Having arrived in Mooloolaba late on Thursday night, and with "What" leaving the next day, I settled into the Duck Pond, (Mooloolah River), for what would be only 12 days before the next leg of this long awaited northern journey.
During this time I wanted to catch up with my daughter, Kristian, and a couple of other friends that live here, prior to heading further north.
Kristian and I had lunch at the Surf Club whilst Rae Blanchard(???), Sheree's sister and John Nant joined us for lunch at Hogs Breath Café. Pity I didn't take any pics but I can do that on the way back.
Above and left will give you Fete's position in relation to the land and facilities in the River - very close to everything . . . but a couple of days later the Dept of Transport (Marine) came by to say that I was outside the designated anchorage and I would have to move further into the Duck Pond. As I tried to start the motor, the starter motor played up and I couldn't move - this also happened at Tangalooma which What fixed temporarily. Anyhow to cut a long story short, $750 later a new starter motor was installed and off we went as instructed.
Sunset in our new anchorage. Today I also heard from some old friends, Robert & Trish Budd who warned that their weather app, Windytv, was showing that a Cyclone was starting to form out into the Pacific and that I should take care and keep a watch on the system.
Monday 27th March:
The crew for the next leg arrived today, Ian (Grumpy) Knight and Shelly.
Once on board & settled in, we discussed the Cyclone (Debbie) that had formed N/W of Townsville and decided that as it hadn't crossed the coast yet we had a small window to get up thru the Wide Bay Bar and in behind Fraser Island for some protection. So a night sail was planned for that night leaving at approx. 1800hrs.
So as the sunset that night, we raised the anchor and headed down to Mooloolah River towards the mouth and got set for the next 12 hours at sea.
As we exited the bar, another Cruise liner was anchored just offshore and was preparing to leave as we passed her and raised the headsail and headed north.
The trip was uneventful until we were approx. 2nm south of Double Is Point. All of a sudden a line of lights appeared across the front of us. It turned out to be trawlers fishing the grounds so we proceeded carefully to avoid getting in their way.
Once passed the trawlers we realised that we were 2 hrs too early to cross the WBB so we took a northerly route before turning back to our original waypoint and heading for the bar.
We crossed the bar and headed up the inside of Fraser Is to Garry's Anchorage for a well earned rest. That night we sat down to a roast lamb and watched this amazing sunset.
The next morning we heard that "Debbie" had crossed the coastline around Airlie Beach/Hamilton Is and caused a lot of damage. Wide Bay Coast Guard advised us that we had a window of 24 hours to get to Urangan before the destructive winds reached the area. In addition, Bob & Deb Rafter, managers of the Great Sandy Straits Marina, rang to say that if we didn't get in today we most likely wouldn't make it due to the worsening conditions.
We set off around 0800hrs and headed for Sheridan Flats, (The narrows & shallowest part of the Sandy Straits). The water was calm and the tide was with us most of the way but little to no wind as you can see below . . .
It rained intermittently all the way up the Straits but we were making good time and looked to be ahead of our projected 1500hrs ETA at the Marina.
After passing Turkey Is & Kingfisher Bay Resort, we rounded the top of Big Woody Island and sited the top of Hervey Bay (Pialba) and knew that we only had a couple of nm's to go to safety. Weather was still calm but we knew from listening to the radio that this was the calm before the storm.
Safely moored in the marina, you couldn't believe that we were expecting a "Blow". The remnants of "Cyclone Debbie" was due within the next 12 hours. Having squared Fete away, we all went and had hot showers, followed by a lovely meal at Café Balaena, one of the superb quayside restaurants here at the marina, and went home for an early night.
The next day Grumpy and Shelly headed off back to the Gold Coast as he was worried about his boat, Outward Bound II, back at the SYC as this aftermath which was about to hit us, was then expected to carry on down to Brisbane and the Gold & Sunshine Coasts.
That first night, after returning from the restaurant, we noticed the tide height. We knew there was a 3.4m tide expected, but with the storm surge, the tide was enormous as you can see here - Amazing!!!
The next night we copped the storm. Fete was rocked all over the place as we were hit with winds of 72 knots (140 kmph).
Jan, a lady 2 berths over from where I was moored said that she had recorded winds of 54kn on her wind instruments.
All in all it was a sleepless night.
I have decided to stay here in Urangan for a month to let the weather and rivers settle down before continuing on again.
Here at left is the wind gauge from another boat here in the marina which a mate (Grip) Ross Wright put on his FB page just to show how strong it really was within the marina itself.
It is now been nine days since the blow and the weather has not really abated as yet. We are still getting 20-30kn winds with some stronger gusts although it hasn't been raining much and I have had time to explore the region in some detail . . . more about that in another blog.
Well that's about all for this blog, but I will continue to write them for each stage of the trip . . . so until then...
As I sit here contemplating our next trip, due to commence within a week, this glorious sunset appeared over the Gold Coast Hinterland
As most people my age will tell you, the line goes onto to say:- " Red sky at night, a sailors delight, red sky in Morn(ing), sailors be warned!!!" The last time someone quoted me this saying was on the trip back from buying Fete in the US, on the sixth morning out from San Francisco, and sure enough that afternoon we were knocked down twice having been caught in the top end of a hurricane.
Enough said about that as I took this shot just on night and therefore a good omen for the coming trip.
My crew for this trip is What (Craig Waugh) seen here at left with me at the Boof Arm Street Party at the Southport Yacht Club ("B" arm) a few years ago.
"What", who has been on Fete several times in the past, is taking a well earned rest from work for a week or so to come north with me and I look forward to having him on the 1st leg of this trip to Mooloolaba.
So before we head off I thought I would attach the video below of some reflections of the last couple of months here at the Hope Island Marina.
Every Picture tells a story so they say...
Now we are ready STS (Shaun The Sheep) says, so up anchor and off you go . . .
STS was lovingly given me by the Th(u)rd Finger crew in Port Macquarie and resides as you can see here at left and is consulted on all decisions pertaining to Fete's movements.
Straight after leaving Hope Is marina it just pissed down am I am lucky to have had my spray jacket and my Steeline broad brimmed hat (thx Sparra) to help.
The first night we stopped over at the usual anchorage under Macleay Island. The rain had cleared earlier and we settled down to Pizza, a couple of Buddies and an early night.
At 0800hrs the next day we set off early hopefully heading for Tangalooma Resort on Moreton Island and again the rain came down even though the seas were relatively calm as you can see.
1000hrs - Just received a call from Manly Coast Guard warning us of the pending storm and were advised to take shelter asap.
1100hrs - Coming up to Dunwich we spotted a bay just to the south of the car ferry terminal called Deanabilla Bay, so decided to stop there for the night to ride out the storm.
We got the pick down just in time before the storm hit.
Winds were around 20-30 knots and the seas a bit lumpy but we held firmly and bunkered down for the night.
0700hrs - we awoke to light gentle winds of around 5-10 knots and decided to make a run for Tangalooma before the winds got up again so we headed out to cross the northern side of Peel Island before swinging north thru the middle of Moreton Bay and a direct line to the resort.
The wind came around to the port beam so we raised the headsail for the 1st time this trip - this added another knot to our speed but prior to raising it we were only doing 3-4 knots.
1500hrs - Arrived at Tangalooma Resort and were surprised to find the P&O Cruise Liner, "Pacific Jewel" anchored off shore.
We soon squared Fete away and got into the tender and headed for the beach and a couple of beers and to see what was going on.
Even thought I have been here before, this was the 1st time I have been ashore to actually see what the facilities were like - not bad at all as you can tell from the video above.
Upon our return to the tender we found these Chinese Tourists, from the ship, had taken over the zodiac as their beachside cushion.
They were pretty good and soon moved when they realized that we were leaving.
They explained that the cruise was from Sydney to Tangalooma and back to Sydney overnight . . .
Fete top left where we were moored behind the wrecks at Tangalooma
1730hrs - arrived back on Fete after a few beers and a relaxing time onshore, looking forward to tomorrow's leg to Mooloolaba.
Next morning What raised the anchor & headed off towards Mooloolaba via the main shipping channel up passed Bribie Is and around Caloundra instead of the normal N/E channel.
Not long after entering the channel, we were passed by a couple of other cruisers out for a day on the bay. If my mate Speed was here, he would have been able to tell me all about these ships (RIP Mate).
1430hrs - Coming to the end of the Shipping Lanes we passed under Caloundra, as you can see above. I was amazed at the growth of the area - it certainly has changed since we used to holiday there as a kid. Anyhow we had to get a move on as we had advised Coast Guard Mooloolaba that our ETA in the Mooloolah River would be approx. 1600hrs and we were only doing 2.5-3.5knts due to pushing the current and tide.
Just after clearing Caloundra and on our approach to the safe water marker we encountered this Bulk Carrier heading into the shipping lanes.
As you can see from above, the wake that he was
putting out seemed unusual. Firstly I thought that we were passing thru a minor Bar but as we got closer we realized that it was the boat producing this 3-4m wake. My mate What commented on the size of the swell so we took action to lessen the effects. Once over the wake we headed for the safe water marker and Headed due North to Pt Cartwright.
16.30 hrs - crossed into the Mooloolah River and headed up the River to a familiar spot that we have been to a couple of times before just opposite the "Mooloolaba Wharf".
Had a shower, got the tender down and went ashore for dinner at the Surf Club. It was good to be on land and to watch a bit of football for a change.
"What" left the next day to help a mate with his boat up in Tin Can Bay and I settled in for a while. But that night the weather turned again and as you can see in the video below, the storm was more Electrical that rainy. The lightning was striking just behind those buildings there in the above pics.
Avery interesting night shall we say . . .
The trip so far has been good even though we have experienced some bad weather, but that is part of what boating is about and I look forward to bringing you the rest of the trip over the coming months . . .
