July 2006

Saturday,  1st July 2006  -  Day 491  -  Tangalooma Wrecks to Mooloolaba

Horrid, horrid night with a nasty side swell from 2—5 am so I finished my book during these hours.  Anyway, it made up our minds to head to Mooloolaba even though the wind forecast was wrong.  The forecast is for NW winds at 10/15 knots for the first half of the morning changing to N/NE later.  We set off and the seas in Moreton Bay were short and choppy so we hoped it would change when we got out of the bay.  Actually the winds turned out to be from the SW for the first three hours but not enough strength to just sail alone. 

Heard on the radio that there was a whale up ahead that had nets caught around it so the fisheries have been informed and they are on there way to help it out.  I said to Geoff that it is lucky that the whales choose to migrate up the Oz coast where the humans are friendly and will pull out all the stops the free it. 

Bernie from Eaglehearts rang to see how we were getting on and they have now sold their boat to a Perth couple and are back on land and back in the workforce.

Just as we were coming up to the entrance to the Moolooloo River our starboard engine decided to conk out.  Geoff thinks we have water in the fuel.  He drained the glass bowl and tried to restart it, to no avail so we had to come into the marina with only the port engine and much less maneuverability so it was fun docking as we didn’t have much power.  But we did it.

He then bled the diesel and also found that he hadn’t tightened the bowl tight enough and had diesel in the bilge.  The boat stinks of diesel now so I’ve got all the hatches open to air it out. 

Bernie (Poss) also rang and we are going out to dinner with him and Henry tomorrow night and Marlene, Corrine and William are coming for lunch so it will be a full on day.

S26° 41.2 E153° 07.7

Sunday, 2 July 2006  -  Day  492  -  Mooloolaba

Something is going on this morning.  We have had a big red racing motor boat cruise past us about 4 times and there is a lot of noise going on in the marina.  When we went up to the gate to let Marlene, Corrine and William in we found the marina inundated with racing power boats.  After asking around we found out the round 5 of the Australian Off Shore power boat competition was being held off the beach of Mooloolaba this Sunday starting at midday.  There were about 15 of these monsters ranging from medium to large size.  They can travel at 240 miles an hour, consume 1400 litres of fuel and hour and are very, very noisy.

Corrine and William

We decided to grab fish’n chips for lunch and then wandered over to the beach area to watch the event for a while.  They had to complete 14 laps of an island and the beach and we watched for a couple of laps.  They threw up a lot of spray and it was interesting to watch but not really my cup of tea.  Once they finished the race they all came back into the marina area to be lifted out of the water by a large crane and put onto their respective trailers. 

Corrine, Marlene, William and Maz

That, in itself, was quite interesting.  Back to 2AB for a cuppa and then our guests headed off back to Noosa. 

Geoff then decided to paint our rubbing strip which had got chaffed when we were in S&M’s small pen in Paynesville and I put all the shopping away. 

Later, Bernie and Henry arrived and after pre dinner drinks on 2AB we headed off to the Surf Club for dinner.  We all had the roast of the day which was $13.00 a head as much as you could eat, a bargain.  We spent a couple of hours having a good, in depth, discussions and tried to sort out the world.  Back to 2AB for more socializing and they left around 23:30.  Yawn … bed.

 Monday, 3rd July 2006   -    Day 493  -  Mooloolaba to Double Island Point

Didn’t sleep much as my mind was very active so Geoff got a cuppa at 06:45.  After a shower we headed off at 08:00.  We motor sailed for the first 2.5 hours and then the wind came up, right up our bum, so we had the Genoa poled out in a gull wing configuration with the mainsail.  Then later it was back to the standard configuration.  We also needed to run the engines for a bit to boost the voltage.  Apart from that, it was a good and unexpected great sail today getting to Double Island Point at least an hour ahead of our estimated time of arrival but too late to cross the notorious Wide Bay Bar as it was now an ebb tide.   We would never cross this type of bar on an ebb tide!  We anchored at 17:15 and it is blowing a little strong but we are quite comfortable here.  This is supposed to be, according to the book, one of the worst anchorages on the Qld coast (for comfort) but we have always found it ok.

 S25° 56.5  E153° 09.4

 Tuesday, 4th July 2006  -  Day 494  -  Double Island Point to Fraser Island (inland)

Slept ok but not deeply and it was bit rocky as a lot of boats seemed to be going past all night.  Thoughts of crossing the Wide Bay Bar soon were never far from my thoughts!  It’s a nice day today and the strong winds have been put back to arrive this evening which is good as we should be well over the bar by then.  The boat that anchored in front of us last night has gone this morning so he must have crossed the bar around midnight at high tide last night.  Don’t fancy tackling the ‘Mad Mile’ in the dark myself. 

We left the bay at 10:15 and sailed towards the first waypoint at 12:15 and passed the 3rd waypoint 30 minutes later.  The bar was very benign so we had no problems.  The trouble with this bar is that it is so long, so there is more chance of things going wrong.

Once across the bar we hoisted the Genoa and got in a fast bit of sailing before Fraser Island blocked our wind.  We saw lots of birds feeding and fish on the surface so we stopped and drifted for a bit and did some fishing.  Bites but nothing reeled in!  We thought the Fraser Island area would be crowded as it is school holidays but there is hardly anyone around. 

We made it up as far as the South White Cliffs where we anchored for the night.  It is supposed to blow up tonight so we will see if we head off to Bundaberg tomorrow or not.

I decided to put my line in and got bites straight away so we decided to do a bit of fishing before tea.  Before long I had caught 3 small Bream and we kept one for bait and the others lived to see another day.  After a while Geoff put on a larger hook and put the Bream head on it for bait.  A few minutes later his bell (he has a bell on his rod) went berserk and he reeled in a nice half metre Estuary Cod.  These can grow to 2 metres and the book says the smaller ones are good eating so that’s our tea for tomorrow.  I will tell you if it was ok or not.  S25° 31.4  E152°  58.2

  Wednesday, 5th July 2006  -  Day 495  -  Hervey Bay to Bundaberg

Up at 05:45 and check the weather.  Hervey Bay waters forecast is for S/SE 15/20 knot winds with off shore winds reaching 25 knots so, hopefully, it should be ok.  There was hardly any wind overnight so we are still waiting for the stronger winds.  We should have left an hour ago at 05:00 but it was warm and cosy in bed.  I’m the one who normally has to get up when its early and make the cuppa to get us going.  Leave it to Geoff to get up real early and there’s no hope!  No, that’s being a little unfair as he has got me up a couple of times but it is normally when he can’t sleep.

Whilst we were making our way from the anchorage a squall overtook us but soon passed and left us with a full rainbow,  We could see exactly where the pot of gold was but it was under water so we couldn’t get at it.

Once we got in the open expanse of Hervey Bay the winds we between 20-22 knots with the occasional gust of over 25 knots.  Seas were short and sharp but it was certainly fast sailing.  It will be ok if it doesn’t get any stronger and then we will have to reef the sails.  We are averaging around 7 knots.  At this speed we will get to Bundi around 16:00 so we needn’t have got up so early.  What ever happens we should be in Bundi before dark ..  Great! 

Note 1:  We’ve just heard over the radio that the Wide Bay Bar cannot be crossed today due to the dangerous conditions caused by the wind.  Even the coast guard boat won’t cross it so we got over just in time.

Note 2:  We saw a mud crab in Mooloolaba the same size as the one we caught and they wanted $30.00 for it...Wow!

The wind eased off after a while and settled down between 10/15 with an occasional gust over 20 knots.  This meant our speed dropped but was much easier sailing with the autohelm coping much better.  Geoff had to do a lot of manual steering earlier when it was over 20 knots constantly.  Eventually we had to put an engine on as the voltage was getting very low and the freezer wasn’t coping at all.   We use a lot of power when we have the laptop, all the instruments plus the fridge and freezer on and consume much more that the solar panels and wind generator can put in. 

Got into the Burnett River at 17:15 and anchored near the sugar mill shortly after.  We could have sailed all day if we didn’t need to generate more power.  Another good sailing day.

Geoff cooked the cod in foil with a coriander and coconut cream sauce which we had with a Lemon, lime and lemon grass savoury rice.  It was very moist and tasty so will try to get another one some time.  S24° 46.5  E152° 23.0

Thursday, 6th July 2006  -  Day 496  -  Bundaberg to Pancake Creek

Up at 03:45 and yawn and leave the anchorage at 04:05.  Thirty minutes after leaving the Burnett River the starboard engine conked out and Geoff checked the filter and there’s no fuel getting through and what he has drained is very dirty so we think we may have diesel bug.  It may be that the starboard  fuel intake is in a slightly different elevation to the port one.  Hope the port one doesn’t stop as well.  We still have 100 litres of fuel so that’s ok.  We think we may have bought the bad fuel at Coffs Harbour because after we bought it we were told by other yachties that they don’t buy from there as they often have trouble with their diesel.  Too late , we may need to get the fuel polished in Gladstone.  !  Anyway, Geoff cleaned the filter and fitted it back on and the engine started so now we will keep our fingers crossed for the rest of the voyage.   Anyway the wind was good so we turned the engines off anyway.

At 08:00 we were overtaken on each side by two 9.75 metre identical yachts.  They were hand steering so Geoff did a bit of hand steering and we caught up with them but we are lazy sailors and would rather take longer and let the autohelm do most of the work.

It’s weird but sometimes you seem to be the only boat out at sea and you hardly hear anyone on the radio but today we have been passed by 2 yachts and we have another yacht and a cat behind us and most are making for Pancake Creek.  Heard another boat call on the radio called ‘Slinkymalinky’ and we called but it wasn’t the boat we knew.  Apparently there are four of them with the same name. 

At 12:15 we put up the Spinnaker and it is really finnacky to set.  Now I have my fingers crossed that it behaves itself.  WELL, it was as good as gold for a couple of hours and then a sudden wind shift and all hell broke loose.  We weren’t quick enough and it wrapped round the headsail again but, luckily, only took an adrenalin packed 10 minutes to sort out.  As I have said previously… it’s not a Spinnacker...it’s a Finnacker!  Now we both need a stiff drink! 

Got into Pancake Creek and it’s crowded so we decided to stay in the outer bay as we are heading north again tomorrow.  All the faster yachts got in before us and we couldn’t be bothered trying to find a spot in amongst that lot. 

We decided to drop the lines in around dusk and I caught a small fish (bait), another small fish (lived) a small Estuary Cod (lived) and a Gummy Shark which is sold as Flake in the shops (dinner later).  Geoff didn’t catch anything but he was trying for larger fare.  S23° 49.9   E151° 14.6

 Friday, 7th July 2006  -  Day 497  -  Pancake Creek to Gladstone

A little bouncy overnight but not too bad although the TV antenna bracket has broken and the antenna banged with the swell and it was a real Pain in the “A”.  Up at 06:40 to get the weather and leave for Gladstone at 07:15.  The wind was stronger than forecast and we are mostly on a beam reach so we are making good time and averaging 6 knots.  This speed was terrific as we had a strong 1.5 to 2 knot current against us all the way.  It was a great sail although the chop was short and sharp.  We sailed all of the way with only a touch of motoring when we got into the channel into the marina where Sally was there to grab our ropes. 

It’s Martin’s 60th birthday today so it was off straight away for a celebratory lunch and then back to Acropora for coffee.  Then a nice hot shower and shampoo.  Sally and Martin came round to 2AB for pre dinner drinks and then we headed off into town to take Martin out for dinner.  We had a lovely Thai meal and not too expensive.  Then it was off to Acropora for after dinner drinks.  It’s nice to be doing a bit of socializing again.  S23° 49.9  E151° 14.6

Saturday, 8th July 2006  -  Day 498  -  Gladstone

Slept well although my feet were cold for some reason.  Did a heap of washing and then to Acropora for coffee and then we all went to do some shopping whilst Martin still had the car.  Sally and I split from the boys and did some re-provisioning and a bit of girlie shopping.  Then it was back to Acropora for lunch. 

Cameron (the sailmaker) and his daughter arrived with Acropora’s repaired sail and also stayed for lunch.  Back to 2AB to make a Lemon Meringue Pie for Martin’s birthday and make fried rice to go with the prawn curry Sally is making.  This took most of the afternoon whilst Geoff cleaned one side of the hull waterline.  Sally and Martin arrive around 6pm and the curry, rice and pie went down well.  It was a good night except poor Martin bumped his head on 2AB’s low ceiling room.   You quickly learn. 

Sunday, 9th July 2006  -  Day 499  -  Gladstone

I keep forgetting to fill in my journal as I am socializing too much with S&M.  Then I have trouble remembering what has occurred. 

We moved the boat and berthed the other way round so Geoff could clean the other hull waterline and face away from the weather if it turns bad.  The weather, so far, has been lovely with temps in the middle to high 20’s. 

Chatted to a couple on ‘Reef Dancer’ a 10 metre Lightwave, Helmet and Yuta.   They have been sailing and living on board since Sept last year.  Their boat is about the same size as ours.  They have made Gladstone their base as Yuta says she can’t live without a car.

S&M came round for brekky and I cooked a real healthy breakfast (I don’t think) of bacon, eggs, fried bread (for the guys) and tomato.

Did a couple of chores like sewing on the tags to the new tea towels etc.  It’s Sunday so we can’t organize any of the other things on the list until tomorrow. 

S&M came round at 17:30 and we headed off to the cinema to watch Pirates of the Caribbean...Dead Mans Chest.   Fell up the stairs getting to my seat but what’s new?  Great movie although my phone rang in the middle of it and I was desperately trying to switch it off.  Then it was off  for another healthy meal… Hungry Jacks...where I had the ‘catch of the day (glorified fish burger) chips and yummy onion rings.  The others had hamburgers...Yuk!

Monday, 10th July 2006  -  Day 500  -  Gladstone

500th day of owning 2AB today.  Wow!  Doesn’t time fly?

S&M picked me up and we were supposed to go food shopping but somehow we got a bit distracted.  We ended up looking at caravans, would you believe as S&M want a little pop top once they have finished with Acropora.  Then it was off on a mission to try to find high density  seat foam to make up into bed mattresses.  We learnt a lot about high density foam from one upholsterer who, although they didn’t have the time to make mattresses up for us, sent us to a place that did.  We were told that 4” high density foam was as thick as the human body would want to sleep on.  We were shown how to test it etc but, being rookies, we still couldn’t feel the difference.  So S&M bought a 4” queen and I bought a 4” double as the one I had bought a Clark Rubber 3 months ago was useless.   Got back to the marina and had to drop Geoff back round to the chandlery as the carpet we had bought earlier in the day was not square and had to be replaced.    Bumma!  Sally and I then rushed off to the chiropractor for an adjustment.  My was more of a tune up but Sally’s is an ongoing problem.  Poor Sally doesn’t seem to be having much luck health wise as she has to have both feet operated on when she returns to Bright in November.  Then it was off to do the shopping that we had intended to do in the morning.  We had to finish it this night as Martin was taking the car to Willies (a friend) in Brisbane the next day and catching the train back. 

Tuesday,  11th July 2006  -  Day 501  -  Gladstone

S&M picked us up at 08:30 and first stop was to buy an egg shell mattress top for their new mattress as Sally found it too hard.  In hindsight we should have bought the 3” thick high density foam but we will know for next time.  I will persevere for a little while to see how I go but I think I will probably buy one in the future.  Annoying, as I left one in Cairns.  Then Martin dropped us off at the shopping centre near the doctors where Geoff and I had appointments and left on the 6 hour journey to Willies.  We three headed off for the coffee shop and had settled down and were drinking a coffee about 30 minutes later when Martin rang to tell Sally she had left all the Customs stuff in the car so he was turning back to drop it off.  Bet he wasn’t too impressed.  Geoff and I then went to the doctors (mainly prescription refills).  She was a good doctor and gave Geoff lots of info of drugs that would help his problems.  We then were looking at the bus timetable when someone offered us a lift back to the marina.  How nice of them!  He dropped Sally and I off at the customs where Sally dropped off all the clearance forms etc and then we walked back to the marina.  After Sally left I did a big clean up, reconcile of accounts.  Later Sally came for dinner and we played 500’s (card game) which was weird playing without a partner to help you.  Geoff and Sally play with no holds barred and I am slow and cautious.  I won!

Wednesday, 11th July 2006  -  Day 501  -  Gladstone

My back was quite a bit better this morning and the bed is firm but manageable.  Sally says hers is just perfect now with the egg shell top so I will  keep my eyes open for a cheaper one as I am mean with my money.  Met up with Sally and we all caught the bus to town using our seniors cards at the huge cost of 70 cents each.  Sally headed off to the chiropractor whilst Geoff and I headed off to Centrelink to renew our health care card and talk to someone about coming back to Gladstone and going on New Start whilst we look for a job.  Nice guy and lots of info given.  He suggested we start the process whilst we are in McKay or the Whitsunday’s. 

It is quite warm and humid today and we are both perspiring a little.  What are we going to be like in the Summer?   Early evening Sally, Geoff and I walked to the Yacht Club for dinner where we met Martin who had walked from the railway station after leaving the car at Willie’s.  We all had the buffet at $8.90 each.  Good value and then we walked back to the marina.  Whilst we were at the yacht club the road bridge opened to allow a ship to pass through.  This is a self opening bridge and none of us are sure on how it works.  We must ask someone. 

Thursday, 13th July 2006  -  Day 503  -  Gladstone

Bed a little too hard so will have to fix it soon.  Did a load of washing.  We are keeping an eye on the weather to see if it becomes okay to return to Pancake Creek and then Lady Musgrove.  We can always go north and do it on our return.  Then it was off for morning tea on Acropora and then Geoff helped Martin put up his rain/sun shelter and then we went back to 2AB to put ours up as rain was forecast. 

Took my new trousers up, Sally visited, put the washing away and relaxed.  Not so hot today.

Then it was off to Acropora for a yummy roast pork dinner and Willie’s apple cake for dessert with custard.  A bit of a nothing sort of day.  It eventually started to rain.

Friday, 14th July 2006  -  Day 504  -  Gladstone

Stiff back still so might have to get the egg shell mattress top quicker than I think.  It’s a rainy, overcast sort of day.  Sally has been offered a lift to go meat shopping and Martin is off to Bunnings.  Geoff cooked brekky this morning.  Scrambled eggs on toast. 

I sorted out all our 2005/2006 tax stuff and sent it off to our accountant to do our tax returns and then I made muffins. 

Geoff worked on making a bracket for our little bar heater then prepared the skewered prawns for tonight.  Then he made a Lime and coriander home made mayonnaise to go with then and a cucumber and peanut salad.  Sally and Martin supplied chicken satay skewers and I made rice and a tossed salad and muffins and ice cream for dessert.  After dinner we watch a DVD ‘War of the Worlds’.  Martin and Sally for the first time and the second time for us. 

 Saturday, 15th July 2006  -  Day 505  - Gladstone

Up early as I wanted to catch the bus to the Kin Kora shopping centre.  Sally rang to say they were over at the fuel dock as the fuel guy was there.  We rushed to get our rain shelter down, clears up etc to also fill up.  You should never rush anything with a boat as something will always go wrong.  We managed to put a little scratch on the transom steps but nothing that can’t be fixed.  The diesel here was quite cheap.  For us it was $1.39 a litre as we are Qld registered and for Acropora it was $1.48 a litre as they are Australian registered.  Cheapest for a long time as we were paying $1.75 in NSW. 

I then rushed off to catch the bus and was sitting at the bus shelter when I realized it was Saturday and checked the timetable.  NO BUSES ON THE WEEKEND!  So it was back to 2AB who was still at the fuel dock and helped Geoff berth her back in our berth along with Sally and Martin.  Sally, Martin and I then shared a taxi to the shopping centre as I needed to buy my egg shell mattress top, Sally needed prescription refills and Martin needed deck shoes.  Back to 2AB to cook a bread and butter pudding to go with the pizzas ordered for tea on Acropora along with another couple who have a Swanson yacht and are on their way to Lizard Island.  These people used to run elephant treks in Bali.

Sunday, 16th July 2006  -  Day 506  -  Gladstone

Laid in.  The egg shell mattress top is definitely better but still not as soft as I like.  But a nice lay in.  Still rainy and overcast and cold!  I got the washing up to date and baked a bread pudding.  Later Martin and I visited Mike on Falmari and a very nice boat it was too.  He had bought it for $50,000 ish at Weipa after the wife of the guy who owned it had died of cancer and he had lost interest in it as the dream he and his wife had was now shattered.  A real bargain, once the hornets nests were removed from the inside.  Sally and Martin came for a roast beef tea as they need to keep all their food stocks in reserve for Vanuatu.  They left early as they were heading off early in the morning. 

Kristine from ‘Pure Magic’ rang and we caught up on all of their news and she has a job as a laboratory assistant at the sugar mill at Bowen.  They have their boat at Laguna Quays so we may catch up with them yet. 

We still have to make up our minds on where we are heading off to in the morning.  Will it be south to Pancake Creek or north through The Narrows.  The weather forecast will make up our minds on the morrow.

Monday, 17th July 2006  -  Day 507  -  Gladstone to Badger Creek, The Narrows

Up at 06:30 to see Acropora off on their journey.  It rained all night and the four day weather forecast is far from perfect for them but they have run out of time as their daughter, Mara, will be waiting for them at Port Vila.  It was sad seeing them motor away in the rain and I am keeping my fingers crossed that the weather improves for them.  We forgot the camera so no goodbye photos! 

Back to 2AB for brekky, shower and take the amenities keys back and get our deposits.  Geoff rang Navman about the depth sounder that was playing up for S&M and the guy wasn’t very helpful.  Rang Martin who told us that it was playing up again and that they definitely needed a new head and could we go up to the electronics service centre and see what a new head was.  Well, $420 for the head unit alone so Martin was going to think about it.  I decided that I would ring Navman again to see if I could at least organize a better deal as what did we have to lose?  The first guy I spoke to was not authorized to do any deals so he put me onto his supervisor where I struck gold!  He said that once S&M reach Port Vila they should contact him and ask for an ‘Advance Replacement head for a Recent Repair’.  They would have to pay the $420 up front on their credit card but once the faulty unit was returned their credit card would be credited.  How good is that?

By this time it was noon and we needed to get going to get through The Narrows on high tide as it dries to 2 metres above at low tide.  I had to use the ‘Rule of Twelfths’ that I learnt on my coastal navigation course to work out tide times and levels to cross the Cattle Crossing without going aground.  I knew that the navigation course would come in handy some day!  As long as we get through before 16:00 we should be fine and we should be through by 14:30 at the latest with depth to spare.  Also the tides meet in the middle at the Cattle Crossing and, therefore, go in a different direction to what we previously had—bumma!  The Cattle Crossing is, as the name suggests, where the cattle cross to Curtis Island during low tide.  We went through the shallowest part with 1 metre to spare under us and we draw 0.9 of a metre. 

Acropora draws 1.9 so they would definitely have to look at the tides to go through and would probably need a Spring Tide when the high tide is at it’s highest but the low tide is also at it’s lowest.  We went through on a Neap Tide when the high tide is the lowest it will be and the low tide is the highest it will be.  Hope that makes sense to you all?  The Narrows reminds us very much of Hinchinbrook but much flatter.  Just think of the Everglades in Florida minus the hovercraft and you have the picture.  I have just read in the Lucas book that there are crocodiles here.  I didn’t think they were down this far!  I actually think I may have seen a pair of eyes surface but there are also a lot of turtles here so I may have been mistaken. 

We anchored in Badger Creek at 17:00 and we are all alone in this secluded anchorage and we are quite a way in so no one would know we are here.  In fact, the GPS map source plotter has shown us bulldozing our way through the land for a couple of miles.  Shows you how good the GPS software is when you are in inland waters.  Unfortunately the Australian hydrographic office do not produce charts for inland waterways if they are not used for big ships. 

At present Geoff is practicing throwing his cast net and I’ve been looking for crocs, to no avail.  I would love to see one (from afar).  Mozi heaven here so I’ve brought out my four poster mozi net and put it up temporarily and sprayed it with repellant.  After an hour no mozi’s have got inside so I think it is going to work well even though it looks a bit weird.  Thinking of S&M all the time! 

Tuesday, 18th July 2006  -  Day 507  -  Badger Creek to Pacific Creek

Hooray…..nice and sunny today and warm.  09:00 (slept in) and it is low tide and we only have 0.3 metres under us even though we anchored in 4 metres with a tide difference of 2 metres.  In fact we did touch for a few minutes but no problems as it is soft mud here.  The banks are steep and come in quite a way making it a narrow passage to anchor in. 

The mozi net worked well and we didn’t get any mozi’s in overnight.  I sprayed the net before I went to bed and there are quite a few dead ones on the outside of the net so it has proved it works. 

Geoff received email instructions from the cast net company on how to throw the cast net so I expect it will be more practicing in the near future.  We decided to head to another anchorage for a change of scenery and headed up The Narrows to Pacific Creek.  There are two other yachts, one other cat and one motor cruiser plus the Curtis Island barge here with us.  It is a secure anchorage and will be good as there is a strong wind warning for the next three days.  Once anchored we worked on hanging points for the mozi net and I spent the afternoon sewing curtain weights to the bottom edges.  We then took it down as it was getting windier and you don’t have mozi problems when the wind is blowing.  Once the sun went down it got quite cold so we closed the hatches anyway.  Geoff caught some small Mulloway???? But too  small to eat.  Emails from Sammy, Lou, Enzo, Lois and Lisa and phone call from Michelle. S23°  29.6 E150° 59.6

Wednesday, 19th July 2006  -  Day 508  -  Pacific Creek, The Narrows

Quiet night and another warm, sunny day.  Wind is starting to build up a tad.  Got and email from Sally who says the seas are a bit confused and they are feeling a bit off but they have made good time with only 868 nm to go!  Also email from Enzo. 

I spent the morning cleaning the stainless steel safety rails and stanchions around the boat until I got fed up with doing it.  Geoff worked on improving the seal for the freezer lid and glued up some decorative cord that had come away from the corners. 

We then headed ashore to find the walking track to the lighthouse.  Found the mozi infected track and got bitten to death but no lighthouse and the cemetery track was under water as you can only go to the cemetery at low tide.  Still, it was a bit of exercise anyway.  Did a bit of fishing but no bites.  Well, they took the bait but I didn’t feel them.  The wind has picked up a tad but not as strong as forecast.  I think we are very protected here in the mangroves.

 Thursday, 20th July 2006  -  Day 509  -  Pacific Creek

Still not so windy in here but a fishing trawler came in last night to shelter so it is probably windier out there.  Geoff looked to see how far Cape Capricorn is from here for a change of scenery.  I would rather stay here as I know it is very protected and I’m not sure how protected Cape Capricorn would be.   The book says it’s ok but says not to try to enter the more protected Yellow Patch in rough seas and the seas are forecast at 3 metres.  Maybe Geoff will decide to stay here even though there is not much to do and we will probably get a little cabin fever,  He stayed, so what did we do?  Geoff moved the storm sail into the back locker behind the engine storage and played on the laptop.  I fished (zilch) and answered emails, read and also played on the computer.  After lunch we had a game of darts on our magnetic dartboard set, which made a change.  We also started on the 6 monthly newsletter which goes up as far as Sydney in May 2006.  We do the newsletters, basically, for  people who do not have internet access to keep them up to date.  We send them out to other friends by email who also receive the journal so if they haven’t managed, or had the inclination, to read them they can have a quick scan of the newsletter and see what we’ve been up to.  At dusk I went to put the anchor light on…..whoops….it’s been on all day.

Friday, 21st July 2006  -  Day 510  -  Pacific Creek

Still it blows and much harder today with not much change in the coming days, apparently.  My heart goes out to Sally and Martin who must be having a terrible time of it out there.  They contacted the Rocky Met (Rockhampton Meteorology Dept) who gave no indication in the 4 day forecast that these strong winds were on the way.  Who would have picked it? 

Geoff is getting cabin fever and I’m not too sure how long I will be able to keep him here.  I’m selfish, I know, but it is secure and calm here.  So how did we keep ourselves busy today?  Geoff printed off the newsletters for mailing off and sorted those that need to go out by email.  I’ve made a raspberry jelly for tea (that took a long time, that did!).   We’ve just had an email from Sally and Martin sent at 12:00 saying that they are turning back to Oz as they are being pushed far too north to make landfall at Vanuatu and the weather is so bad with no end in sight.  In Sally’s word “They are just about to burst”.  Plus one of their fresh water tanks is leaking badly.  They are tired, bruised and very disappointed as they were to meet Temara, their daughter, at Port Vila.  When we received the email it was like a rock in the bottom of my stomach and I felt quite sick (actually was after dinner).  From the position Sally gave us they have at least 600 nm to get to Townsville which will take them at least 5/6 days.  So sad.

Saturday, 22nd July 2006  -  Day 511  -  Pacific Creek to Great Keppel Island

Well, the wind died completely overnight but it soon picked up again but definitely not so strong.  There is no longer a strong wind warning but the forecast is still for SE 20/25 knot winds.  There is no way I am going to be able to keep Geoff here one day longer.  We left the anchorage at 0955 with the intention of going to Cape Capricorn and then into Yellow Patch on the tide but the wind was not going to let us go in that direction so we headed for Great Keppel Island instead.  Geoff didn’t care where he went as long as it was out of boring Pacific Creek.  The trip was fast taking only 4 hours and averaging 7 knots and the seas were not too bad considering the strong winds of the previous days.  The only downside of the day is that Geoff’s fingers got really cold and it took a while to get them back to normal with a heat bag.  We anchored at Second Beach at Great Keppel island at 14:00 hours and it is quite crowded here (they’ve probably all been sheltering from the winds) but we found a spot close in to the shore as we have such a shallow draft.

At the moment it is not too swelly (keeping my fingers crossed).  Geoff made me a cuppa and then proceeded to elbow it overboard so my favourite mug has gone swimming.  He’s put an orange marker on a weight to try to get it back tomorrow at low tide.  Last time we were here, over 12 months ago, I dropped the grill for my Cobb cooker over.  I wonder what the attraction is for things to go overboard here?  Did a spot of fishing and caught…….some weed!  Good job we don’t need to catch fish to survive!  So we had to settle for Roast Pork and all the trimmings.  What a shame?  S23° 09.8  E150° 57.3

Sunday, 16th July 2006  -  Day 506  -  Gladstone

Laid in.  The egg shell mattress top is definitely better but still not as soft as I like.  But a nice lay in.  Still rainy and overcast and cold!  I got the washing up to date and baked a bread pudding.  Later Martin and I visited Mike on Falmari and a very nice boat it was too.  He had bought it for $50,000 ish at Weipa after the wife of the guy who owned it had died of cancer and he had lost interest in it as the dream he and his wife had was now shattered.  A real bargain, once the hornets nests were removed from the inside.  Sally and Martin came for a roast beef tea as they need to keep all their food stocks in reserve for Vanuatu.  They left early as they were heading off early in the morning. 

Kristine from ‘Pure Magic’ rang and we caught up on all of their news and she has a job as a laboratory assistant at the sugar mill at Bowen.  They have their boat at Laguna Quays so we may catch up with them yet. 

We still have to make up our minds on where we are heading off to in the morning.  Will it be south to Pancake Creek or north through The Narrows.  The weather forecast will make up our minds on the morrow.

Monday, 17th July 2006  -  Day 507  -  Gladstone to Badger Creek, The Narrows

Up at 06:30 to see Acropora off on their journey.  It rained all night and the four day weather forecast is far from perfect for them but they have run out of time as their daughter, Mara, will be waiting for them at Port Vila.  It was sad seeing them motor away in the rain and I am keeping my fingers crossed that the weather improves for them.  We forgot the camera so no goodbye photos! 

Back to 2AB for brekky, shower and take the amenities keys back and get our deposits.  Geoff rang Navman about the depth sounder that was playing up for S&M and the guy wasn’t very helpful.  Rang Martin who told us that it was playing up again and that they definitely needed a new head and could we go up to the electronics service centre and see what a new head was.  Well, $420 for the head unit alone so Martin was going to think about it.  I decided that I would ring Navman again to see if I could at least organize a better deal as what did we have to lose?  The first guy I spoke to was not authorized to do any deals so he put me onto his supervisor where I struck gold!  He said that once S&M reach Port Vila they should contact him and ask for an ‘Advance Replacement head for a Recent Repair’.  They would have to pay the $420 up front on their credit card but once the faulty unit was returned their credit card would be credited.  How good is that?

By this time it was noon and we needed to get going to get through The Narrows on high tide as it dries to 2 metres above at low tide.  I had to use the ‘Rule of Twelfths’ that I learnt on my coastal navigation course to work out tide times and levels to cross the Cattle Crossing without going aground.  I knew that the navigation course would come in handy some day!  As long as we get through before 16:00 we should be fine and we should be through by 14:30 at the latest with depth to spare.  Also the tides meet in the middle at the Cattle Crossing and, therefore, go in a different direction to what we previously had—bumma!  The Cattle Crossing is, as the name suggests, where the cattle cross to Curtis Island during low tide.  We went through the shallowest part with 1 metre to spare under us and we draw 0.9 of a metre.  Acropora draws 1.9 so they would definitely have to look at the tides to go through and would probably need a Spring Tide when the high tide is at it’s highest but the low tide is also at it’s lowest.  We went through on a Neap Tide when the high tide is the lowest it will be and the low tide is the highest it will be.  Hope that makes sense to you all?  The Narrows reminds us very much of Hinchinbrook but much flatter.  Just think of the Everglades in Florida minus the hovercraft and you have the picture.  I have just read in the Lucas book that there are crocodiles here.  I didn’t think they were down this far!  I actually think I may have seen a pair of eyes surface but there are also a lot of turtles here so I may have been mistaken. 

We anchored in Badger Creek at 17:00 and we are all alone in this secluded anchorage and we are quite a way in so no one would know we are here.  In fact, the GPS map source plotter has shown us bulldozing our way through the land for a couple of miles.  Shows you how good the GPS software is when you are in inland waters.  Unfortunately the Australian hydrographic office do not produce charts for inland waterways if they are not used for big ships. 

At present Geoff is practicing throwing his cast net and I’ve been looking for crocs, to no avail.  I would love to see one (from afar).  Mozi heaven here so I’ve brought out my four poster mozi net and put it up temporarily and sprayed it with repellant.  After an hour no mozi’s have got inside so I think it is going to work well even though it looks a bit weird.  Thinking of S&M all the time! 

Tuesday, 18th July 2006  -  Day 507  -  Badger Creek to Pacific Creek

Hooray…..nice and sunny today and warm.  09:00 (slept in) and it is low tide and we only have 0.3 metres under us even though we anchored in 4 metres with a tide difference of 2 metres.  In fact we did touch for a few minutes but no problems as it is soft mud here.  The banks are steep and come in quite a way making it a narrow passage to anchor in. 

The mozi net worked well and we didn’t get any mozi’s in overnight.  I sprayed the net before I went to bed and there are quite a few dead ones on the outside of the net so it has proved it works. 

Geoff received email instructions from the cast net company on how to throw the cast net so I expect it will be more practicing in the near future.  We decided to head to another anchorage for a change of scenery and headed up The Narrows to Pacific Creek.  There are two other yachts, one other cat and one motor cruiser plus the Curtis Island barge here with us.  It is a secure anchorage and will be good as there is a strong wind warning for the next three days.  Once anchored we worked on hanging points for the mozi net and I spent the afternoon sewing curtain weights to the bottom edges.  We then took it down as it was getting windier and you don’t have mozi problems when the wind is blowing.  Once the sun went down it got quite cold so we closed the hatches anyway.  Geoff caught some small Mulloway???? But too  small to eat.  Emails from Sammy, Lou, Enzo, Lois and Lisa and phone call from Michelle. S23°  29.6 E150° 59.6

Wednesday, 19th July 2006  -  Day 508  -  Pacific Creek, The Narrows

Quiet night and another warm, sunny day.  Wind is starting to build up a tad.  Got and email from Sally who says the seas are a bit confused and they are feeling a bit off but they have made good time with only 868 nm to go!  Also email from Enzo. 

I spent the morning cleaning the stainless steel safety rails and stanchions around the boat until I got fed up with doing it.  Geoff worked on improving the seal for the freezer lid and glued up some decorative cord that had come away from the corners. 

We then headed ashore to find the walking track to the lighthouse.  Found the mozi infected track and got bitten to death but no lighthouse and the cemetery track was under water as you can only go to the cemetery at low tide.  Still, it was a bit of exercise anyway.  Did a bit of fishing but no bites.  Well, they took the bait but I didn’t feel them.  The wind has picked up a tad but not as strong as forecast.  I think we are very protected here in the mangroves.

Thursday, 20th July 2006  -  Day 509  -  Pacific Creek

Still not so windy in here but a fishing trawler came in last night to shelter so it is probably windier out there.  Geoff looked to see how far Cape Capricorn is from here for a change of scenery.  I would rather stay here as I know it is very protected and I’m not sure how protected Cape Capricorn would be.   The book says it’s ok but says not to try to enter the more protected Yellow Patch in rough seas and the seas are forecast at 3 metres.  Maybe Geoff will decide to stay here even though there is not much to do and we will probably get a little cabin fever,  He stayed, so what did we do?  Geoff moved the storm sail into the back locker behind the engine storage and played on the laptop.  I fished (zilch) and answered emails, read and also played on the computer.  After lunch we had a game of darts on our magnetic dartboard set, which made a change.  We also started on the 6 monthly newsletter which goes up as far as Sydney in May 2006.  We do the newsletters, basically, for  people who do not have internet access to keep them up to date.  We send them out to other friends by email who also receive the journal so if they haven’t managed, or had the inclination, to read them they can have a quick scan of the newsletter and see what we’ve been up to.  At dusk I went to put the anchor light on…..whoops….it’s been on all day.

Friday, 21st July 2006  -  Day 510  -  Pacific Creek

Still it blows and much harder today with not much change in the coming days, apparently.  My heart goes out to Sally and Martin who must be having a terrible time of it out there.  They contacted the Rocky Met (Rockhampton Meteorology Dept) who gave no indication in the 4 day forecast that these strong winds were on the way.  Who would have picked it? 

Geoff is getting cabin fever and I’m not too sure how long I will be able to keep him here.  I’m selfish, I know, but it is secure and calm here.  So how did we keep ourselves busy today?  Geoff printed off the newsletters for mailing off and sorted those that need to go out by email.  I’ve made a raspberry jelly for tea (that took a long time, that did!).   We’ve just had an email from Sally and Martin sent at 12:00 saying that they are turning back to Oz as they are being pushed far too north to make landfall at Vanuatu and the weather is so bad with no end in sight.  In Sally’s word “They are just about to burst”.  Plus one of their fresh water tanks is leaking badly.  They are tired, bruised and very disappointed as they were to meet Temara, their daughter, at Port Vila.  When we received the email it was like a rock in the bottom of my stomach and I felt quite sick (actually was after dinner).  From the position Sally gave us they have at least 600 nm to get to Townsville which will take them at least 5/6 days.  So sad.

 Saturday, 22nd July 2006  -  Day 511  -  Pacific Creek to Great Keppel Island

Well, the wind died completely overnight but it soon picked up again but definitely not so strong.  There is no longer a strong wind warning but the forecast is still for SE 20/25 knot winds.  There is no way I am going to be able to keep Geoff here one day longer.  We left the anchorage at 0955 with the intention of going to Cape Capricorn and then into Yellow Patch on the tide but the wind was not going to let us go in that direction so we headed for Great Keppel Island instead.  Geoff didn’t care where he went as long as it was out of boring Pacific Creek.  The trip was fast taking only 4 hours and averaging 7 knots and the seas were not too bad considering the strong winds of the previous days.  The only downside of the day is that Geoff’s fingers got really cold and it took a while to get them back to normal with a heat bag.  We anchored at Second Beach at Great Keppel island at 14:00 hours and it is quite crowded here (they’ve probably all been sheltering from the winds) but we found a spot close in to the shore as we have such a shallow draft.  At the moment it is not too swelly (keeping my fingers crossed).  Geoff made me a cuppa and then proceeded to elbow it overboard so my favourite mug has gone swimming.  He’s put an orange marker on a weight to try to get it back tomorrow at low tide.  Last time we were here, over 12 months ago, I dropped the grill for my Cobb cooker over.  I wonder what the attraction is for things to go overboard here?  Did a spot of fishing and caught…….some weed!  Good job we don’t need to catch fish to survive!  So we had to settle for Roast Pork and all the trimmings.  What a shame?  S23° 09.8  E150° 57.3

Monday, 24th July 2006  -  Day 513  -  Great Keppel island

Still no email from S&M, perhaps their sailmail is stuffed! 

Geoff had a good look at the freezer again and has bypassed the old wiring and cleaned up some connections but we also think the fridge is the problem and the thermostat is not working so will have to try to get a new one plus a timer to switch it on when we want it to come on.  He also wants to get some decent wire to re wire the freezer straight from the battery to the freezer as this is what the manual says should be done.  At present the wires go to the control panel and then to each switch in turn.  Geoff checked and it certainly works better straight from the battery. 

Geoff then went and practiced throwing his cast net on the beach and I watched him towards the end and he seemed to be getting the hang of it.    He took the UHF radio that he used for paragliding  to shore with him but found one of the pair wasn’t working so they are no use to us for shore to ship communicating. 

Back at 2AB he tried his hand at a bit of fishing but only caught a Remora..  Same one...another one?  

Heard from  Sammy and  S&M are 200 nm off of Townsville so they have another 48 hours to go.  I expect they will be very glad to get back on terra firma again.

Geoff then went off in the tender to do a spot of fishing near the rocks.  It would be very good if he could come back with something decent as I have, once again, forgotten to take anything out of the freezer for tea.  But, he didn’t so it was rummage in the cupboard to come up with something quick and easy. 

Sunday, 23rd July 2006  -  Day 512  -  Great Keppel Island

Overcast, windy and drizzly this morning but the sun is making a big effort to shine through and may yet win.  No email from Sally and Martin so have no idea how they are faring. 

Bacon and eggs, of course.  The orange float marking my mug is caught on the propeller so we hope we can still find it later.  Yes….he retrieved it later when he was in the water in his wet suit cleaning the hulls.  Earlier, whilst he was looking for it through the bathescope, we had a visit from a couple from a Roberts sloop nearby who was looking at one in the shop earlier and had a look through it.  His name was Glen, his passenger was Jen (a friend), plus the woof…….. his wife Suzanne was back on board self schooling their 12 year old.  They have taken a year off to go cruising and are from Eden and are making their way, hopefully, to Lizard Island.  Glen seemed very surprised that we had brought our little 2AB all the way from Victoria as he knows what the seas are like down there.  Even more surprised when he realized we had been to Lizard, down to Vic and back up in it.  We will have sundowners with them before we leave.

Geoff is presently looking at out battery bank as the voltage seems to be dropping too fast these days.  Do we have a faulty battery, a short or some other problem.  Unfortunately, the only battery we know the age of is the one we bought in Brisbane at the start of our trip last year.  The others could well be on their way out.  Eventually we headed to shore to explore and cough, splutter went the outboard.  Is it on it’s last legs?  Or maybe Geoff hasn’t put enough oil in the 2stroke mix?  We’ve been really nurturing the outboard since the beginning and are trying to make it last us out.  Whether it will, remains to be seen.  Would be nice to have a more powerful one, I must admit.  We walked over to the next cove where there was an oyster lease but we didn’t steal any!  On the way back Geoff collected a couple of coconuts for painting/designing on later. 

Cough and sputter and back to 2AB.  Geoff has put more oil in the 2stroke mix and it is running fine now after many test laps around the boat.  He then went off to do some fishing off the rocks whilst I fished off the back steps of 2AB.  He had only been gone a few minutes when I got a bite but when I reeled it in it was only a Remora (sucker fish).  I managed to take the hook out all by myself and back in he went.  Geoff caught one smallish fish which he bought back for identification.  He thinks it was a flathead but not sure.  Certainly not big enough to eat, whatever it was!

Saturday, 22nd July 2006  -  Day 511  -  Pacific Creek to Great Keppel Island

Well, the wind died completely overnight but it soon picked up again but definitely not so strong.  There is no longer a strong wind warning but the forecast is still for SE 20/25 knot winds.  There is no way I am going to be able to keep Geoff here one day longer.  We left the anchorage at 0955 with the intention of going to Cape Capricorn and then into Yellow Patch on the tide but the wind was not going to let us go in that direction so we headed for Great Keppel Island instead.  Geoff didn’t care where he went as long as it was out of boring Pacific Creek.  The trip was fast taking only 4 hours and averaging 7 knots and the seas were not too bad considering the strong winds of the previous days.  The only downside of the day is that Geoff’s fingers got really cold and it took a while to get them back to normal with a heat bag.  We anchored at Second Beach at Great Keppel island at 14:00 hours and it is quite crowded here (they’ve probably all been sheltering from the winds) but we found a spot close in to the shore as we have such a shallow draft.  At the moment it is not too swelly (keeping my fingers crossed).  Geoff made me a cuppa and then proceeded to elbow it overboard so my favourite mug has gone swimming.  He’s put an orange marker on a weight to try to get it back tomorrow at low tide.  Last time we were here, over 12 months ago, I dropped the grill for my Cobb cooker over.  I wonder what the attraction is for things to go overboard here?  Did a spot of fishing and caught…….some weed!  Good job we don’t need to catch fish to survive!  So we had to settle for Roast Pork and all the trimmings.  What a shame?  S23° 09.8  E150° 57.3

 Sunday, 23rd July 2006  -  Day 512  -  Great Keppel Island                                                  Overcast, windy and drizzly this morning but the sun is making a big effort to shine through and may yet win.  No email from Sally and Martin so have no idea how they are faring.  Bacon and eggs, of course.  The orange float marking my mug is caught on the propeller so we hope we can still find it later.  Yes….he retrieved it later when he was in the water in his wet suit cleaning the hulls.  Earlier, whilst he was looking for it through the bathescope, we had a visit from a couple from a Roberts sloop nearby who was looking at one in the shop earlier and had a look through it.  His name was Glen, his passenger was Jen (a friend), plus the woof…….. his wife Suzanne was back on board self schooling their 12 year old.  They have taken a year off to go cruising and are from Eden and are making their way, hopefully, to Lizard Island.  Glen seemed very surprised that we had brought our little 2AB all the way from Victoria as he knows what the seas are like down there.  Even more surprised when he realized we had been to Lizard, down to Vic and back up in it.  We will have sundowners with them before we leave.  Geoff is presently looking at out battery bank as the voltage seems to be dropping too fast these days.  Do we have a faulty battery, a short or some other problem.  Unfortunately, the only battery we know the age of is the one we bought in Brisbane at the start of our trip last year.  The others could well be on their way out.  Later in the afternoon Geoff went off coconut collecting.

Monday, 24th July 2006  -  Day 513  -  Great Keppel island

Still no email from S&M, perhaps their sailmail is stuffed!  Geoff had a good look at the freezer again and has bypassed the old wiring and cleaned up some connections but we also think the fridge is the problem and the thermostat is not working so will have to try to get a new one plus a timer to switch it on when we want it to come on.  He also wants to get some decent wire to re wire the freezer straight from the battery to the freezer as this is what the manual says should be done.  At present the wires go to the control panel and then to each switch in turn.  Geoff checked and it certainly works better straight from the battery.  Geoff then went and practiced throwing his cast net on the beach and I watched him towards the end and he seemed to be getting the hang of it.    He took the UHF radio that he used for paragliding  to shore with him but found one of the pair wasn’t working so they are no use to us for shore to ship communicating. 

Back at 2AB he tried his hand at a bit of fishing but only caught a Remora..  Same one...another one?  

Heard from  Sammy and  S&M are 200 nm off of Townsville so they have another 48 hours to go.  I expect they will be very glad to get back on terra firma again.

Geoff then went off in the tender to do a spot of fishing near the rocks.  It would be very good if he could come back with something decent as I have, once again, forgotten to take anything out of the freezer for tea.  But, he didn’t so it was rummage in the cupboard to come up with something quick and easy. 

Tuesday, 25th July 2006  -  Day 514  -  Great Keppel Island

The sun was out but now it is a little overcast and trying to drizzle but it doesn’t look like it should last long, fingers crossed.  No email from S&M yet so not sure how they are fairing.  Geoff checked the outboard motor manual and found we had not been putting enough oil in the 2 stroke mix so no wonder she has been playing up.   He was going on the instructions from the container which was for Yamaha engines at 1/100 but when he checked manual should have been putting 1/50.   Got another text from Sammy saying that Acropora is now 100 nm from Townsville.  Great.

Geoff went off in the tender to the resort for a few supplies and the round trip took 90 minutes.  Got a few bits but not much as the prices were exorbitant.  On the way back Glen called over from ‘La Bo'heme’ and invited us to drinks at 16:00.  Did some more fishing and another….same? Remora was caught.  Then it was off to ‘La Bo'heme’ where I preceded to spill a large quantity of red wine down my top whilst I was smooching up to their dog, Spice.  I mean, you have to get your “dog fix” when you can.  Got a little worse for wear and then it was back to 2AB where I had to attempt to cook some dinner.  I think I did quite well, considering.

Wednesday, 26th July 2006  -  Day 515  -  Great Keppel Island

A text from Sally saying they had made it!  Rang and had a quick natter with her.  Any thoughts I ever may have had about going offshore are now well and truly banished!  I will talk to her longer once they are settled, showered, had sleep and less wound up.  Wish I could be there to give them both a hug.

Geoff has just caught a large Yellow-Finned Leatherjacket which measured 48cm.  The book says they grow to 40cm so he’s done well.  He has spent all morning trying to catch this one fish.  The water is so clear here that you could watch the fish going for the bait.  He originally thought it might have been a Trevally but, whatever it was, wasn’t taking the bait into its mouth.  Geoff eventually tried a smaller hook and he got him.  No wonder he wasn’t taking the bait into his mouth as his mouth was very small.  The book says good eating and our good fish cooking book says to bake whole.  So we have fish for tea and good old Omega3.  Whilst he was bringing it in, identifying it and seeing how to prepare it, I was baking scones.  I got so involved in the fishing that I had to really make sure I didn’t burn them.

I have said earlier in the journal that we weren’t getting any emails and have since found out why.  Someone has sent an email with photos and it was having a hard time coming through as we have only just got CDMA coverage here (it still hasn’t come in) and it was blocking another 27 emails and I still haven’t got all of them.  No wonder we didn’t get any from Acropora.  They were there ok but blocked.  I expect it is my dad who has sent the photos in large format and I will  have to get my sister, Kay, to give him instructions on how to reduce them in size.  Earlier, we also received a phone call from Val D, a friend from Porepunkah, one of our original friends we met when we arrived in the north east of Victoria.  Val used to work for us (or did we work for Val?) when we owned Noonameena Lodge, a school camp at the foot of Mount Buffalo. 

Around 16:00, Glen, Suzanne, Elliot and Jen came for Sundowers.  Had a nice time socializing.  Spice, the woof was also invited and Elliot managed to catch a fish, albeit a Remora. 

Spice, the dog, leaping into the water for the sheer joy of it!

Being a 12 year old boy he had to keep it, of course, and dad was supposed to eat it (I believe it eventually was used as bait).  We have eaten them before and they are actually not bad eating although they are not thought of as a food fish.  After they left we were too full to eat tea so will have the leatherjacket tomorrow.  Watched a DVD ‘The Manchurian Candidate’ and quite enjoyed it.

 Thursday, 27th July 2006  -  Day 516  -  Great Keppel Island

Geoff updated Pest Patrol and it took over 35 minutes to come in.  He rigged up an antenna and we used the laptop in the cockpit and the data came in a lot faster.  We then found that Pest Patrol quarantined a ‘key logger’ which we got rid of very quickly.  Then I had to go into internet banking to make sure our funds had not been touched.  Luckily everything was ok so I changed all the passwords, which I do anyway each time I use internet banking.   We then headed off to explore a nearby creek where other cats were anchored, using side ties to the banks and mangroves.  You can only go into this little haven at high tide and I doubt if deep keelers could ever go in.  Would be a great bolt hole in strong winds.  On route we stopped the engine and spoke to a couple of guys who were fishing.  When we went to restart the engine it wouldn’t start so Geoff had to row us ashore.  He eventually got it going and we continued on our exploration and then back to 2AB.  The outboard is definitely on its last legs so I can see us  buying a new one. MORE$$$$$

Geoff cooked the Leatherjacket on the BBQ for tea and I have decided it is my favourite by far.  Lovely, tasty, moist white meat.  Yummy …… for fish, that is!   Just before we headed off to bed it started raining very heavily.  We are not complaining as we know Qld is in desperate need of rain.



Checking out a Pandanus



Friday, 28th July 2006   -   Day 517  -  Great Keppel Island—STILL

Boy,did it rain last night and still raining hard this morning but not so heavy.  It would have been good to fill up but we are off to Yeppoon on Sunday so were in no need of filling up.  Isn’t it always the way.  Glen came over and dropped off a couple of our DVD’s as they are off to Yeppoon today as Suzanne wants to catch the 05.45 bus to the fresh food market tomorrow.   Sorry…. But I like my bed far more than that to get up that early for the need to buy really fresh produce! 

We have decided to bite the bullet and buy a new outboard, probably a small Honda 4 stroke.  They have one in Yeppoon so we will look at that on Monday. 

Martin rang, Lisa rang so that was nice.  It’s really nice to get phone calls occasionally. 

Later, once the rain had stopped and the sun came out it became quite warm and steamy so I decided it was time for me to take my first dip for the season.  Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! ! !

Geoff then went off in the tender to do a bit of fishing and I curled up on the back deck with a good novel.  When he came back, just on dusk, we decided to move a bit further out as the wind was shifting a bit and we felt we were a bit too close into shore.  Better to follow your instincts, I think.  There were quite a few Garfish in our new spot but Geoff was unable to get them.  Shame.

 Saturday,  29th July 2006  -  Day 518  -  Great Keppel Island—STILL

Nice, quiet night as we couldn’t hear the surf pounding.  Feel safer out a bit more. 

Had a shower on the back deck as it is the first time it has been warm enough. 

We did a spot of fishing and all we caught were two tiny crabs.  Had a game of darts and this time, Geoff won!  Read, cooked, defrosted the freezer and relaxed etc.  Nothing to write about.  28 degrees today so very nice. 

 Sunday, 30th July 2006  -  Day 519  -  Great Keppel Island to Rosslyn Bay, Yeppoon

Another beautiful day.  We left the anchorage at 09:30 for Rosslyn Bay.  We sailed for a lot of the way, albeit very slowly, and had to motor in the last bit as the winds were so light.  Got in at 12:00 and La Bo’heme are in the next pen but just about to leave for North Keppel Island.  We wandered up to pay our fees and buy some lunch and have a shower and shampoo.  After lunch I did the washing whilst Geoff made up some mint sauce from the mint he had “procured” from near the marina office.

Rang Sally and Martin and their daughter, Temara, had arrived from Houston so we had a quick catch up before she was off to bed to catch up on her jet lag. 

We have booked the courtesy car for tomorrow for the allowed two hours to fill up  on supplies and to look into buying a new outboard.  The courtesy car is great and is the only marina now that I know off that does this.  Laguna Quays, in The Whitsunday’s used to have one but since the marina has changed hands it is no longer available.  I think this is a bad move for them as they are so way out of town. 

Later we wandered across to the Yacht Club to see if they did meals, but they didn’t.  Whilst we were there we watched a snake make its way up from the pontoon and slither three feet away from us across the verandah.  The guy from the yacht club said he thought it was a python but wasn’t sure as first he thought it was a Taipan….A TAIPAN!  Even I draw the line at that.  But, we think it was a python even though it had a small head and had a lovely dark spotted design on its skin.  So, back to 2AB where we just had nibbles for tea.

Monday, 31st July 2006  -  Day 518  -  Rosslyn Bay, Yeppoon

Another lovely day in paradise!  Up and shower and then start working.  When you only have one day in a marina you just don’t stop working.  Geoff painted a small area in the head with double pack paint but it bubbled so now has to be sanded back and redone.  I thoroughly cleaned the galley, fridge, oven, walls and my berth, which gets a mould problem from my moist breath overnight.  As do a lot of boats!  Just as we were getting ready to pick up the car ‘La Bo’heme’ arrived back in the marina as they had a water leak.  They later found it was a fitting in the shower. 

It was then off to town where Geoff dropped me at the supermarket and he headed off to look at outboard motors.  It was either a 3.3 hp 2stroke Mercury or a 2hp 4 stroke Honda.  He was back in 45 minutes saying that he was buying the Honda and had done all the paperwork before they told him they didn’t take credit cards.  A sale of over $1000 and they didn’t take credit cards….that’s no way to run a business!  I rang and….No.... they didn’t take cheques.  Hmmm…..would they let me use their computer to transfer money to their account and, yes they would.  So then it was a mad rush to grab the rest of the supplies that were on my list, drive around to the Honda dealer and get back to the marina with the car in our allotted 2 hours.  We did it with 5 minutes to spare.  When we got back Geoff put the new outboard onto the tender and tried it out.  Goes well and even has NEUTRAL so no more shooting off as soon as you start it up.  I spent the rest of the afternoon finding homes for everything I had bought, which I managed.  I then vacuum packed the 2 kgs of bacon into individual packs as the last lot got tainted somehow.  By this time it was late so tea was a quick affair.

Note: Geoff  sent this email to a friend and thought you might be interested in some technical info…………..........It ‘s been cold so we’ve had our heater on.  It (the heater) runs off our 1KVA generator (Honda) provided we don't have much else on at the time.  We use the generator to charge the batteries via a smart charger that can pump in 40 amps an hour.  Also, it runs the fridge and freezer which are able to be run on either 12 volt or mains and to charge tools and even our vacuum cleaner.  We have one 240 volt table lamp and the boat is wired with nine 240 volt power outlets and there is also eleven 12 volt outlets.  (Geoff has never been one for being shy at electrical circuitry and hates long cables laying along