Report Number 14

Trip Report #14
Well, the reason there has been quite a gap in reports is that the weather continued to be pretty ordinary, so we just continued to enjoy Mooloolaba - went for walks and did touristy things when it was warm/dry enough. Did meet up with John and Leigh (trimaran "Buccaneer" - the boat that dragged its anchor past us at Southport). The poor weather went on for three or four days during which we finished installing the new lights in the main saloon and also fitted winches to the dinghy ropes so that we could lift the dinghy without making our hernias any worse (!). Saturday 29th was a beautiful sunny day so we went for a long walk. Thought we would give the Yacht Club some business by having lunch there, but found that it appears to be battling a bit and the bar and restaurant are closed. Now it is just a club which organises races for members, provides marina facilities and that's about all. Wandered back to Jess via the shops, watched the Wallabies lose, and then checked the forecasts again. 6 greens!! (The buoyweather site rates conditions green, yellow, red for mornings and afternoons for next three days). Ran out of fresh water on the boat, but this didn't cause any problems because we were planning to get fuel in the morning and always get water at the same time. However, it did give us a chance to work out that the 500 litres of water that we carry lasts exactly 3 weeks - must try to get the home consumption down to this level when we get back!!
Sunday - fine sunny and we were on our way on a 9 hour trip to Wide Bay at 8.35 having fuelled and filled the water. Beautiful conditions with no waves and just a gentle swell of around 1.5 metres every 10 seconds from the Southeast, which flowed under Jess and caused a gentle rocking motion as we went along. Went up and drove from the flybridge in bright sunshine with very little noise. Then at 11.30 we saw a whale about 150 metres away! It was just lazing along and didn't do anything spectacular, but it was still very exciting. As the day went on the swell strengthened to 2.5 metres and swung around to the Northeast which was nowhere near as pleasant, but we reached Wide Bay and anchored at 4.35. Buccaneer was already there and John came over to say that there was plenty of depth of water closer to the beach than we had anchored, and it could be a bit calmer there, so we moved inshore a bit. Wide Bay appears on a map to offer good protection, but we had a very uncomfortable night with waves crashing and banging into the side of Jess all night, making her roll through 30 degrees. Got up in the morning expecting to see waves 4 feet high, only to find they were about 6 inches!
Monday set off at 8 to cross the Wide Bay Harbour bar with the incoming tide. Had a magic trip across the bar and heard on the radio that Peter and Ruth ("Coral Sea" from Iluka) were in front of us somewhere. We had Buccaneer directly in front and another yacht in front of them (it's starting to sound as though we are travelling with Buccaneer, but it is really because the stopping places and bar crossing times mean we have similar sailing plans). Continued on through the Great Sandy Strait to Garry's Anchorage - a well used picnic spot in a lovely quiet part of Fraser Island. Fished for a little while - 1 flathead about 30cm, so returned it to its own environment. Walked on the island and just missing getting drenched in the 4pm tropical shower. Early to bed to make up for the previous night and the stress of crossing the bar which is a very long one and took us over half an hour to cross. Another reason for early bed was that we had no phone coverage - first time for the whole trip. Bit of a worry though, as we wanted to forewarn friends in Hervey Bay that we were approaching, and also needed to change our booking for Jess at Bribie Island.
Tuesday dawned sunny and still and we were woken up quite early by very loud and strange noises. The blue/green water was very still - we could see reflections of the clouds in the water and everything looked so clean and bright. Met Jack and Leslie from "Zoa Brunk" a yacht moored next to us. They live permanently on a marina in Mooloolaba and were the boat two in front of us crossing the bar, and told us that Peter and Ruth were in front of them. They also told us that the noises we heard in the early morning were in fact dingoes on the beach. Moved on at 11 with the tide to Urangan which is where the Great Sandy Strait enters Hervey Bay. Had regained phone coverage, so rang ahead and booked a berth in the marina as well as contacting friends and arranging dinner with them. Also changed our booking at Bribie Island to Monday 14th August.
At 20 past four we reached a critical point in our voyage - the most northerly point we were going to achieve this trip. It is turnaround time and we must start our return trip now. We were sad that we hadn't got further North, but felt we had made the most of our time, and certainly prepared ourselves for the next trip up this way. The turnaround point was 25 degrees 15.457 min South and 152 deg 54.648 min East which is 509 nautical miles NNE of Berowra Waters (we have gone about twice as far as this with sidewards trips up rivers etc.) It had taken us 73 days and 6 hours (Ben, we know you could have done it in about 2 hours by plane, but think what you would have missed!!!) and used 1123 litres of fuel for a total cost of about $27.33 per day for both of us for accommodation and fares. Engine hours since leaving were 149, giving an average usage rate of 7.54 litres/hour. (Note that there will be a test on this when we return!)
After arriving at Urangan and getting cleaned up a bit we met up with our friends, an ex-colleague from Warwick's work, Karen J, and her husband Graham and their children Curtis and Adele who have done the sea change thing. Adele made us feel very welcome at the meeting by vomiting immediately!! (Out of the mouths of babes?) Seriously, Adele recovered very quickly and we all were very pleased to catch up with each others' lives. We had a chance to see their lovely big new home that they only moved into a couple of weeks previously. We had a great pizza dinner at Viva Italia, where food and staff were really good. (Steph, Karen J sends her best wishes and says "we must keep in touch"). Karen J works at the Hervey Bay Boat Club, which is an extremely well run place with good food and surroundings.
Wednesday was again cool in the morning - around 17 degrees C, so we did chores as well as spending a couple of hours working out the tides/times for getting Jess to Bribie Island by 14th.
Then, Oh, dear! At 9.44 on Thursday 3rd August we started the engine after fuelling and filling the water (again!) and started out with mixed feelings on our return trip to Berowra Waters via Bribie Island. Around midday we anchored off Kingfisher Resort on the Eastern side of Fraser Island, again in those pristine pale green waters. Went ashore and had a huge lunch at a cafe in the resort, walked around and were quite impressed with the accommodation and surroundings at this eco resort. Lots of timber buildings with plenty of space, light and air and the surroundings all very well laid out and maitained. Don't know what the prices are, but feel we could recommend it as a destination for a quiet vacation. Good TV reception from 7, 9 and 10 on Jess at night, so we watched stuff we usually wouldn't just because we could! Weather forecast is for pretty wild weather for next few days, so it looks as though we are forced to spend a few days in the Great Sandy Strait, with its clear waters and national park surrounds. What a bugger!! Tides here are a bit tricky, with a 2 metre variation, so anchoring will require a bit of thought.
Friday 4th, still at Fraser Island, and Jess actually sat on the sandy bottom this morning as the tide ran right out. The shore is what's called "steep to" meaning the bottom shelves very quickly, so when we anchored we came in to a reasonable depth where we had sufficient chain, but as the tide ran out and Jess swung towards the shore in the current it just got very shallow. However, every low must be followed by a high (tide, that is!) and it wasn't long before she floated free. Meanwhile this report got itself started and we then moved down to Garry's Anchorage where we knew it would be well protected from any winds or waves. Got there about 3.30. On the way, we passed a large yacht named "Holy Cow" travelling North and when we waved to them they sounded their horn - which, of course, sounded like a cow mooing! Had a really quiet night as we had last time. Watched some M*A*S*H (thanks, Polly).
Saturday 5th and weather still filthy outside, so we did some maintenance on the dinghy support and then wandered down the Strait to near the entrance and then down Tin Can Inlet (don't you love it?) to Snapper Creek (thanks, Jo, for the advice) which we will explore thoroughly while sheltering from the offshore weather for the next few days.
Love to all
Karen and Warwick