Day 24 - Shaw Island to Airlie Beach

The shells of Shaw Island

DF in her new home at Abell Point Marina

 We finally made an excursion ashore on Shaw Island. The beach had a very interesting mix of sand and shell grit. Many of the shells looked like the Holy Dollars of old and would make a brilliant necklace but for National Park rules about taking things home.....

A rather average sunset from  Whitsunday Sailing Club

We had a brilliant run up to Airlie with 20kts up the stern and relatively smooth seas. We averaged 8 kts for the run so arrived at Abell Point Marina much earlier than expected. I have to say that they run a very slick and customer focused operation. Everyone has been super friendly and nothing is too much trouble for everyone from the dockhands through to the office staff. We got an excellent discount for being Shag Islet Yacht Club members and they have a courtesy car for local shopping.





We decided to walk into Airlie Beach so that Pete could book his travel home and continued on to the Whitsunday Sailing Club for a few beers and dinner. Sitting on the balcony was most pleasant - there was a mixed fleet of Laser dinghies training off the club so that brought back quite a few memories. The evening is being finished off by watching the State of Origin game. I think I already know the outcome!

Tomorrow will be a mix of cleaning, shopping and general boat maintenance. What fun!

Day 23 - Shaw Island

Well, yet another plan goes down the gurgler! When you decide to go on an extended cruise, wise people will tell you to NEVER, EVER have a destination and a date. You can have one, or the other, but never both. They are right - just accept it and you will be much happier. We had planned to leave for Airlie this morning. The forecast was great, the tides right and it promised to be a 'milk run'. Wrong! The winds at Hammo were gusting over 30 kts and it looked like a washing machine out in the channel. Tomorrow will be fine......

Visitor to the Anchorage

 Not long after we had made our decision a very interesting vessel entered the anchorage from the south with mainsail and genoa flogging. What made it interesting was he was towing his RIB (with outboard) and had fenders down both sides that looked like they had been out for the entire trip. He was not on his own but was the only one trying to manage the vessel. He made several 'missed approaches' and finally got all the sails down but not before we were becoming quite nervous about him getting too close. Not long after he happily motored up the channel to places unknown.

For lunch we decided to try making damper in the BBQ. Last time I tried this I nearly melted the BBQ so it was with considerable trepidation that we tried again. Perhaps i was a bit too cautious this time as it was a tad underdone and we decided to rename the product 'scones' and treat them accordingly. Suffice to say they still filled the empty stomachs.

Pete enjoying the damper

Day 20 & 21 - Scawfell Island

Not a lot to report for these two days. The weather was made up of rain squalls, massive wind bullets, and plenty of chop. What fun! We tried a few games and found that boules from the transom does not work and dominos only works for me if I can keep changing the rules. While I guess we should be able to chill out, read a few books and 'go with the flow' the reality was that we were all getting 'cabin fever' and looking forward to getting moving again. Unfortunately the forecast was identical each day. 20-25 kts from the SE sounds pretty benign (and it is but the very confused seas tends to make for an uncomfortable motion and quite a few waves coming onboard).  We also found that the starboard aft steering compartment was full of water! I can only assume that the severe pounding had forced water up the steering shaft gland so I drained it all out and re-greased the the gland and bearing. Fingers crossed that this fixes the problem.

Day 22 - Scawfell Island to Shaw Island

Final farewell to Scawfell Is.

What an interesting day! We had decided to depart Scawfell at 0400 so that we could make Airlie Beach before sunset. Ah, the plans of mice and men. Everyone was on deck at the designated time BUT there was one minor problem - we could not get the anchor off the bottom. To be more specific - we could not not even get the chain off the bottom with something very, very stuck at the 50 metre mark. I can read the tea leaves - I decided that it was prudent for us to all go back to bed and pretend that this had not happened. At 0700 we got up again, had a bacon and egg breakfast and i went to have a serious talk to our anchor and chain. Suffice to say that this did prove to be enough for it to give up and let the winch do its thing. We were finally underway at 0800 heading for Shaw Island. It was a pretty unremarkable trip with the small jib, one motor and a favourable set. We saw a few more dolphin, lots of sea birds, had our share of the rain squalls and made it to Shaw by 1430. It is a great anchorage and infinitely more comfortable than Scawfell. Pity we did not make it here several days earlier.

Tomorrow will be the final leg of our trip north with a short hop to Airlie Beach (and the Abell Point Marina) where we transition to cleaning, washing and shopping for a few days before eldest son and his tribe arrive for a week, Hopefully they will get better weather than we have had for the past week or so.

Day 19 - Middle Is, The Percys to Scawfell Island

National Parks Shelter & Toilet - Scawfell Is

 We departed Middle Island, The Percy's at a rather challenging 2350hrs hoping get to Scawfell Island with plenty of daylight. It ended up being quite a ride with winds up to 30KTS from the south and very confused seas. We started with the big genoa but soon exceeded the max wind for that sail so transitioned to a double reefed main on its own. We did a bit of surfing that night with max speed 12.7 kts and and an average of 6 kts for the trip. We arrived at 1115hrs so had plenty of light!!!!

Savannah & Wharram catamaran

We were soon joined by others of similar mind  and it was a merry band of 6  boats that hunkered down for the joys of massive wind


bullets and plenty of chop. Did I mention the rain? No need to wash the salt spray off the windows and the rain turbo cleaned everything. We are starting to get to know the other cruisers working their way north and have had some great times with Tony off Savannah (a 46' Roberts ketch).

Ayam Rendang Curry

Pete has been keen to show us the miracle of Ayam Malaysian Rendang Curry Paste. Rendang is always a challenge to cook properly but this pre-prepared paste is meant to be the 'real McCoy'. Carefully following his wife's instructions (thank you Chris!) he got it right and it was delicious. We are now converts!

The DF Dominos Challenge

Shiralee - Seawind 31

Pandanus Fruit

Another native fruit. Bugs love it!

Like on most boats, things get pretty quiet of an evening without the distractions of TV or internet so out came the dominos. We made up the rules as we went along (or at least I did to make sure that Pete was always a tad confused)   and it was a great excuse to sample a few delicious Para ports.







We were hoping that the BOM forecasters would get it wrong but they did not. The weather stayed very much as advertised - strong wind warnings and rain squalls. What fun - it even made getting ashore quite a chore and avery wet one at that.

Our neighbour in Shiralee dropped by to get the weather forecast and I commented that she was a very pretty boat with lovely lines. Turns out she is a stretched Seawind 31 - bought in Hong Kong and extensively sailed through SE Asia.



When we did get ashore we found some interesting plants and a fruit that we had not seen before. The fruit was covered in what might have been very large aphids who were sucking it dry and leaving obviously dead shells on the branches.










The only other bit of 'nature' that we saw was several turtles swimming around the bay although even they disappeared when the weather got wet and windy.

Day 17 - Great Keppel to Pearl Bay

It was a an early start for Day 17 with a beautiful dawn and very gentle breezes from the south. We had decided on Pearl Bay as our next anchorage as Uncle Alan (Lucas) describes it as one of the prettiest on the coast and I  have been there before and know how to get in safely.

The 'sail' up was a bit boring - not enough wind to actually sail so a motor was on for most of the day. We experimented with various combinations of main and headsail and finally settled on the genoa alone.

Landing the Mackerel Tuna

The BBQ Masters

 We decided to try the fishing lure that Tim gave to us as a 'Farewell Present' (as if that will sway the will!). We hooked a decent Spanish Mackerel but lost him right at the transom. Not long after we caught a magnificent Mackerel Tuna. He was well over legal size and weighed a ton (well - almost). Our fishing book says that they are 'very poor eating' so it was a challenge to see what we could do with him. I cut him into large steaks (no mean feat with the knives onboard - could have done with a chain saw). We then dipped the steaks in a range of spices and threw them on the barbie.

BBQ Tuna Steaks

We tried everything from Garam Marsala through to Clive of India Curry Powder. We were very pleasantly surprised - the meat was moist and flavoursome. Clive won the day for the best around taste.










It was a challenge to finish it all and we still have several steaks left. The meal was complimented nicely by a fine, chilled white wine and we then retired to the foredeck with some nice Para port (thank you, Pete) to look at the shooting stars, find a constellation or two  and see who could find the most satellites. Life is tough at sea!

The game plan is a very early start tomorrow morning to visit the Percy Islets.

Yet another sunrise

Day 18 - Pearl Bay to The Percy Isles

The A-frame Middle Percy

 We had decided to depart Pearl Bay before dawn so it was a rather bleary eyed crew who assembled on deck at 0500 hrs. The wind gods had deserted us so it was motor sailing for the whole trip but we did make good time. A pod of dolphins dropped by to break the boredom.

Waving the flag for LMYC and CD

Our planning was excellent as we arrived at West Bay,  Middle Island just in time to go ashore and visit the A-frame before dusk. This is an almost religious right of passage for any serious cruiser and it has been on my bucket list for decades.





It is a long story but one worth telling. The A-frame has become an icon for cruisers - everyone who passes by is invited to leave a plaque with the name of their boat. There are hundreds of plaques of every type and description hanging in the hut. Unfortunately there are also boxes and boxes of plaques that have been taken down and replaced. We tried to find the one left by 'Flagship' but it appears to have been taken down. We did find many names that we knew including friends from our Malaysia days and several boats from LMYC.



We met the 'caretaker' for the island and had a quick chat. He had been told that he was expecting a friend to arrive at the anchorage that afternoon but we had not seen them on AIS or heard them on the radio so suspect that it wasn't going to happen.

If it was great the first time, go back and do it again.

Tropical Paradise

Yet another bloody sunset!

Day 15 - On the Road Again

The weather finally moderated enough for us to hit the road again so it was an 0800 departure from the marina - destination Great Keppel Island. We had a great SE breeze with reasonably small swell which led to some great times until we were abeam the township of 1770. Not sure where it came from but we then got thwacked with the SE building to just under 30 kts. That was just a tad too fresh for the full main so we threw in 2 reefs and found the ride to be much more pleasant and almost as fast. One trick I have learned is to get the autopilot to steer by wind direction rather than course direction when going down hill. It sails a much tighter course and works much, much less. This is good for both of us as some of the previous slaloms down the bigger swells were rather 'exciting'.

Suffice to say we had a uneventful trip working our way around the ships anchored off Gladstone and arriving at Great Keppel just on dawn to help us find an anchorage. We almost had it to ourselves as two yachts left soon after we arrived. They were keel boats so it was probably a 'cat versus keel' thing.

The stats for this leg of the trip:

Duration: 22 Hours; Distance travelled: 135.4 NM, Average Speed (from the log): 5.8 KTS and top speed (from log, GPS was higher): 11.7 KTS. The majority of this was done on a double reefed main and no headsail.

Day 16 - Great Keppel Island

Well folks - it finally feels like we have arrived in Tropical Queensland with swaying palm trees, coconuts and wide sandy beaches. It has been an 'interesting' trip so far and we cannot wait to get to the Whitsundays where we hope to slow down and get into 'Island Time'. We still have a few miles to go before that can happen....

Today was spent tidying up the boat and going ashore to show Pete the sights of Leeke's Beach (the main anchorage on the north side of the island). Cath and I visited here during our Rocky stay so already knew the layout.

Double Fun looking very small.

It looks like everyone else decided to re-start their trips yesterday as the anchorage has been slowly filling up all day with boats arriving from the south. An English gentleman solo sailing a junk rigged schooner arrived six hours after us despite leaving Bundy about an hour after us so we feel that we made good time! I guess it is no surprise that the majority of the boats here are cats.

Anchorage at Great Keppel - Cat City!

As previously mentioned, the autopilot is now working much better but it still does chew up some power (along with the nav lights, AIS transponder, multiple computer/phone chargers etc etc). Suffice to say we were down to 80% capacity this morning (ht lowest i have ever seen it) so I ran the Kipor petrol generator for an hour to top things up. It was really nice to see 42 amps flowing into the bank.

We are going to try a bit of day sailing from here on. By leaving early tomorrow we should be able to get to Port Clinton or Pearl Bay in daylight which should be nice - a sit down dinner and a few red wines would be very nice.

Not sure what the weather is going to do - it was meant to moderate today but is still honking from the south. I am also not sure whether we will have phone or internet access for the next few days so things might go quiet for a while.

View from our back verandah.

Day 14 - Last Day in Bundaberg

The weather finally seems to be moderating and we plan to recommence the northward trip tomorrow morning. Several yachts arrived today and some have already left. It has been a great break but it is time to move on.

 Pete and I went into town today for some shopping and visited the Bert Hinkler Museum. It is quite impressive with a great mix of static and multi-media displays. They have a nifty system where you can photograph yourself in front of a replica aircraft and then have the image sent to your email account.
If you are ever up this way it is worth a visit - there is a the Hinkler Centre and his old house from the UK rebuilt in the grounds. All this is surrounded by the Botanical Gardens.

Day 13 - Cruising: Doing Boat Maintenance in Exotic Places

Not much to report today - nothing has broken, we have not blown away and the novelty of having a courtesy bus drive us home after our shopping at the local IGA has not yet worn off. The promised rain missed us but it has been a tad chilly with winds in the marina exceeding 30 KTS at times.
They are doing some repair work on the river mouth seawall which involves trucking in tons of rock, transferring it onto barges and then laying it along the wall. Not sure how or why a dredge has a place in the game but it seems quite contented to sit here.

The dredge getting ready for bed.

Day 12 - Bundaberg Tourist

Having had enough of boat maintenance for a while we decided to take the marina courtesy bus into town to explore the delights of down-town Bundaberg. It is an interesting village with a real mix of grand old buildings and some modern shockers.

The Old Post Office

A Novel Use for a Police Station

We were surprised at the number of backpacker hostels in town - they are virtually on every street corner. Given the relative paucity of things that would attract the younger tourists we suspect that it is to cover the large number of seasonal workers who come to the town. The old police station has been converted into a large complex - Cell Block Backpackers!

Sculpture of the waterfront

 Bundaberg is trying to improve the amenity of the waterfront with parks, walkways and the odd bit of 'culture' along the way. Given the massive floods that they have experienced recently I wish them luck in keeping it all in place.

We are still in Queensland - right?

Just in case you thought that Bundaberg was getting too sophisticated, some things never change! In keeping with the locals, we had a great counter meal in one of the pubs and it wasn't too bad at all. No need for dinner after that one.

Pete rejoins us tomorrow afternoon so we will review the weather then and make some decisions about how best to continue moving north.

Day 11 - Port Bundaberg Marina

The forecast change came through last night exactly as predicted - at 0115 to be precise! It was impressive with much flapping and banging on several of the adjacent boats. Suffice to say, it did vindicate our decision not to move up to Pancake Creek as we would effectively become trapped in a lovely location but one not conducive to getting the maintenance tasks done that have been hanging over me for several months. There is a really good chandlers here at the marina and they are doing a roaring business, at least from me.

Well balanced fore and aft trim.

The big achievement for the day was the fitting of a salt water deck wash system. Sounds easy but the mechanics of running the pipes from the new through hull fitting to the 'new' pump in the anchor locker took quite a few hours and forced me to use PVC quick-fit pipe and plumbing attachments as the holes would not allow normal soft pipe as it is much thicker. Once you figure out how it all works it is pretty amazing stuff.
The other task was to redistribute some of the weight in the boat. We have been a bit nose-down which is a worry in heavy conditions so have moved a few things aft and the trim looks much healthier.
Peter headed off home this morning for a few days and will rejoin the boat when the weather settles - not much fun for him sitting around here twiddling his thumbs although we do feed him well!

Left overs, Bundaberg Style.

Cath and I had left overs for dinner - yet more spanner crab and some spag bog. Not too shabby with a fine white wine.

Given the weather Cath and I will probably take the courtesy bus into Bundaberg and do a bit of touristing with our fingers crossed that this high will move and let us get underway again.

Day 9 - Urangan to Port Bundaberg

Today was a most civilised day, by yachtie standards at least. We departed Urangan Harbour under crystal clear skies and a gentle SE breeze at 0630 for a 40 NM run up to Port Bundaberg. The new genoa looked beautiful and we settled down to a steady 8 KTS skating across lovely turquoise water. Unfortunately the breeze eventually died and a motor came to the rescue allowing us to motor sail the rest of the way. After politely giving way to a 560' freighter we entered the port and found our berth. The folks here at the the marina are friendly +++ and Pete and Cath were able to hitch a lift to the local shopping centre for a bit of a top up. I had to stay at home and work on the boat which largely involved spending money on new genoa blocks etc etc. At least I was able to find excuses to not pull the toilet apart to replace the joker valve. Perhaps tomorrow....
There is a Fisherman's Co-op here and their speciality is Spanner Crabs so I had no choice but to try the local fare as an entree. Suffice to say it was exquisite - even if I did do the cooking myself. pete cooked the main meal of spag bog.
We are not sure whether we will press on or stay for a while - tomorrow morning'

s forecast will tell.

Day 10 - Port Bundaberg Marina

We had internet problems yesterday so the blog is running a bit behind.
Having decided to remain here at the marina rather than push on to Pancake Creek and get stuck there for a few days, things have been very quiet onboard. It has been an ideal day to get some essential work done on the boat - fitting tachos to the outboards, spicing the rope rode to the main anchor chain (thank you Pete!), replacing the joker valve in the heads and trying to figure out how fit a water pump for the seawater deck wash system. That will be a job for tomorrow!
Now - onto the main news story for the day. The marina shares the site with a major seafood processor and the fishing boats tie up next to us. Tonight we ordered a seafood platter for dinner (two actually). It was magnificent - fresh prawns, bugs, smoked salmon (steaks!) and spanner crabs. Super fresh and delicious! Life is tough in the slow lane!

Day 8 - Great Sandy Strait

Sorry about the typos yesterday!
Today was really quite uneventful. We motored up the Great Sandy Straits in almost perfect weather with the only challenge being the bottom of the tide as we crossed the shallowest stretch. In the end we had plenty of water and did not get to clean the bottoms of the keels.
We decided to splash out and get a marina berth in Urungan so we have been exploring the Hervey Bay Boat Club for showers and dinner. Quite pleasant especially as there are no insects tonight!
The plan for tomorrow is an early start and then move on to Port Bundaberg for some shopping and washing. The weather looks a bit too benign so it may be motoring yet again.

Not sure where all the water goes but there is a lot of dry land at low tide.

Historic wreck - 'Ceratodus'

Fishing boats at Urungan Harbour

Day 7 - The Wide Bay Bar

The Wide Bay Bar on a quiet day.

Queensland is a dangerous place!

Garry's Anchorage with Neighbours

View from the kitchen window as we cook the dinner.

After yet another night at sea dodging cruise ships and tankers in the shipping channels of Moreton Bay we finally arrived at Double Island Point at dawn to await the flooding tide for a crossing of the infamous Wide Bay bar. Conditions seemed ideal with swell less than 1 metre and gentle winds from the west.  What is wrong with this picture? Large breaking waves across the bar for starters and waypoints that seemed determined to take us into grief. Let us say that the conversations between Pete, Cath and myself were very, very focused. Needless to say, we did survive but it was a 'character building' trip.
Having survived our near-death experience we slowly motored up the mill pond that makes up the Great Sandy Strait. Garry's Anchorage seemed like the logical destination and has justified its reputation as a great place to drop an anchor. Cath and I did a great walk this afternoon while Pete caught up on some much needed sleep - he has really carried the lion's share of the night work at sea.
Tomorrow we will continue to wander up the Straits as we are now 7 days ahead of schedule.
Carpe Diem!!!!

Day 6 - Moreton Bay

Day 6 started with a beautiful sunrise in a mirror smooth anchorage. We motored through the rest of the 'deep south' of Moreton Bay becoming adept at finding shallow water, confusing channel markers and dodging idiots on jet skies or speed boats. We were finally rewarded with the open waters of the Bay, crystal clear skies and no wind. We have had a motor on for almost all of the day and everyone's ears are ringing. We even rigged the new genoa and it works! More work required in figuring out how to run the sheets but when it sets it really pulls!
We plan to sail through the night (again!) and then anchor at Double Island Point anchorage until we are ready to cross the Wide Bay bar - hopefully between 1030 - 1200 on Sunday (tomorrow) morning.

The dawn that greeted us this morning.

Lake Mac is not the only graveyard for yachts although this one has two ospreys  on the spreaders.

Only in Queensland........

Yet another bloody sunset. This one lasted for nearly an hour! Magic!

Day 5 - The NSW North Coast

We arrived at the Gold Coast Seaway at 1230hrs after spending 2 days and 4.5 hours at sea.

Unfortunately this is very much the land of the BIG stink boat!

The stats: Total distance: 307 NM, Average Speed: 6.4 KTS, Fuel used: 40L. Nothing broke, no one yelled at anyone and we were all happy to stay at sea and push onto Double Island Point but decided to enter the Seaway and find a quiet spot to anchor for the night. Tomorrow we plan to sail through to Double Island Point and then cross the Wide Bay Bay on Sunday morning. This puts us well ahead of schedule but it would be a real pity to waste the fantastic weather that we have been experiencing. It would also mean that we have no more bars to worry about other than those that charge lots of money for refreshments.

The Gold Coast at its best - from afar!