Thursday, 1st June 2006 - Day 461 - Lake Macquarie to Port Stephens
Up at 06:30 and slip our buoy at 07:00 to have a look at the bar as it is just past low tide. No swell and the bar is calm and flat so not a problem. Other boats had gone over in front of us. Logged on with Coastal Patrol, hoist the Main and Genoa. The wind is from the west which means we are on a beam reach which 2AB really likes so we’re choofing along at an average of 7 knots in about 14 knots of wind. Just off Stockton Bight we maneuvered ourselves through a tanker parking lot. There were 5 large ships anchored waiting to go into Newcastle.
Then we were over flown by four F1-11’s and then they did a big circle and flew overhead again. We reckon they are using us as pretend bombing practice. Who knows?
Got into Nelson Bay, Port Stephens after a great sail up averaging 7 knots and taking 6 hours and not the 8 hours we had estimated. We grabbed a courtesy buoy and it was a little bouncy but we were on tide turn. There is a gale warning tomorrow and we will have to see if we are okay here. If the wind is from the SW as forecast we should be fine.
We are next to the Nelson Bay Marina and they have Anyport internet. We thought “great” as we still had some time left that was about to run out in a few days time. So we logged on and got that Pest back and this time it completely took off our Pest Control program. So Geoff downloaded the latest version and is now putting Pest Patrol back on. We have decided to never use our memory sticks in an Internet Café again! S32° 43.0 152° 08.9
Friday, 2nd June 2006 - Day 462 - Nelson Bay, Port Stephens
Good night and not too bouncy. All the courtesy moorings are taken now. There is also that gale warning for today with winds forecast at S/SW 30/40 knots with seas 4—6 meters (wow).
Geoff is still having trouble with the laptop as it keeps shutting down. He has done a complete virus check plus pest and spy ware scan and it shows nothing. It is very frustrating for him and 2 hours later he was still working on it. I am trying to be as quiet as a mouse.
It is getting quite uncomfortable here at present as the wind is from the WNW and gusting to 25 knots and we are quite exposed and the seas are quite high and rolling in. We stayed here because the winds were supposed to be S/SW. The buoy is secure and we are just waiting for it to turn and I sure hope it does. Well, by 2:30 pm the yacht on one side and the cat on the other side of us slipped their buoys and headed into Nelson Bay Marina which left us all alone out there. As it was getting very uncomfortable we also decided to call the marina and get a berth for a couple of days. As we were heading in we suddenly realized that Geoff had left his cabin hatch open so he now has a wet mattress that needs to be dried out. It’s not too bad. He berthed perfectly in these really strong winds which was great.
Went up and paid the marina fees - ouch - $60 a day. So I got all the washing together and headed up to the launderette so we can have a full day in Nelson Bay tomorrow.
Then it started bucketing down so I’m glad we are in here as we can have our heater on etc.
Geoff worked on the computer all evening and has at least found out that it is a Malaysian virus called a Brontok virus which should have been picked up by our Virus program. Also found we picked it up on the 8th May which was definitely the day I went to that Asian Internet café in Glebe.
Saturday, 3rd June 2006 - Day 463 - Nelson Bay, Port Stephens
Late last night, just before we went to bed we heard this loud and continuous noise and looked outside to see a yacht’s headsail had come undone and was flogging itself to death. We donned our wet weather gear, grabbed some ropes and tried to find our way to it as it was not on our arm. Found out that the keys only work for each individual arm and he was also on the outside pile berths so we had no way of getting to him apart from launching the tender which we were loathe to do in the bad weather. We rang the office and left a message as that is all we could think of doing. The noise kept Geoff awake most of the night and this morning we looked over and the bottom third of the sail is completely shredded. After a while a guy came and wound it up (too late). It’s a shame we couldn’t have tied it up as it would probably have saved him over $2000. Let’s hope it was insured. It’s still blowing a gale out there (literally) so I’m glad we are inside.
Went up and had a shower and found out why the fees are so steep Eight individual en suites with soap dispenser in the corner glass shower, marble sink tops, hairdryers, IXL ceiling heating, shaving mirror on expandable arm (which I didn’t use), plus a TV lounge complete with cable TV. I must admit these facilities are the best I have seen so far but I would still prefer to pay less and get less.
Wandered around Nelson Bay for a bit but it was cold and miserable so we had fish’n chips for lunch at the marina and then back to 2AB.
Geoff worked some more on the laptop but it was getting worse and worse so, in the end, he decided to reformat the hard drive and reload everything which will take a day or so. What a pain!
Monday, 4th June 2006 - Day 464 Nelson Bay, Port Stephens
We had a downpour last night but at least the wind has eased. We left the marina at 11:00 as it was too expensive to stay any longer and we are now on the buoy outside again along with the original yacht that was with us.
It rained on and off all day and we spent most of the time reloading all the programs and saved files back on the laptop. We’ve lost quite a bit of data which is a pain but that’s life. So a miserable and bit boring day.
Monday, 5th June 2006 - Day 465 - Nelson Bay to Hawks Nest/Tea Garden
Horrid, horrid night! ! ! A strong side swell kept me awake most of the night and I got two x one hour sleeps in total. Cold, drizzly day today and we are going to move to a more sheltered bay later. I had to take a seasick pill in the early morning. One interesting thing: When nature called in the middle of the night and I flushed the loo, which uses salt water, there was flashes of bright green phosphorescence swirling around in the bowl. Amusing!
We headed out at 10:30 and motored over to Hawks Nest drying out the Genoa on the way. Anchored at Hawks Nest and took the tender up the Myall River to Tea Garden where we tied up to a riverside café and had coffee and had a quick wander around Tea Garden.
Tues & Wed, 6th/7th June 2006 - Day 466/467 - Tea Garden to Port Macquarie
Rained a lot overnight and forecast for the foreseeable future. We don’t really know what to do - stay or go? We decided to go and try to get a little more north. Reminder for Maz: “Talk Geoff out of coming too far south next season and being stuck south during winter”!
Logged on at 11:25 for Broughton Island at this stage. It’s cold, wet and miserable - are we having fun? Maybe not at this particular point. But are we having worthwhile experiences - yes! I need to get more north as my sniffles are just hanging on and on but my Sydney wound has healed well.
AH - The sun has come out - WELCOME! So far it has turned out to be a reasonable day. It is chilly but the sun is shining out here and all the rain clouds are staying just over the coastline.. We’ve decided to push on overnight to Port Macquarie arriving there around high tide to get over the bar at around 06:00. We have been sailing with the Main and a poled out Genoa and making around 5.5—6.5 knots. Nice so far. We made it to Port Macquarie at around 05.45 am on the 7th and Geoff radioed Coastal Patrol for instructions on the bar, the leads, markers and route. By this time the weather had deteriorated and it was raining quite hard. He managed to negotiate us into the harbour even though the markers were unlit and found an unoccupied marina buoy. Out of the 19 hours passage we sailed for 13 hours of it. It was good sailing although once the sun went down the rain started. We now have a lot of clothes that need drying out. At this rate my cold is never going to improve. Bed and sleep till 11:00 when we took the tender ashore to pay our mooring fees of $12 a night. Chatted to the manager of the small marina for while and found that our neighbor on the next buoy was the famous (to us) ‘Soleares’ who belongs to Alan and Patricia Lucas. Alan is 69 years old and has cruised the coast of Oz extensively and is the author of the two sailing books (bibles) ‘Cruising the NSW Coast’ and Cruising the Coral Coast’. The last time they were updated was in 2000 and he is about to update them once again. Hopefully we will catch up with them before we leave as they are live aboards.
Then, after a nice long and hot shower it was off to the shopping centre which was very close by. Late brekky/cum lunch. Back to 2AB to start drying things out. Then Geoff started to look at the light that is above the cooker which has decided to die. It never ends!
S31° 25.5 152° 53.9
Thursday 8th June 2006 - Day 468 - Port Macquarie
Nice day today. We checked the weather and there are some northerlies coming through before a strong S/SE wind of 35 knots on Sunday so we will stay here.
Paid for the marina buoy at $65 for the week. Took the bikes ashore for the duration and locked them up at the marina. Cycled up to another chandlery to see if we can find the correct Y valve for the pump out for the loo but a no go. Still, we managed to find other things to buy - don’t we always. Heading back I caught the edge of my wheel on a kerb and splat. Not again I hear you say - Yes - what’s new? Back at the marina Geoff bought the Y valve he had in stock as we only needed the outer lever part, which was the same. Geoff then installed it but couldn’t stop it from leaking and what a smell! He was muttering and cursing so I just kept quietly out of the way. He finally realized that it was the Teflon grease that he had put on it that was stopping it sealing and, once he had got rid of it and slapped on a load of winch grease, he had no further trouble.
Geoff also caught up with Alan and Patricia Lucas and had a good chat whilst I was at the marina waiting, waiting and waiting for him to come back with the 2nd bike. I guessed he had got chatting (his favourite pastime, I’m sure) and found a vantage point where I could see both boats and, sure enough, there he was - chat, chat, chat!
Friday 9th June 2006 - Day 469 - Port Macquarie
Arm and back just a tad stiff from falling off the bike yesterday. We are going on the bikes again today so I will just have to see how I go.
Just before we left for shore ‘Soleares’ and ‘2AB’ got very close as sometimes we swing in entirely different arcs. At one point we got really close which concerned me but Geoff thought that the marina wouldn’t put buoys in where boats could collide. BUT! We caught up with Alan Lucas later in the day and he said that a lot of boats do actually touch, both here and in Sydney when they are moored. He also said that they collided with a cat (or the cat hit them) last year on these same buoys. He said that no damage was done and he didn’t seem to be concerned. Probably because he has a large, heavy steel boat and we have a light GRP boat. Who would come of the worse????? Then Geoff thought he would put the genny on to boost the voltage before we left but our lovely marine battery charger, that we bought last August for over $700, wasn’t working. Geoff rang Glascraft in Brisbane and they said it had a two year warranty and for us to send it back to them. Bumma! So we padded it up and cycled into town to the post office and came out $23 lighter. Now we only have the genny to try to keep the power up, especially to the freezer. Geoff says he has been quite disappointed in the life of marine electronics.
We then cycled to the Alma Doepel which was the only Australian built square rigged boat, and was built in 1902 and then on to the end of the breakwater and have a look at the bar. The breakwater was made of large rocks which had been graffiti-ised over the years but done well and was quite colourful.
After a good ride (no falling off) we returned to 2AB where she was still in one piece. It seems we only get close to Soleares when the tide turns so its only a worry twice a day. No probs! Geoff then started work on changing the fixtures for the clears from press studs to tonneua cover bunges. We have found that the clears contract down south when it is colder and it is nigh on impossible to get the press studs on. Of course, when you are down south you need the clears up more than normal. Brrrrr! They are great now and so quick and easy to put up.
Then we tried our hand at some fishing. Plenty of bites, plenty of Bream but we only caught the small ones which went back to grow up some more.
Note: Port Macquarie was originally a penal settlement until 1830 when they allowed settlers in.
Saturday, 10th June 2006 - Day 470 - Port Macquarie
Overcast today with some rain. Geoff serviced both engines whilst I scrubbed the waterline from the deck with a stiff brush to try to get all the grime/growth off. We normally clean the hulls by going in the water but it is too cold now!
I then finished (correctly I hope) a competition crossword and am about to send it off. Wouldn’t it be nice to win the $500 top prize, or one of the $100’s, or one of the $20’s or one of the minor prizes. Nah - it will never happen.
It rained, well drizzled most of the day so it was clean/work on the boat day. So oven, fridge and galley got a good going over then the brass got cleaned whilst Geoff found a myriad of jobs to do. But the biggest job was when he found his window had started leaking again and one side of his bed was wet. Still he had one dry side. I offered to share my bed. He will take it out completely and reseal it when we get somewhere that has all the facilities and we have nice dry days. He has resealed it temporarily.
Thought of my sister Kay today who is in hospital having here back fused with a cement type filling. Hope it works for her!
P.S. You can see it was raining cos we got bored so we took a silly picture.
Sunday, 11th June 2006 - Day 471 - Port Macquarie
Gales due today so we headed into town before they arrived. Found a new washing trolley at a good price in Big W so Geoff is forgiven for losing the last one at Wangi Wangi. I also bought some brown pants to keep for best plus a windcheater and some supplies. We arrived back just as the winds started to come through. There are gales forecast for Port Mac and storms with hazardous winds to the south. Alan from Soleares says he doubts the bad winds will get this far - and he was right.
Did a bit of fishing but only caught a small Bream that got off at the last minute but I would have let him go anyway. He was probably borderline size. All the big Bream live in the marina where there is a no fish zone as they class it as a fish nursery. Who said fish had no brains?
More odd jobs around the boat, relax etc. Same as yesterday.
Rang Jo and Mikey in the UK in the evening as we hadn’t spoken them for ages. They live near Exeter and came out and hired a yacht up in the Whitsunday’s with us a few years ago. We tried to convince them that they needed to come out again but they have just come back from a holiday to Crete. Nice!
Monday, 12th June 2006 (Queens Birthday Holiday) - Day 472 - Port Macquarie
It never got too blowy but it’s not nice enough to bother to go ashore. Geoff installed two new lights in the engine bays plus fixed the one above the cooker. He also moved the Genoa further up the forestay which gives him more expanse to see. I cleaned the mould from my bedroom behind my curtains - yuk - it’s the weather that does it. Fished, relaxed. Much the same as yesterday. Boring sometimes.
Tuesday, 13th June 2006 - Day 473 - Port Macquarie
Up early to look at the weather forecast. Winds are good but the swell is forecast at 3 metres so I don’t want to go but Geoff is keen to at least have a look. Had a coffee but then I threw it all back up with nerves! (I told you this was warts’n all). I’m always great once we get going. Once my stomach had settled down and I took a seasick pill just in case, we headed up the Hastings River but once we got out of the breakwaters we found it difficult to identify the 2nd lead plus the waves were breaking all the way across the bar. We did two 360 degree turns and Geoff decided to abort and head back into Port Macquarie. We notified coastal patrol we were returning which they said was a good call.
 |
| Where's the gap????? |
Picked up our mooring and then Geoff had a chat on the radio with coastal patrol. He asked them how they rated the bar today and they said moderate but it was the skippers call if he wasn’t happy with it and he also knew his boat. Coastal Patrol are not allowed to give advice as to whether you should go or not only on the conditions (litigation and all it implies). He said that as we were unsure he thought it was a good call. So do I! Geoff couldn’t really see an opening and we couldn’t identify the leads so we will try again tomorrow.
So after lunch we decided to go in the tender to look at the Big Oyster and headed upstream. We were only guessing to where it was but it wasn’t this way. It got very shallow and we had to eventually turn back. When we got back to 2AB we saw heaps of large Bream sheltering under the boat so in went the rods. No bites and no wonder as there was a cruising dolphin going round the boats for a good hour. They probably decided to hide somewhere.
Oh: For those of you who are interested my arm has completely healed now with just a faint scar.
Wednesday, 14th June 2006 - 474 - Port Macquarie to Trial Bay
Up at 07:00 and get the weather. Winds are lighter, unfortunately, but the seas and swell are also down. Headed out at 0810 and logged on with coastal patrol. The bar is much more benign today with a clear passage through. Crossed at 08:30, 4 hours after low tide as this bar is subject to rogue waves in some conditions. No problems, a couple of large swells but no breakers across the channel plus we were able to identify the leads this time. They need to chop some branches off some of the trees.
Set a course and sailed with full main and Genoa but after a while we put the starboard engine on to boost the batteries and give us a bit more speed as the winds are so light. The seas are mild, which is nice! The autohelm went off again and at one point we were heading back the way we came for a few seconds. It has done it before but we put it down to rougher seas and stronger winds but there is no excuse this time. We will have to keep an eye on it.
Also heard some whale watching boats on the radio saying that Minky Whales were breaching. No sign of the boats or whales where we are but we will keep our eyes peeled. Nice sunset.
Thursday, 15th June 2006 - Day 475 - Trial Bay to Coffs Harbour
Up at 0615 at and leave anchorage at 0720. Rang Coffs Harbour to see if we can get a berth and have to ring again at 1200 to see what boats have left. Sounds quite busy and we may have to anchor in the outer harbour which can be quite swelly but the winds are light so we should be ok.
Motored all morning as the winds could be called non existent so slow going. The seas are calm and there is no seas/swell.
At around 1030 Michelle rang and I was half way through a good natter when there was a call from on deck “Whales”. Went on deck and Michelle got a running commentary. Then 40 minutes later we came upon a pod of Humpback Whales and got quite close to them but not within the 100 metre limit. We could see them quite clearly but the camera was having trouble picking them up but Geoff managed to get one reasonable shot (well, at least you can see it) of one whale flapping his tail (fluke to be correct).
Seas are very calm with a very light swell. The seas are so calm that Geoff spent the afternoon cleaning a lot of the stainless steel on deck which got me cleaning some on the inside (I got the guilt's). At 1400 I gave the marina another call and we have managed to secure a berth - Rippa. We need to top up on water and supplies (mainly meat and fruit) plus do a heap of washing (what fun). Chores continue wherever you are.
We have been listening on the radio to the yacht ‘Marinka 2’ that was behind us that had engine troubles and was sailed by a single yachtswoman. She kept pulling the fuel pump to bits and got it going for a half hour at a time then it conked out again. We relayed one message to her that she couldn’t hear and she was in constant touch with the coastal patrol. She couldn’t really sail as we have only had up to 3 knots of wind. Anyway, we have been docked at the Coffs Harbour Marina for 2 hours and the police rescue launch has now gone out to tow her in as the engine has conked out all together now. She sounds a very capable lady and didn’t want to give up and got quite a way here before she had to concede defeat. I think we should all give her a round of applause when she gets in.
S30° 18.21 E153° 08.8
Friday, 16th June 2006 - Day 476 - Coffs Harbour
Good sailing day today and we are staying at Coffs…. wouldn’t you know it but it is forecast for 30 knots later. Our next stop is Yamba, 12 hours sail away, so we will be leaving at some ungodly hour of the morning tomorrow to make the Yamba bar around high tide if the weather forecast is ok.
Note: More on ‘Marinka2’. She was towed in last night at 19:30 and the docking procedure was “book” perfect. Found out from other yachties that the yacht is only a small 28’ yacht and the captain is a 63 year old yachtswoman and is a charter captain. This is, apparently, her last year sailing single handed as she has a bad back from breaking it three times. It makes me marvel at the tenacity of some people.
We then decided to walk along the fingers of the marina to see if there was anyone we knew. We caught up with Penny on the 28’ yacht ‘Marinka2’ who we had relayed a message on to the previous day when she was having engine troubles. She is a young, vital 63 year old charter boat captain from Nelson Bay and is sailing single handed from Newcastle to the Whitsunday’s to raise money for “Partners of Compassion” for projects to enhance the lives of the under privileged in Uganda. If you want to know more go to www.compassion.com.au We also caught up with Karen and Warrick of ‘MV Jess’ who we have been shadowing up the coast but not spoken to. They invited us onboard for coffee after which we wandered up the other fingers.
Geoff caught up with the couple from the yacht ‘Tamahini’ who are off to Vanuatu in the next few days and told them to keep an eye out for Sally and Martin on ‘Acropora’.
Then it was off for a bit of exercise and to climb Muttonbird Island and down the other side to the viewing platform. Huff, puff! No Muttonbirds here in May, June and July - that would be right, but we did see whales on the far horizon. 95% sure they were whales but they were a long way away. Then back up the hill (huff, puff) and down (lovely) the other side and back to the marina for lunch.
Later we got on our trusty steeds and headed off for town where we both went in different directions and caught up later at the IGA supermarket. On the way back I bought a kilo of prawns from the fish co-op for $10 for a big prawn salad for tea. Got back to 2AB without denting any pavement!
Sent off my updated journal and got the BOM weather and we have decided to stay another day as the seas and swell is quite high tomorrow after a strong blow so it would be uncomfortable. Warrick also told us of another good website for the weather which is www.buoyweather.com so we will have to check it out. Apparently they have these virtual buoys located in all the oceans of the world and you click on the one nearest to you and can get the forecast for your actual area. Neat! I’ll check it out tomorrow and see how it goes.
Saturday, 17th June 2006 - Day 477 - Coffs Harbour
Very windy overnight and still blowing and it is even quite choppy in the marina so it was a wise call not to leave early this morning.
We had a look at the www.buoyweather.com website and you can trial it for 30 days free so we will see if we use it at all.
We decided that we may as well give the boat a good clean up so now the galley, head and saloon look nice and clean and tidy. After lunch we wandered up around the marina and had a chat to a couple (Rob and Danielle) on a yacht called ‘Olive Pearl’ that was anchored in the outer harbour overnight as there were no marina berths available. They and another yacht had come in and berthed temporarily on the fishing jetty/public wharf as they said it was too uncomfortable outside the marina. They said they will stay there until they get moved on. Well, that made our minds up and we will stay in the marina whilst we still have a berth even though it is money! The winds were supposed to have died down during the day but, so far, shows no sign of doing so. We are hoping they do so that we can leave tomorrow. We wandered up to Muttonbird Island to have a look at the seas beyond the breakwater and they are not as bad as this morning but there are a lot of white caps and it doesn’t look too nice.
Note: Bananas are only $4.99 here at Coffs not the $11.00/$12.00 everywhere else! (Note No.2 For people reading this from overseas, the reason that bananas are either non existent or so expensive is due to the fact that Cyclone Larry wiped out most of the crops in Far North Queensland earlier this year).
Later on Geoff spent a good few hours on the yacht ‘Tamahini’ trying to fix the sound input on their Toshiba laptop but thinks it is a hardware problem so they will ring Toshiba tomorrow as it is under warranty still.
Well it blew strongly all day and the swell was too high and not at all what had been forecast. so it doesn’t look like we will head off early tomorrow either.
Sunday, 18th June 2006 - Day 478 - Coffs Harbour
The wind has eased now and all we have to do is wait for the swell to decrease, hopefully by early afternoon when we want to leave the marina and anchor out in the outer harbour ready for a very early morning start.
Geoff spent the morning trying to network our 2 laptops via wireless…..done!
At 14:00 we left our berth and anchored in the outer harbour. It was quite swelly but not too bad, even though it is a side swell. After dinner and the news we hit the sack early.
Monday, 19th June 2006 - Day 479 - Coffs Harbour to Yamba
Up at 00:30 after about four hours sleep. Up anchor in the drizzle and head out of the harbour. Log on, set the sails then I’m back to my bed. Woken at 03:00 for my watch and Geoff is off to bed. 15 minutes after I had come on watch the autohelm switched itself off again and no matter what I did I couldn’t get it back on so had to call Geoff to assist. Somehow the belt had got twisted when it went off so no wonder I couldn’t get it on again. He had just gone back to bed again when it did it again but I managed to fix it this time and then it behaved itself for the rest of my watch. Geoff got up around 08:00 and it was then his problem!
It’s a bit drizzly today but there’s sun on the horizon so, hopefully, the rain won’t last. It did last, on and off all day. It was an uneventful passage with some sailing, some motor sailing which took 13 hours. The only noteworthy event was the sighting of a whale up close and personal just before we went to cross the bar at Yamba. Magnificent creatures……...how could countries like Japan and Iceland want to kill them?
Crossed the Yamba bar at 13:30 just before high tide with no problems, in fact, you wouldn’t have known there was a bar there. Anchored off Yamba Marina and decided to have a short snooze and 3 hours later we woke up. Had to wake myself up properly to cook some dinner. It was a good night for TV on ABC so we just vegged out! S29° 26.1 E153° 21.1
Tuesday, 20th June 2006 - Day 480 - Yamba
Slept really well and it is nice and calm here in this anchorage which makes a nice change. The sun is out but there are also heavy showers as well. At least it is T shirt weather during the day and we think it is a tad more humid.
Geoff dried out the Genoa and then we are taking it to the sail maker here to get its frayed edges fixed (minor repair).
Note: Some of you have commented that we seem to have a lot of repairs to do and things are always breaking down. I probably need to clarify this a bit as it is not just 2AB that has this problem but all boats. The marine environment is a harsh environment and breakdowns are just the name of the game. Still, it is annoying I can tell you! It is doubly annoying when things break down in the early stages of their warranty period, especially if they are marine items...you would think they would last out the warranty period. It’s triple annoying when they break down one month after the warranty ends. I am sure that some items are made to break down at this time!
After brekky we headed off to Yamba Marina to the sail maker and dropped off the Genoa. It will probably cost around $150. Hmmm….nothing is cheap. It is also getting towards the stage where it probably needs replacing but we are hoping it will last for a little while yet. Then off to the chandlery where we were able to pick up some of the things that have been on the list a long time. We also bought some more rope to make some longer springers. Note: Springers are the secondary ropes that come from each end of 2AB and get tied off on the dock cleat in the middle of 2AB to stop it moving too much,
We also noticed ‘Legless Emu’ (we met them at the Percy's last year) was still here in the marina but found out that they no longer live onboard and haven’t been around for a while. The owners are the paraplegic sailors and we first met them at the Percy’s.
Back on 2AB and Geoff has put large eye splices on the new rope springers. Geoff's ropes and knot skills comes from his childhood scouting days and when he was a scout leader. He gets frustrated with me when I stuff up my clove hitches. My excuse is that he is always rushing me when I am putting on the ropes and fenders to go into a marina. I like to have plenty of time to get the ropes on, fenders out, safety lines down, with the ropes coiled in two hands ready to throw to anyone who offers to help as we come in plus get mentally ready for the leap off of 2AB onto the dock to tie up without falling overboard. He says I start putting them on too soon and that he will give me plenty of time to do it all. Trouble is, he is watching me and thinks I am done when really I am not quite there and he goes to dock, then suddenly I am rushing and stuffing up. So, from now on, he has promised not to dock until I give him the thumbs up and not assume I am ready.
We got back to 2AB just before another rain shower came through and it looks like it is settled in now so I doubt if we will be going to Yamba today. Geoff kept himself busy by installing the LED light he made over the oven area. This light only take .17 amp instead of .75 amps which is quite a saving in power. It also gives off a great light.
Wednesday, 21st June 2006 - Day 481 - Yamba
Rained hard overnight so the tender is full of water which needs to be drained if/when we go ashore. We would like to go into Yamba if it ever stops raining.
This is when you can get a little bit of ‘cabin fever’. When it did eventually stop raining (well mostly) we took the tender further up the arm to the little beach near Yamba and wandered into town to post some mail. Geoff found a USB 40 gig hard drive at a good price of $150 as he was expecting to pay at least $220. We bought some more Bundi Rum (essential stores) to make up our D&S (Rum and ginger beer) and then back to 2AB before it rained. Geoff dropped me off and went in to pick up the Genoa which was a little cheaper than quoted at $135. The sailmaker has done a good job! Geoff then formatted his new USB hard drive and did the back ups. Then, just before dark, we decided that it had stopped raining enough that we would put the Genoa back up. Well, of course, it started raining on our final run so we got a bit wet anyway …… but it’s up. Now we’re ready to go early in the morning if the weather is right.
Thursday, 22nd June 2006 - Day 482 - Yamba to Ballina
Rained all night. Woke at 05:20 ……. Shall we go? Maybe not. Woke again at 06:00 and it has stopped raining and if we are going we need to go now. Got the forecast E/SE wind 15/18 with seas 1—1.5 and SE Swell around 1 metre. Sounds good so we are off to cross the bar at 07:30 to arrive at Ballina to cross their bar between 1543 to 1843.
When we got outside of the bar the wind was much stronger than forecast and the seas were confused so not all that comfortable and we will have to watch out for squalls, maybe. We covered 8 nm the first hour and there was a whale 20 metres off of our starboard bow. Then he was beside us and once behind us he gave us a great show by constantly breaching. Show off! I missed it all on camera (well I got a splash) as you never knew when he was going to breach again plus the boat was so bouncy. When you think of it, 20 metres is a little close for comfort. He was in 35 metres of water and would surface around every 30 seconds or so. We wondered if these solitary whales we see are lone males?
Still raining an hour later but the wind has dropped to 8 knots so we now have one engine on. Then 15 minutes later the wind is down to about 5 knots so we have both engines one. From the ridiculous to the sublime but the seas are still confused.
AND, another whale just astern of us but he’s on passage this time so no antics. Then we had just got to the leads at Ballina and I had just turned into wind to get the main sail in when a smaller whale (Minky???) surfaced right beside us. What a shock. If I hadn’t turned when I did he would have probably surfaced right in front or just under us and we would both have knocked a few barnacles off! Nice though! Can’t get enough!
Crossed the bar and with no problems whatsoever so a nice bonus. The cruising book we use always stresses the danger of bars and when you should cross them for optimal safety (which we follow as best we can) and you always get tense before crossing. So far, so good! (Fingers crossed). We anchored in the river opposite the fishing trawler marina and it is nice and calm here but the tidal stream is quite strong. Then we did a bit of fishing and only caught two largish catfish which we didn’t fancy so they both went back in. Also, Geoff had found a teeny weeny dead fish on the front deck of 2AB which was about the size of 5 cent piece. Couldn’t identify it of course but it was a tubby little fella. S28° 52.2 E153° 32.7
Friday, 23rd June 2006 - Day 483 - Ballina
Rained most of the night. It seems like it is following us. Every time we watch the weather on the news the highest rainfall is where we are. Geoff has put up the back water catcher to try to catch some of it. Of course, now it is up it has stopped raining. Same as the phenomena of taking an umbrella then it doesn’t rain, or washing the car and then it does! Hey, it didn’t work this time as we have collected over 20 litres so far. We kept hoping it would clear up so we could go ashore and explore Ballina but every time we thought we could make a run for it the rain beat us. So we decided to stay on board, once again. I spent most of the day entering budget data that we had lost when Geoff had reformatted the hard drive. I’m getting there but it is a lot of work. I gave it up around 16:00 as I was starting to go cross eyed. Another job for another rainy day!
Earlier I rang up about our marine battery charger and the girl at Glascraft said that the technicians of the company who supplied them with it can find nothing wrong with it. Geoff got the number and had a chat to the tech direct and also told him that the charger had been charging the batteries well in excess of 15 volts which he agreed was not good. He said he would have another look at it and get back to us.
I caught another catfish. Is there nothing else down there?????
Saturday, 24th June 2006 - Day 484 - Ballina
SUN - WOW! Nice to see it again so the curtains are open to the front cabins to get some warmth into them and dry them out.
Then it was off in the tender to the fishing trawler marina but we couldn’t see any easy way of getting to land so we continued up North Creek Canal where we found a public jetty where we tied up. Had a chat to a couple of fishermen there who were cleaning and filleting two very large fish which they said were Jewfish. They showed us the head of one that was on the rivers edge and it was huge and too huge for the Pelicans to swallow although they were having a good job trying. Apparently, these fish can get up to 59 kilos and the fillets looked really nice. They also told us where the main public jetty was closer to the CBD so we headed off. It took quite a while to get there even though we had the flow with us.
Wandered around the shops and found a Woollies so did a reasonable shop as supplies were getting down. Got back to 2AB and within minutes the clouds had come in and it was raining with a thunderstorm coming closer. Put the spare laptop and GPS in the oven hoping it would act as a Faraday Case (I’ve explained faraday cases in a previous journal) in case of a lightning strike. We have yet to find out if the oven works as a Faraday case or not. The thunderstorm passed us by anyway. Geoff had put his line in and decided to check on it and pulled in a lovely large Mud Crab. Because he was large Geoff decided to keep him so out came the book and yes … he was a male so we could keep him. Our good seafood cooking book said the most humane way to kill crabs was to immerse them in iced water. Hmmm but we did and he went very quickly. Then we followed the instructions on how to prepare him and Geoff did a good job. After he was cooked Geoff spent many messy minutes getting all the meat from him. He then made up a dipping sauce and we ate it plain like that with a nice drink out on the back deck as the weather was nice again. (Crab meat is sweet but give us lobster any day… much less fiddly).
Sunday, 25th June 2006 - Day 485 - Ballina to Tweed Heads
Up at 06:00 and get ready to leave the anchorage. Nice day and the forecast is good apart from the chance of a thunderstorm. Checked with the coast guard on the bar condition and it is good so we’re off. Crossed the bar at 07:15, one hour before high tide, and logged on with the coast guard to Tweed Heads. We estimated it would be a nine hour passage but the winds are light (not the forecast 15/20 knots) and we have at least a 1.5 knot current against us which means we will be crossing the bar on or after dark which is a bumma. The tide is still okay at that time which is good.
Around 14:30 Geoff decided to put up the Spinnaker to see if it would set and give us any more speed, which he thought it might. We will see. We noticed it had a few holes emerging so we will have to patch it later to stop it getting any worse. Anyway, it was just flopping around and not doing much so we took it in but at least it had dried out from being in the front locker. Geoff then was able to patch it and I was able to sew a seam that was coming undone.
Just coming up to 17:00 and we heard a boat relaying a faint mayday message to the Seaway Tower at the Brisbane Bar (we couldn’t hear the mayday ourselves). We’re all ears now, of course.
Got over the bar in daylight which was nice as I thought we may be going in after dark.. Nice bonus. Coastal Patrol said we looked good going over the bar! We anchored opposite the golf club in the Tweed River just on dark. It is very calm and still here. It was a slow trip today with the current against us so let’s hope the last bit to the Gold Coast is better.
Note: We never heard anymore details about the mayday.
Monday, 26th June 2006 - Day 486 - Tweed Heads to the Gold Coast
Decided to head off to the Gold Coast today as the conditions are light so there should be no problem going over the Seaway bar any time today. We had winds mainly from the SW around 10/15 knots and NO CURRENT so we were able to sail the whole way. Crossed the bar at the Seaway without a hitch due to the calm conditions and logged off with Seaway Tower. We anchored at Marine Stadium (Bums Bay). We’ve now done a big circle since February last year. Since leaving the Brisbane area we have covered over 4,300 nautical miles which equates to 7,878 kilometers. We’ve also crossed bars (in and out) 29 times. Wow! Geoff said “does that make us experienced at crossing bars” and I said “Not experienced but certainly not new at it). S27° 56.6 E153° 25.4
Tuesday, 27th June 2006 - Day 487 - Gold Coast to Blakesley’s Anchorage
Looks like it’s going to be a lovely day today. I’m back to wearing pedal pushers (just below the knees pants/shorts) and a T Shirt. Nice! Geoff has jeans on and regretting it but he can always change.
We up anchored at 10:30 and headed up the Broadwater northwards. You can see we are back in real civilization because of the parasailing and other activities and the speed in which the large stink boats go by.
We’ve been in rough seas where nothing falls over but when these guys go by everything falls. So now we’re in really smooth waters and everything is tied down, laid down and hatches are shut. Weird! The wind is a bit chilly as we’re going along but the thermometer says it is 25° C.
Geoff eventually put on his shorts (wrinkled). Rang Rob (another Cloud owner) and will try to catch up with him whilst we are here but it may not be possible. Plus Wade rang and Geoff had a good natter.
Rang the tech about the battery charger and they have done every test possible on it and can’t find anything wrong so we will get it back from Glascraft tomorrow and then have to see if it is something on the boat that is making it play up.
Uneventful day apart from when we were just coming into the anchorage at Blakesley’s when a juvenile/young mans voice came over the radio saying they were lost. They were saying that they had logged on with the Seaway Tower even though they were in Moreton Bay so VKQ447 Manly replied to them. I think VKQ thought they were being unresponsive and unhelpful but we thought they were just very inexperienced and getting panicky as it was getting towards dusk. We were able to hear them better so kept listening in case we could help. Eventually the water police were called out to guide them in.
After we anchored we dropped the lines in and got bites straight away but all we reeled in were Giant Toad Fish (not so big, around 30cm). We looked in the fishing book which said they bite off hooks (which they did), bite off fingers (which they didn't) and were the scourge of fishermen (agree to that) and when they were in schools the only thing to do was to move to another fishing spot. Well we didn’t move of course, but we did stop fishing. Last time we were here last March I caught a large Sweet Lip which, unfortunately for us, got off at the last minute.
Wednesday, 28th June 2006 - Day 488 - Blakesleys to Dockside, Brisbane
Another nice day. Up anchored at 09:30 to head to the Dockside Marina in the heart of Brisbane as we need to pick up that battery charger. Rang the marina and they THINK they may have a spot for us so we’re off as it is a 7 hours trip from here.
We motor sailed all the way until just as we came up to the Brisbane River entrance when the direction we were going and the wind gave us a good sail most of the way up the Brisbane River. Called the marina again and he said to just go in any vacant berth and he would sort it in the morning, so we picked the biggest (and they let us stay for the 10 metre price).. There is another duck (or is it the same one from Sydney) that climbed the transom steps for a visit. Cute. We went to the Thai Restaurant for dinner and it was as good as we remembered it.
It is quite bouncy here when the river cats go by but they finish around 11pm. We just had a bounce and there was a large squawk from outside so I hope our duck didn't get squashed between us and the pontoon. We went outside with the big torch and Geoff shone it around but we couldn’t see anything. No blood and guts to be seen was Geoff’s comment !
Thursday, 29th June 2006 - Day 489 - Dockside Marina, Brisbane
Overcast and drizzly today. Not too much of a worry as it is cleaning and washing day today for me whilst Geoff takes his bike to Glascraft in the CDB. Two hours later and all the clothes are clean and the bed linen is clean ready to be put back on the beds... which is a job in itself.
When Geoff came back he serviced both the headsail sheet winches and connected the battery charger back up. It is working fine so he has checked the wiring and it looks like we are getting 100 volts between the positive and earth which is really strange. He has decided to get a professional in at Gladstone to sort it out. It may only be caused by a wire that has got corroded, who knows. Rang my dad and sister in the UK and caught up with all the news.
Friday, 30th June 2006 - day 490 - Dockside to Tangalooma
Still a little dull but no rain and warm enough. Rang Big Pond to see why our bill was so high and found out you pay a month in advance so it was for 2 months...phew! Also did my credit card reconciliation. Left for Tangalooma at midday to catch the ebb tide down the Brisbane River. The trip to the mouth took two and a half hours. Going past the commercial docks we saw the ship the “Tampa” and most Aussies would remember this ship from the ‘children overboard’ refugee scandal.
Motored all the way as the wind was from the wrong direction and got to the Tangalooma Wrecks at 17:30. The wrecks were put on the sandbank to try to make a small harbour free from swell but, apparently, it didn’t work. As we were late in we had to anchor out from the limited protection of the wrecks as all the spaces were taken. It is a little swelly here at present and I’m hoping it is just tide turn.
Note: Wrong…....had a shocking night as we had a nasty side swell from 2am to 5am. I finished my book during these hours. Geoff slept through it all, of course!
No comments:
Post a Comment