Category: Year (Page 10 of 12)

Year of the event

Hello Whitsundays

October 3, 2020 / fiandadrian

By Adrian

We enjoyed 10 days in and around Mackay and got to know a number of other cruisers who were sitting out the winds in the marina. But as soon as the winds showed signs of moderating we joined the procession of boats heading to Brampton Island a few hours away. It’s shallow water outside Mackay marina and the waves are short, steep and uncomfortable after an extended blow. We motored into the seas to get to deeper water and hopefully calmer conditions. I’m not sure how successful we were but once the sails were set it was fast but bouncy sail to Brampton.

The anchorage at Brampton was close the resort which closed about 8 years ago. A caretaker keeps unwanted people out but does little to stop the encroaching jungle and general dilapidation. It would have been a spectacular spot when it was open, with sheltered beaches, waterside pool and warm turquoise water. Here you can see part of the pools paving has been washed into the pool over years of cyclones, king tides and strong winds.

A stroll to the island’s top lookout gave a great vista north over the Whitsunday Islands. This area offers great sailing with the reef providing protection from ocean swells and short hops between hundreds of sheltered anchorages. We descended the hill through clouds of blue tiger butterflies.

Here you can see the general dilapidation of the resort: curtains, mirrors, art and some furniture all left in place.

Our next stop was Thomas Island about 4 hours to the north. The tides run north-south through this area so we spent the morning chasing tuna whilst we waited for the tide to turn in our favour. The tuna were feeding just off the island but in the end it was a case of the ‘one that got away’ with our line and lure.

We broke our Speed Over Ground record on the way to Thomas, registering 8.8 knots with more than a little help from the tide. The anchorage was sheltered from the south and fringed by white sand beaches and coral reefs. It was made even more prefect when all the other boats left and we enjoyed the island to ourselves.

Our sailing journey had started 3.5 years earlier when we had tried living on a sail boat by chartering a yacht in the Whitsundays (see Fi here helming our charter boat in 2017). The next hop would be to the iconic White Haven Beach which we first visited on our original trip, bringing us full circle. We timed our arrival at the narrow (and infamous) Solway passage for high tide and no tidal flow. Even so there were eddies and small whirlpools where the water was being pushed through the narrow passage… must be an exciting place on a big tide!

White Haven was just I remembered it: beautiful white sand and blue water peeping out from behind a hundred million tourists delivered by boats, seaplanes, and helicopters. We anchored off the the beach where were a number of white tents set up, and set about celebrating our achievement with a champagne lunch, and a little swim.

I noticed a line of large white motor boats steaming directly towards us. As they anchored all around us in their multi million dollar boats I reflected that we must look like real yachties who know the best spots to anchor. It soon transpired that they were here for a wedding in the white tents on the beach. We moved on from Whitehaven to our overnight anchorage further north at Tongue Bay, to get some respite from the sea of humanity.

Northerly winds gave us a rare opportunity at this time of year to explore the southern end of Whitsunday Island. So back through the Solway passage we went again (at high tide!) and headed west towards some beautiful spots. We spent a couple of nights in Turtle Bay catching up with friends, fishing and enjoying the antics of the charter boats. Bernie found a shallow area of water where he could chase fish in the shallows, and would likely still be there if we had not dragged him away.

From the ocean, to the (v)alley

September 27, 2020 / fiandadrian

By Fi

For any of our international readers, or anyone confused by my title, its a John Farnham lyric, except the actual lyric is “from the ocean, to the alley”. Aaaaaand, now that song is stuck in my head, so it should be in yours too – listen to the legend here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZIbpexA4g8

Once we got to Mackay, we managed to fix the issue with the hot water tank quite quickly. I’m sure you remember from last time we thought we were sinking as the fresh water spilled from the engine bay out over the floor while we were 70kms away from land. But it was an easy fix, just putting the hose back on and ensuring it was secure. We took the opportunity to check all the other hoses as well.

Unfortunately, the prediction of the wind picking up was absolutely true and we looked at the forecast, and we were in for days and days and days of strong winds – The image here is of our wind prediction system – red isn’t great. Too strong for our little boat (and many others) to venture out of the relative comfort of the marina. So to exploring it was!

Mackay is a mix of industry (coal and sugar) and a little bit of tourism given its proximity to the Whitsundays. We elected to get a car and check out the local area. We headed south, hilarious given how we always want to go north at the moment. We ended up in Sarina, and saw the “Big Cane Toad”, and the immense amount of sugar cane growing and sugar production that happens in this area. After wandering around some little shops selling local goods, we were keen to check out the Sarina Beach and have some lunch. Happened upon this lovely motel at the beach (which is almost the only thing there other than houses) which had some excellent food! I had the crab linguine which I am still thinking about and Adrian had the chicken parmi, washed down with a Great Northern (beer). Sunny but windy, we took the dog for a bit of a run on the beach, and then headed to our next stop.

Cane and coal seems to define this area. Industry is everywhere. Next to the marina is the massive dock where large tanker ships come in which we had to navigate when we entered the marina, and further down the coast is the biggest coal loader in the southern hemisphere. We were keen to check it out, as we had picked out way through over 20 tanker ships anchored off this coal loader as we came in. Very intimidating to sail around these huge things in our tiny, comparatively slow boat!

Nothing prepared me for the size of this coal loader. It was utterly massive, 3.8kms long is the northern pier, and the southern a measily 1.5. The ships we passed were anchored off the blue coast, and the black coal was in piles below us with automated fresh water spraying systems to stop the coal dust coating Mackay and surrounds. The trains that bring in the coal from over a dozen mines are 2km long and weave their way slowly into the drop off points. Huge. You can see why this industry is so powerful. It feeds and houses thousands and thousands of Australians, creates side industries in towns, such as leisure activities for the mining families, and enables Australia to be a well off country. Its just so terrible the impact is has on our environment. A very conflicting day, and I do wish for more renewables and a path to get that industry as busy for people as the coal industry. I don’t think we should be pumping this stuff into the atmosphere.

Enough of that. We wanted to see the rainforest! When we got back to the boat, we organised a trip inland and up the hill and left a couple of days later.

Bernie was to have a little holiday, so we dropped him off with a lovely couple who run a kennel in the local area, and we headed to the Eungella National Park, and more specifically Finch Hatton Gorge with our swimmers and sandwiches packed – oh and raincoats, huge first aid kit, EPIRB, hiking books and water. As we entered the park, I saw a teenager preparing to tackle the track in high heels, so I couldn’t help but feel we were overprepared. Oh well…

After a few kilometers of stunning scenery, cascades, butterflies and – SNAKE! I didn’t shout this… Instead I said to Adrian “DON’T… STOP” – to which he thought I meant for him to walk past me. I grabbed him and pulled him up before he could tread on the black snake sunning itself on the wooden walkway in front of us. “Sorry,” I said, “there’s a snake”. We’d learned that if you stomp your feet, snakes tend to want to get out of your way. “They’re more scared of you than you are of them”, I hear a multitude of old mates saying in my head. But no, this little guy was bold as brass and wouldn’t move no matter how much stomping we did. It ended up taking 6 adults and 15 minutes before it decided it should move along. I researched later and discovered it was a blue bellied black snake, and yes, poisonous.

Continuing uphill, we reached the “Wheel of Fire” swimming hole and jumped in to the FREEZING water. Its very cold, but so refreshing! There was a waterfall feedigng the swimming hole from further up the hills, and the water was so clear you could see the big boulders and rocks on the bottom. I couldn’t stay in too long as the water really was very cold, plus lunch. Sandwiches eaten, and a sense of tingly relaxation from the cold water, meant we were ready to head back down and on to our accommodation. On the way we stopped at yet another swimming hole and at this point were already cold so jumped in here as well. Here is Adrian enjoying the sensation.

Later that day we arrived at our accommodation, had some hot showers and a great sleep! Still and quiet.

The next day we were keen to explore more of the national park and the helpful team we were staying with had some good walking maps so we were off again with sandwiches and the whole “preparedness” kit in tow. Crossing the first bridge, we spotted a platypus! Very exciting for me as its my first in the wild. After a small crowd of other excited onlookers from the camping ground closeby gathered around us, we thought, “lets go” and got walking. We walked through the rainforest admiring the river and its clear cascading falls, tortises, monitor lizards and fortunately, no more snakes that we could see. At the halfway point (about 10kms), we had a quick bite, and headed back along the track aiming for a stunning cascades we’d spotted in the hope of another refreshing swim – and it was refreshing! I got my own private little freshwater spa, and Adrian floated in the pool below. Delicious!!

Back at our accommodation, we did a quick leech and tick check – PHEW none! So we enjoyed dinner from the restaurant (takeaway – COVID…) and another hot shower and sleep.

The next day we checked out and headed back down towards the marina, picked up little Bernie who was so happy to see us he ran right past us, did some provisioning and packed and cleaned the boat. We were planning to head out the next day as the winds had dropped quite a lot to a point where we were happy the sea state and the winds would drive us further north. We are planning to head to Brampton Island where we will officially be in the Whitsunday’s and then over the coming days and weeks, further north into the islands! Bye marina!

Oh s**t, we’re sinking!

September 13, 2020 / fiandadrian

By Adrian

Fi appears from below and announces that a large amount of water is gushing out of the engine bay!

After leaving Middle Percy Island just before dawn we were motoring north in fine conditions waiting for the wind to fill in. We had some breakfast and Fi was resting down below. I kept watch as Sphinx Islet passed to port and slid into the distance. It was going to be a long trip North today to find a sheltered anchorage and I was settling in to a relaxing day, when Fi made her disturbing discovery.

The first rule of boating is to keep the water on the outside and a quick peek downstairs quickly confirmed that indeed there was a worrying large amount of water sloshing around inside. Being 70km off the coast and not a boat in sight, I verified the life raft was in place, the Laphroaig wasn’t empty and made a mental note to remember Bernie’s dog shoes… nothing worse than two sinkings in one day as sharp panicked claws don’t mix with inflatable life rafts.

Our checklist for ‘What happens when you are far out to sea and the boat is filling with water’ was still on the ‘To-do’ pile, but it seemed like a great opportunity to start work on one. Engine off was a good first step in case it was pumping water in through its cooling systems, headsail up to stabilise the boat in the rolly conditions, bilge pump going, grab bag at the ready.

Fi opened the engine bay and the water spilled out all over the floor of the boat. Both of us were going over what through holes were in the engine bay: was it the cockpit drains spewing water in, or was it the outlet for the exhaust? The engine was off so it couldn’t be pumping the water in – so what was it?? To get to the drains exhaust we would have to clear out the heavy boxes in the back berth quickly and do some extremely quick repairs.

By now Fi was drinking the bilge water, which seemed slightly inefficient. Wouldn’t it be quicker to use a bucket? Looking rather pleased with herself, Fi announces that the water is fresh water, and, as there is not much of that on the outside of the boat, it must be an internal leak. Whilst this was welcome news as I was struggling to recall if Bernie’s shoes were in the dog bag or the hard-to-reach saloon locker, it did mean that we were rapidly pumping our limited fresh water supply overboard.

Further examination with the torch reveals a hose has come adrift from the hot water heater at the back of the engine bay and the pressure activated water pump had indeed pumped all our remaining fresh water into the bilge. It was about then, that I recalled the evening before cleverly emptying our additional fresh water storage containers into the main tank in case we found a friendly yacht with a water maker who could refill them.

With the immediate crisis over, we convene the yachts planning committee for a post incident review: we’re not sinking, the engine is functional and we have 5L of fresh water in our emergency supplies. Our plan to island hop for a week to the Whitsunday’s is no longer an option unless we bathe in champagne and wash up with beer. We reluctantly change course and head for Mackay marina where we are safely sitting out the blow, repairing the boat and writing checklists.

Run to paradise

September 10, 2020 / fiandadrian

By Fi

After a few days hiding from the wind in Rosslyn Bay, we made the short trip back to Great Keppel. As we were sailing the final 30 minutes towards the anchorage our friends on their large new motor boat rounded the point and had dropped their anchor before we even got our sails down (they left about an hour and a half after us – such a fast boat). We were back to the blue! Quick setup of the dingy and we were having fun runs on the beach with the dog, and a fantastic bush walk.

The bush walk is dedicated to a marine who lost his life at only 23 years of age in Afghanistan. It is maintained by his family and friends, and we followed the path up the hill enjoying beautiful vistas, seeing echidnas, lizards and snakes. Rounding the side of the hill, we were amazed to enter a grove filled with thousands of blue butterflies. It was like being in a dream with these beautiful creatures flying all around us. They are hard to photograph but I did manage this little pic (bottom left).

Once we reached the top, we could see over to the other side of the island, and made our way back towards the anchorage, ending up completing a loop up one side of the hill then down and across past another beach to the north of our anchorage. It was about here we saw a goat.

We were just as surprised as it was! It just stopped still and stared at us as we passed. Happily the dog didn’t notice (he was, of course, on lead).

After such a nice afternoon, we quickly caught up with our friends who invited us out for a day on their motorboat the next day. “YES!” we said!!!

The next day we were picked up and ferried over to our friends Riveria 505. Dingy stowed, engines on and we were off doing 25 knots for a loop around the island. This boat is so powerful and the wake was absolutely massive! I waved goodbye to little Addictive as we rounded the corner of the bay.

A very short while later, we pulled into the anchorage on the southern side of Keppel, at a small island called “Humpy Island”. Here we had some lunch, and decided to pop out in the dingy and go for some snorkelling. Bernie was a good boy and stayed put in the dingy waiting patiently for us to finish. The fish were abundant and colourful and the water was cool but fine. We stayed in the shallows as there had been multiple sightings of a bull shark and none of us wanted to tempt fate, although given it was the middle of the day on a bright sunny day, I’m sure there would have been no issue with a shark confusing us for big fish or seals.

After a lovely hot shower on the transom, we headed off back to the anchorage and our little Addictive (here you can see Addictive in the middle). We hosted our friends for some sundowners and roast coconut, and planned the next days travel. We were wanting to catch some wind north to get to a sheltered anchorage at the start of the Whitsundays, as some pretty strong winds were due to hit in about 5 days.

The next day we were up early to pack up and turn our little house back into a sailing boat. We upped anchor and headed out of the anchorage at Keppel, first stop Island Head Creek. After around 8 hours of motor sailing (we had no luck finding the forecasted wind), we arrived at the creek head just after low tide. We soon discovered that this was likely the worst time to be entering the creek as the tide and swell and wind were all competing as to which could throw us around more. Once we realised how rough it was, we were already committed to entering the creek and had to push through. We know that in these types of situations, turning around is more dangerous than committing to entering. It was like being in a washing machine. However as with most things like this, the boat handled it okay, and the excitement passed. We navigated slowly through the sometimes very shallow creek to get to the anchorage. Dinner and bed! We were to be off again early the next day.

After coffees the next morning, we upped anchor again. I hope we get to come back to this cool creek as there is supposedly good fishing and crabbing, but “north” was calling in this instance. We headed out the much calmer heads (high tide this time), and turned north tracking towards “The Dukes”. The Dukes are another little group of islands that are supposedly gorgeous, however we didn’t make it there…

Again, the wind didn’t fill in as forecast, so we were motor sailing north. We noticed that the seas were picking up and picking up and we remembered that a lot of our new sailing friends had said to us “watch out for the tides after Great Keppel and up to the Dukes” – oh… Apparently we had discovered the infamous tidal area off the coast of Shoalwater Bay, and we (of course) had picked the perfect moment for wind against tide. So for 3 hours we battled through some really bumpy and rolly conditions, all the while realising that the tide was pushing us away from our destination and out to sea.

We’ve learned throughout this journey not to be too hung up on plans. They can change very quickly and in this instance, I grabbed the cruising guides and looked for an alternative place for us to spend the night given we were not going to make it to the Dukes before bed time. Hexam Island! It was further out to sea than the Dukes, which was ideal as that is the way the tide was pushing us, and we would actually get there 2 hours sooner which would mean we could anchor while it was still light. Perfect. So a few hours later the seas calmed a little more, and we rounded Hexam Island to anchor on the north side, sheltered from the south east wind. Little bit rolly, but a gorgeous anchorage and we got some sleep.

But exploring the island wasn’t in our future, as we still wanted to go north – the blow was still coming! The next morning, it was coffees and what was turning into my morning exercise routine – pulling up the anchor (you may or may not be aware that we don’t have an anchor winch, its my job to pull up the 30m of chain and the oversized anchor), and we were off for a reasonably uneventful passage up to the “Percy Islands”. Oh no wait, I lie, I caught a FISH!! IT WAS A BIG ONE! YAY!

After 3 big days of sailing, we dropped anchor at Middle Percy Island, I processed the fish (it is an Albacore), we enjoyed some fresh sushi and sashimi and had an early night, keen to explore the next day.

A paradise to rival that of Great Keppel, Middle Percy Island is home to a national park and a conservation area, taken care of by a couple who are appointed to live there and look after everything. There is a large A frame structure where visiting boats traditionally hang up their boat names as signs, and where you can cook and eat and use the large fire to BBQ. Here you can see some of those boats who have gone before us. Its such a great social place to meet people and share stories.

We spent the morning on the beach. I got a swim, Bernie did his usual trick of finding the only bit of food on the whole beach and eating sand, and Adrian chatted to the other yachties who were chillin in the A frame about their plans and the weather (mindful that the blow was coming in the next few days). We husked some coconuts, and went exploring in the creek behind the beach. We threw the fishing line is as there was a tonne of garfish around (none near my line…) and also tried our luck at getting some crabs (no luck). It was all so idyllic.

That evening, we headed back to the A frame to meet all the other boats in the anchorage. Its so great to put peoples faces and names to the boats we are often seeing around. I’m glad we took the opportunity to meet some more people that evening, as we had agreed to leave the next day and so wouldn’t have had another opportunity (plus we put up our sign). The blow was still coming, and we needed to get to a more protected place. So after a gorgeous day, and then a lovely evening chatting with people, we headed back home, packed up the boat, fell into bed and set our alarms for 04:00. We had a BIG trip to do the next day up to the start of the Whitsundays, aiming for Scawfell Island which has a good protected anchorage. More on that trip to come!

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.

Sunny Yamba/Iluka, and on to the Sunshine State

July 21, 2020 / fiandadrian

By Fi

After arriving in Yamba, we took some time to explore the town. With the Queensland border still closed, we were in no rush and spent a few nights here. There is a great market on Wednesday mornings from 07:00 near the headland that sells local meat and veges, cured meats, gin, sushi, cheese and dairy, and so we stocked up on some yummy produce and groceries. Here is Adrian and Bernie enjoying a walk at the beach after visiting the markets.

We’d heard some stories as we travelled up the coast that Iluka was “packed full of boats waiting on the border” so we had been a little dubious about adding to the numbers, but on a sunny morning, we decided to pop over and have a look, and there was plenty of space for us to drop our anchor and visit one of NSW coastal town gems. This gorgeous beach is along one side of the anchorage. Behind me is the dock where we set our dingy to go ashore.

Iluka is a small coastal town, and the bay where we anchored is right next to the pub and the fish coop. Iluka prawns are some of the best we have tasted. We went for some walks around town, and out to the surf beach where Bernie got to play with his bumper things. Spotted this little guy eating at the side of the road too (Echidna). Iluka was a great town to keep us stocked up, and we also leaned a little on the Post Office in town as we needed to get a few things ordered for the inevitable boat jobs that we would have to do. The most pressing being the anchor light.

When we anchored in Iluka, and as dusk settled in, I turned on the anchor light, and to my dismay realised it wasn’t working. Fast forward a few days later, and we had enlisted the help of our friends on some other boats, and borrowed a bosuns chair (chair/harness device that I sit in to go up) and hoisted me up the mast to figure out the problem. It was about 3 hours later, and a lot of tools going up and down, and discussions, that we all realised the light had no serviceable parts and needed total replacing. It did need replacing anyways, after I mangled it trying to figure out how it worked whilst gripping on to the mast with my legs 14m up. This photo shows how I had to basically rip it off at one screw because the flat head screw was cheap and nasty and I couldn’t get the screwdriver to stay on to get it out. This was all fine in the end, and a week or so later we had our new light and up I went up again crimped the wires, tested it, and screwed it on. Works well now!

Around our time in Iluka we also cruised the Clarence River and wrote a post here: https://fiandadriansailing.com/travelling-inland-the-clarence-river/

As the dolphins circled around the bay night after night, we found ourselves settling in to the Iluka life, making friends, exploring the trails, trying out new recipes on the boat, and attempting new skills. In some respects, I stopped being cranky around this point about the Queensland border because we wouldn’t have had these experiences in this stunning little place, or perhaps even met some new friends for who’s friendship we are so grateful! Oh, also new toys – our new toys are two stand up paddle boards and this is my first attempt ever.

And one day, the news came that Queensland was opening up to us Southerners, and the race was on! The borders opened midday on the 10th of July, and whilst the weather window for our boat would have been okay-ish, we decided to let the bigger faster boats head up en masse and we’d see how they got on. Plus we could partake a little more in the delicious local seafood. All was fine and we planned our own passage for a few days later.

We planned to head north on the 14th of July, as the swells were quite low, which would mean leaving Yamba/Iluka over the river bar would be straightforward. We left at midday on a rainy and cool day, and planned to stop in at Byron Bay for the evening. During our travels, the whale activity was epic, and we saw many whales breaching, flapping around and playing quite close to us. Here you can see a whale just breaching out of the water. So awe inspiring. We finally dropped the anchor at 10pm in the rolly Byron Bay anchorage.

We had a little bit of sleep rolling around, and the next morning picked up the anchor at 06:30 for our final leg across the border and into the Gold Coast. I had been in touch with Maritime Safety Queensland to ensure our safe passage across the border, and had been assured that the authorities were aware of our approval to cross the border and we would have no troubles. It was so exciting off the Tweed Heads/Coolangatta coast line to know that we were entering Queensland finally and more adventures were to come, plus more whales, dolphins and the biggest turtle I have ever seen were there to welcome us! We travelled through the Gold Coast seaway late afternoon (shown here), and picked our way north to a marina we had booked arriving about 17:00. Big day and we were ecstatic to arrive in Queensland. The plan from here is to head into Moreton Bay and then further north to Mooloolaba and Noosa as weather permits, and as quickly as we are comfortable with.