Mooloolaba to Brisbane…(via the Tangalooma Shipwrecks)
Mooloolaba is the heart of the Sunshine Coast and where we anchor Arete up the river near the bridge is a perfect spot; it’s protected from the winds & swell, easy access to town, with a new public jetty to lock up the dingy when you go ashore. Ray and Tracy invited us up to their home for lunch Thursday afternoon. Ray is building a 44ft Easy Catamaran and I know it’s going to be amazing. They live in a lush tropical setting on three acres up in the mountains, looks like Maui Hawaii to me. We met Ray and Tracy two years ago in The Whitsunday’s and we always contact them when we are in Mooloolaba.
That night I set the alarm clock to wake me at 11:30pm, high tide, it was pitch black but we brought up the anchor and motored Arete up onto the beach, I jumped off the bow and walked the anchor up the sand a few meters. Went back to bed and woke at 4:45am with Arete sitting on the beach; High and Dry..at low tide...I got busy with a scrapper, first knocking off all the barnacles and other stuff that had grown under the waterline. I also replaced the anodes on the rudders and removed some slimy stains that all boats get…about 9:00am the tide was back in enough to float Arete off the beach and we returned to the anchorage out in the middle of the channel. I was quite pleased with my efforts and Arete looked great. I was rewarded when Hiroko cooked Banana Pancakes for breakfast…
I’d been in contact with a few of my yachtie mates from The Garden Point Mooring in the Brisbane River during the week and they planned a weekend trip to the Tangalooma Shipwrecks so at 5:00am we were bringing up the anchor and headed south into Moreton Bay. Arriving at the wrecks about noon it was very busy as it being a weekend and school holidays but we able to drop the pick near “Lava” and later “Thula Moma” arrived so it was great to catch up with my Brisbane neighbors…The following day “Mingles” arrived and we all enjoyed the weekend of fun in the sun, swimming, snorkeling, paddling the kayaks around and throwing the Frisbee on the beach. That night the wind picked up and swung around to the NW this bringing a big swell and making it very uncomfortable. No worries as we were headed up the Brisbane River in the morning. Our final sail of the trip was great, a broad reach across the bay and catching the incoming tide up the river 13 nautical miles from the Brisbane Bar to our mooring at The Garden Point. It’s 34 miles from the wrecks to our mooring so the trip ended about 2:00pm. Almost 2000 nautical miles now were are back where we started about 5 &1/2 months ago...