Blowin’ in Bowen

What a curious town is Bowen! Let me give one or two examples. The mother and daughter who wait on tables and serve behind the bar of the yacht club by day, by night become the entertainers; and they belt out a big performance. By the time they begin, the yacht club is full to capacity with patrons keen to dance the night away (and / or win the seafood raffle) and right in the middle of the dance floor is the middle aged club manager. She casts aside her serious day time persona and is transformed into a rap dancer who could match it with the best that any New York ghetto has to offer (possibly a slight exaggeration!).

Something mysterious happens to yachties as well. They arrive in Bowen with the intention of staying a day or two to take on fresh water and re-provision before continuing their cruise. But many never really leave, ever. They buy houses or businesses (by the way, a small marina / fish shop that is for sale has caught my eye) while others make this their cruising base and return each year to explore the waters of Edgecombe Bay. Others get stuck here, just as we are stuck. It’s 18 days since we arrived and we can’t leave. The wind shows no sign of abating, blowing a steady 25-30 knots from the SE all day and all night long. Eerie isn’t it?

In fact, we’ve been here so long that the locals nod and say ‘howareya’ in a familiar way as we stroll around the town each day. Tourists ask us for directions. What’s more, we know how to help them! I’ve taken to buying the local daily paper, The Bowen Independent, and find that I am becoming passionate, and have opinions, about local issues such as global warming as it relates to the late flowering of the mango trees, the size of the tomato crop, council mergers and rights and wrongs of further develoment in Horsehoe Bay!

PS: The Bowen locals hosted a Variety Club Bash at the yacht club last Friday. Naturally we were a part of the mob of 500 that attended. It was Bowen’s biggest function, ever. The picture featured is a mixture of yachties and ‘bashers’. Can you pick which are which?

PSS: Thought that you might like to see the harbour view from the cockpit of “Raven”.