Sailing downwind in the Whitsunday Passage,
The weather forecast said three days of North by Northeasterly winds 10 ~15 knots with a Southerly change late Tuesday afternoon. That sounded perfect as I thought we’d have a nice sail through the Whitsunday Islands and be in Mackay Marina by the time the winds swing to the south…(Tuesday was Melbourne Cup day, a huge thing here in Australia…)
The sail out of Airlie Beach started slow in very light winds but picked up about noon to make it a nice day, we anchored at Cid Harbor in the lee of Whitsunday Island one of the places with enough room for a 100 yachts and that night it had many charter boats and a few of the mega buck yachts you see in only in the Whitsundays…Sunday morning we sailed out of Cid Harbor into the Whitsunday Passage (kind of like Interstate 5 in California)…This being the channel that runs right through the center of the premier sailing grounds in Australia…A perfect Sunday afternoon and all the fancy boats were out of their marina berths in Hamilton Island for a day of sailing…Areté running downwind with all the rags up…The Whitsunday Passage is a green ( no fishing) zone so of course there were schools of Tuna and Mackerel jumping, chasing bait fish…about 4:oo pm we pulled into a heavenly anchorage ; a key hole shaped bay, that looks kind of like a canyon with cliffs on both sides and a small sand beach and pine trees growing between of the rocks…It isn’t in the cruising guides so we had it all to ourselves…
The following day Monday Nov.5th the winds started very light so we had the small spinnaker sail up and then the wind started howling and down came the spinnaker and out went a half furled headsail…just a little sail up, no main sail and Areté is going like a Boeing…I heard another yacht on the radio telling someone his wind gauge says 27 knots…We don’t have a wind gauge on Areté but that seemed about right…We had just a bit of the headie out and screaming down waves, surfing the swells of a couple meters sometimes waves doubling up into roller coaster ride quality of whooop deee dooos…. just magic…!!!!!... About 5;00pm we started wondering where we could anchor in this much wind??? We chose a North facing bay on Keswick Island and saw couple yachts already there…This bay has a huge fringing reef that comes way out so we were forced to anchor in almost 40 feet of water…( this is near Mackay with the 5 meter tides, biggest on the Queensland coast)…the wind was still blowing hard from the NE keeping Areté on a very tight anchor chain…I put the GPS anchor drag alarm on and went to bed…At 2;00am the alarm starts beeping and that officially ended the evenings, sleeping, The Southeasterly wind change came through like a freight train I spent the next four hours watching the GPS to see if we were going to be washed ashore onto huge rocks that had waves smashing into them sounding like a car wreck, the swell picked up very quickly making just standing or walking around the boat difficult. There was no moon as it’s just a couple days before the new moon…At about 6;00am the sun came up and we got outta there ASAP! It’s 16 nautical miles from there to the Mackay Marina straight into the wind direction…it was rough as guts waves stacking up and spray coming over the decks…Of course I had to put the lures out and ended up losing a good lure not sure if it was a strike or rock...We were unable to make much speed in such rough seas…so it took 5 hours to get to Mackay Marina… …when we entered the breakwater I went below deck and saw books on the floor, all the stuff on the shelves in the bathroom scattered all over the bathroom floor…stuff everywhere, shelves empty…yes it was pretty bumpy coming across from Keswick Island…we were allocated berth W-42 right in the middle of the row with boats everywhere and a 20+ knot wind causing plenty of drift and making berthing this boat a real challenge, luckily a guy on another yacht grabbed a line and we were in the pen and tied off in one shot…Surprised myself that it went so well…my heart was pounding and my legs felt like jelly but we were out of the wind and secure…with just over an hour before the Melbourne Cup started…The guy on the million dollar catamaran next to us invited me aboard to see the race and have a look at what I’d buy if I win the lottery…He explained he just bought the boat and doesn’t know much about sailing and thought we were old salts cause the way we pulled Arete into the slip with all that wind…”See, you can fool some of the people some of the time”…
Well the horse my buddy Grahame called to give me some inside information on ran third so it was a good thing I didn’t have a chance to put any money on the race…It is hard to imagine how big the Melbourne Cup horse race is here in OZ but it’s a day when the gals dress up in their best dresses and wear hats, most offices close about mid day and everyone goes to the pub to watch the race…
Now we’re settled into the Mackay Marina life we’ll spend a couple days victualling and I’ll head over to Fishing World to get a few more lures as I’ll have many chances for some great fish sailing south from here in a few days…
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Sailing south from Townsville to Brisbane
A few weeks slipped by as we enjoyed our visit to Townsville, a magical place with free public swimming pools and the entire shoreline of town a series of parks, with free electrical BBQ and clean beaches. While we were there the wind kicked up pretty good causing a few boats to drag anchor and "go walkabout", Arete held tight.... I made a few new friends in the "duck pond" and enjoyed a few sundowners on other yachts, sharing some Arete Super #1 Lager Beer...
We made plans to buddy sail to Zoe Bay a couple days before the full moon, at 10:oo pm the night before we were to leave, the toilet stopped flushing...I spent the next two days learning a great deal more about marine toilets in the process of replacing mine...$300 later we have a new electric toilet and the winds had changed to a Nor'easter...We missed our chance at Zoe Bay but sailed around Magnetic Island and through Halifax Bay back to Horseshoe Bay to meet up with Matt on Aventure. Matt sailed out from Seattle, we know each other from Brisbane and he's also lived in Japan for many years...The day after the full moon party on Arete we weighed anchor and pointed our catamaran south, heading back to Brisbane...We are now in Airlie Beach after a nights at Cape Bowling Green, Cape Upstart and Bowen...
Sailing south in the Nor'easterly winds is a lot different than going the other way in the SE trade winds, first of all they are lighter winds and they blow you onto the lee shore, so you are constantly tacking out around headlands...It makes 40 miles into a long, tiring day...One morning just an hour after sunrise, just coming out around the headland of Cape Upstart, with an incoming tide,...I had the main sail up and the motors running, sailing just off the wind trying to put some blue water between us and the giant rocky shore of Cape Upstart before turning the boat down wind for a broad reach south to Bowen.....Bang...ZZZZZZzzzzzz the Penn reel was screaming...I knew it was a good fish from the power it had in it's first run of the line....After a long fight I got the fish to the back steps of my catamaran and he spit the hook and swam away.....I was crushed, losing a fish like that, so close but no cigar....I put the lure back in and secured the rod and just as I walked away Bang again...This time I brought him aboard....It was 142 cm long or 4 feet 7 inches... Wahoo is a good eating game fish...That night anchored near the town of Bowen Triple J FM played the John Butler Trio concert live as we ate Wahoo cooked with garlic and butter. I really like his music, a bit like Jack Johnson with some hot guitar work...
Not a lot of other excitement, we did see another huge sea snake in Abbot's Bay, way offshore in just about the exact same place I saw one on the way North( the only ones I've seen , ever!)...We had a brown Boobie bird that would not leave us alone, he landed on Arete about ten times....as we sailed along 4 or 5 miles offshore. That is a big sea bird with a three foot wingspan and a powerful bill, I was not real crazy about cleaning up after that big beast and he was not wanting to leave the friendly confines of Arete so I'd shooo him off one side and he'd fly around to the other side...It was like a comedy routine...
Funny how things go... I don't troll lures when we have fish in the fridge and as soon as I caught that big Wahoo, I had yellowtail Tuna jumping next to Arete all day... just like seeing deer out of season....
The winds are forecast to change in a couple days and then we'll cruise through the Whitsunday Islands...
We made plans to buddy sail to Zoe Bay a couple days before the full moon, at 10:oo pm the night before we were to leave, the toilet stopped flushing...I spent the next two days learning a great deal more about marine toilets in the process of replacing mine...$300 later we have a new electric toilet and the winds had changed to a Nor'easter...We missed our chance at Zoe Bay but sailed around Magnetic Island and through Halifax Bay back to Horseshoe Bay to meet up with Matt on Aventure. Matt sailed out from Seattle, we know each other from Brisbane and he's also lived in Japan for many years...The day after the full moon party on Arete we weighed anchor and pointed our catamaran south, heading back to Brisbane...We are now in Airlie Beach after a nights at Cape Bowling Green, Cape Upstart and Bowen...
Sailing south in the Nor'easterly winds is a lot different than going the other way in the SE trade winds, first of all they are lighter winds and they blow you onto the lee shore, so you are constantly tacking out around headlands...It makes 40 miles into a long, tiring day...One morning just an hour after sunrise, just coming out around the headland of Cape Upstart, with an incoming tide,...I had the main sail up and the motors running, sailing just off the wind trying to put some blue water between us and the giant rocky shore of Cape Upstart before turning the boat down wind for a broad reach south to Bowen.....Bang...ZZZZZZzzzzzz the Penn reel was screaming...I knew it was a good fish from the power it had in it's first run of the line....After a long fight I got the fish to the back steps of my catamaran and he spit the hook and swam away.....I was crushed, losing a fish like that, so close but no cigar....I put the lure back in and secured the rod and just as I walked away Bang again...This time I brought him aboard....It was 142 cm long or 4 feet 7 inches... Wahoo is a good eating game fish...That night anchored near the town of Bowen Triple J FM played the John Butler Trio concert live as we ate Wahoo cooked with garlic and butter. I really like his music, a bit like Jack Johnson with some hot guitar work...
Not a lot of other excitement, we did see another huge sea snake in Abbot's Bay, way offshore in just about the exact same place I saw one on the way North( the only ones I've seen , ever!)...We had a brown Boobie bird that would not leave us alone, he landed on Arete about ten times....as we sailed along 4 or 5 miles offshore. That is a big sea bird with a three foot wingspan and a powerful bill, I was not real crazy about cleaning up after that big beast and he was not wanting to leave the friendly confines of Arete so I'd shooo him off one side and he'd fly around to the other side...It was like a comedy routine...
Funny how things go... I don't troll lures when we have fish in the fridge and as soon as I caught that big Wahoo, I had yellowtail Tuna jumping next to Arete all day... just like seeing deer out of season....
The winds are forecast to change in a couple days and then we'll cruise through the Whitsunday Islands...
Monday, October 8, 2007
Magical Magnetic Island & Terrific Townsville…
What is the perfect size town or city to live in??? I’d think it would need to be big enough to have pro sports teams, get good concerts but still have a small town feel and be a safe community. I think Townsville rocks !!! Home of The Cowboys a Rugby League team that was one win away from another Grand Final berth again this year.( For those of you in the USA not knowing what Rugby League is…try to imagine NFL football without any pads, no stops in play, and a tackling style that remind me of steer-wrestling) Also home of The Croc’s a professional Basketball team in the NBL, of course it’s not the NBA level but “I wouldn’t live in Cleveland just to watch Labron play anyways”.
Jupiters Casino is next to the Townsville Entertainment Center right in front of the “duck pond” a free anchorage right outside the marina breakwater in the center of town…”gotta love it"…(see photo)
Magnetic Island is about 8 miles offshore from Townsville, we spent a week in Horseshoe Bay, I’d say it is almost a perfect anchorage. We were able to get wireless internet in the bay though no cell phone reception. We were lucky enough to catch the “Bay Day” a jazz festival, a great day of live jazz on the beach. One afternoon we went out for a day sail, just put the sails up and tacked straight out towards the GBR ahhhh…perfect… I had the lures trolling behind and bang !!!! Fish on !!! It didn’t feel like a Tuna they have their own feel, as I brought the fish closer to the back step I saw it was a shark, yuck!!!
It was a pretty damn big shark too with one of my best lures in his mouth. I live on the water and spend a lot of time in it too, so have come up with a theory that if I don’t kill or eat sharks they will show me the same respect. Now how can I get my lure back safely? Well getting a treble hook with barbs dislodged from a swimming shark on a boat sailing 5~6 knots ain’t easy…A new Repella rattler lure is about $25. and I’m not going to give one of my best lures to a damn shark!!! End of story…
Another beautiful afternoon we hiked up to the Forts, these forts were built to defend Townsville from the Japanese in WW2. On the hike we saw a couple Koala bears sleeping in the trees. It was our first experience to see Koalas in the wild;( see photo) they are surprisingly cute and have great expressions on their faces. On the way down we saw some Wallabies bouncing along the path and as we walked back towards Horseshoe Bay the full moon rose giving Magnetic Island a truly magical feel.
As for us right now we have a few things to sort out here in port, a small tear in the mainsail, leaky pump in the head, a few new books to read, re-stocking of fishing supplies and of course a chance to try my luck at the tables at Jupiters Casino coinciding with the happy hour drink prices…
What is the perfect size town or city to live in??? I’d think it would need to be big enough to have pro sports teams, get good concerts but still have a small town feel and be a safe community. I think Townsville rocks !!! Home of The Cowboys a Rugby League team that was one win away from another Grand Final berth again this year.( For those of you in the USA not knowing what Rugby League is…try to imagine NFL football without any pads, no stops in play, and a tackling style that remind me of steer-wrestling) Also home of The Croc’s a professional Basketball team in the NBL, of course it’s not the NBA level but “I wouldn’t live in Cleveland just to watch Labron play anyways”.
Jupiters Casino is next to the Townsville Entertainment Center right in front of the “duck pond” a free anchorage right outside the marina breakwater in the center of town…”gotta love it"…(see photo)
Magnetic Island is about 8 miles offshore from Townsville, we spent a week in Horseshoe Bay, I’d say it is almost a perfect anchorage. We were able to get wireless internet in the bay though no cell phone reception. We were lucky enough to catch the “Bay Day” a jazz festival, a great day of live jazz on the beach. One afternoon we went out for a day sail, just put the sails up and tacked straight out towards the GBR ahhhh…perfect… I had the lures trolling behind and bang !!!! Fish on !!! It didn’t feel like a Tuna they have their own feel, as I brought the fish closer to the back step I saw it was a shark, yuck!!!
It was a pretty damn big shark too with one of my best lures in his mouth. I live on the water and spend a lot of time in it too, so have come up with a theory that if I don’t kill or eat sharks they will show me the same respect. Now how can I get my lure back safely? Well getting a treble hook with barbs dislodged from a swimming shark on a boat sailing 5~6 knots ain’t easy…A new Repella rattler lure is about $25. and I’m not going to give one of my best lures to a damn shark!!! End of story…
Another beautiful afternoon we hiked up to the Forts, these forts were built to defend Townsville from the Japanese in WW2. On the hike we saw a couple Koala bears sleeping in the trees. It was our first experience to see Koalas in the wild;( see photo) they are surprisingly cute and have great expressions on their faces. On the way down we saw some Wallabies bouncing along the path and as we walked back towards Horseshoe Bay the full moon rose giving Magnetic Island a truly magical feel.
As for us right now we have a few things to sort out here in port, a small tear in the mainsail, leaky pump in the head, a few new books to read, re-stocking of fishing supplies and of course a chance to try my luck at the tables at Jupiters Casino coinciding with the happy hour drink prices…
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Tropical North Queensland
Tropical North Queensland, (Airlie Beach to Magnetic Island…)
After just two days in Airlie Beach we got a Sou’easterly breeze and it was anchors aweigh, out across Pioneer Bay between Double Cone Island and Armit Island sailing on a broad reach, turning to the west running with the wind we put up the spinnaker sail and headed for Gloucester Passage “Full Sail” !!!. Destination tropical Bowen “The Big Mango” if you’ve seen the Bruce Brown’s surf movie Endless Summer you’ll know what I’m talking about. Bowen is just 39 nautical miles from Airlie Beach but a different world. Arriving late afternoon, we tied off between two floating cans, (secure moorings) provided by Queensland Transport for $9.50 a night in the Bowen Boat Harbor. It was couple days before the Bowen Fishing Derby so the harbor was full of activity. Hiroko and I spent a few days here on our trip North two years ago, we both love this town of 8000 people, great beaches, fantastic fishing and no Seven/Elevens or corporate fast food outlets. Our last night in town we had to check out the North Queensland Cruising Yacht Club for sundowners.
Bowen to Cape Upstart is 45 nautical miles; Sailing around the headland along Kings Beach schools of fish were jumping and dolphins chasing baitfish….I had two pink squids and a silver spoon trolling behind Areté at 6~7 knots feeling lucky…It was a great day on the water, calm seas and just enough wind for a comfortable sail North. About mid~day crossing Abbot Bay, 8 miles offshore I had a huge strike that hit my lure like a freight train, took the pink squid, wire leader and didn’t even slow down…As I was reeling in my line I saw a sea snake coming right at us…It was at least 8 feet long, two tones of brown and absolutely no fear...He was awesome, I’ve heard they are either curious or aggressive, he sure looked like he was on the attack, but attacking a 11 meter catamaran ? This encouraged me to investigate (I’ve got lots of books on board) = There are 32 reported species of sea snakes here in Northern Queensland, all poisonous. As I researched further I found out Australia has more things that will kill you than anywhere else….
Of the worlds 10 most poisonous snakes, all are Australian!
We have five creatures; the funnel-web spider, box jellyfish, blue ringed octopus, paralysis tick and stonefish are all most lethal of their type on the planet.
80% of all that lives here; plant & animals exists nowhere else on earth.
I’m not even going to talk about sharks or salt water crocidiles…
Cape Upstart to Cape Bowling Green 39 nautical miles,
The Nor’easterly wind caused us to anchor tucked way back in Upstart Bay trying to get some protection. A nice rain in the middle of the night gave Areté a nice bath and made for good sleeping. The following morning was grey, cloudy and breezy, but that’s what makes the boat go, so we did and it was truly a great sail! I lost another lure early in the day and later sighted a couple big sharks swimming along the surface, before landing a nice School Mackerel (between 2 and 3 feet long). It was one of those near perfect days sailing, one of my best days!!!!
Cape Bowling Green is like a long sandy finger that sticks out into the Coral Seas it’s the lowest cape on the coast. By the time we got around it and got the anchor down the wind was blowing pretty hard (a solid 15~20 knots, gusting higher). The Townsville weather forecast at 5:15pm said we could expect a couple days with 20 knot winds so we let out a bunch of anchor chain and settled in for some down time….There is always something to do on this boat, Areté is a great boat but you can’t just expect perfection without putting in lots of TLC. It kind of fun and when you fix something it feels good, makes ya feel intelligent, also that pride of ownership is a great feeling.
A couple days of beachcombing, as this is a long way from anywhere and except for cruising yachties Cape Bowling Green gets no footprints on it’s beach. This leaves lots to see and shell collecting is excellent here.
The following day Tuesday Sept.25th in light winds, we sailed around Cape Cleveland into Horseshoe Bay at Magnetic Island 39 nautical miles. No fish but another huge strike and lost my favorite lure...O~well that's what it's called fishing not catching I guess....
Captain Cook named this island when he visited in1770 thinking it had magnetic powers as it effected his ships compass.
After just two days in Airlie Beach we got a Sou’easterly breeze and it was anchors aweigh, out across Pioneer Bay between Double Cone Island and Armit Island sailing on a broad reach, turning to the west running with the wind we put up the spinnaker sail and headed for Gloucester Passage “Full Sail” !!!. Destination tropical Bowen “The Big Mango” if you’ve seen the Bruce Brown’s surf movie Endless Summer you’ll know what I’m talking about. Bowen is just 39 nautical miles from Airlie Beach but a different world. Arriving late afternoon, we tied off between two floating cans, (secure moorings) provided by Queensland Transport for $9.50 a night in the Bowen Boat Harbor. It was couple days before the Bowen Fishing Derby so the harbor was full of activity. Hiroko and I spent a few days here on our trip North two years ago, we both love this town of 8000 people, great beaches, fantastic fishing and no Seven/Elevens or corporate fast food outlets. Our last night in town we had to check out the North Queensland Cruising Yacht Club for sundowners.
Bowen to Cape Upstart is 45 nautical miles; Sailing around the headland along Kings Beach schools of fish were jumping and dolphins chasing baitfish….I had two pink squids and a silver spoon trolling behind Areté at 6~7 knots feeling lucky…It was a great day on the water, calm seas and just enough wind for a comfortable sail North. About mid~day crossing Abbot Bay, 8 miles offshore I had a huge strike that hit my lure like a freight train, took the pink squid, wire leader and didn’t even slow down…As I was reeling in my line I saw a sea snake coming right at us…It was at least 8 feet long, two tones of brown and absolutely no fear...He was awesome, I’ve heard they are either curious or aggressive, he sure looked like he was on the attack, but attacking a 11 meter catamaran ? This encouraged me to investigate (I’ve got lots of books on board) = There are 32 reported species of sea snakes here in Northern Queensland, all poisonous. As I researched further I found out Australia has more things that will kill you than anywhere else….
Of the worlds 10 most poisonous snakes, all are Australian!
We have five creatures; the funnel-web spider, box jellyfish, blue ringed octopus, paralysis tick and stonefish are all most lethal of their type on the planet.
80% of all that lives here; plant & animals exists nowhere else on earth.
I’m not even going to talk about sharks or salt water crocidiles…
Cape Upstart to Cape Bowling Green 39 nautical miles,
The Nor’easterly wind caused us to anchor tucked way back in Upstart Bay trying to get some protection. A nice rain in the middle of the night gave Areté a nice bath and made for good sleeping. The following morning was grey, cloudy and breezy, but that’s what makes the boat go, so we did and it was truly a great sail! I lost another lure early in the day and later sighted a couple big sharks swimming along the surface, before landing a nice School Mackerel (between 2 and 3 feet long). It was one of those near perfect days sailing, one of my best days!!!!
Cape Bowling Green is like a long sandy finger that sticks out into the Coral Seas it’s the lowest cape on the coast. By the time we got around it and got the anchor down the wind was blowing pretty hard (a solid 15~20 knots, gusting higher). The Townsville weather forecast at 5:15pm said we could expect a couple days with 20 knot winds so we let out a bunch of anchor chain and settled in for some down time….There is always something to do on this boat, Areté is a great boat but you can’t just expect perfection without putting in lots of TLC. It kind of fun and when you fix something it feels good, makes ya feel intelligent, also that pride of ownership is a great feeling.
A couple days of beachcombing, as this is a long way from anywhere and except for cruising yachties Cape Bowling Green gets no footprints on it’s beach. This leaves lots to see and shell collecting is excellent here.
The following day Tuesday Sept.25th in light winds, we sailed around Cape Cleveland into Horseshoe Bay at Magnetic Island 39 nautical miles. No fish but another huge strike and lost my favorite lure...O~well that's what it's called fishing not catching I guess....
Captain Cook named this island when he visited in1770 thinking it had magnetic powers as it effected his ships compass.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
September in the Whitsunday Islands..
Leaving Areté in the Mackay Marina while we returned to Tokyo for Michiko’s wedding gave us a break from the sailing and the opportunity to catch up with some family and friends. Our flights went through Sydney and Brisbane so we had the views of the Great Barrier Reef both coming and going. On our return flight September 5th as we were approaching Mackay airport the clouds opened up with a clear view of the marina and Areté tied off in berth # T-43. The wedding was maybe the best ever and the hospitality at Funi-san house is always world class but it’s truly a great feeling to be back aboard..”home is where the boat is”…that’s what our card says and everyone knows the feelings of being home….I’d hoped to sail out the following day, the Mackay Marina is not cheap, but I am. We arrived to the same winds we left a week before 25~30 knots from the SouthEast. Weather Mackay forecasted lighter winds in a couple days…Hiroko hit the Caneland Shopping Center for serious victualling. I bought 40 liters ( two 5 Galllon jerry cans) of unleaded fuel and borrowed a garden hose from on of my yachtie neighbors to fill my water tanks….Later when I returned the hose I found out they were also from the USA and invited them to join me for happy hour at the yacht club for the $1.50 pots of beer… Three interesting people from San Francisco one was a political activist, one was a vet tech and one was a lawyer who worked to make sure developers and city planners provide for affordable housing. They took six months off and came to OZ bought a boat and had planned to sail it to New Caledonia, Vanuatu, PNG and back to Australia put the boat up for sail and head back to the states…They had many a run around with the bureaucracy and needed to Australian register the boat, they opted to sail North from Brisbane to the Whitsunday Islands and put the boat up for sale with the brokerage at the Mackay Marina.
We had planned to sail out the following day, though it was blowing 30 knots in the morning and next to Areté was one of those 1 million dollar catamarans, on our lee side I might add…This also being a Friday, it didn’t take much to convince Hiroko to stay in the fancy marina one more night….It’s a sailing superstition is never to start a voyage on Friday ( though we were technically just continuing our trip North after a break) The British Navy back a couple hundred years ago built a ship of the line (a sailing battleship ) Named it “Friday”, they hung the keel on a Friday, launched it on a Friday and it left port on it’s maiden voyage on a Friday….It was never seen again..
Saturday September 8th; I’d hoped to get away about sunrise as the wind comes up soon after sunrise. I’d explained to Hiroko just how we’d get Areté out of the berth without bumping anything especially not the French fancy Catamaran next to me…We removed all the mooring lines leaving a stern line and bow line, I was to drop the stern line, jump aboard and pop the motors into reverse and Hiroko was to walk the boat along the finger using the bow line and the cleats to keep the boat from drifting downwind into the Frenchman’s catamaran. The wind was side on and blowing pretty hard, somehow I got out without a bump and I looked at the dock and there is Hiroko standing there not onboard. I guess I’d forgotten to explain when to step aboard…Either way we were away and back in the wind, sailing downhill to Brampton Island. There is something special about the Whitsunday Islands kind of like the feeling I had when I first visited Yosemite, majestic or whatever it sure ain’t just another place…The anchorage at Brampton has a fringing coral reef like most anchorages here in the Whitsunday’s. We has an Angle fish of some type swimming around us at sundown that was 2~3 feet, top to bottom…The weather forecast said Northerly winds and that was not what I wanted to hear….The following day we motor sailed about 20 nautical miles to Thomas Island we had whales swimming past us headed South and I started to realize that maybe we are too late in the season…?
Thomas Island is quite a magic spot itself…Three white sand beaches, rocks with oysters at low tide for Hiroko, tropical fish swimming around Areté and turtles popping up every few minutes. It was not difficult or dull spending the next three days on the hook in light winds, sunshine, and views of a half dozen islands in the distance. One evening about sunset I spotted a group of whales breeching a few miles away with the sun setting behind them it silhouetted them and their huge splashes in peachy colored shades…
Every morning I turn on the VHF radio at 6:15am to listen to the weather forecast and everyday it was “North by Northeasterly winds 10~15 knots with afternoon sea breezes”.
September 12th we weighed anchor and sailed slowly again the whales we saw were waving to us with their tails as they headed South and we tacking trying to get North…
We anchored in Chance Bay on Whitsunday Island with lots of the fancy charter barebaots they rent here in the Whitsundays. A huge flock of Cockatoos in the trees ashore about sunset, not a bad place at all…With the light winds and sunshine we decided to head for Whitehaven Beach the following morning on the North side of Whitsunday Island. This is the beach you see on all the travel brochures as it’s one of the prettiest beaches on the planet.
In light winds it’s quite the spot too….we dropped the pick, anchored off the white silica sand beach 30 meters offshore in about 20 feet of crystal clear blue water. Water temperature was 22 degrees, (that’s about 72 degrees in the old way of counting)…We enjoyed the next 4 days in swimsuits or less, swimming off the back steps, paddling the kayak and playing on the beach. Hiroko does yoga and I tinker with my boat, we had a large squid that seemed to be guarding the anchor chain and a huge Stingray seemed to like the shade Areté provided. There were helicopters and sea planes landing right off our port side. I guess at the exclusive 5 star resorts they fly honeymoon couples out to Whitehaven to sip champagne….one of the gals wore her wedding dress ( I hope it was a rental). There are lots of backpacker tourist boats and bareboat charter boats and they all anchor down at the end of the beach opening up miles of space between Areté and the rest of the pack, just the way I like it too! One day we went up into Hill Inlet with the tide. Now we are 11 days out of Mackay Marina the food stock is in need of a few things and no change in the weather so we decided to motor sail up and around Whitsunday Island stopping in at Macona Inlet for the night before crossing the Whitsunday Passage and into Airlie Beach.
Being unemployed for the past three years and living on a yacht without TV I’ve had the opportunity to read a few hundred books, some of them a couple times…I often write down things I like from these books and one that comes to mind is what Ernest Hemmingway said; “ Never forget the weather” as I look back and proof read this blog I think he would see I took that to heart. Living on a cruising catamaran weather is top priority. I talk a lot about anchorages and location because “without geography you’re nowhere”…Mark Twain said “Write what you know about”. So I guess I should talk a bit more about the fine home brew beer I brew onboard. O~well maybe next time….
Leaving Areté in the Mackay Marina while we returned to Tokyo for Michiko’s wedding gave us a break from the sailing and the opportunity to catch up with some family and friends. Our flights went through Sydney and Brisbane so we had the views of the Great Barrier Reef both coming and going. On our return flight September 5th as we were approaching Mackay airport the clouds opened up with a clear view of the marina and Areté tied off in berth # T-43. The wedding was maybe the best ever and the hospitality at Funi-san house is always world class but it’s truly a great feeling to be back aboard..”home is where the boat is”…that’s what our card says and everyone knows the feelings of being home….I’d hoped to sail out the following day, the Mackay Marina is not cheap, but I am. We arrived to the same winds we left a week before 25~30 knots from the SouthEast. Weather Mackay forecasted lighter winds in a couple days…Hiroko hit the Caneland Shopping Center for serious victualling. I bought 40 liters ( two 5 Galllon jerry cans) of unleaded fuel and borrowed a garden hose from on of my yachtie neighbors to fill my water tanks….Later when I returned the hose I found out they were also from the USA and invited them to join me for happy hour at the yacht club for the $1.50 pots of beer… Three interesting people from San Francisco one was a political activist, one was a vet tech and one was a lawyer who worked to make sure developers and city planners provide for affordable housing. They took six months off and came to OZ bought a boat and had planned to sail it to New Caledonia, Vanuatu, PNG and back to Australia put the boat up for sail and head back to the states…They had many a run around with the bureaucracy and needed to Australian register the boat, they opted to sail North from Brisbane to the Whitsunday Islands and put the boat up for sale with the brokerage at the Mackay Marina.
We had planned to sail out the following day, though it was blowing 30 knots in the morning and next to Areté was one of those 1 million dollar catamarans, on our lee side I might add…This also being a Friday, it didn’t take much to convince Hiroko to stay in the fancy marina one more night….It’s a sailing superstition is never to start a voyage on Friday ( though we were technically just continuing our trip North after a break) The British Navy back a couple hundred years ago built a ship of the line (a sailing battleship ) Named it “Friday”, they hung the keel on a Friday, launched it on a Friday and it left port on it’s maiden voyage on a Friday….It was never seen again..
Saturday September 8th; I’d hoped to get away about sunrise as the wind comes up soon after sunrise. I’d explained to Hiroko just how we’d get Areté out of the berth without bumping anything especially not the French fancy Catamaran next to me…We removed all the mooring lines leaving a stern line and bow line, I was to drop the stern line, jump aboard and pop the motors into reverse and Hiroko was to walk the boat along the finger using the bow line and the cleats to keep the boat from drifting downwind into the Frenchman’s catamaran. The wind was side on and blowing pretty hard, somehow I got out without a bump and I looked at the dock and there is Hiroko standing there not onboard. I guess I’d forgotten to explain when to step aboard…Either way we were away and back in the wind, sailing downhill to Brampton Island. There is something special about the Whitsunday Islands kind of like the feeling I had when I first visited Yosemite, majestic or whatever it sure ain’t just another place…The anchorage at Brampton has a fringing coral reef like most anchorages here in the Whitsunday’s. We has an Angle fish of some type swimming around us at sundown that was 2~3 feet, top to bottom…The weather forecast said Northerly winds and that was not what I wanted to hear….The following day we motor sailed about 20 nautical miles to Thomas Island we had whales swimming past us headed South and I started to realize that maybe we are too late in the season…?
Thomas Island is quite a magic spot itself…Three white sand beaches, rocks with oysters at low tide for Hiroko, tropical fish swimming around Areté and turtles popping up every few minutes. It was not difficult or dull spending the next three days on the hook in light winds, sunshine, and views of a half dozen islands in the distance. One evening about sunset I spotted a group of whales breeching a few miles away with the sun setting behind them it silhouetted them and their huge splashes in peachy colored shades…
Every morning I turn on the VHF radio at 6:15am to listen to the weather forecast and everyday it was “North by Northeasterly winds 10~15 knots with afternoon sea breezes”.
September 12th we weighed anchor and sailed slowly again the whales we saw were waving to us with their tails as they headed South and we tacking trying to get North…
We anchored in Chance Bay on Whitsunday Island with lots of the fancy charter barebaots they rent here in the Whitsundays. A huge flock of Cockatoos in the trees ashore about sunset, not a bad place at all…With the light winds and sunshine we decided to head for Whitehaven Beach the following morning on the North side of Whitsunday Island. This is the beach you see on all the travel brochures as it’s one of the prettiest beaches on the planet.
In light winds it’s quite the spot too….we dropped the pick, anchored off the white silica sand beach 30 meters offshore in about 20 feet of crystal clear blue water. Water temperature was 22 degrees, (that’s about 72 degrees in the old way of counting)…We enjoyed the next 4 days in swimsuits or less, swimming off the back steps, paddling the kayak and playing on the beach. Hiroko does yoga and I tinker with my boat, we had a large squid that seemed to be guarding the anchor chain and a huge Stingray seemed to like the shade Areté provided. There were helicopters and sea planes landing right off our port side. I guess at the exclusive 5 star resorts they fly honeymoon couples out to Whitehaven to sip champagne….one of the gals wore her wedding dress ( I hope it was a rental). There are lots of backpacker tourist boats and bareboat charter boats and they all anchor down at the end of the beach opening up miles of space between Areté and the rest of the pack, just the way I like it too! One day we went up into Hill Inlet with the tide. Now we are 11 days out of Mackay Marina the food stock is in need of a few things and no change in the weather so we decided to motor sail up and around Whitsunday Island stopping in at Macona Inlet for the night before crossing the Whitsunday Passage and into Airlie Beach.
Being unemployed for the past three years and living on a yacht without TV I’ve had the opportunity to read a few hundred books, some of them a couple times…I often write down things I like from these books and one that comes to mind is what Ernest Hemmingway said; “ Never forget the weather” as I look back and proof read this blog I think he would see I took that to heart. Living on a cruising catamaran weather is top priority. I talk a lot about anchorages and location because “without geography you’re nowhere”…Mark Twain said “Write what you know about”. So I guess I should talk a bit more about the fine home brew beer I brew onboard. O~well maybe next time….
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Hanging with the Humpbacks/The Bunker Group of the G.B.R.
Hanging with the Humpbacks / The Bunker Group of The Great Barrier Reef.
An inconvenient truth, or is it a climate change?…. Light Westerly winds are strange for this time of year in Queensland…we made use of them to enjoy three days out in Platypus Bay; August 2,3,4th . This is a hangout to many migrating Humpback Whales…Hervey Bay has a huge whale watching industry taking tourists out on tours…We had Whales, Whales, Whales…
They seem to take an interest in The Areté though it is much less interest than we had in them, they did come over and check us out and gave us a chance to do the same to them….Three different anchorages along Fraser Island watching whales, and waiting on a favorable wind to blow us up to Bundaberg 47 nautical miles to the North…
Sunday August 5th;
The winds finally increased, mostly from the West so we enjoyed a great sail a bit bumpy and lots of spray as we were sailing slightly into the wind on a broad reach…
A night in the Port of Bundaberg Marina gave us a chance to wash clothes and a hot land shower...(Very Important to Hiroko!) We’ve been in touch with Ian on Mingles (his first trip sailing North, single~handing a 32ft monohull he bought at the Garden Point Moorings in Brisbane earlier this year..) We were going to meet up at The Tree Bar in the Town of 1770…
Monday August 6th. Leaving Bundaberg at first light we finally got the good wind and Areté was running downwind, wind coming over the rear quarter, just what we wanted…7~ 8 knots, a nice easy motion, you need about this speed to catch Tuna… trolling the pink squid….My phone rings it’s Ian and he’s in Bundaberg Marina. (where we just left and I’m not turning around into this wind for nothing…) He’s had enough of sailing by himself and decided to head back to Brisbane…soon after the phone call….Bang ! ZZZiiiiiinnnngggggg, the Penn Reel on the port side screamed out “FISH ON” !!! On goes the gimble belt and the fight is on…I start to tell Hiroko to dump off some of the main sail or bear away from the wind to slow the boat down a bit or I have no chance of bringing this fish in at 8 knots…Bang!!! Zzzziiiinnnnngggg the other reel is screaming now….Hiroko grabs the rod and tries to adjust the drag…. “tighten up that big star by the handle… No not the free spool lever” !!! O~shit !!!
….Now I’ve nearly got my fish to the Port swim step and Hiroko has a birds nest, backlashed, mess on the other Penn Reel with a Tuna on…???
Soon my fish was aboard, my arms were burning so I put the gimbal belt on Hiroko got rid of some of the backlash mess on the reel as best I could, just started rolling the line over the top of it, I’ll deal with that later…
Handed off the rod to Hiroko and she brought in her first fish ever…Then with a beautiful Tuna at the back of the boat she learned a classic lesson about “just a bit of slack in the line and he spit the hook and swam free” O~well we’ll still have the freshest sushi ever tonight…one fish is more than enough for the two of us.
The boat still screaming along at 8+ knots, about 8:00am Hiroko on the foredeck with the Houcho (special Japanese knife) cleaning Tuna….Who knows the future... a few hours later it was sunny much warmer and the wind came down so Areté was cruising along at 5 knots and slicing up the Tuna would have been easy like Sunday morning…around lunch time we put up the Spinnaker Sail in light winds. Up and around Round Hill into the Town of 1770…The place where Captain Cook first came ashore in Queensland (Not sure when?)… Now home of the Tree Bar…a caravan park, and small store that has a gas pump… 40 liters of unleaded gas and 60 liters of water and we were ready to cruise out to the Bunker Group of The Great Barrier Reef first thing in the morning.
Tuesday August 7th. The weather forecast was 20 knots out of the South/West followed by three days of calm weather (all weather forecasts are 4 days only). I thought we’d have plenty of wind to get us out to Lady Musgrave Island 36 miles offshore and a couple days of light winds to enjoy the perfect coral lagoon, coral cay (island) and the Great Barrier Reef…We had at least 20 knots of breeze, lots of spray and cloudy but “ a great sail out to the reef, and that’s what it’s all about!” I didn’t even put the line out as we had fish aboard already…
We had the anchor down in sand, 27 feet below Areté in crystal clear water, by 1:00pm…YaaaHoooo!!!! Hiroko had a fever, she thought it might be the flu as it is the winter flu season here in OZ and we’ve just had three days of sailing hard, fast and most of it in wet & windy conditions… About sunset, at high tide, now the reef is underwater and you are 36 miles offshore, Areté is tugging hard on its anchor chain, wind whipping through the rigging, halyards clanging against the mast. I’ve got all the chain out hoping nothing drags or wraps around a coral head, moving after dark is not anything I want to be a part of…It’s hard enough to navigate around the coral in broad daylight…
In the following two days Hiroko’s health improved and the winds came down. Three days in the lagoon, chilling out reading books and strumming the guitar….
Navigating the Great Barrier Reef with its many dangers; reefs, shoals, coral cays and islands is quite a challenge. I put lots of waypoints into my GPS system and reviewed the cruising guides and nautical charts of the area many times.
Friday August 10th.
Leaving the Lady Musgrave lagoon, out through the red and green beacons heading North by East sailing between Lady Musgrave Island and Fairfax Island’s outer reef. Then North putting Boult Reef and Llewellen Reef on our starboard side, 27 miles past sunken ships who came to grief on the reefs before the days of the GPS we reached the outer most point of Fitzroy Reef. Working our way cautiously along the reef till we found the entry into the lagoon. I’d planned on arriving on an incoming tide as tidal flow on strong ebbing tides cause crazy currents and overfalls making the entrance dangerous. It looked impossible or impassable actually till we got around behind it and then it lined up with the Red and Green cans floating marking the entrance followed by two more Reds and a Green beacons marking a winding narrow channel through the reef into the lagoon. A bit like the lagoon at Lady Musgrave without the island, but anchoring in sand with 25~30 feet of crystal clear blue water. A couple more days waiting on some wind to blow us up to Masthead Island at the Northern end of the Bunker Group.
We’ve had some days without a wisp of wind, the ocean is like glass and the clarity of the water unbelievable, we’ve been the only boat in this lagoon 40+ miles out to sea…Like a huge swimming pool…Taking our showers on the foredeck with the solar bag not another sole within 20 miles or more….With my new fancy radio I can pick up music stations so we’re rocking Triple J ( kind of like KDKB was back in the day, for you from AZ) and the ABC Classic (Australian Broadcasting Corp) classical music, as well as my favorites; Jack, Jimmy and Willy on CDs so life’s pretty damn good here at Fitzroy Reef on the Great Barrier Reef…
After three days of fun at Fitzroy Reef (August 10~11 &12th) we got a Southeasterly breeze and made it out between the reef without losing any fiberglass of our hulls…Sailing North to 23˚30’000; The Tropic of Capricorn.
Straddling the line is One Tree Island (off-limits, set aside for scientific research) Sykes Reef and Heron Island (having a resort and not welcoming visitors from cruising yachts)….Somewhere in the middle of these reefs were a group of Humpback Whales doing some amazing aerial jumps or breeching… Just showing off… We loved it ! We dropped the main sail and sailed on with just the headsail, giving us more maneuverability just a little slower, the only boat we saw the entire day was ours…Around 3:00pm was low tide making it very clear where the reef ends and sandy pockets were, we anchored behind Masthead Island, a typical coral cay with a huge lagoon (see photo). Around sunset I watched some Black Tip Reef Sharks working the incoming tide, an awesome sight to see, nature is cruel but entertaining.
Early the following morning (August 13th.) we had few problems getting our anchor back aboard, and we sailed North by East crossing into the tropics above 23˚30’000, saying goodbye to the Great Barrier Reef for a few weeks. Sailing in 20 knots of wind downwind with just a headsail, listening to the radio real loud, singing along didn’t see another boat till 2:00pm. We anchored behind Hammocky Island a huge rock sticking up out of the sea. Last night was the new moon so we had a big tide of over 4 meters. This leaving a lot of rock exposed at low tide, Hiroko went ashore to collect fresh oysters, she had 13 nice oysters off the rocks and a huge smile when she returned.
The next day (August 15th) we were back in cell phone range anchored right off the beach in front of a resort on Great Keppel Island, they welcome yachties! I bought the newspaper and read of Carl Rove ( “He’s as crooked as a moving snake”) giving up on Bush and the stock market crash. After 9 days offshore we needed to do some grocery shopping so we sailed across Keppel Bay to Yeppon, hoping to anchor off the beach near the center of town but with more East than Southeast in the swell it was too rough to get the inflatable dingy ashore..? Hiroko’s first thoughts were “Yahooo a marina berth tonight”!!! We saw a nice catamaran on anchor behind the wall at Rosslyn Bay Marina, as soon as we’d got the anchor dug in, the guy is on his way over in his dingy….He say’s his name is Hans and he’s going to the supermarket in his car, “Do you need a ride?” Hiroko was off the boat in two minutes flat! Cool guy, great boat, check out his website;
www.funtasticcruises.com She got the food I went to the fuel wharf in the marina; 40 liters of unleaded and 70 liters of water. We should be good till we reach Mackay at the end of the month…? What a lucky day, it was a Thursday of course…
August 17th Friday, after the 6:40am weather report, Rocky Met, Channel 82 VHF we weighed anchor and hoisted the main sail pointed the bow North and unfurled the headsail. The sun was out the wind was coming over the rear quarter a 1~2 meter swell giving Areté a nice run up the coast, up and around Cape Manifold and back around behind some big jagged rocks was our anchorage called Freshwater Bay.(See Photo, “Eagle Rock”) As pretty as a postcard, a nice white sand beach, majestic rock headland with heavily forested mountains, and a couple of islands. The only boat in the bay, dolphins swimming around Areté as I watched the White Breasted Sea Eagles catch dinner. With the binoculars I found the nest atop a jagged peak connecting the mainland to a couple small islands. Later around sunset I also saw two Osprey and a Brahminy Kite circling in the wind… The radio played “Doing The Eagle Rock” and we danced in the cockpit, it was a fine Aloha Friday aboard Areté … Since Hiroko had been shopping the day before I knew we’d be eating well. She made “Oyakao Jaga” the chicken before the egg with potatoes for dinner.
The weather report the following morning explained a front was moving into the Australia bite causing wind to increase to 20~25+ knots from the Southeast so we sailed North 27 nautical miles to Island Head Creek. We arrived at the entrance just as the wind was really starting to howl. White caps with cat’s paws and the spray that stings…. This is a huge estuary system with secure anchorages, just the place to wait out the strong wind warning and catch up on my reading…Sunday August 19th, was drizzly rain, a very windy day but Gary from “Spot On” a powerboat brought over 4 Mackerel filets. He’s got one of those flybridge cruisers, some people call them Marlin Boats I just use the term “stink boat” but fresh fish is fresh fish…There are two other boats anchored in our beautiful cove one is a monohull ketch and “Spot On”. Mackerel is “Saba” in Japanese and Hiroko cooks it very well. I spent most of the day tinkering with Areté and making up some trolling rigs, drinking tea and reading Joseph Conrad’s Lord Jim
An inconvenient truth, or is it a climate change?…. Light Westerly winds are strange for this time of year in Queensland…we made use of them to enjoy three days out in Platypus Bay; August 2,3,4th . This is a hangout to many migrating Humpback Whales…Hervey Bay has a huge whale watching industry taking tourists out on tours…We had Whales, Whales, Whales…
They seem to take an interest in The Areté though it is much less interest than we had in them, they did come over and check us out and gave us a chance to do the same to them….Three different anchorages along Fraser Island watching whales, and waiting on a favorable wind to blow us up to Bundaberg 47 nautical miles to the North…
Sunday August 5th;
The winds finally increased, mostly from the West so we enjoyed a great sail a bit bumpy and lots of spray as we were sailing slightly into the wind on a broad reach…
A night in the Port of Bundaberg Marina gave us a chance to wash clothes and a hot land shower...(Very Important to Hiroko!) We’ve been in touch with Ian on Mingles (his first trip sailing North, single~handing a 32ft monohull he bought at the Garden Point Moorings in Brisbane earlier this year..) We were going to meet up at The Tree Bar in the Town of 1770…
Monday August 6th. Leaving Bundaberg at first light we finally got the good wind and Areté was running downwind, wind coming over the rear quarter, just what we wanted…7~ 8 knots, a nice easy motion, you need about this speed to catch Tuna… trolling the pink squid….My phone rings it’s Ian and he’s in Bundaberg Marina. (where we just left and I’m not turning around into this wind for nothing…) He’s had enough of sailing by himself and decided to head back to Brisbane…soon after the phone call….Bang ! ZZZiiiiiinnnngggggg, the Penn Reel on the port side screamed out “FISH ON” !!! On goes the gimble belt and the fight is on…I start to tell Hiroko to dump off some of the main sail or bear away from the wind to slow the boat down a bit or I have no chance of bringing this fish in at 8 knots…Bang!!! Zzzziiiinnnnngggg the other reel is screaming now….Hiroko grabs the rod and tries to adjust the drag…. “tighten up that big star by the handle… No not the free spool lever” !!! O~shit !!!
….Now I’ve nearly got my fish to the Port swim step and Hiroko has a birds nest, backlashed, mess on the other Penn Reel with a Tuna on…???
Soon my fish was aboard, my arms were burning so I put the gimbal belt on Hiroko got rid of some of the backlash mess on the reel as best I could, just started rolling the line over the top of it, I’ll deal with that later…
Handed off the rod to Hiroko and she brought in her first fish ever…Then with a beautiful Tuna at the back of the boat she learned a classic lesson about “just a bit of slack in the line and he spit the hook and swam free” O~well we’ll still have the freshest sushi ever tonight…one fish is more than enough for the two of us.
The boat still screaming along at 8+ knots, about 8:00am Hiroko on the foredeck with the Houcho (special Japanese knife) cleaning Tuna….Who knows the future... a few hours later it was sunny much warmer and the wind came down so Areté was cruising along at 5 knots and slicing up the Tuna would have been easy like Sunday morning…around lunch time we put up the Spinnaker Sail in light winds. Up and around Round Hill into the Town of 1770…The place where Captain Cook first came ashore in Queensland (Not sure when?)… Now home of the Tree Bar…a caravan park, and small store that has a gas pump… 40 liters of unleaded gas and 60 liters of water and we were ready to cruise out to the Bunker Group of The Great Barrier Reef first thing in the morning.
Tuesday August 7th. The weather forecast was 20 knots out of the South/West followed by three days of calm weather (all weather forecasts are 4 days only). I thought we’d have plenty of wind to get us out to Lady Musgrave Island 36 miles offshore and a couple days of light winds to enjoy the perfect coral lagoon, coral cay (island) and the Great Barrier Reef…We had at least 20 knots of breeze, lots of spray and cloudy but “ a great sail out to the reef, and that’s what it’s all about!” I didn’t even put the line out as we had fish aboard already…
We had the anchor down in sand, 27 feet below Areté in crystal clear water, by 1:00pm…YaaaHoooo!!!! Hiroko had a fever, she thought it might be the flu as it is the winter flu season here in OZ and we’ve just had three days of sailing hard, fast and most of it in wet & windy conditions… About sunset, at high tide, now the reef is underwater and you are 36 miles offshore, Areté is tugging hard on its anchor chain, wind whipping through the rigging, halyards clanging against the mast. I’ve got all the chain out hoping nothing drags or wraps around a coral head, moving after dark is not anything I want to be a part of…It’s hard enough to navigate around the coral in broad daylight…
In the following two days Hiroko’s health improved and the winds came down. Three days in the lagoon, chilling out reading books and strumming the guitar….
Navigating the Great Barrier Reef with its many dangers; reefs, shoals, coral cays and islands is quite a challenge. I put lots of waypoints into my GPS system and reviewed the cruising guides and nautical charts of the area many times.
Friday August 10th.
Leaving the Lady Musgrave lagoon, out through the red and green beacons heading North by East sailing between Lady Musgrave Island and Fairfax Island’s outer reef. Then North putting Boult Reef and Llewellen Reef on our starboard side, 27 miles past sunken ships who came to grief on the reefs before the days of the GPS we reached the outer most point of Fitzroy Reef. Working our way cautiously along the reef till we found the entry into the lagoon. I’d planned on arriving on an incoming tide as tidal flow on strong ebbing tides cause crazy currents and overfalls making the entrance dangerous. It looked impossible or impassable actually till we got around behind it and then it lined up with the Red and Green cans floating marking the entrance followed by two more Reds and a Green beacons marking a winding narrow channel through the reef into the lagoon. A bit like the lagoon at Lady Musgrave without the island, but anchoring in sand with 25~30 feet of crystal clear blue water. A couple more days waiting on some wind to blow us up to Masthead Island at the Northern end of the Bunker Group.
We’ve had some days without a wisp of wind, the ocean is like glass and the clarity of the water unbelievable, we’ve been the only boat in this lagoon 40+ miles out to sea…Like a huge swimming pool…Taking our showers on the foredeck with the solar bag not another sole within 20 miles or more….With my new fancy radio I can pick up music stations so we’re rocking Triple J ( kind of like KDKB was back in the day, for you from AZ) and the ABC Classic (Australian Broadcasting Corp) classical music, as well as my favorites; Jack, Jimmy and Willy on CDs so life’s pretty damn good here at Fitzroy Reef on the Great Barrier Reef…
After three days of fun at Fitzroy Reef (August 10~11 &12th) we got a Southeasterly breeze and made it out between the reef without losing any fiberglass of our hulls…Sailing North to 23˚30’000; The Tropic of Capricorn.
Straddling the line is One Tree Island (off-limits, set aside for scientific research) Sykes Reef and Heron Island (having a resort and not welcoming visitors from cruising yachts)….Somewhere in the middle of these reefs were a group of Humpback Whales doing some amazing aerial jumps or breeching… Just showing off… We loved it ! We dropped the main sail and sailed on with just the headsail, giving us more maneuverability just a little slower, the only boat we saw the entire day was ours…Around 3:00pm was low tide making it very clear where the reef ends and sandy pockets were, we anchored behind Masthead Island, a typical coral cay with a huge lagoon (see photo). Around sunset I watched some Black Tip Reef Sharks working the incoming tide, an awesome sight to see, nature is cruel but entertaining.
Early the following morning (August 13th.) we had few problems getting our anchor back aboard, and we sailed North by East crossing into the tropics above 23˚30’000, saying goodbye to the Great Barrier Reef for a few weeks. Sailing in 20 knots of wind downwind with just a headsail, listening to the radio real loud, singing along didn’t see another boat till 2:00pm. We anchored behind Hammocky Island a huge rock sticking up out of the sea. Last night was the new moon so we had a big tide of over 4 meters. This leaving a lot of rock exposed at low tide, Hiroko went ashore to collect fresh oysters, she had 13 nice oysters off the rocks and a huge smile when she returned.
The next day (August 15th) we were back in cell phone range anchored right off the beach in front of a resort on Great Keppel Island, they welcome yachties! I bought the newspaper and read of Carl Rove ( “He’s as crooked as a moving snake”) giving up on Bush and the stock market crash. After 9 days offshore we needed to do some grocery shopping so we sailed across Keppel Bay to Yeppon, hoping to anchor off the beach near the center of town but with more East than Southeast in the swell it was too rough to get the inflatable dingy ashore..? Hiroko’s first thoughts were “Yahooo a marina berth tonight”!!! We saw a nice catamaran on anchor behind the wall at Rosslyn Bay Marina, as soon as we’d got the anchor dug in, the guy is on his way over in his dingy….He say’s his name is Hans and he’s going to the supermarket in his car, “Do you need a ride?” Hiroko was off the boat in two minutes flat! Cool guy, great boat, check out his website;
www.funtasticcruises.com She got the food I went to the fuel wharf in the marina; 40 liters of unleaded and 70 liters of water. We should be good till we reach Mackay at the end of the month…? What a lucky day, it was a Thursday of course…
August 17th Friday, after the 6:40am weather report, Rocky Met, Channel 82 VHF we weighed anchor and hoisted the main sail pointed the bow North and unfurled the headsail. The sun was out the wind was coming over the rear quarter a 1~2 meter swell giving Areté a nice run up the coast, up and around Cape Manifold and back around behind some big jagged rocks was our anchorage called Freshwater Bay.(See Photo, “Eagle Rock”) As pretty as a postcard, a nice white sand beach, majestic rock headland with heavily forested mountains, and a couple of islands. The only boat in the bay, dolphins swimming around Areté as I watched the White Breasted Sea Eagles catch dinner. With the binoculars I found the nest atop a jagged peak connecting the mainland to a couple small islands. Later around sunset I also saw two Osprey and a Brahminy Kite circling in the wind… The radio played “Doing The Eagle Rock” and we danced in the cockpit, it was a fine Aloha Friday aboard Areté … Since Hiroko had been shopping the day before I knew we’d be eating well. She made “Oyakao Jaga” the chicken before the egg with potatoes for dinner.
The weather report the following morning explained a front was moving into the Australia bite causing wind to increase to 20~25+ knots from the Southeast so we sailed North 27 nautical miles to Island Head Creek. We arrived at the entrance just as the wind was really starting to howl. White caps with cat’s paws and the spray that stings…. This is a huge estuary system with secure anchorages, just the place to wait out the strong wind warning and catch up on my reading…Sunday August 19th, was drizzly rain, a very windy day but Gary from “Spot On” a powerboat brought over 4 Mackerel filets. He’s got one of those flybridge cruisers, some people call them Marlin Boats I just use the term “stink boat” but fresh fish is fresh fish…There are two other boats anchored in our beautiful cove one is a monohull ketch and “Spot On”. Mackerel is “Saba” in Japanese and Hiroko cooks it very well. I spent most of the day tinkering with Areté and making up some trolling rigs, drinking tea and reading Joseph Conrad’s Lord Jim
Island Head Creek~Middle Percy Island~Mackay Marina
Island Head Creek ~ Digby Island; The Beverly Group ~ Mackay Marina
Three days of heavy clouds, winds gusting at 30 knots and an off and on drizzle can wear on ya a bit. I’d been crabbing on the incoming tides, trolling for fish with the hand-line behind the dingy and using my catch for crab bait…No luck again with the elusive but very tasty Mud Crabs…Good fun though, going out in the dingy getting soaked with spray when the wind kicked up, checking the crab pots and trolling a grey squid…The weather broadcasts on VHF were so broken up we’d hear about half what was said leaving us with more questions after the broadcast than not knowing. There was talk of gale force winds and 3+ meter swells in the Capricorn Channel, but where and when???
Tuesday the 21st of August after listening to Katie on Rocky Met Channel #21VHF but again more missed than heard we decided to head out of the secure anchorage and sail the 30 miles North to Hexham Island. The 10:10 weather forecast said 20 to 25 knots South by Southwest though we never saw it much above 15 knots? Our wind was very much out of the West making bumpy seas and keeping our speed about 5 knots over the water. No fish at that speed, I’ve learned from experience I need about 7 knots of boat speed to catch Tuna on Pink Squid, a little slower for the Mackerel with the big spoons on the hand-lines but that’s not nearly as much fun. As we approached the pass between Alnwick and Hexham Islands we had another whale show with some jumps and tail (fluke) waves, of course none of these were caught on film…The anchor was down mid afternoon as we had the anchorage all to ourselves sharing it with schools of fish jumping, about sunset as I tossed lures at them and drank home brews. A waxing gibbous moon lit up the bay making the white sand on the beach almost glow as it reflected the light, yes this is why I wanted to sail North….
Wednesday August 22 was perfect weather wise, minus the wind…sailing downwind with all the sails up barely making 3 knots, tried the spinnaker sail again and when we were putting it up we got buzzed by the Australian Coastwatch Customs airplane.. He called on the VHF radio and wanted my rego # , last port of call, etc…
With the lack of wind it makes for a calm sea meaning we could anchor in West Bay of the Middle Percy Island. This anchorage is famous for the A-frame hut build on the beach many years ago that cruising boats have been hanging signs or memorabilia from their boats for decades.
We visited on our way North in 2005 but didn’t know about the tradition, later at the most Northern point of our voyage I found a perfect piece of driftwood for our sign, to be hung the next visit to the Percy Islands…We arrived to find one other catamaran in West Bay, dropped the dingy into the water and went ashore to hang our sign. Walking past a coconut tree a coconut fell; Bang! That sure seemed like an omen for Hiroko to have fresh coconut. As I fought with the husk the miggie flies found Hiroko ( as they always do…) After seeing many signs from yachts and yachties we’ve met, we returned to Areté for sundowners and Hiroko applied some Japanese cream to her multiple bug bites…I escaped un scathed…I played Jackson Brown CD and dolphins appeared chasing schools of baitfish around the bay.
The other thing West Bay is famous for is being a uncomfortable anchorage in developed wind or swell. Well the following afternoon the wind did develop and brought with it a 1.5 ~ 2 meter swell …Now it’s too late in the day to sail for Digby Island 22 nautical miles away so we’ll just roll out a bit more anchor chain and hunker down till first light tomorrow. Wow what a wild night. wind whipping up a frothy sea, Areté was as uncomfortable as I’ve experienced in the three years of living onboard. She held tight and it didn’t take any persuasion at all to convince my wife to sail out of there the next morning…
Friday August 24th was not a day you’d want to be on the ocean, but just about anywhere was better than staying there…We furled out just a little bit of headsail and motor-sailed into a rough, sloppy sea…Overcast with clouds sailing buy, going every which way and the wind coming from just the direction we wanted to go….Slogging along, waves crashing under and alongside the boat, even with the motors I couldn’t get more than 4 knots of speed so the 24 mile trip took all day. Digby Island is part of the Beverly Group of the Northumberland Islands. Nice anchorage, tucked in behind three other islands and a few huge rocks which you could also count as an islands, gives it almost a lagoon setting. As the full moon is three days away on the 28th and this section of the coast having the biggest tides of all Queensland, we’ve got 5 meter tides now and at low tide lots of rocks are exposed so Hiroko can get fresh oysters again….If we can get the dingy ashore with that swell breaking on the beach? The wind was continuing to blow and blow and blow…
”It was so windy it would blow a dog off his chain” Weather Mackay was consistent with the forecast 20~25 knot wind with a 2~3 meter SE swell Sat, Sun, Mon, Tues…
We enjoyed three days relaxing onboard, I’d take the dingy out cruising around the bay but never got it ashore the shorebreak making landing nearly impossible…
Sunday August 26th we had a Humpback Whale and her calf spend four hours near us at our anchorage. They were mostly just floating side by side, my guess is that the mother was breast feeding which probably takes a few hours for that size animal? They left a little before sunset and were last seen splashing and waving with their tails, goodbye…
Monday the 27th with the weather forecast stuck like Groundhogs Day at 20~25 knots till whenever? We decided to sail for Mackay 46 miles away. As I’ve said nearing the full moon the tides were over 5 meters twice a day …this means strong currents between and around islands, causing overfalls, eddies and strange seas, add to that huge swells, whitecaps on every wave and O`ya the wind gusting and then a little bit of consistency before the next gust…Whoooosshhh …we sailed with just a little headsail furled out, I’d noticed a few of the days out at Digby Island the wind started off blowing hard in the morning and then picked up in the afternoon. Not knowing how much worse it might get sure keeps ya on your toes watching the clouds and hoping and praying it will calm down a bit…It did calm down a bit about lunchtime and I got out my fishing gear , put a bit more sail up and Bang! Caught another Tuna !!!! Hiroko went to work on it with the Japanese Houcho and soon it was just some perfect dark red filets that would cost an absolute fortune in Tokyo.
We arrived in Mackay Marina about 4:30pm wound our way through a maze of pontoons and fingers to find T-43 our allocated berth; a portside tie up, bow in. Damn, seeing so many million dollar boats made Areté feel small. We weren’t even tied up properly before a guy with an Easy Catamaran like mine came over to say G~day, and invited us over to see his cat Bad Habits, a fine vessel with every accessory imaginable. Hiroko is always impressed with boats with watermakers, washing machines, and large freezers. I was just tired after 10 hours at sea and the thought of a hot land shower was overwhelming. The marina office was closed but they had left us a key so Hiroko had her first land shower in 22 days and only the third one since leaving Brisbane 37 days and 665 miles ago…Tomorrow we’ll fly to Tokyo for Michiko’s wedding ( Hiroko’s little sister) it should be something special!
A week in Ol’ Edo and returning to sail out of the Mackay Marina and into the Whitsunday Islands.
Three days of heavy clouds, winds gusting at 30 knots and an off and on drizzle can wear on ya a bit. I’d been crabbing on the incoming tides, trolling for fish with the hand-line behind the dingy and using my catch for crab bait…No luck again with the elusive but very tasty Mud Crabs…Good fun though, going out in the dingy getting soaked with spray when the wind kicked up, checking the crab pots and trolling a grey squid…The weather broadcasts on VHF were so broken up we’d hear about half what was said leaving us with more questions after the broadcast than not knowing. There was talk of gale force winds and 3+ meter swells in the Capricorn Channel, but where and when???
Tuesday the 21st of August after listening to Katie on Rocky Met Channel #21VHF but again more missed than heard we decided to head out of the secure anchorage and sail the 30 miles North to Hexham Island. The 10:10 weather forecast said 20 to 25 knots South by Southwest though we never saw it much above 15 knots? Our wind was very much out of the West making bumpy seas and keeping our speed about 5 knots over the water. No fish at that speed, I’ve learned from experience I need about 7 knots of boat speed to catch Tuna on Pink Squid, a little slower for the Mackerel with the big spoons on the hand-lines but that’s not nearly as much fun. As we approached the pass between Alnwick and Hexham Islands we had another whale show with some jumps and tail (fluke) waves, of course none of these were caught on film…The anchor was down mid afternoon as we had the anchorage all to ourselves sharing it with schools of fish jumping, about sunset as I tossed lures at them and drank home brews. A waxing gibbous moon lit up the bay making the white sand on the beach almost glow as it reflected the light, yes this is why I wanted to sail North….
Wednesday August 22 was perfect weather wise, minus the wind…sailing downwind with all the sails up barely making 3 knots, tried the spinnaker sail again and when we were putting it up we got buzzed by the Australian Coastwatch Customs airplane.. He called on the VHF radio and wanted my rego # , last port of call, etc…
With the lack of wind it makes for a calm sea meaning we could anchor in West Bay of the Middle Percy Island. This anchorage is famous for the A-frame hut build on the beach many years ago that cruising boats have been hanging signs or memorabilia from their boats for decades.
We visited on our way North in 2005 but didn’t know about the tradition, later at the most Northern point of our voyage I found a perfect piece of driftwood for our sign, to be hung the next visit to the Percy Islands…We arrived to find one other catamaran in West Bay, dropped the dingy into the water and went ashore to hang our sign. Walking past a coconut tree a coconut fell; Bang! That sure seemed like an omen for Hiroko to have fresh coconut. As I fought with the husk the miggie flies found Hiroko ( as they always do…) After seeing many signs from yachts and yachties we’ve met, we returned to Areté for sundowners and Hiroko applied some Japanese cream to her multiple bug bites…I escaped un scathed…I played Jackson Brown CD and dolphins appeared chasing schools of baitfish around the bay.
The other thing West Bay is famous for is being a uncomfortable anchorage in developed wind or swell. Well the following afternoon the wind did develop and brought with it a 1.5 ~ 2 meter swell …Now it’s too late in the day to sail for Digby Island 22 nautical miles away so we’ll just roll out a bit more anchor chain and hunker down till first light tomorrow. Wow what a wild night. wind whipping up a frothy sea, Areté was as uncomfortable as I’ve experienced in the three years of living onboard. She held tight and it didn’t take any persuasion at all to convince my wife to sail out of there the next morning…
Friday August 24th was not a day you’d want to be on the ocean, but just about anywhere was better than staying there…We furled out just a little bit of headsail and motor-sailed into a rough, sloppy sea…Overcast with clouds sailing buy, going every which way and the wind coming from just the direction we wanted to go….Slogging along, waves crashing under and alongside the boat, even with the motors I couldn’t get more than 4 knots of speed so the 24 mile trip took all day. Digby Island is part of the Beverly Group of the Northumberland Islands. Nice anchorage, tucked in behind three other islands and a few huge rocks which you could also count as an islands, gives it almost a lagoon setting. As the full moon is three days away on the 28th and this section of the coast having the biggest tides of all Queensland, we’ve got 5 meter tides now and at low tide lots of rocks are exposed so Hiroko can get fresh oysters again….If we can get the dingy ashore with that swell breaking on the beach? The wind was continuing to blow and blow and blow…
”It was so windy it would blow a dog off his chain” Weather Mackay was consistent with the forecast 20~25 knot wind with a 2~3 meter SE swell Sat, Sun, Mon, Tues…
We enjoyed three days relaxing onboard, I’d take the dingy out cruising around the bay but never got it ashore the shorebreak making landing nearly impossible…
Sunday August 26th we had a Humpback Whale and her calf spend four hours near us at our anchorage. They were mostly just floating side by side, my guess is that the mother was breast feeding which probably takes a few hours for that size animal? They left a little before sunset and were last seen splashing and waving with their tails, goodbye…
Monday the 27th with the weather forecast stuck like Groundhogs Day at 20~25 knots till whenever? We decided to sail for Mackay 46 miles away. As I’ve said nearing the full moon the tides were over 5 meters twice a day …this means strong currents between and around islands, causing overfalls, eddies and strange seas, add to that huge swells, whitecaps on every wave and O`ya the wind gusting and then a little bit of consistency before the next gust…Whoooosshhh …we sailed with just a little headsail furled out, I’d noticed a few of the days out at Digby Island the wind started off blowing hard in the morning and then picked up in the afternoon. Not knowing how much worse it might get sure keeps ya on your toes watching the clouds and hoping and praying it will calm down a bit…It did calm down a bit about lunchtime and I got out my fishing gear , put a bit more sail up and Bang! Caught another Tuna !!!! Hiroko went to work on it with the Japanese Houcho and soon it was just some perfect dark red filets that would cost an absolute fortune in Tokyo.
We arrived in Mackay Marina about 4:30pm wound our way through a maze of pontoons and fingers to find T-43 our allocated berth; a portside tie up, bow in. Damn, seeing so many million dollar boats made Areté feel small. We weren’t even tied up properly before a guy with an Easy Catamaran like mine came over to say G~day, and invited us over to see his cat Bad Habits, a fine vessel with every accessory imaginable. Hiroko is always impressed with boats with watermakers, washing machines, and large freezers. I was just tired after 10 hours at sea and the thought of a hot land shower was overwhelming. The marina office was closed but they had left us a key so Hiroko had her first land shower in 22 days and only the third one since leaving Brisbane 37 days and 665 miles ago…Tomorrow we’ll fly to Tokyo for Michiko’s wedding ( Hiroko’s little sister) it should be something special!
A week in Ol’ Edo and returning to sail out of the Mackay Marina and into the Whitsunday Islands.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Crossing "The Bar" in the moonlight...
Two days in Mooloolaba, a town perfectly set up for the cruising yachtie couple, a chandlery shop, hardware store, Tackle World and a gas station all 5 ~10 minutes from where we are anchored in the Mooloolaba River (right in front of million dollar houses)..
Hiroko loves Mooloolaba too as it has Kawana Waters Shopping Center, an Asian food store and The Bridge Seafood…Where else can you order by phone, take the dingy over to the jetty, tie off between the commercial fishing vessels walk through the dinning area pick up a Mochi Kaeri Ika Rings and clam chowder and back aboard Arete for fine dinning.
Ray, Tracy and Harrison joined us for sundowners or last night in port, Ray built "Tiata" at catamaran like Arete and we met them our last trip to the Whitsundays. He’s now building his dream vessel and I’m sure in three + years of hard work he’ll have an amazing catamaran, the last one was perfect but not exactly what he wanted…
The Met bureau forecast 10~15 knots increasing to 15~20 SW. The high tide at the Wide Bay , 60 nautical miles North was just past 7:00pm…We left Mooloolaba, down the river and out through the leads at sunrise..(see photo, a bit distorted ..?)
Put all the rags up and sailed in light winds, a fairly uneventful sail averaging 5~6 knots and trying everything to increase that…it’s over ten hours and there are not any suitable anchorages along that stretch of the coast till you get to Double Island Point and Rainbow Beach tucked back inside the Wide Bay just a few miles before "The Bar".
Later in the day as we were approaching Double Island Point (see photo) the wind picked up; speed is important when trolling for Tuna they hit when you are going over 7 knots, I’d caught a nice Blue Fin Tuna on this same trip last year and was doing everything in my power to repeat that this time.
It was Friday, three days before a full moon so I knew the moon would be up in the East a couple hours before the sun sets behind Fraser Island in the West. We passed between Wolf Rock and Double Island Point watching the sun set. The decision was made to sail on and used the moonlight and the GPS on the computer to go through the three waypoints of the Wide Bay Bar. It was just before the top of the incoming tide, plenty of water over the outer bar and I thought who knows what the conditions would be like tomorrow?.... It was an easy crossing with the moon laying down a golden path off our stern and back lighting the navigational lead lights.( See Photo ) We dropped the pick about 8:00pm behind Inskip Point. No fish but 65 miles of fun! Woke at sunrise the following morning with "that sandbar" a lot closer than I though we were…O~well "no harm no foul"…An early exit and North through the Great Sandy Straights along Fraser Island a world heritage site…and the sights were awesome;
Blue skies, picture postcard sunsets, Dolphins everyday, big Sea Turtles, Pelicans, Egrets, Gulls, Terns, Sea Eagles, a Forest Blue Kookaburra and a Dingo wandering down the beach at low tide….Two more days and we stopped at the Kingfisher Resort on Fraser Island. It is a great place, classy, eco-friendly and they welcome yachties…I had beer by the pool and Hiroko took a land shower, then I had "happy wife" which made it a great stop. Sometimes in Brisbane it took a trip to Hanaichi Sushi Bar or Korean Restaurant for "happy wife" but take them sailing for a few days and a land shower has great pull…
We are now anchored about 350 meters off the beach at Hervey Bay, last night about 9:30pm it was calm like a lake, the moon was up and I was reading a book when something under the boat made a huge splash, a huge splash…I ran up on deck…Hiroko even ran outside so you know it was something strange but I have no idea what it was…? It was too shallow for whales at 1~3 meters depending on the tide, and I didn’t see any dolphins….it was so calm you could see if there was something out there but it was left as a mystery….
I’ll keep ya posted….over and out!
Hiroko loves Mooloolaba too as it has Kawana Waters Shopping Center, an Asian food store and The Bridge Seafood…Where else can you order by phone, take the dingy over to the jetty, tie off between the commercial fishing vessels walk through the dinning area pick up a Mochi Kaeri Ika Rings and clam chowder and back aboard Arete for fine dinning.
Ray, Tracy and Harrison joined us for sundowners or last night in port, Ray built "Tiata" at catamaran like Arete and we met them our last trip to the Whitsundays. He’s now building his dream vessel and I’m sure in three + years of hard work he’ll have an amazing catamaran, the last one was perfect but not exactly what he wanted…
The Met bureau forecast 10~15 knots increasing to 15~20 SW. The high tide at the Wide Bay , 60 nautical miles North was just past 7:00pm…We left Mooloolaba, down the river and out through the leads at sunrise..(see photo, a bit distorted ..?)
Put all the rags up and sailed in light winds, a fairly uneventful sail averaging 5~6 knots and trying everything to increase that…it’s over ten hours and there are not any suitable anchorages along that stretch of the coast till you get to Double Island Point and Rainbow Beach tucked back inside the Wide Bay just a few miles before "The Bar".
Later in the day as we were approaching Double Island Point (see photo) the wind picked up; speed is important when trolling for Tuna they hit when you are going over 7 knots, I’d caught a nice Blue Fin Tuna on this same trip last year and was doing everything in my power to repeat that this time.
It was Friday, three days before a full moon so I knew the moon would be up in the East a couple hours before the sun sets behind Fraser Island in the West. We passed between Wolf Rock and Double Island Point watching the sun set. The decision was made to sail on and used the moonlight and the GPS on the computer to go through the three waypoints of the Wide Bay Bar. It was just before the top of the incoming tide, plenty of water over the outer bar and I thought who knows what the conditions would be like tomorrow?.... It was an easy crossing with the moon laying down a golden path off our stern and back lighting the navigational lead lights.( See Photo ) We dropped the pick about 8:00pm behind Inskip Point. No fish but 65 miles of fun! Woke at sunrise the following morning with "that sandbar" a lot closer than I though we were…O~well "no harm no foul"…An early exit and North through the Great Sandy Straights along Fraser Island a world heritage site…and the sights were awesome;
Blue skies, picture postcard sunsets, Dolphins everyday, big Sea Turtles, Pelicans, Egrets, Gulls, Terns, Sea Eagles, a Forest Blue Kookaburra and a Dingo wandering down the beach at low tide….Two more days and we stopped at the Kingfisher Resort on Fraser Island. It is a great place, classy, eco-friendly and they welcome yachties…I had beer by the pool and Hiroko took a land shower, then I had "happy wife" which made it a great stop. Sometimes in Brisbane it took a trip to Hanaichi Sushi Bar or Korean Restaurant for "happy wife" but take them sailing for a few days and a land shower has great pull…
We are now anchored about 350 meters off the beach at Hervey Bay, last night about 9:30pm it was calm like a lake, the moon was up and I was reading a book when something under the boat made a huge splash, a huge splash…I ran up on deck…Hiroko even ran outside so you know it was something strange but I have no idea what it was…? It was too shallow for whales at 1~3 meters depending on the tide, and I didn’t see any dolphins….it was so calm you could see if there was something out there but it was left as a mystery….
I’ll keep ya posted….over and out!
Friday, July 27, 2007
"Do you have hockey balls"?
Looking at fishing lures one day in A-Mart sports on the Queen Street Mall I overheard that question....
I couldn't imagine the opening line to a blog...needless to say this is my first blog. I started this blog site as an attempt to update my family and a few friends of the adventures of Arete on the trip North to the tropics...
Hiroko's grad-school finished a couple weeks ago but we couldn't leave till she had received her "S" rating of suitability from Education Queensland. I picked it up from Dom's office at 9:00am and it was anchors aweigh by 11:00am..."The longer you stay in port the harder it is to leave,"...
We both Love "Bris-Vegas", we made good friends there and "it flat out rocks" !!! Leaving the Garden Point Moorings in a slight rain, light winds, North by Northeast,...catching the end of the outgoing ebbing tide...We motor-sailed down the Brisbane river and across Moreton Bay to Tangalooma, 30 miles arriving about 4:oopm. There were no other boats anchored behind the shipwrecks but a greeting party of 3 or 4 dolphins as we put the anchor down in 23 feet of water.....I had a huge grin on my face! Yes, the voyage was underway!
I gave The Arete a salt water bath washing the decks clean of the grime the CBD of Brizzy had deposited on everything...next was home brewed lager in a frosty mug and the Ukulele came out for some off key cords and "the boys got no rhythm" strumming...The sunset was macker, I toasted King Neptune for the blessed start...A waxing crescent moon set high up with a zillion stars...
Up with the sun and on with the VHF radio listening for the weather forecast, I hadn't slept much and what I did was filled with dreams of sailing and fishing.....
We sailed North along Moreton Island in very light winds at 4 knots, stopping for lunch at the Bulwer Wrecks ( the very Northern tip of Moreton Island) A white sand beach, backed up by thick scrub bush and big gum trees....just a couple hundred meters from where the bay meets up with the South Pacific Ocean. There is a point break catching a wrap around swell and nobody out surfing...After lunch I took the dingy and the grotty mooring lines ashore for a scrub. The afternoon N/E seabreeze came in and the incoming tide the dolphins looking for lunch...
The wind being offshore from this angle cleaned up the face of the waves on the point...only a few Pelicans were surfing the inside sections also looking for food in the white-wash...
Rainbow Clouds as the sun set behind the Glasshouse Mountains...The sunset back lit Moreton Island which had light wispy clouds blown off the ocean witha rainbow in the mist...
Sundowners day two saw the Yamaha classical guitar butcher a few songs by the Eagles,Little feat, and Jack Johnson....at least the lager beer was good!
Thursjay the Mooloolaba Coast Guard read the weather at 6:30am, I was on my 2nd or 3rd cup of mango tea..."light winds, S/E at 10 knots swinging N/E seabreze in the afternoon"..My wind indicator showed west by south west which was just enough for me to weigh anchor and sail for Mooloolaba...wanting to avoid the major shipping lanes I took the Outer Freeman Channel and saw the fury of the Venus Banks up close..."Don't think I'll try that again"...Arete is a great boat and enjoyed surfing a few waves to find the channel..thank god !!
I trolled my beloved Pink Squid hoping for tuna...Later in the day switching to the diving lures with rattles inside them that are supposed to attract fish but no action...
A large school of Dolphins swam by, not nearly as interested in us as we with them, though friendly enough to be neighborly. We arrived on the Sunshine Coast port of Mooloolaba and it's magic....A day for provisioning and a few small repairs/adjustments tomorrow the Wide Bay Bar.
I couldn't imagine the opening line to a blog...needless to say this is my first blog. I started this blog site as an attempt to update my family and a few friends of the adventures of Arete on the trip North to the tropics...
Hiroko's grad-school finished a couple weeks ago but we couldn't leave till she had received her "S" rating of suitability from Education Queensland. I picked it up from Dom's office at 9:00am and it was anchors aweigh by 11:00am..."The longer you stay in port the harder it is to leave,"...
We both Love "Bris-Vegas", we made good friends there and "it flat out rocks" !!! Leaving the Garden Point Moorings in a slight rain, light winds, North by Northeast,...catching the end of the outgoing ebbing tide...We motor-sailed down the Brisbane river and across Moreton Bay to Tangalooma, 30 miles arriving about 4:oopm. There were no other boats anchored behind the shipwrecks but a greeting party of 3 or 4 dolphins as we put the anchor down in 23 feet of water.....I had a huge grin on my face! Yes, the voyage was underway!
I gave The Arete a salt water bath washing the decks clean of the grime the CBD of Brizzy had deposited on everything...next was home brewed lager in a frosty mug and the Ukulele came out for some off key cords and "the boys got no rhythm" strumming...The sunset was macker, I toasted King Neptune for the blessed start...A waxing crescent moon set high up with a zillion stars...
Up with the sun and on with the VHF radio listening for the weather forecast, I hadn't slept much and what I did was filled with dreams of sailing and fishing.....
We sailed North along Moreton Island in very light winds at 4 knots, stopping for lunch at the Bulwer Wrecks ( the very Northern tip of Moreton Island) A white sand beach, backed up by thick scrub bush and big gum trees....just a couple hundred meters from where the bay meets up with the South Pacific Ocean. There is a point break catching a wrap around swell and nobody out surfing...After lunch I took the dingy and the grotty mooring lines ashore for a scrub. The afternoon N/E seabreeze came in and the incoming tide the dolphins looking for lunch...
The wind being offshore from this angle cleaned up the face of the waves on the point...only a few Pelicans were surfing the inside sections also looking for food in the white-wash...
Rainbow Clouds as the sun set behind the Glasshouse Mountains...The sunset back lit Moreton Island which had light wispy clouds blown off the ocean witha rainbow in the mist...
Sundowners day two saw the Yamaha classical guitar butcher a few songs by the Eagles,Little feat, and Jack Johnson....at least the lager beer was good!
Thursjay the Mooloolaba Coast Guard read the weather at 6:30am, I was on my 2nd or 3rd cup of mango tea..."light winds, S/E at 10 knots swinging N/E seabreze in the afternoon"..My wind indicator showed west by south west which was just enough for me to weigh anchor and sail for Mooloolaba...wanting to avoid the major shipping lanes I took the Outer Freeman Channel and saw the fury of the Venus Banks up close..."Don't think I'll try that again"...Arete is a great boat and enjoyed surfing a few waves to find the channel..thank god !!
I trolled my beloved Pink Squid hoping for tuna...Later in the day switching to the diving lures with rattles inside them that are supposed to attract fish but no action...
A large school of Dolphins swam by, not nearly as interested in us as we with them, though friendly enough to be neighborly. We arrived on the Sunshine Coast port of Mooloolaba and it's magic....A day for provisioning and a few small repairs/adjustments tomorrow the Wide Bay Bar.
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