FRIDAY 1/4/2005 - Day 37
Up at 8am. Arranged to stay another day at the marina. Geoff rang the Honda dealership in Milton and got a really good price for the Honda 10i as he quoted the adv in Cruising Helmsman. $1400 and delivered to our door. Went to have a look at Rob’s boat (Dream On) and saw lots of things we could spend our money on. He has some really nice seat cushions for the back deck and they only cost him $250 for the lot. Unfortunately, the canvas guy is too busy at present to make a pattern for them but we will ask Rob if we can try his and then he can make them up from Rob’s if they are the same. Got the bus to Capalaba again to pick up some more bits. Still haven’t managed to send the emails. Got back and put the washing (sheets and towels this time) in a backpack and I biked back to the Laundromat. Very heavy. 1½ hours later and I’m back and Rob is on 2AB and has listened to our motors and says they sound fine.
Saturday 2/4/2005 - Day 38
Woken at 4.00am by a fishing cat getting ready to leave. They weren’t really noisy but noise carries in the wee hours of the morning. Went and did the emails and last minute shopping and then we were ready for the off again. Two nice days before the winds build up again. We're off. Out of the berth without too much drama. As we motored out Rob was there waving goodbye. We had discussions with Rob as to whether 2AB was a Cloud 9 or a converted Cloud 10. We are now sailing and I have just relinquished the helm to do a log entry. Geoff has re-calibrated the boat’s speed log to the GPS and it is now reading much better. My tummy calms down when I am at the helm and we are sailing. It’s the docking that I hate followed by anchoring. Not going fast but we are sailing. Saw dolphins again. It’s now 1845 and we are anchored at a place called the Sand Hills at Koununga National Park on Moreton Island. Checked to see if it was okay to fish here. It is! There are a lot of fish but we’re not catching them. Had our new generator going to watch the news. Whoops – the pope’s on his way out, I see! It’s very quite for a genny. Note: Geoff got the radar going. Geoff has also bought a powerful rechargeable torch and you can see fish and crabs swimming. The water is very clear here. Normally, at night, you have no idea of what is going around your hulls. It’s very interesting. We have just seen a snake like fish swim by and we are now trying to identify it from the fish book. We think it is a “Long Tom Slender” (lovely name) Apparently good eating but it has lots of very sharp teeth and has green bones which often put people off.
Sunday 3/4/2005 - Day 39
Tide changed about 4am, which meant it rocked a lot more. Feeling a little off and couldn’t go back to sleep so read my book. Geoff sleeps through it all, of course. I have taken some Ginger Calm which works a bit. It’s calmed down a lot now but I expect it will get windy and roll again tonight. Have since taken Stugeron, which always works. Did some basic chores. Sewed hanging tags on all the hand towels and tea towels. We went ashore in the afternoon and it was quite a way in. Geoff estimated that we had anchored at least 1 nautical mile offshore. You can’t get in any closer, as it is very shallow. As it was, we had to walk the tender in quite a way. Had a swim and walked to the base of the “Big Sand Hills” and LOOKED at them. When we got back Geoff clean all the yellow stain off the hulls with special glass cleaner (acid type stuff) whilst I held the attached rope (he was in the water). After dusk we saw about 4 more “Long Tom Slenders”.
Monday 4th April 2005 - Day 40
Quiet night. Tide changed about 6 am so it’s a little rocky now. There is a strong wind warning from today for the 4 day forecast so Geoff has taken pity on me and we’re off to an all weather anchorage. If we had stayed the extra night the tide would have turned at 7.30 tomorrow giving me a lay in. Bumma! We are going to slowly head back to the Gold Coast area to wait out the strong winds and pick up my glasses which are ready. It is so calm at present that I can’t believe there are going to be strong winds for the foreseeable future. Saw dolphins again – can’t wait until I see them frolicking at the bow of the boat when we are underway. Geoff has cleaned off the boat speed log again and covered it with lanolin to see if he can stop the little greebies adhering to it. Both the boat log speed and the GPS are reading very close now. We are now motoring in calm seas (no sailing, of course). I am at the helm and Geoff is reproofing the the bimini cover (the canvas awning over the back of the boat) as it leaks in heavy rain. We shall see if it works. 2AB is on autopilot at the moment and I am just sitting at the helm keeping an eye out for other boats. Turtle up ahead. I have decided that men are definitely from MARS and women are definitely from VENUS! Our minds work totally different to come to the same conclusion and then our mouths word that conclusion in totally different ways. This leads to confusion and voices sometimes get raised (Just a little). So – we have to get our terminology synchronised. EXAMPLE = We are coming up to a West Cardinal mark and I am at the helm. Geoff will say “We have to pass ‘it’ on ‘the ‘ port side”. My mind goes ‘it’ means the west cardinal mark ‘the’ pertains to ‘it’ so we have to pass it (the marker) on it’s (the marker) port side which I think is incorrect. Whereas if he said “We pass ‘it’ (the marker) on ‘our’ (2AB) port side it means the opposite in my mind and is correct. When I come up to a cardinal mark I say “A West cardinal marker means the water is clear to the west therefore we pass it (the marker) on it’s right hand side (which in this case was it’s right hand side as we were travelling north to south). Of course, saying the right hand side is not the correct terminology for sailing as it should be port or starboard – buy hey –it’s clear to the meaning. So we will have to work out our language between us. We have the motoring hand signals nearly off pat now for anchoring so it shouldn’t be too hard. Should it? Note: If any of you come to visit and you hear raised voices between us – ignore it – It’s a 2 second flash and forgotten in the next instance. It is a common thing between boating couples. Well it has gone from dead calm to a reasonable breeze and we are sailing with just the headsail up and doing quite well. The electrics for the starboard motor have just given up the ghost. We can manage on one motor until Geoff can have a look at it. I took the helm and Geoff has had a look at the electric motor and it was only a break in the wire which he has now fixed. Whilst I was at the helm and sailing we got up to 7.9 knots which is really good for a heavy boat – yes we are still heavy but not over loaded. We are now anchored at Steiglitz in 2 metres of water at high tide. Let’s hope there is enough water under us at low tide (there was). It’s an all weather anchorage and it’s quite full. Must be because of the strong winds on the way. We are swinging a lot as we are a cat but we have enough room.
Tuesday 5th April 2005 - Day 41
Not a bad night. Grey, wet day. Just going to sit here and relax and collect water as it rains. Watched Harvie Krumpet, read a book, did crosswords and a few chores. Geoff is putting in a new power point. Not much I can do so I’m reading etc. Boring! As my furbie would say.
It is really blowing quite strong out there but the boat is reasonable stable and not rocking too much. Note: I have found out that when you spray personal insect repellent around your feet near the gas detector it goes off. The gas detector wasn’t fitted when we took the boat over but Geoff has installed a new one $350 (nothing is cheap on a boat) as he feels it is an important safety item as any gas that is leaking falls to the bilges and can explode if there is a naked flame. Mich rang tonight and we had a good natter. Apparently a tree fell on her roof!
Wednesday 6th April 2005 - Day 42
Still a funny tummy but not in the nauseous kind of way. Geoff suggested I stop washing up in salt water even though I rinse with fresh, especially when we are in inland waterways. We know what goes into the water, don’t we! His tummy is a bit off too. Never thought of that, I hope that is what it all boils down to. It will probably be another boring day for me. If it eases at all we will probably make a dash for the Marine Stadium anchorage at the Gold Coast. Well we made it to Marine Stadium and we have anchored and we are just sitting here watching how we swing on the anchor. I think we are ok but it is always wise to keep a check. We had some really rough, bouncy patches on the way here and, of course, Murphy’s Law, I was cooking poached eggs on toast when we hit the worst patches. Even so, Geoff said they were perfect. Well we have reanchored as we believe we may have dragged a little, not sure but better safe than sorry. I really dug the anchor in this time by reversing very hard twice. Did some washing and cooked schnitzel for tea. It must be boring if I am now telling you what I cooked!
Thursday 7th April 2005 - Day 43
And still it goes on! The next 4 day weather forecast is still for strong winds reaching 25 – 30 knots. This takes us up to Sunday night. You have to listen to the weather forecast each day to find out if there is an end in sight. It can’t go on forever but at least we can go ashore here with the bikes. Good start – my bike has a puncture and we have no gear to fix it which is very lax of us and we don’t know why we didn’t buy some spare tubes and repair kit when we bought the bikes. Not like Geoff at all. So I am here alone typing my journal up whilst Geoff has gone ashore to try to find the nearest bike shop to get the necessaries to fix it. Received an SMS from Sally and Martin at 6.15am this morning (AM Sally!) who are in the Gulf of Mexico enjoying themselves. They are currently visiting Houston visiting Temara, their daughter.
YUMMEEE ! ! ! Geoff is back and he has come bearing gifts, prawns for lunch. King Prawns or Humongous Prawns as we call them. 14 prawns at a cost of $25! I made a prawn salad and they’re all now gone. Wish there were more. 2 dolphins have just swum by. Tried to fish but really much too windy. BUT the wind generator has been powering along all day so we actually watched 3.5 hours of TV. Decedent. Bed 10.30pm – late!
Friday 8th April 2005 - Day 44
Quiet night. Seems the wind often dies down during the night. Grey, overcast day. Weather forecast still saying strong winds with Sun and Mon only 18 – 23 knots! Will go into town today- bike willing. Bike was willing after Geoff ferried them ashore and then came back for me. Off we went and 40 minutes later we arrived at Australia Fair Shopping Centre. I was ok all the time I was riding but as soon as I got into the shopping centre I was dripping. Went and picked up my new glasses and the optician asked me how they were. Well, I couldn’t see a thing as I instantly steamed up with the heat I was putting out. Anyway they are fine. After a few other purchases we set off for Whitworths (big marine chandlery). We had earlier unlocked a Garmin metro street directory and Geoff had put Whitworths in as a waypoint. We followed the streets to the waypoint and Geoff was tickled to say that we were cycling at 6.9 knots. Few uphills on the way but mostly downhill on the way back.
Saturday 9th April 2005 - Day 45
Well, what ever next? We heard this clanging bell and looked outside and there was an aquavan selling ice creams. We are now waiting for him to come our way. AND sausage rolls – so now we have lunch followed by dessert! The aquavan’s name is MrsSippy. They're also filming on the beach with a young couple with a couple of dogs. Don’t recognise the actors – maybe it’s for a soapie, advert or perhaps and news item. If I knew what it was for I would watch it as 2AB is probably in the background. Another 3 dolphins – definitely not an endangered species yet! Saw little schools of fishing jumping out of the water to get out of harms way. Geoff looked at the tender motor which is playing up. It had water in the fuel. Decided to go for a walk on the shore and half way there the tender died. We had trouble getting back to 2AB as the wind was blowing us quite hard in the other direction. But we made it. Geoff drained some more fuel out and it seems ok now. We will find out when we next go out.
Sunday 10th April 2005 - Day 46
Rang Gold Coast Tourism. They are a the main tourist office for the Gold Coast and they work Monday to Friday! DUH! Found out it was $60 each to go to Sea World. Well, we went and I got in for $38 as they accepted my National Seniors card. Geoff paid $60 as he couldn’t find his. I looked in his wallet later and found it straight away. Men! It must have been 15 – 20 years ago we last went to Sea World. Not sure it’s worth $60. Still it was nice to go out and actually do a touristy thing for a change. It rained on the way home and we were in the tender so we got really wet. Luckily it’s not really cold.
Monday 11th April 2005 - Day 47
Wish my stomach would ease up! Nicer day today (at the moment). Will do a water top up today and I will get some extra to do some hand washing. Which I’ve now done. We then went in the tender to Surfers Paradise and it took us an hour to go up the Nerang River and get there. Another first! Geoff got to blow in the breathalyser by some water police on jet skis. Ha! More water police on jet skis on the way back but different guys. Very helpful. Told us we need to put T/T (Tender To) next to our boats Rego. No. Tenders to boats do not need to be registered but runabouts do. Luckily Geoff has put the Rego Nos on only that morning. Got back and the washing was dry. Do I put the genny on and iron it all or use the spray. Decisions, decisions. Well, the genny couldn’t handle my iron so it was the no iron spray again. Thought we might go outside the Seaway across the bar tomorrow. We would like to go up the coast to Tangalooma Wrecks but we would need to get an early start. Once the weather has improved, of course.
Tuesday 12th April 2005 - Day 48
My tummy is being naughty today and playing up “Big Time” so it must be nerves. I think my brain doesn’t switch off at night when I sleep. I awake at 5.30am and then read to take my mind off of it. Once I get going I am fine. I have been told it passes with time and experience
The day is grey so decided not to go out across the bar as it looks better tomorrow. Took the bikes and cycled to the Gold Coast to yet another chandlery. There was another one we wanted to go to but we had left the GPS behind so couldn’t find it. Geoff got his Sea Pathfinder Casio dried out as it has been misting up. They retail for $499 and he has only had it a year. It may need to go back but, unfortunately, I got it from America. Not very good, is it! On the way back we went into the fish sales shop and bought some Sweet Lips. Cooked it in Tempura batter with chips and peas for dinner. Yum. Handled the distance on the bike quite well. We probably did about 18 kms this time.
Wednesday 13th April 2005 - Day 49
Well, it is now 0810 hours and what an adventure we have already had today. We got up at 0300 (yes – you read right) and slowly motored out of the anchorage making sure we didn’t hit any anchored boats on the way out. We navigated the Seaway in the dark (lateral marks were lit) and the Seaway was quite bumpy. We intended to sail along the coast to Cape Moreton and around into Moreton Bay. We estimated it would take about 10 hours, hence the early start. Seas were supposed to be 1.5 metres with winds S – SE at 15 – 20 knots. We reckoned the seas were at least 2 metres which was later confirmed by another yacht over the radio. About 0530 the Seaway Tower gave out the latest weather report and the weather had changed for north of Cape Moreton to 20 – 25 knots with seas to 2.2 metres. Bit too rough for us so we turned back. It’s hard to describe the seas but they were quite rough (especially for me, who this is all new to). We were both sick (once) even with a double dose of sturgeron. Geoff was sick first which probably started me off. Then it was all over – red rover. Good decision to turn back but it took quite a while to get back as we had to motor all the way with the wind on the nose. Horrible swells. All I could do was rug up, hang on and go into zombie mode. One of the ropes holding the tender on to the targa bar came undone so we jerry rigged it for the time and the drifter pole came undone at one end but nothing was damaged. Now we are motoring up the inland route and from tomorrow we have a marina berth for a week.
Thursday 14th April 2005 - Day 50
Very calm and quiet night which was surprising in regard to the anchorage we were in. We are off to East Coast Marina today. This will give us (Geoff) a chance to put in the holding tank, get a stanchion welded and new safety lines installed, door fitted between his bedroom and the shower and both of us to do our marine radio accreditation. Geoff cleaned the boats speed log – again – more greebies growing on it. Don’t know how you can stop it. Still we have the GPS as well. We did some sailing and motor sailing and Geoff tried out a lot of different techniques and got into the marina at 3.30pm. Geoff berthed just perfectly – proud of him. The berth they have given us is no bigger than last time we were here. Organised a little used car (Hyundai Excel) from Friday lunchtime to Monday lunchtime for a total of $100. Not bad eh? The things we need to buy are just too big and too far away for the bikes.
Friday 15th April 2005 - Day 51
Looks like a nice day. Had the tender picked up as we are having a cover made for the blow up parts to lengthen it’s life. We then got the car and picked up the holding tank, wood for loo door plus lots of extras. Took the Spinnaker sail in for repair and checked out the price on an extra battery. Not much to write about but it took all day (as do most jobs on a boat).
Saturday 16th April 2005 - Day 52
Nice day. The battery man came to check out our existing batteries around 8.00am and they are all good (thank goodness). Definitely need another battery as our capacity for power is just not enough. Bought an AGM 150. Money, money, money! Still once it is all done the costs should slow down and I will be happier with what has been done in the safety and comfort aspect of it all. Went out and bought more bits and pieces so Geoff can start on Monday. Rang my family in the UK.
Sunday 17th April 2005 - Day 53
Nice day again – what’s the betting that when we want to leave and head north on Thursday the weather will deteriorate (Murphy at work again). We spent from 0800 to 1700 learning the first part of our radio licence stuff. Quite a lot to take in but the exam is multiple questions so shouldn’t be too bad. Only one of us actually needs to pass because anyone can use the ship station under the guidance of a licensed radio operator. It’s the battery maintenance stuff that befuddles me. So – not much to report today.
Monday 18th April 2005 - Day 54
Another nice day but the four day weather forecast is not so good (told you). Had a clean up of the boat. Geoff took the car back, cut the loo door to shape, put up the mended stanchion and new safety lines and started on the holding tank. I cycled to the chandlery for more bits and asked for advice on how to get the fittings on as it is so hard. Came back with a heat gun for the hire of $5 so it is making easier work for Geoff. Only took 30 minutes round trip on the bike. Rang Michelle and Sue and had a natter.
Tuesday 19th April 2005 - Day 55
Another nice day. The sailmaker came at 0830 with the mended Spinnaker and had a look at the Strom Jib to see if it was worth repairing and give some hints on putting it up. The previous owner had never used it so hope we won’t have to also. He also kept the Spinnaker and Storm Jib in the front lockers where they were constantly getting wet so we have stored then in the back lockers to improve their life time. The sail maker said the Storm Jib was worth repairing but he doesn’t have the time so we will get it done later, probably at Mooloolaba or somewhere where we stop for a few days. Geoff says what’s the point of having it if it’s not in good repair – hence – we are getting it repaired.
Thursday 21st April 2005 - Day 57
Well, what’s happened over the last couple of days. Geoff finished the holding tank and is now chasing up little annoying leaks. We went to out 2nd session of the Radio Certificate course on Tuesday night and then sat for the exam on Wednesday night. I was only going to go for my VHF Radio certificate but when I got there he had laid out the questions for the HF/MF as well so decided “What the heck” and did that as well. Only 50 questions in 2 parts with multiple answers. You have to get 70% of each part correct to pass. Didn’t find it too hard – some of it was dead easy – maintenance side of it made me think (as I knew it would – even though I had studied hard for the last couple of days). Trouble is you have to study the whole Operators Handbook, all 125 pages of it with 189 sections to take in, as you don’t know what questions you will get. I think I have done ok so now we wait for a couple of weeks as the exam papers get sent to the Maritime College in Tassie for marking. Soooo – because of all the study etc there’s not much to report. Strong wind warning today (bloody Murphy) so asked if we could stay and extra 2 days. At first it looked like they couldn’t give us the extra days but they did a bit of shuffling and we can stay.
Saturday 23rd April 2005 - Day 59
Better day. Head off today. Probably to Scarborough and then, with luck, head north on Tuesday. Left at 1108 and called Coast Guard Brisbane to log on with our intentions. Fell more confident about doing it now we’ve done the course. Apparently, of all the boats the leave the harbour on a given day, only 1 in 8 log in with the coast guard or volunteer marine rescue stations. I think we will make a point of it from now on as better safe than sorry. It’s a little choppy but fine. We have been running from a squall but it has caught up with us and is in the process of passing us at present. I have worn my new off shore jacket for the first time. Think I may also need the pants, perhaps. As the squall is over taking us the visibility ahead has dropped. It will be over soon, hopefully. We took the headsail in and are now motor sailing with a reefed mainsail. Geoff is happy that we are out of the marina and sailing. He has his CD blaring in the cockpit and he’s even doing a slight jig. Squall has now passed but it is still a bit grey and coolish. At present we are tracking towards the Glass House Mountains, which are brooding in the distance. At 1600 hours we anchored at Newport anchorage just out of the channel. Have called the coast guard and logged off. Little rocky but not bad. Nice views, which are the Glass House Mountains, which are made up of the cores of volcanoes.
Sunday 24th April 2005 - Day 60
Can’t believe we’ve had 2AB 2 months today. It was a quiet night. It’s strange how its mostly calm at night, once the sun has gone down. Slept well, we both seem to get quite tired early. We may have to sit here a few days until we get that weather window of opportunity. I’m still hoping it will be Tuesday. We said we won’t go if it is 20 knots so we will wait and see. Geoff is installing an electric salt water pump in the galley for me. I already have a manual one but it will be good to have constantly running seawater for the pre wash of doing the dishes. He still has a few jobs on his agenda. My jobs are all boring – such as cleaning the stainless steel, washing the windows, clothes washing, cooking, gofering etc. Need I go on? Geoff also needs to change the loo system as the previous owners (whoever they were) didn’t install it properly.
Geoff got info from the chandlery who said the piping was too large and suggested we turn off the stopcocks (gate valves) when sailing or going ashore until it is fixed. He also said most boats sink due to their incorrectly installed loo systems. SO – I have added that to the PRE LEAVE Checklist.
We have just been to Scarborough in our little tender. We wore our spray gear but still felt very salt encrusted when we got there. Lovely day ashore. When we got back 2AB was surrounded by hand sized jellyfish. We also found tinned butter at the chandlery. We had often read about tinned butter in books on cruising (mostly in the Pacific) and now we’ve found it. And, apparently, it tastes really good as well. Oh – there was a boat that had lost its engine last night and the coast guard came out to tow then in. It’s amazing how many boats need to be towed in. Listening to the radio I would say at least one a day in the Moreton Bay area. Maybe when we leave this area it will decrease. The coast guard then came over to check on us to see if we were ok and we said that we were staying the night. Nice of them to check. IT IS shallow here so they may have thought we were stuck. It’s a sand bottom and we do bottom out a little at low tide but not for long. There is a cat beached over a ways and we could do that and clean off all the marina grime.
Did some fishing and Geoff got a really big bite and it took ages for him to reel it in. It ended up being a long tailed stingray which was supposed to be reasonable eating but I made him put it back as it was too pretty to eat. But I did take a photo. Later he caught a smaller one. We have been told that there are
Bream and Flatfish here but where are they? Magnificent full moon tonight.
Monday 25th April 2005 - Day 61
Anzac Day today, so a public holiday. Thought of Ron and raised a toast to him. Everyone and his dog are on the water today. People towing people on big rubber rings, jet skis and those uncourteous stink boat owners. You name it. So we are getting quite a bit of wash today as we are only just anchored out of the channel. This is where we are supposed to be as it is too shallow elsewhere. Heard on the radio a call saying that their boat was “taking on water fast”. Don’t think I should listen as it can give you the eebie jeebies sometimes. Checked the weather and the weather for Tuesday has changed a little tad but we are still a go for Mooloolaba tomorrow. I have the right to say we turn back though if it’s not nice.
Booked into Mooloolaba Marina for a couple of nights. At low tide Geoff got into his wet suit and
cleaned and polished the hulls of 2AB. Strange sight so I took a photo. A local dive boat ran
aground and got stuck in the channel for a while (yes – it’s that shallow, even in the channel at times)
and even one of them took a photo.
Tuesday 26th April 2005 - Day 62
Murphy was on board last night. We got up at 0300 for the off but no off. The starboard engine was very hard to start and then no revs. There’s greyish coloured oil coming from the air filter so it doesn’t look good. SO – our weather window has disappeared and it looks like we will be trying to get in to Scarborough or Newport Marina for repairs. Our very first major problem! Hope it’s just a gasket. Geoff thinks we may have salt water in the oil. Oh well, might go back to bed. Hi again – it is now 1030 and we have limped into Scarborough Marina and booked in for a week, and it’s not a cheap marina. A guy in a motorboat helped to tow us around as we had limited maneuverability. Geoff had rung the diesel mechanic who said it would probably be a seven day job. Such as shame as the weather was just perfect to go north today. 10 – 15 knots with 1.2 mtr seas. Well things are looking better. Looks like we got salt water up the exhaust, which may have happened when we were anchored just out of the channel whilst we had bottomed out at low tide. Wash from other boats was hitting us and during the short time we were grounded and we were not floating and the wash probably went up the exhaust. The mechanic gave us some good pointers, which we are going to implement. He also said the engines need a water tap and not a muffler. He also said to turn off the water valve and run the engines for about twenty seconds to get the water out when we anchor or dock. His bill was $251, just like that. Could have been much worse. So now we are ready to go again and don’t need to spend the seven days and the marina won’t give us a refund but we talked them into a credit for next time. Rang Sally and Martin and told them the news wasn’t so bad. They were going to come and see us on Friday but we may have left by then. Whilst here in the marina Geoff fitted a vented loop for the toilet inflow to stop the toilet filling up too much and a precaution against sinking.
Wednesday 27th April 2005 - Day 63
Rained a lot during the night. Got up and closed all the hatches. It may clear up but I very much doubt if we will be leaving today. Looks like the weather is better Friday and Saturday so may miss Sally and Martin but will probably catch up with them at Mooloolaba. Geoff has also got an infected finger so I have booked him into the local doctors at 11.45 today. It’s about 8 kms away and he said he will go on his trusty stead. When I rang around the doctors I explained our situation, that we were on a boat in transit heading north and they all said “have you been here before”. One place said the doctors books had closed to new patients – what do you do? Just roll over and die? I suppose you go to the hospital. His finger probably got infected by sea water getting into a small cut. As I said before, you just don’t know what’s in the water in Moreton Bay. Hours later and Geoff’s back. Apparently, the first doctor had a look at Geoff’s blue fingers and was very concerned and called in a colleague who had had seen these symptoms before (Reynards Syndrome). They asked Geoff if he had any problems with his chest as that can cause circulatory problems. He had, of course, a bad problem when he was young which left a lesion on his lung. They sent him off for a chest exray and a blood test which he will find out about tomorrow. They said if it wasn’t treated it could cause tissue damage and we should go to warmer climates, to which Geoff said “We’re trying to”. He said he would write a letter for Geoff to take with him in the event we needed to see any more doctors on route. He also has some antibiotics. Bit of a worry. Geoff was very appreciative of the concern and the way in which they treated him. A bit different to the local Bright doctors with their attitude of “She’ll be right mate, your getting old, put up with it”.
Thursday 28th April 2005 - Day 64
Sent my emails today. Geoff has installed one support for the wind generator. At 1300 hours we took 2AB out for an engine test. Quite choppy and the engines “SEEM” (in case Murphy is listening) fine. Back to Scarborough Marina. A boatie helped us tie up. We have decided that we needed to buy longer mooring ropes which we have now done. Rang Sally and had a good natter then Michelle rang.
Friday 29th April 2005 - Day 65
Well, ladies and gents, we are finally off – Let’s hope we stay off. Pleeeeeeeese Murphy, stay in Scarborough! Radioed in with Coast Guard Redcliffe and logged on. ETA Mooloolaba 1400 hours. Keep your fingers crossed. We passed Gilligans Island but didn’t get to see Gilligan, the Skipper, Maryanne, Ginger or the professor. Gilligans Island is really only a large sandbank that dries at low tide. As we passed the breakers hitting it looked really mean. Saw dolphins again. It’s now 2 hours into the trip and we are
just through the heads and about to embark into the South Pacific Ocean. Well – here goes!
Have been plotting our course on the chart at hourly intervals. It’s so easy with the GPS but we took 3 manual bearings for the practice and were just on the line of the “cocked hat” so were quite pleased.
We are trolling as we go along hoping a Mackerel will jump on the line. Knowing our luck we will probably get a Tuna which we are not too keen on. Still, I could make fish cakes or Sashimi. 1000 hours and we are motor sailing as hardly any wind. Midday and we are half way to Mooloolaba and still no wind so
still motor sailing. Patches of the ocean have been a beautiful turquoise colour – lovely. Arrived at Mooloolaba at 1640 hours and have Berth 85 in the Wharf Marina for tonight only as it is booked
out from tomorrow. We have an end berth which is easy to get in to and also half price (don’t ask me why). The wind never did come up so we motor sailed the whole way making about 3.5 - 5 knots all day. Them’s the breaks but we are here now. And have broken the bonds of Brisbane. We will probably head north again tomorrow to Fraser Island as the weather still looks good, then it breaks up again. Cycled around Mooloolaba and it was very touristy which was a surprise. There was a lot of activity going on as there
was a Triathalon being held at the weekend. Ate out at a cheap (very) Thai Restaurant. Restaurant is too good a name for it and the décor was quite dinghy but it was full and the food plentiful. Two big meals for under $20! Took a bottle of champers to celebrate our first coastal passage in 2AB. Got very tiddled. Rang Sally and Martin for advice on crossing the Wide Bay Bar.
Saturday 30th April 2005 - Day 66
Up at 0630 and leave at 0700. Radio in for the weather and to log in. Long day of 10 – 12 hours ahead today to reach Double Point Island to wait for a rising tide to cross Wide Bay Bar. Apparently the anchorage at Double Island Point is very rocky so I’d better take my seasick pills. By 1245 we were
half way there. Same as yesterday with hardly any wind so we are motor sailing again averaging
5 knots. Forecast was for S-SE winds 10-15 knots but is has been N-NW winds all the way
and very light wind. Dolphins again! Trolling again but nothing there or they know it is us.
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