Month: August 2020

We found our paradise, and I lost something…

August 30, 2020 / fiandadrian

By Fi

Rosslyn Bay is a few kilometres south of Yeppoon and offered us a week of yummy coffees from the marina cafe, big dog beach walks, swimming paddle boarding and a free courtesy car to use so we could provision for our next adventure. We also took some time to knock off a couple of jobs, such as winch maintenance, preventer setup, and general cleaning. After a week of this (plus a massage) we both felt ready to get back out there and see some more of our beautiful country. So with a fully stocked up boat, we tracked direct for Great Keppel Island.

We left at high tide one sunny morning, as we realised there was the distinct possibility of us touching the bottom leaving the marina, as at low tide in our marina berth, our keel was about 50cm in the sand. Great Keppel is only a 2 hour sail east from Rosslyn Bay, however as the wind was on the nose (again) we were close hauled, heeled over, and tacking over there. Monitoring a few of the shoals in the bay outside of the marina, we eventually reached the pass between Myall Island and Middle Keppel Island, again tacking our way through this pass and looking at our targeted anchorage coming closer and closer.

Reading the cruising guides, and having a good understanding of the weather forecast for the next few days (and also hearing from some friends) we elected to sail to the anchorage on Great Keppel called Leekes Beach. It was gorgeous. When we got there the water seemed so shallow because it is crystal clear and so it was a little disconcerting choosing where to anchor. As it were, we had a good 5-6m under us and anchored happily. We are the second boat from the left and most often the smallest boat in the anchorage.

It wasn’t long before our friends stopped by and invited us to play finska on the beach! Its a fun game not unlike a cross between bowling and boules. We watched the sun set whilst playing and having a few sundowners, and Bernie was able to run around and make everyone laugh. He made a new friend called Mouse.

The next day we were keen to get back to the beach to go for a proper explore, so out came the paddleboards and the three of us paddled over to the beach. I was stunned at the clarity of the water and spent a good time floating around and trying to coax the dog in to join me. We wandered up the beach and Bernie was busy at the high tide line eating… something… After a few hours of this, and some sandwiches and beers (for us), we headed back to the boat and grabbed the dingy for a bit of a blurt up to a creek we found. We managed to weave our way into the creek and discovered and old shearing shed, tonnes of stingrays and crabs, heaps of fish and the salt flats which were just inland from our anchorage.

Our friends had left for another anchorage so we had family dinner on Addictive and a good sleep – AFTER cleaning up Bernie’s projectile vomit! The holding in this anchorage is great, in hard sand, and the weather forecast was good, so we did actually manage some sleep.

More walks and adventures were to be had the next day! We knew the old resort was on the west side of the island (do you remember ‘”Get wrecked on Keppel?”) so we walked down the beach towards the headland that looked down the west side. It certainly looked a little less rolly than we were experiencing, but alas likely too shallow so we decided to stay put for another night. It was about then we saw our friends on Bushytales coming back around the island. As we walked back, we saw they had chosen to anchor at Svenson’s beach which is the cove a little further east from where we were. We saw a few more people move there too, and soon had a message saying it was a lot less rolly. We decided to go back to Addictive and pack a few things to move. It was at this point Adrian had the idea to maybe catch some fish for dinner, so I rigged the handline, popped on some old leftover fish and boom, 4 excellent sized whiting for our dinner later!

We upped anchor after that, and headed over towards Svensen’s beach and found a good spot right on the 2m contour on the chart. Perfect. Sundowners on Bushytales were had, and after a far less rolly night, and more blissful sleep, the next day we were ferried back to Bushytales for an adventure to the resort! Here is Adrian on our walk around the headland right before we decided to up anchor. Look how crystal clear the water is!

The resort really had its hey day in the 80s and 90s, and now is left in ruin as you can see here (cyclone fences and “Keep Out” signs abound). We had a little look around, and it was a little sad to see the broken windows and filled in pool. There are still shops and cafes on the island, so we enjoyed some coffee, before heading out in the dingy to do some snorkelling. There is a green zone just off the beach, so we saw heaps of sting rays and really healthy sized fish which was really good to see. The snorkelling certainly got our appetite going, and burgers and beer were on the menu, before heading back to the anchorage where we were happy to see Addictive still swinging in the breeze.

There is a picnic area at Svenson’s beach which is maintained by yachties that visit, and when we returned from our resort adventures, we noticed about 10 dingys there and a right party going on. We decided that we had had enough excitement for the day, however, and got ferried back to Addictive. We also had to start the pack up as we were planning to leave the next day. The boat in the picture is our dear friends on Bushytales who took us out for such an awesome day!

I REALLY didn’t want to leave Keppel. The dog is allowed to run around, the water is warm and clear, the sun was out, I was swimming and snorkelling and paddle boarding, we had friends there and I had found a couple of coconuts, plus caught some fish. I wanted to stay longer, but we had already stayed slightly longer than we planned, and we knew that the next night the wind was going to pick up and cause everything out there to be very uncomfortable.

So the following day, after a relaxing morning, we headed back down wind towards Rossyln bay again and our booked berth at the marina. It was a rolly sail, but downwind this time which was nice. The wind did indeed pickup over the next couple of days (even now its still a little hectic) with the Rossyln Bay monitoring station clocking 26 knots. We also have some other friends who arrived and said they were out at Keppel in it and it was horrible. So we were pretty happy with our decision. See – we’re learning!!! Here’s Bernie happily pooped at the dog beach near the Rosslyn Bay marina.

So whats the plan from here? Well we don’t want to just stay at the marina, even though I got to make friends with this turtle. However, the winds and tides to go north aren’t conducive to comfortable nights on anchor at the next set of islands, although we would definitely have good sailing weather to get there. So rather than sail north, and potentially have rolly, scary, windy and BIG tidal anchorages to contend with for a week, we’ve decided we’ll go see if we can retrieve my lost heart from Great Keppel Island for a few days, then head up further north.

Losing Sight of Land

August 25, 2020 / fiandadrian

By Adrian

We are often asked if we lose sight of land. This morning we got up at first light and set sail away from land at Seventeen Seventy and headed to the Bunker Group of Islands off the coast. As the land dissolves into the distance it changes from coastline to islands, to floating blobs and eventually disappears. I find it quite relaxing with open ocean all around and no land to avoid, except…

‘Yes that’s very interesting Fi, but there is a block of flats coming towards us that we need to deal with…’ First it appeared as a small white fishing boat, then turned into a block of flats, then suddenly it was apparent a small suburb was on a collision course with us. I mention this to Fi who points out that we are in the middle of a shipping lane…hmmm… of course I knew that as I am navigating (note to self: wearing reading glasses reveals lots of exciting detail on the chart). Let’s make a small course deviation so the suburb passes a safe distance away.

Friends had told us Lady Musgrave was the highlight of their trip up the coast so we were excited to have a weather window to experience the reef. Lady Musgrave is a circular reef with a narrow passage into the centre and an island at one end. First the masts of 20+ anchored boats appeared on the horizon and then the island and finally the markers for the entry passage. After navigating the entry channel we found a sandy spot to anchor. The next morning we awoke to perfect glassy conditions. It was our first visit but other cruisers told us its not always perfectly glassy no wind no wave conditions here in the middle of the ocean.

After a few days at Lady Musgrave paddle boarding, investigating the island and catching up with other cruisers we headed North to Fitzroy Reef. Fitzroy is similar to Musgrave but without any land. There were only 4 yachts at Fitzroy but at dusk 30+ small fishing boats appeared to shelter for the night only to disappear at dawn to the nearby reefs. Perhaps this explains why we saw lots of small fish but very few larger ones around the reef.

A morning of South East winds prompted us to leave Fitzroy as soon as the sun was high enough to see the bommies and the tide was not racing through the entrance channel. The wind on the beam and small waves pushed us to the narrow channel by Heron Island resort. Turtles popped up to say hello as helicopters landed and we wondered if we could anchor and pop in for the degustation lunch. Admitting that Addictive was not a 60ft Riviera and so likely not welcome, we heated some left over risotto and kept heading north to the cleverly named North West Island.

Another learning opportunity was coming our way: forecast for maximum of 4 knots wind, spinning around from the North… we will sleep well tonight. Sunset produced pink and blue over the white sand island. As soon as we went to bed the winds increased to 10 then 15 and eventually 20 knots onshore. The shore was easy to pick out as the waves were now breaking a few boat lengths away on the reef. I had not been sea sick since we left Sydney but wedged in the saloon, rolling from side to side, waiting for dawn, and watching the anchor alarm I felt more than a bit green.

Dawn threw another curve ball as it became clear the anchor chain was caught on a coral bommie. Fi explained I needed an early morning dip to understand how to free ourselves. Wouldn’t a coffee and a sleep in suffice? Sure enough a quick survey with mask and snorkel revealed how to unwrap the anchor and we set sail for the coast. Hot showers, dry land and dog walks… almost within reach.

Perfect sailing conditions prevailed as the coast gradually came into view. I noticed a large ship leaving Gladstone and heading into the shipping lane we were crossing. This time I am ready… except a quick check through the binoculars suggested the massive cargo ship I was seeing, was actually a fast moving island called Hammock Island… hmmm, it can be so deceptive out on the ocean, islands look like they float and move, and ships look like flats… its time Addictive and its crew spent a few nights in a marina. Rosslyn Bay was our next stop for a few days of land time, dog walks, swimming and paddleboarding before our next leg north inching closer to the Whitsundays.

R&R&R (Rest, Relaxation and Repairs)

August 20, 2020 / fiandadrian

By Fi

We left Tin Can Bay on a sunny morning heading for Fraser Island and the Great Sandy Straights. First stop, Garry’s anchorage on the eastern side of Fraser Island, for a relaxing couple of evenings enjoying the serenity. We did some (unsuccessful) fishing, and a little run around in the dingy. With Bernie on the boat, we can’t go to National Parks, plus I wasn’t keen in any case as we spotted some of the local dingoes running on the beach so we didn’t go ashore this time. The dingoes are beautiful creatures, and from what I’ve read, the Fraser Island dingoes are the most “pure” form of the species in existence as they have had no opportunity to breed with any domestic dogs.

Alas, our looming boat repair was calling, and so we needed to head out of Garry’s anchorage before dawn to get up to the marina at Hervey Bay where we had a haul out booking. It was eerie leaving in the moonlight, slowly weaving our way through the sleeping boats in the anchorage towards the Great Sandy Straights. We navigated fine in the dark, but were happy to have the sunrise on our starboard side as we continued along the shallow straights. A little while later, we misstepped a little and ended up with our keel about 20cm in the muddy sand material on the bottom – it is not a fun feeling to experience a normally free floating boat suddenly stop and bounce a little on the hard bottom. Fortunately we had left on a rising tide, so it was a matter of waiting a little while to lift off, greatly helped by a small tinny who’s wake helped bump us off. We learned that while traversing the Sandy Straights in a keel boat, the Navionics (our electronic chart system) recommended route is pretty accurate – we’ll make sure we stick to that to the letter next time!

With no more dramas, we entered the marina at Hervey Bay ready for our lift out, and got ourselves a fabulous pet friendly townhouse to stop in for a few nights for some land time, relaxation, provisioning and exploring. In Hervey Bay we enjoyed walking north along the beaches, the markets and some local cafes. Bernie got to pick his own toy out at the pet shop and chose this little echidna. He adores it and we’ve been having a great time playing with him. He enjoys having some space to run around and was prancing around the townhouse when we arrived. It was so cute to see him so happy to have a break! As we all were!

Repairs were simple enough. You may remember from our previous posts that we managed to wrap the anchor rope around the keel in some bad conditions at Double Island Point, and actually seemed to have dug the rope right in to the join of the keel and the hull. This was confirmed as we hauled out the boat. A little encouragement from a hammer and chisel, then some fibre glassing and epoxy work and we were back in the water! We have plans to get a lot more chain from here on in to mitigate this risk in the future. We also took the opportunity to fix up the rudder leak that is spurting seawater into the engine bay when we are in rough seas, so that’s also a relief! The idea is the water stays OUT of the boat! We have other leaks, but they will have to be fixed later, such as our front hatch…

Feeling rested, and more confident now our repairs are done, we planned to begin the few more hops north. We started by travelling from Hervey Bay (pictured is the huge Urangan Pier at Hervey Bay) on the 9th of August up to Bundaberg. We’d left mid morning, and arrived in Bundaberg around 5PM and dropped the anchor near the mouth of the Burnett River with some other vessels. It was a quiet night and we got some good rest as it had been a big day of sailing and motoring up the coast and we knew there was more to come as we had plans to catch some good weather windows to head to the southern end of The Great Barrier Reef.

Early the next morning, we lifted anchor with no trouble, and got going north again. Our aim this time was to get to a small inlet called “Pancake Creek”, said to be one of the loveliest and protected places! We had some good sailing winds on and off throughout the day. There was a lot of sail trimming as the wind picked up, then dropped off a little and we did manage to sail most of the way which was nice although we were close hauled most of the time and heeled over. It is a lot faster and more comfortable when we can sail, rather than having the motor on which causes us to bash through waves and is hot and very loud.

As we were getting towards Pancake Creek, we realised we would be manoeuvring and anchoring in the dark, in a new anchorage, and decided to change our plans and pop into an ocean anchorage (!) just outside of a town called “1770”. We reviewed the weather thoroughly, and felt confident it would be a safe and reasonably comfortable night. It is possible to head through an inlet at this anchorage and head towards the township of 1770, however again we erred on the side of being conservative as we weren’t confident that our draft would be able to get through the shallow entrance at low tide. As it were, the evening was very comfortable, we slept well, and were ready the next day for our third big sail toward the Great Barrier Reef, and more specifically Lady Musgrave Island. More to come on that spectacular sail and the week or so we spent at the reef next time!

Anchoring in open ocean…

August 10, 2020 / fiandadrian

By Adrian

We enjoyed the celebrity of being the only boat in the bay at Noosa. Swimmers would say G’day as they passed on their morning exercise across the bay. Bernie enjoyed a run on the sand and we indulged in a coffee and ice cream. It was easy to explain “we are the people on the boat”.

Noosa is open to the North and West and with unsettled weather coming it was time to head North. It was a learning day: 1.5m swell on a 6 second period that turns out to be closer to 2m with occasional breaking crests crashing on our hull are quite uncomfortable. Add some rain and it was a big relief to round Double Island Point after 10 hours of rolling and find a spot out of the swell for the night.

We considered heading across the infamous Wide Bay Bar the next day but a call to the coast guard reported 2m breaking waves on the bar. We are sure Addictive would handle these conditions but we would likely need a change of under garments so we decided to stay put. It was a gamble as unsettled weather might mean pleasant conditions or 30 knots onshore at Double Island Point in the days ahead.

Double Island Point is a Mecca for 4WDs arriving for fishing, surfing, boating, or just sitting on the lounge with the eski on the back of the ute. There is a sheltered lagoon that we tried to enter, but some back-of-envelope calculations suggested Addictive would be aground when the tide went out. We settled for a spot mostly out of the swell at the lagoon entrance.

The next few days saw increased swells with waves across the bay big enough for foil borders to surf past us. We kept anchor watch at night and one evening a grinding sound alerted us to the anchor rode wrapping around the keel. Suddenly we were side on to 3 knots of tidal current putting massive pressure on the anchor and anchor rope dug into the keel. Add some rain and we had a challenging few hours in the dark cutting out the rope now securely embedded in the keel and re-anchoring on a very short rode. Another night of anchor watch ensued.

The next day at high tide we moved to deeper water. We knew it would be rolly but at least we could relax in an onshore wind being 1000m off the beach, and make an easy exit in the morning. Mother nature had one more curve ball to throw with a long line of electrical storms passing through. Fi quickly wrapped all the sensitive electrical devices in aluminium foil, and I suspect Bernie was next if our foil had not run out.

Next morning lower swells and a good coastguard report (‘you wont even notice the bar’) were all we needed to get the engine running, set the auto helm and aim for a high tide bar crossing. The bar was flat as forecast, although the 10-15 knot winds turned out to be 20+ so there was plenty of wind slop and spray to keep us cool.

Tin Can Bay marina promised a haul out facility to fix the keel, and a much needed respite from rolly nights and anchor watches. They came out to help us dock due to the ‘strong winds’ but we weren’t going to argue and were relieved to step ashore again.

Unfortunately, Tin Can Bay Marina couldn’t help with our extra decorative rope wrapped around the keel, so from here we will head to Hervey Bay where we can haul poor Addictive out, remove the rope and patch up any damage (via a little stop in a cute anchorage in Fraser).

Gold Coast, Moreton Bay & Noosa

August 6, 2020 / fiandadrian

By Adrian

On the Gold Coast, the Hope Island marina gave us a base for a few days to catch up with friends and family in the area before heading north. At the end of longer or overnight passages we have booked marina’s to avoid the stress of finding safe anchorage in the dark after an exhausting trip. Anchorages are invariably more peaceful, beautiful and enjoyable so we expect less marina visits as we head North.

From the Gold Coast there are a number of narrow, shallow channels snaking their way North to Moreton Bay and Brisbane. Navigating them just before high tide can help avoid a long and embarrassing wait on the sand for the next high tide to float you off. We nudged the sandy bottom at the shallowest point, but otherwise kept water under the keel.

An electrical fault that shut down the auto helm, chart plotter, GPS, fridges etc reminded us how much we rely on the boats electrical system. We purchased some additional fuses in Brisbane.

We spent a night on anchor at Peel Island in Moreton Bay where I expected a narrow sheltered cove. On closer inspection of the chart, the cove was under water except at low tide (see photo), so it was more like an open water anchorage and we were thankful for light winds. Manly marina gave us a convenient base to spend a day off the boat with my Brother’s family and stock up at the local markets.

We joined the hundreds of boats leaving Manly for a Sunday sail on the beautiful calm Moreton Bay. The wind soon filled in and we headed across the Brisbane shipping lanes. The wind dies every time we cross the shipping lanes which we suspect is the deeper colder water causing local weather interference (or increased levels of anxiety?). We passed the line of anchored yachts at Scarborough and found our own anchorage in Deception Bay with only Dugongs and turtles for company.

Getting used to constantly changing plans has been a big adjustment. We were planning to wait a day or two for better winds to head to Mooloolaba, but that evening the forecast had good sailing winds the next day and several days of light SE winds that would allow us to stay at Noosa. New plan: up at dawn for a sail up the coast to Noosa.

Dawn broke, coffee made, winds picking up…we sailed off the anchor and up the coast in calm seas. We were catching two larger yachts about 15 minutes ahead of us until the winds lightened and they sped away. The ‘friendly’ Mooloolaba coast guard radioed us about an accidental AIS person overboard alarm we set off and we ended up chatting to the water police who had installed similar devices the day before. They were interested in our experience with them.

We approached Noosa at dusk with a little help from the motor over the last few miles. We snuggled in to the anchorage just off the beach and watched the last of surf skiers and swimmers finishing their training. Pretty happy to be here in this gorgeous place!

The next day was bright and sunny, and so we popped into Hastings Street for a little bit of coffee and retail therapy, and a great big run for the dog.

With some weather predicted that we need to be careful of in such an exposed anchorage, our plans from here are to head to the Wide Bay Bar and Fraser Island very soon. We will stop at Double Island Point. More to come.