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Depart Sydney 7-5-2009 1.30pm
Destination Pittwater 26 nautical miles north. After renting the house out and
moving 5 carloads of stuff onboard we were ready to leave Cabarita Marina, at $450 dollars a week the most expensive marina
in the world we were definitely ready to go.
At this point we need to make a confession, the truth is we actually don't have a lot of sailing experience, sure we have owned a small 25 foot yacht for 8 years done a bit of coastal cruising our longest passage been just 30 nautical miles. We have only sailed overnight once and that was on a paid excursion. I can do a bowline and a half hitch, have done a marine radio course and a diesel maintenance course. Joyce did a "how to use a radar" course and she has a certificate in coastal navigation. We can both read a GPS, but there is no doubt we are lacking in serious offshore sea miles. However this is all about to change very quickly as we leave Sydney behind. Pittwater to Port Stephens depart 14th May arrive 15th May 2009 The passage from Pittwater to Nelson Bay (56 nautical miles) was overall not great and showed our lack of experience with regards to preparation. It was a hard passage full of the unexpected with regards to weather. When they forecast 20-25 knots and say gusts can be 40% more there not kidding! We found that these gusts could last up to 3 hours. The majority o the trip was in 30-40 knots and uncomfortable, which in a 20 ton boat should not be the case but I was simply taken by surprise. We lost our inner foresail the back of our cockpit awning and had the S___ scared out of us. The Sea Gods had spoken, and we were listening. Get your act together or buy a caravan and 4x4 and go see Alice. We took it on board, our next 250 nautical miles were flawless. We rested up at Nelson bay D'albora marina for the next 10 days sitting out the low pressure system that was tearing the coast further north apart, living like people who still had jobs knowing in the back of my mind that staying at expensive marinas has got to stop. I knew that eventually I would have to put a budget in place, perhaps when we reach QLD. Port Stephens to Broughton Island 25th May 2009 This was a very short day trip. We spent two very rolly nights at the spectacular looking island. It is an incredibly rugged looking landscape where I am sure some great fish can be caught and some great diving experiences could be had. Our stay here was short as were are keen to get to warmer temps. Broughton Island to Forster 27th May 2009 We left Broughton Island early tying up to a public jetty at Forster (or should I say what we thought was a public jetty) just after dark. While it was never our intention to enter a new port in darkness the slightest drop in wind can set your arrival time back hours. The tide was perfect, the entrance well lit and after some tips from the Volunteer Marine Rescue re sand movements in the entrance on we went. When the sun came up in the morning we saw that the jetty led straight onto a park only a short walk from shops, right near the local fisherman and co-op where we bought the freshest and cheapest fish you can imagine. Tinkering on shore was a fisherman whose jetty we were attached to. It turns out that the incredibly strong current that runs through here had broken one of the lines from his boat and it had swung around onto a public jetty. He wanted his boat back on his jetty that day so we agreed to help each other out. Paul found himself carrying some of the biggest batteries I have seen onto the fisherman’s boat and he helped us tie on a little further down also giving us a few great tips on tides. A really nice town. Forster to Coffs Harbour depart 29th May arrive 30th May 2009 Since our horror sail we had only had light winds to Broughton and Forster and had to do more motoring than we like to. We were still a little nervous about being caught out in big winds but this trip changed all that, we had the most amazing sail yet. With 15 – 20 knots right behind us we were making great progress and after a few calculations realized that we would easily make Coffs Harbour around midday if we sailed through the night, so we did. Darien slept through the whole night as she always does and Paul and I took turns on watch and resting. Even though the winds did pick up to 28 knots a few minor sail adjustments kept us sailing very comfortably. As we approached Coffs Harbour pods of Dolphins came toward and under the boat one after the other, I really couldn’t tell you how many we saw some jumping clear out of the water, just amazing. Coffs Harbour had been literally torn apart by the recent storms so we were lucky to get onto the marina. Two of the arms were still not attached to the marina walkway, access to these arms being via a ladder tied to the marina walkway. We were lucky enough to be on an arm still attached and therefore had use of a regular walkway. The berth was really for a boat much smaller than ours so it was a very tight fit and a real test of Paul’s skills to get out without smashing the two very expensive catamarans behind us. We had a great time in Coffs, saw a dolphin and porpoise show, visited Bellingen, Dorigo and the Nymboida River, the country side is just beautiful, went to the big banana, and saw fishing trawlers unload fish the size of people and truckloads of sharks!  Coffs Harbour to Southport depart 9th June arrive 10th June 2009
This was yet another nice overnight sail but again arriving after dark. We found the main anchorage after having to swing the boat around in a hurry in order to avoid a dredge we were approaching on the wrong side. Gave us a fright just as much as it did those working on the dredge. We are loving the free anchorage just off Seaworld which we will visit when Tracey arrives. The weather is fantastic and so many crabs!!! The tuna Paul caught on the way here is proving to be magic when it comes to catching crabs. We have caught 15 in the last three days, eating 10 and throwing 5 back (which were probably big enough to keep but we didn't want to be greedy). Have rented a car, done some sight seeing, had a mechanic out to service a few things on the motor and just doing other bits and pieces really. Will travel up the internal waterways to Moreton Bay from here which will require a few clever tide calculations. Lets hope we get it right! SURFERS PARADISE, I LIKE IT HERE Surfers Paradise, or Surfers is only a stones throw from Southport, it has a certain crassness about it that I like a bit like a poor mans Miami. There has been a lot of money made and lost here in real estate over the years but still the developments go on, everything is sold off the plan, agents stand in shop doors well into the night beside huge balsa wood models of sky scrapers up to 80 stories high. They hope to sign up enough people to get the project going, of course in the good old days every apartment was sold before the foundations went in. There are lots of man made waterways with huge houses on small blocks everyone here has there own jetty and boat, the really rich ones have forgone a jetty in place of a helipad and have their own chopper. We have been staying at a free anchorage just off Seaworld called The Spit. It’s been a great base to explore the Gold Coast.  Just down from where we were anchored we spotted Sol Lew's 150 foot + superyacht (Texas). Joyce had
her phone handy and we thought we would snap a few shots. Not often you get to drive by a $32 million dollar boat and wave
to the crew.
For those of you who don't know Sol Lew is one of Australia's richest men and sits on the board of Coles Myer (a big Aussie supermarket/department store chain). Now Sol as he is known to his friends decided to get his $32 million dollar super yacht refitted in NZ at a cost of $14 million. On completion of the work Sol wasn't that happy and instructed his crew to sail the boat back to Aus without paying the bill. When the refitter turned up at the yard the next morning and saw that the Texas was missing he was a bit puzzled only to find the boat turning up in Sydney a week later. Many legal battles later Sol's Texas ended up being arrested and put under armed guard in Sydney. Don't know what happened next but Sol seems to have his boat back and we are invited on board for cocktails tomorrow night.  Anyway, we have had a great time here but it's time to move on. We have decided to sail straight to
Tin Can Bay, 145nm north and give Brisbane a miss. There is a small rally of yachts leaving Cairns on the 12th September for
the Louisiades (Papua New Guinea) and we think we may join them so we have to get a move on.
Southport to Tin Can Bay depart 2nd July 2009 arrive 5th July 2009 You might be thinking
that is a long time to make the 145nm trip - well your right. This trip had the advantage of having two ocean anchorages along
the way to take shelter if we were not going to make the bar into Tin Can Bay during day light so our departure time
was not too crucial. The forecast was for westerlies turning WSW then SW. Perfect for rounding North and South Stradbroke
Is and Moreton Is before changing course to head for Wide Bay Harbour. Well the W and SW winds were about three days late,
making an appearance only after we had arrived. We had to make do with NW winds that increased to around 35 knots for the
entire night. The swell also increased through the night and while our course was fine to round the Islands getting back
to the mainland was quite a challenge. Byamee handled the conditions brilliantly and our little experience did help. We reefed
early and had everything ready for bad weather including the storm sail in the event our main furler gave us trouble. Regardless
of the treacherous conditions we made great time averaging over 5 knot for the whole trip and doing 6 - 8 knots during
the night. It is the first time we have had the boat going so fast so hopefully it means we are getting better with our sail
trim. Click here to view our sailing video!
I
AM SO ANNOYED AT MYSELF!  Joyce quickly set about initiating
repairs. Give the girl a tin of epoxy, a paint scraper and it will be good as new. Meanwhile I found a piece of aluminum
checker plate, bent it into a "U" shape and bolted it to the anchor roller, 30 mins work and problem solved..........
now why didn't I do that 2 months ago?
 All fixed and below our new homemade anchor keeper.
 Tin Can Bay and the Great Sandy Straights.  The
Great Sandy Straights were not so great. Not terrible but not so great. We enjoyed a beautiful sail up river from Tin Can
Bay hoping to get to Gary's Anchorage off Fraser Island. Before too long there was a nock and then a thud as we bumped
the bottom. I am happy to say I was not at the helm so I can blame Paul for this one. We momentarily forgot that we were going
up river not down (green to port) even though we were heading into the Great Sandy Straights just passing the
Wide Bay Bar as the inland water way between Fraser Island and the coast is deemed to start at Hervey Bay (to the north
of Fraser Island). To cut a long story short we ended up on the wrong side of the markers. We were under sail so the boat
just tilted up a little and continued sailing correcting our course in time. Phew!
We now new that 2.1m on the depth sounder means we are on the bottom and continued on with at little more diligence only to find that there was absolutely no way we were going to make it through to Garry’s anchorage at low tide. It killed us to do so but we had to back track and anchor just inside Wide Bay Bar. Progress into Hervey Bay was slow traveling only on the rising tide and where depth allowed a few hours after high. We were stuck an extra day anchored at South White Cliffs due to fog.
Well no wind, no whales and we ran aground good and proper! I can blame Paul for this one too (the bar was so long we really didn’t have a hope from our last anchorage). It was not on our chart plotter and not expecting it the tide was still falling. So we sat and waited, the boat tilted then around four hours later we had a little movement again. Then we ran aground again! This time in our marina berth at Port Bundaberg. I am not joking. Coming into the berth we couldn’t get the boat in far enough. We thought there must have been some kind of current I was pulling on the lines with all my might, Paul was giving it plenty with the motor and we just could not get any further in, then Paul looked at the depth sounder 1.8m. Turns out we are in the deep berth and we will just work our way into the muddy bottom. Paul keeps reminding me how we will wish we had a catamaran before too long, I am still not convinced but coming around. Bundaberg arrived 19th July 2009 Bundaberg Port marina is a very pretty marina. We have been here two weeks now and have just had Paul's parents, Joe and Marie, stay with us on the boat for 10 days and have had a fabulous time exploring this beautiful sugar cane country. We have started repairs on our worn and torn inner foresail and decided to put in a new motor (more about that in our Other Stuff page). It is now the 7/8/09 and we have been in Bundy for 3 weeks and we are going to be here for another week while Gary from "Marine Torque" puts in the new engine, which has just arrived from Melbourne. We all rushed up to have a look and drool over 236kg of turbo charged metal, it made me feel a little better about all the money we have just spent.  But we are so over being stuck here. The weather is great and everyone is heading north via Lady
Musgrave and Fitzroy Reef. We have moved off the marina to save a few bucks and motored up river into Bundaberg. We will
hang out here till Sunday morning then head back up to get hauled out and repowered. I will have to dive on the hull to remove
the wire that connects the rudder and end of keel (so as nothing fouls the prop) before the travel lift hauls us out. Not
looking forward to diving in muddy mangrove waters. Its the same reason I hate working with electricity ...you can never
see whats coming to get ya.
We worry about our Daughter. 8/8/09 Being an only child comes with its many problems and challenges. Being an only child on a yacht forced to be part of your parents dream can be hard yakka. Darien has become more demanding of our time. She is no longer happy to play in her make believe world, we would watch her for hours amuse herself with a plastic castle and a teddy called Bailey Bear. The progression from cuddly toys to computer time has been swift, her make believe world is no longer complete without our particapation. It takes a long time for a three year old to build up trust and confidence to play with another child. At home she had that confidence with her cousins. Now we never stay anywhere long enough for her to find that. We need to be more aware of how difficult our dream can be for her. Burnett River (Bundaberg Town Reach) 9/8/09 Close Encounters of the Freak Kind A little bored we decided to move down to the town reach so that we could get supplies in Bundaberg without renting a car. To experience the city lights at night and the feel for the town itself. We found the anchorage just opposite the Rowing Club with a public jetty on the other side of the river. Only a small anchorage amongst a large number of fore and aft moorings but we managed to squeeze in between the two other boats there. It wasn’t long before the couple on one of the boats was over to introduce themselves and warn us of the person on the other boat. Barbara and Phil who came over were lovely and we had drinks together that evening, sharing stories of life and adventures. The man on the other boat - WHAT A FREAK. The boat – Gypsy Pearl, remember it and don’t anchor near it, ever. The stories we heard included him trying to board boats, swearing and cursing at boats that anchored nearby and it went on. We decided to believe just a little and take the rest with a pinch of salt, thinking he was probably just a little mad, eccentric but relatively harmless (we did get a steel pole ready in the companionway just in case). His boat is just immaculate and very striking in its appearance. A black hull, yellow strip at the waterline, red pilot house, and white stripes painted on the perfectly kept wooden mast. Initially he took a few pics of our boat, no harm in that maybe he liked it. The next day he tried to shock us away by parading around in a g-string. We thought that was kind of funny and that he would have to do a lot more than that to shock us. At 4am a horrific alarm went off on his boat for about three hours. We thought, he could be doing this on purpose but unlikely, something must have gone wrong on his boat. The morning brought a day of really, really loud music. It started with the angry rock kind, then shifted to Christian hymns, then on to hare-Krishna then some sort of weird moaning came from his boat a little animal like, truly weird. We were starting to get the picture that we were not welcome. Leaving in the morning we decided we would not worry about it too much, then he set of the siren again. The freak has a siren mounted outside his boat that is deafening; he locks himself inside his boat and sets it off. Needless to say we moved after calling the police. We just hope that this guy is not giving off shore cruisers a false impression of Australian’s. Bundaberg is often the first port of call for cruisers coming to Australia.  Above "The Gypsy Pearl". Steer clear of this Nutcase!
Byamee prepares for a Repower. Byamee is getting a new engine. We will be hauled out tomorrow put on the hardstand and work will begin. The next 2 weeks will be an assault on our patience and financial standing, we need to keep a cool head.
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Above....off comes the Borg Warner gearbox so as it will fit out the companionway. Crane is due tomorrow 7.30am.
Out She Comes.
There's an engine bay that has not seen the light of day in 10 years. We have 48 hours to clean it up ,make it pretty before the crane is back to drop in the new Donk.
I took the oportunity to repack the "Stuffing Box". The stuffing box is one of those things that has not changed a lot in years gone by, it is the packing (usually flax) around the shaft that stops the water coming in, its as old as the hills the advantage being that when it starts to fail you get plenty of warning ....a drip, then two, then alot of drips then time to repack. The new exspensive thing on the market is called a "Dripless gland" no drips no water but no warning. Having said I need to embrace tecnology as it is one of the seven steps to happiness.
After a good clean up Joyce applied "Altex primer no 1 two pack . Should be good
for another 10 years.
The new motor is in, but things are not going as planned. I sent the v-drive away to
get serviced, the courier company managed to loose it in transit, a promised 3 day delivery to Oberon in NSW ended up
taking 9 days! This has really stuffed things up it will be another week till I get it back. Gary (the mechanic) has
done all he can, final measurements for the shaft and exhaust can't be made till we have the V-drive.
THIS
IS NOT WHAT IT SAID ON THE BROCHERE!
Things are going from bad to worse. The boat suspended in a steel cradle
is covered in crap. No matter how hard we try to keep it clean, there is dust, metal filings and oil everywhere. Living on
the hard stand is unhealthy the noise starts at 7am every morning and does not stop till 4pm after which everything goes deathly
quite the place becomes like a graveyard for boats in varying states of disrepair.
On a brighter note we have found a few playmates for Darien! (31/8/09)
I seem to have found the secret for finding out what kids are tucked away in boats on the marina. Take a blanket and
a bunch of toys to a visible grassy spot and the kids appear. We have met three different families and Darien has had
a ball playing with the kids - she was happy to share her toys and was just soooooo excited to have other kids to play with.
One family is heading north so hopefully we will be able to catch up with them when we finally get moving again. We've
also had some great suggestions from other cruisers and have started a scrap book and a shell collection, both turning out
to be a lot of fun.
After a hard day on the sander. We decided that we may as well antifoul the boat whilst she is on the hard.
So now we are sitting here at a cost of $75 a day waiting for our v-drive. Antifouling is almost finished.
I decide that we may as well pull the shaft out and change the cuttless bearing and what the heck lets drop the rudder too!Lets
just rip the whole boat apart.
Turns out dropping the rudder was a good idea. We had noticed that the steering
was getting a bit stiffer, turns out the connection that joins the emergency tiller to the rudder post had started to
seize.
One of the good things about been around other yachties working on there boats is the amount of FREE advice
on offer. Take Don for instance Don and his wife Barbara have been on the hardstand here, living aboard since Feb, after 12
years and two circumnavagations they are giving there yacht a major spruce up. There is not much that Don doesn't know
about yachts and been a steel boat owner such as ourselves there was an instant bond.
Don took me under his wing
figured out our rudder problem and gave me lots of good advice on everything from rust prevention to propeller choice.
Thanks Don.
Joyce getting the primer on ready for the antifoul .
In she goes all good for another year
Yes we are still here and it's not for lack of trying to leave. We finally got the v-drive and the shaft done and put everything together and turns out our prop is not big enough - we had to give it a shot. Despite calculations form two seperate people indicating that it might just do the job they did not take into account our v-drive reduction. Which means we need a much bigger prop. Not sure if we have the clearance for the prop size we need - even better. So we need to get one engineered. How long will that take? It depends how busy they are! And it's not going to be cheap.
Paul had to dive in the merky waters of Bundaberg Port marina yesterday to try a few other prop adjustments and he was blue when he came out. Now the poor guy has to do it again today to get measurements for this prop to be made. It's times like this I am glad I am not the man of the boat.
There are always plenty of maintenance to be done on the boat so I guess that is what we will do while we wait. I really thought we would be snorkelling at Lady Musgrave reef by now.
4th Sep 2009
The news keeps getting better and better. We can fit the big prop but because of the taper on our shaft from the existing prop the big one will probably snap the shaft - the solution a new shaft. Thank God for our friends Rodger and Val (and Cloe) who we first met in Coffs, then Southport then here in Bundy. They are heading home now for a few months and we will miss catching up with them. Rodger suggested changing the gears in the V-drive. Turns out we can switch the gears meaning we now need a smaller prop and don't need a new shaft. It's ordered and should be here soon. Another fact to arise is that we actually need a right handed prop not a left - not sure why that didn't come to light until now. No real harm done just time and the fact that the cruising season and the trade winds are quickly dissappearing and the cyclone season is approaching.
WAITING,WAITING,WAITING.......................
Boats come, boats go, people arrive, people leave. Stories of great anchorages, white sands dolphins and whales. Yes lots of whales everybody is seeing whales almost so close they can touch them.
And we wait and wait and wait.
8/9/09........
We made the decision to quit drinking for the month of September. Not only are we now bored to tears with being stuck here but we are also sober and bored. On the positive side waking up without a hangover opens up a whole new world as we busy ourselves in boat jobs. With the money I saved on wine I was able to buy a tin of varnish and Joyce has been able to buy some more thread to fix the sails! Life is not so bad, we should stop complaining and enjoy the journey, however slow it may be.
11th September 2009
Tomorrow we will fare Bundaberg goodbye. Our new engine is in, Byamee is heavy with provisions and our bank account is somewhat lighter. (I'll update you with the finer details of these soon on our technical stuff and how much it's all costing pages.) We have met so many great people here and for a while became part of this little marina community but we are happy to be going, to get north, to eat up some miles to feel that we are cruising yachties! But first Lady Musgrave Island beckons, the southern most coral cay of the Great Barrier Reef.
When I was in my twenties I visited its sister island Lady Elliot as a keen scuba diver I was blown away by its
beauty and magical diving. Not one to draw comparisons I am quietly excited. Approx 50 nautical miles from Bundaberg our plan
is to leave at 6am and arrive about 3 or 4 in the afternoon.
Woo Whoo!!! We are on the move again and we really do move!
We left Port Bundaberg Sat 12th Sep 2009 bright and early and arrived at Lady Musgrave that afternoon.
There was really very little wind and because we need to run in the motor we motored most of the way. The motor is awesome.
We absolutely fly doing mostly 7 knots and over 8 at WOT (wide open throttle) and with a following sea over 9. The temperature
gauge never changes and there is no smoke coming out the back. The beauty also being that if we are in a spot we just don't
like we can now move to a more ideal spot to wait for the right wind no matter how far away it is.
Lady Musgrave
Is is just beautiful. There is a small island on the edge of a huge coral lagoon with a very narrow entrance (it is marked
so it was not as tricky as I was expecting). There is loads of room inside - fifty boats could easily anchor with plenty of
room probably more. There are heaps of birds on the island, the waters are crystal clear and swarming with the prettiest fish
and turtles. You really need to get in the water to appreciate it. Paul and I took it in turns diving from the dingy while
the other stayed in the dingy with Darien. I'm not very confident diving on my own so Paul had a great laugh at me darting
around under the water then scrambling back into the boat. You could snorkel and dive for days and not get sick of it. We
got a few pics.
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(24"00.819s 151"44.264e)
After four nights at Lady Musgrave we headed back toward land to continue coastal cruising north. First stop Pancake Creek. We had heard a lot about this spot from cruisers and in cruising books but I really can't say I am sure what all the fuss is about. That may have a little to do with a minor brain explosion on my part (Joyce) as we came in to anchor putting us aground once again. Everyone had said how it is such a straight forward anchorage I really didn't pay enough attention to the charts. We were to anchor just inside the headland so what could go wrong?
Well as we came around
the point it seemed to me that some boats were anchored on the point and not far enough around the point and
there were a bunch of boats just a little further down. So I told Paul to continue on to the second lot of boats. I did see
some red buoys way over to the right but failed to process this important factor. With the power of our 75 hp motor we flew
past the first lot of boats waving as many of them we saw at Lady Musgrave only to come to a sudden stop. Turns out we were
very lucky to hit sand because if the tide had been a little higher we would have hit some nasty rocks.
Some very
kind men on another yacht launched their dingy and raced over quite excited to help with all sorts of ideas of how best to
get us off the bottom. They exclaimed "we thought you must have had local knowledge". We had already dropped the
anchor and had over a meter of tide to come in so we thanked them and they were on their way. I was so embarrassed I could
not show my face and was glad that all who witnessed the event were off early the next morning.
We did go ashore
only to get eaten alive by sand flies - they itch so badly! So not much sleep for the next few nights.
Great Keppel Island 18th September 2009
(23"11.492s 150"57.135e)
Get wrecked at great Keppel! Remember the tv adds back in the early nineties "Come and get wrecked at Great Keppel". Well a lot has changed since back then. The water is still the same crystal clear, the sand still squeaks beneath your feet and the view is still pristine. But the resort is closed or "Mouth-balled" as the locals prefer to call it. There was a lot of partying going on here pre G.S.T. and a lot more up until about 2 years ago. Seems the owners knew everything about running a successful business except the part about putting money back into the business........the place was just run down and then closed down. I have always found "Ghost towns" fascinating, so a mouth-balled resort is a real find. You can almost hear the shouting and laughing, the clinking of glasses, the loud music of years gone by. It would have been extra cool to have walked thru the place but it was fenced off. A shame really as it is such a beautiful island.
The story is that some rich guy has bought it and wants to restore it to its former glory, plus a bit. But before he starts throwing his hard earned around he wants approval to increase the size of the airstrip to get the big planes in. As usual there is some opposition with a few who feel there are enough 747 flying over the Whitsundays already. Despite the resort being closed for nearly 2 years there is still a pizza shop, clothing shop and a pub open. We ate at the pizza place and I reckon it was one of the best pizzas I ever had. The clothing shop is for sale and no I wasn’t tempted. But I do love this island.
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21”39.210S 150”14.575E
From GKI as the locals like to call it we headed into Keppel Bay Marina (also known as Roslyn Bay Marina) to provision, wash the boat, our clothes and ourselves, top up water, get rid of rubbish and get on the move again. We have got the marina thing down pat now. We now arrive before lunch and are out same time next day. It’s a busy day getting everything done in 24 hours but is really keeping the expenses down. We are trying to limit our marina stays to just two days a month and this seems to be working so far. A bit of a shame because this marina is really pretty and has so much character including a big brown snake that we were warned to look out for when going to the showers. We bumped into two other boats we had met previously one with some of Darien’s play mates and they ran to each other for a big hug – very cute. Percy Isles was just over 100nm sail. We had a beautiful day sail followed by the darkest night I have ever experienced. The wind dropped off completely and the tiny slither of a moon that was in the sky disappeared over the horizon at 11.30pm. It was just black, the stars seemed to only give reference to which way was up and really didn’t provide any light. It was a very, very spooky night of motoring in pitch darkness. The morning brought light winds and a very pleasant slow passage to the Percy Isles and we saw whales for the first time since leaving Sydney. Just magical.
A family actually own and live on Middle Percy Island and encourage yachties to come up to their homestead for a cuppa. The Island is kept in a pristine state and there is a large A-frame hut on the Island with memorabilia left from cruisers who have visited. It has such a great feel to it and is just beautiful. When the weather does turn however, the swell is huge. A blustery southerly led to our early departure. Our pristine paradise quickly turned into a rollercoaster. The draws fell out of the kitchen cupboard and the coffee I had just made all over them. Then a scream in the bedroom and poor Darien was in our bed covered in books that had been thrown from the bookshelf. That was it, time to pull up anchor and move. The bizarre thing is that boats were coming in for shelter. The dinghy was in the water so we were not able to use the southerly to sail north, instead we took shelter behind South Percy heading south. We found still waters there and we got the dinghy on deck and also found our new prop and motor power through a huge swell and head wind. It’s a shame we didn’t get to leave our little mark at the Percies – we will just have to go back one day. Definitely one of the highlights of our trip so far.
Brampton Island 29th September 2009
20”47.446S 149”16.328E
We are officially in the Whitsundays. We had 80nm to cover and decided to leave at 2am in order to arrive in day light. Well I was quite happy when Paul let me know there was only 2 knots of wind and that there was really no point going now. 4am was no better so we left at 6am. Yet another great sail averaging 5 knots in 7-10 knots of wind – not bad for a heavy metal boat. Byamee has been sailing brilliantly. Here is a pics of one of the tankers off Mackay. The AIS has been great, it gives the call sign, size, speed, heading, etc, of all large ships in the area. You can then plot them on the chart and calculate the distance that we will pass. It also makes it so easy to see if they are just anchored off a port. Whenever we pass a port there seems to be at least 15 sometimes up to 30 empty tankers just anchored. Once full they are out of the harbour and on their way. Brampton is a nice island but it really targets couples for the romantic holiday getaway. Massages on the beach and that sort of thing so they don’t really welcome yachties. We thought it best to use the anchorage for a rest before moving on.
20”19.644S 148”50.693E
Paul has been really worried about the shaft stuffing box which is getting very hot and should only run warm. The problem has been defining warm. Anyway having to run the motor to Yanmar specs for the first 50 hours has really had Paul concerned about the shaft and we have just hoped that the shaft is not being damaged. Still not happy with it he decided to find a mechanic to have a look at the shaft alignment. Paul rang a few to mechanics and it is just amazing how little knowledge so many have. I heard Paul explaining at length what a v-drive was to one. Anyway he found one that at least knew what a v-drive was at Able Point marina so that is where we were headed. It was getting late and we decided to stop at Long Island for the weekend and change the appointment with the mechanic until Monday.
We had a fantastic time at Long Island. For $55
you can pick up a mooring and use all the resort facilities. We spent hours in the pool, Darien played with other kids, did
a 3.5 km bush walk, more swimming in the pool, a late lunch/early dinner back on the boat then back to the island for a drink
and dance before little Darien passed out. It is probably one of the more family and basic resorts in the Whitsundays but
they are very relaxed about what time you come and go. Great fun.
Two weeks in the Whitsundays
We have just spent a great two weeks sailling around the Whitsundays. It is a great place to sail and so many islands
and beaches to explore.
First up after Long Island we had to stop into Abel Point Marina (Airlie Beach) to sort
out our hot stuffing box. Abel Point marina is sooooo expensive and basically you pay a large amount of money to be amoungst
some very expensive boats as the marina itself has very little personality. It is clean, big and new, catering for the supa
yachts like Texas who was there too. I think they might be following us.
We were a little affraid at what
the mechanics bill was going to be but to our surprise it was about what we would have thought for the work done - not often
the case with boats. Usually you can take a guess then double it. Now the stuffing box story - when we had the new motor put
in we changed the packing in the shaft stuffing box ourselves. When the mechanic came to put the v-drive back in he couldn't
get the shaft to fit so he repositioned the v-drive and none of us thought any more of it. The mechanic that we saw in Abel
Point could not fathom why the position would have changed so he managed to get it back to the original position and tightened
it right back up. A sea trial and there was now smoke coming from the stuffing box so Paul loosened it off and the mechanic
assured us that it was fine, loosening it off was the right thing to do and that it should run a little hot. Paul was still
not happy with it being hot and Paul being Paul would not leave it alone - I have to say I was starting to think he was a
little mad. Paul took it appart only to find that the front of the stuffing box would slide on a little easier one way than
the other (upside down). So we turned it up the other way and put it back together and we have had a cold stuffing box ever
since - Paul was right. It's just typical that there were only two ways the thing could have been put back together
and we put it back the wrong way. Anyway we may have cooked the packing a little but it seems to be perfect now. It is just
amazing how people will tell you anything to get rid of you. I can not believe a mechanic would say that it should run a little
hot.
Back to the fun stuff!
We also visited Daydream Island where you
can pick up a mooring for a fee and use all the resort facilities. Just fantastic, they have water features running through
the place with living coral, sharks, manta rays, as well as heaps of other tropical fish. I have no idea how they don't
all eat each other - must be well fed.
Airlie Beach
Great fun. You can anchor off the front of the beach and they have a great lagoon
on shore which is all free and even has lifeguards.
Airlie is a young persons town and had us feeling decidedly
old. The town is supported by 2 industries, the bareboat charter market and the backpacker accommodation and tour market.
They both seem to do well. If I was twenty something and single this would be as good a place as any to get rid of some
brain cells. The place is crawling with young German, Dutch , Irish and Aussie women. I'm sure there were plenty
of guys too just that I didn’t notice.
It’s
not all Fun in the Sun! Most of you would be
thinking that we are living a pretty idyllic life and most of the time it is. But things do go wrong (mostly with the boat)
and when they do it is generally something that has to be fixed pretty quickly. A leaky tap at home is annoying but can
generally wait till you get to a hardware shop on the weekend to fix it. A leaky tap on Byamee is serious especially when
you are down to your last 200 litres of water.
Below is a picture of the workshop (situated in the bow) after I
replaced the wiring on the battery charger. The cable was too small and restricting the flow of amps to the battery when charging
using the generator. This 1 hour job turned into 3 hours. But I really do have to learn to be a bit more tidy.
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Other stops in the Whitsundays
We had a very relaxing time day hopping around the Whitsunday
Islands, visiting Hook Is, Whitsunday Island, Whitehaven Beach and Hamilton Island. Like Paul said it is not all fun in the
sun. It seems something needs to be fixed on a weekly basis.
The halyard for the front Genoa came away while
sailing off Hook Island resulting in the sail dropping a little. The wind kept it up until we got close to an anchorage then
we dropped it into the boat by turning into the wind. Within an hour of anchoring I had been to the top of the mast to retrieve
the halyard, Paul had made a new fitting for the one that broke and the sail was up again as good as new.
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Hamilton Island
Hamilton Island has a special place in our hearts as we were married there March 2001. We spent four great days there with our closest friends and family in 2001 so reminiscing was great. Needless to say we were all a lot younger, a lot wilder and a little thinner back then but we had a laugh at all the things that went on (better what goes on tour stays on tour). All the places we partied at were still there and plenty of buggies zooming around the island. In fact there was everything and so much more. The development on the island in the eight and a half years is extraordinary. The marina is now huge and heaps of up-market properties have been built, one asking as much as $ 8,000,000. The buggies are still the main form of transport on the island, there are just so many of them now.
We
visited the spot outside the church on the hill where our ceremony took place, the pools that we swam in and eat by and had
a cocktail in the pool bar for old times. It really made us think of you all back home.
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Bait Reef 17th October 2009
19”48.642S 149”03.841E
Bait Reef was a 30nm sail from Whitsunday Island and because it
is just a reef (no land to visualize the approach) we timed our departure so that we would arrive at Bait Reef with the sun
high in the sky and at low tide so that hopefully we would be able to see the reef and any bommies lurking around it.
The approach was quite strange you could see a bunch of boats sitting in the middle of nowhere and one lonely starboard marker. We approached slowly and were glad to see another yacht approaching too, so we waited to see what they did and followed. The starboard marker marked an opening in the reef but you could really enter either side of a bommie just outside which became apparent as you approached the marker. It is a tight entrance and certainly not enough room to anchor within but there are a few public moorings.
The diving and snorkeling was fantastic. Paul got to do some real deep stuff off the outside of the reef, I got to snorkel in about 1.5 meters and Darien got to do a reef walk and see some of the fish and coral for herself. There were a few huge fish that would come to the back of the boat in the mornings and afternoons for a feed – very cool.
We left after two great days and nights with a big south easterly on the way and decided if it came up as forecast we would sail overnight straight to Townsville. The southerly came so we were off to Townsville.
Bait Reef has defiantly been the highlight of our adventure so far. Navigating
a coral reef in our own boat was a real buzz.
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19"15.081S 146"49.396E
The sail to Townsville was great with consistent winds between 15 -25 knots we made just over 130nm {234 klms} in 24 hrs at an average speed of 5.6 knots. Swell got up over 3 metres and we had to put the washboard in as we took a couple of waves over the stern.
Our speed is still not great as in these conditions we should be averaging well over 6 knots. Our problem being that we have not yet figured out how to successfully pole out the Genoa. Up to this point it has not really been necessary as the winds have not been directly behind us but on this trip they were and it would have given us more speed and a more pleasant sail. The swell was hitting us on a slight angle making the boat roll a little, the pole would have helped to keep the boat flat.
All in all a great sail and we arrived in Townsville mid morning on Sunday so the marina office was closed – we really hadn’t thought about that. We couldn’t get anyone on the radio or phone so headed in to the fuel dock. Turns out you have to go to the fuel dock if you want a marina berth in any case and they have someone to look after the fuel dock after hours. The entrance is shallow and we would not have made it in at low tide.
The marina is great it is tucked into the city and very well protected by land. The beachfront is fantastic with a walking track, BBQ areas, kids play areas, a water playground, on-shore lagoon and public swimming pool all on the foreshore. It is just a walk into the city or to a shopping area and a bus ride to outer suburbs where you can get anything you need.
The Mainsail
We spent a week here enjoying the town and getting parts for the boat. The chain for the furling mainsail
had snapped and Paul repaired it. It had always been a little loose (we found out that was because it had stretched over many
years of use) and Paul was keen to get a new one. We were able to get one ordered in from a chain specialist and it seems
great – I can’t wait to get the mainsail out now. It had really become such a pain as it was requiring hand cranking
every time to get it in and out which really worried us as it is a slow process and if the wind picked up suddenly we could
be in a bad position so we have been putting out much less sail that we often could have. It’s very exciting to have
it fixed – we may come to like the furling mainsail yet!
Ok we are now in the wrong
place at the wrong time – what to do about it? The thing is that we have a special family event that we want to be back
in Sydney for at the beginning of December. While we will only be in Sydney for two weeks we had to decide if we could get
out of the cyclone region and if so could we leave the boat in that country while we flew back to Australia.
After exploring a few options we feel that the safest thing to do is stay put in a cyclone safe marina and wait the season out here in Aust. This will put us back on track to be travelling at the best possible times for the passages across the top of Aust, to Christmas, Cocos, Chagos Is, Mauritius then South Africa by the end of next year – but it means we are stuck till MAY!
Townsville marina is considered cyclone proof – which only means that when one hits you don’t get sent out of the marina which is the case in other marinas such as in Cairns where you are allocated a spot in the mangroves and you have to move your boat. Also the appeal for Townsville over Darwin is that we will have the Great Barrier Reef on our doorstep for this period and can still enjoy this keeping a keen eye on weather windows. We have also decided that if we are going to stay put for such a long time we should get work and hope that is not going to be too difficult in a relatively small city during their quietest time of year.
For now we will keep heading north and exploring the Great Barrier Reef!
With that in mind we have decided to push on to Cairns and check out a couple of reefs on the way.
5/11/2009 First stop Beaver Reef (Lat 18’14.987 S Lon 146’04.184E)
Now I gotta say after 2 days here if I had to end the whole trip and go back to work I would be o.k about it. This place is awesome and even better we are the only ones here. Let me try my best to describe it.
About 40 klms off the coast, middle of the ocean we arrive at this pristine little sand cay (a very small island of white sand a bit like the deserted island with the one palm tree, except there is no palm tree). The water is a deep blue crystal clear, we navigate Byamee around a couple of bommies (we are getting good at this) and drop anchor on a sand bottom at 8 metres.
The wind is blowing a steady 10 knots and a couple of Terns fly up and land on the bow of the boat. Except for the seabirds we are alone in this little paradise.
Something tells me its time to get naked. I suggest this to my wife, she does a quick scan of the horizon and quickly agrees. Darien has beaten us to it and is already stepping naked into her lifejacket waiting for the dingy to be launched. What follows is two days of absolute bliss. We name our little sand cay Byamee Cay, we pitch our sun shade and lounge around during the day, the water temperature is perfect there is not a cloud in the sky it is like we are the only peope on the planet. I’m crapping on now aren’t I, but honestly this is pretty good .
There are a couple of things one needs to be aware of whilst laying around naked on a deserted tropical sand cay.
- Plenty of sunscreen on the private parts.-
Make sure your dingy is secure. Having your dingy float away whilst on a sand cay that disappears at low tide (while you are on it) is not only embarrassing but also very dangerous.
Make sure you have some clothes nearby just incase someone turns up.
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