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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Joe Hinchliffe and Andrew Messenger

‘Cabin fever’ and Covid-19 flashbacks: how ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred is upending Brisbane life

Laurence Alexander and Gabrielle Caulfield on their sloop, Rhino, moored  at New Farm park pontoon to ride out ex Tropical Cyclone Alfred's wild weather
Laurence Alexander and Gabrielle Caulfield have moored their sloop at Brisbane’s New Farm park pontoon to ride out ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred. Photograph: Joe Hinchliffe/The Guardian

As they scroll through videos of Brisbane homes being flooded and losing power, Laurence Alexander and Gabrielle Caulfield feel they are probably better off than people living in houses. Their home is a 36-foot Catalina sloop called Rhino which, on Monday morning, is sheltering on the Brisbane River from ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred as the storm continues to cause havoc across south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales.

Rhino, which they had planned to sail from Yamba in NSW to Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays, has its own generator, a gas stove and tanks that hold 300 litres of water.

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