Perth Yacht Club. However, Rottnest Island then became or second home, so we joined Fremantle Sailing Club and relocated Spindrift III to Pen C25 at FSC Marina. Following some local cruising to Rottnest Island, Mandurah and Busselton, our first long cruise on Spindrift III was to the Abrolhos Islands in Dec/Jan 1980-81. After five pleasant weeks in the islands, we tackled the windward return journey to Perth. The heavy west coast seas caused major damage to the yacht's keel on the first leg between Geraldton and Dongara. The trip to Perth was completed by low-loader. |
Not to be deterred, we effected repairs and headed back to the Abrolhos Islands for three months in January 1982. We continued north, spending time at Shark Bay, Ningaloo Reef and the Monte Bello Islands, before cruising through the Kimberley for 3 months en route to Darwin. Plan A was to return to Perth after three weeks in Darwin. Plan B, which we didn't know about at the time, was to spend the next 25 years in Darwin, Cairns and around the "Top End" of Australia. After some exciting local trips to Bynoe Harbour, the Tiwi Islands and Port Essington, we sold Spindrift III in 1986 and became yachtless until 1997. Retirement - How Has It Affected Our Cruising? For us, retirement was not really a choice. It was not quite forced upon us, however, a voluntary redundancy in early 1997 gave us the opportunity to reassess our lifestyle. We were tired of the city, the commuting, the traffic and the pollution. Our view of retirement was that it should be about freedom to travel, to explore, to relax, to take up new pursuits and effect changes so that life is simpler and more fulfilling. Our options were working part-time, working as consultants, or quitting the workforce altogether. We also had to cope with the “Empty Nester's Dilemma” – downsize to a townhouse, or make a sea-change to the coast? The decision turned out to be a combination of work options and the sea-change; not just to the coast, but to the sea itself.
Second Innings has an overall length of 11.2m, a 7.2m beam, a 1m draft, a 16m fractional rig and is powered by two 9.9hp Yamaha 4-stroke outboards. During seven seasons of cruising on Second Innings, we have covered over 14,000 nautical miles including 1 year on the Queensland coast, a 6 month cruise from Brisbane to Darwin in 2001, 5 months in the Kimberley in 2002, 4 months in 2003 and 3½ months in 2004, 2005 & 2006. We sold Second Innings in September 2007 to spend more time travelling overseas and on land. Unfortunately, Second Innings was blown onto a wharf in Darwin Harbour during a wet season storm. The starboard hull was badly damaged and she "half" sank but was rescued. No doubt she will be back sailing again one day. | |
This page was last updated 07 April, 2008 - download About Us.pdf
In rainy Melbourne we undertook the wet and challenging task of building our first yacht, a Roberts 29 named Spindrift III.
We bought