Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Manly, Moreton Island to Mooloolaba.

Glenn: I Had a phone call from a Sydney friend last week while we were tied up at the marina in Manly. He asked "Where are you?" "Manly" I replied, "What, you're back in Sydney?" . Well apparently Sydney doesn't have exclusivity to the Manly name. Yes, there is a Manly in Brisbane, and a lovely place it is. It's a village that caters to sea faring folk, with the best fish & chips found so far on this voyage. After topping up our diesel tanks on Saturday morning we set sail for Moreton Island. Our destination was the "Big Sandhills" at the southern end of the island. Looking at the chart I figured that the sandhills would be a great place to anchor in the prevailing SE winds.

Saturday morning: kids in skiffs. (obstacle course leaving Manly)

We had a great sail over to Moreton, Sea Trek III revelling in the 15 - 20 knot breeze. I really didn't know too much about Moreton Bay before this trip. To be honest I hadn't put too much thought into it. Let me say I was very impressed with the bay, it's a pristine waterway that is also a great cruising ground, with many anchorages for yachts. I don't think I would like to be out there in a big westerly, because it would be very exposed to any wind from that quarter.

We boasted to our fellow sailors.

We arrived mid afternoon to find at least 20 other yachts anchored there. I guessed then that I had made the right decision! Jen managed to see a dugong, and we both spotted several huge manta rays in the crystal clear water. Our friends Ines and Steve from SV Bravado called to say they were on the way from the Gold Coast and hoped soon to be anchored nearby. We met them on our extended stay in Port Stephens, and have shared various anchorages with them on our journey north, including Camden Haven, Coffs Harbour and Bums Bay on the Gold Coast. Over a coffee on Bravado we decided to head for Mooloolaba first thing Sunday morning.

Anchorage Big Sandhills Moreton Island.

Dinghy ashore.

We left for Mooloolaba early Sunday and had a brisk and eventful rocky "washing machine" trip,(Ill leave it at that) arriving at Mooloolaba marina about 3.30pm. I lived in the area for about 5 years in the 80's and look forward to catching up with some old friends. More next post.

Where we are:

http://skipr.net/where-is/boat-pages/?boatid=1122


 

Sunday, July 28, 2013

One for Jen

I put this little video together as a tribute to Jen, who has come along for the ride on my crazy sailing dream. If it wasn't for Jen's enthusiasm I would be lost at sea! This clip features a couple of nice sailing days with a little song I did on my uke and glok, all recorded on the iphone.

 

Thanks Jen.

Where we are:

http://skipr.net/where-is/boat-pages/?boatid=1122


Thursday, July 25, 2013

Southport to Brisbane. South Stradbroke.

Queensland: Glad to be leaving Southport, Sea World and Surfers Paradise. As sailors we enjoy the simpler beauties of the sea and the gentle motion of having the sails full. Bloody Jet Skiers! Too many, too much noise, too much speed and too much wake and rocking.


Good bye "Porpoise Spit" ( Murial's wedding).
We chose to travel up the broad-water, via the channel behind South Stradbroke Island. Multiple-million dollar houses packed onto the shores edge.

Probably the most tasteful mansion on this stretch of water.

We really had to choose our course carefully. This is a maze of channel markers and depth soundings. We consulted "Beacon to Beacon" as well as the chart plotter on the iPad. The binoculars stayed attached to my face. Despite all of the Queensland hustle and bustle we came into the national park area very quickly.


Just a sample.

Away from the glittering money of Southport we again began to see an interesting array vessels. Some were certainly a tribute to human ingenuity. Several chaotic structures were hybrids of caravans attached to pontoons and fibreglassed together by overly ambitious sea farers.

A James Hardy " HARDY PLANK" house boat.

We needed to pass under overhead high voltage electric wires. Glenn couldn't look, and let go of the helm. I watched in fascination at the seemingly large gap between life and electrocution. (That's one phobia that I have been spared).

Looking surreal in the morning sun.

We anchored at the northern end of South Stradbroke Island, it's 2.5kms wide and 21kms long, lying close to the mainland. It felt very remote, the water was clear and we saw the the Agile Wallaby, as well as the much rarer Golden Wallaby.
 

Couldn't get close enough for a good photo.

We were able to watch the sun set and also the sun rise without moving to another position.

Pink and gold sand reflecting the low winter sunset.

Sea Trek III lazing in the afternoon sun.
We continued north to pass North Stradbroke Island to the east and into Morton Bay (with Brisbane beyond). We had no idea of the enormity of this body of water. The chart says that we are surrounded by land. The winds picked up and we have a fabulous lively sail under head sail alone. We are not missing the NSW sea swell at all.

North Stradbroke or Morton Island are over there somewhere.

We are in a marina at Manly for a few days while sorting out essentials: groceries and washing, fuel and water and twice daily hot showers. (and why not, it costs no extra). This popular marina area has approx. 2,000 yachts/boats all tied up in a compact and orderly fashion.

Camera not big enough to fit in all of the yachts.
This is tourism: cute and disturbingly ugly.
Tomorrow off to Morton Island, Sunday Mooloolaba.
Where we are:
http://skipr.net/where-is/boat-pages/?boatid=1122

 

 

 

Dinghy delights

by Jen: ..The story that must be told.

Glenn often makes profound proclamations about the weather or events: eg: "You know Jen, the weather report was so utterly wrong about that southerly". Out of the blue on a calm day a massive southerly wind hit us; or "Jen, the one thing you'll never find in Tasmania is a mosquito". Crazy Lady was immediately bombarded by a swarm of extra large hybrid mozzies direct from the Amazon jungles. (There have never been any other reliable reports of mosquitoes in Tasmania). I am not saying any of this to be unkind, but weird things like this happen so so often that I wonder if Glenn especially attracts the of Leprechauns or Gremlins. "Gremlins on your shoulders" I'll hiss to try and stop him from talking his way into trouble. If I want an ordinary calm day I need to be on guard.

We love travelling in our inflatable dinghy. It is our car and carries our supplies to and from the shore. It has a nifty little Yamaha 3hp outboard motor that has never failed. We wanted to cross the Clarence river from Iluka to Yamba. We were enjoying the smooth ride when out of the blue Glenn let slip an unexpected proclamation: "This dinghy planes so well that you'll never get wet. I'm taking that shortcut over there, it's deeper". Immediately the dinghy came to a stop in the sandy shallows. The deeper channel had evaporated before our eyes and the engine cut out.

You'll never get wet Jen.
Our return trip was much later in the day. The tide was higher and rushing. We passed through the still channel of Yamba and over our previous 'short-cut' prior to the main river crossing. We were in no hurry and were just puttering along. Just then Glenn proclaimed "It's good that we're in no rush. We don't need to push this engine". He then accelerated and the engine instantly cut out. There was no trouble starting it again and again, but each time it was put into gear and accelerated it would stop. After some tricky manoeuvring away from the oyster encrusted rocks of an old rocky wharf we found that the dinghy could make headway while IDLING. Iluka was a long way off.
Just purchase: a few 'bags of rags' for engine maintenance.
We puttered along in the general direction. It was sunset when we reached the blind corner of the rock wall guarding Iluka Harbour. "Woo hoo, we made it! No worries!" Glenn shouted. That moment a commercial fishing boat charged out across our path and headed out to sea. It created a mountainous bow wave in the turbulent entry waters of the opening. The waves flung us about and then after smashing into the boulders next to us, savagely regurgitated onto us. We were very wet but safe. Remarkably the idling engine just kept idling. We finally reached the waiting Sea Trek III when everything went silent. Yes the engine did actually cut out right there and then!
Glenn spent the next day trying to fix the motor. I suggested that he should quietly and methodically look into possible obvious causes. A spark plug, and filter and carburettor were all adjusted and displayed to me. It became obvious that a mechanic was needed. We were able to source one in Southport. We waited all day and finally the phone call came. "Mr Love. There's absolutely nothing wrong with this motor".
I have to be a positive person to trust that the Gremlins/Leprechauns or whatever know when a game is just no fun anymore. Now if only I could stop Mr Effervescent from proclaiming his love of the cruising life so darn loudly.
 
 

 

 

Monday, July 22, 2013

Queensland. The long arrival.

We left Iluka at dawn. For the entire trip the seas were calm with a slight swell. The pinnacle of Mount Warning watched over us for most of our daylight hours. It was a day of motor sailing: some good speed from the sails prior to lunch. After passing Cape Byron our forward motion slowed right down as a south running current took hold. We revised our arrival time from 21.00 to 23.00. Good coverage was given by the marine rescue who followed us up the coast via radio contact.

Mount Warning: Our view from sea.

When can I surf?

The hero of the day was Glenn "I'm the Skipper" who continually assessed the swell, the activity of charted reefs, kept a look out for navigational hazards (any other craft except ST3) and whales. Glenn did really well without any of the sea sick symptoms that were previously so troubling by night fall. He used the ET' Sea Sick tablets at 6am and 3pm. Apart from feeling thirsty he had nil side effects, including no drowsiness and no nausea.

Mount Warning saying goodnight.

Queensland.
Hip hip Hooray. After 17 long hours of motoring sailing today we are here!
We left Woolwich marina on June 1 and are "chipping away at it". We can now say that we have sailed the entire east coast of NSW and Tasmania. These coasts are recognised as some of the more challenging that Australia has to offer. Glenn is not in a hurry to retrace his path.
After safely entering Southport we began to relax. We had just broken some of the most deeply entrenched sailors laws: never enter an unknown port in the dark, never cross a bar on an outgoing tide, and never attempt a bar crossing at low tide. The benign conditions made all of this possible. Even so I did look back and was shocked go see the steepness of the unbroken waves as they stood up on the shallow water.
The street and building lights of this tourist city (just like most of this coast) created a glittering back drop for the precious navigational lead lights of Port and Starboard. I tried to make sense of the visual chaos by using the binoculars while the very tired Skipper Glenn kept his eye on the chart plotter. No one told us about the assortment of dredgers and machinery that officially litter this channel. Slow and steady. I photographed this machine's lights while looking back out to sea. When it first came into view we were motoring towards the city. It was a blaze with four red lights to port, four green to starboard and several random white lights. It looked like a child's pyramid display. I realised that we were heading straight for it. A second protruding dredger only displayed a fluorescent light shining from inside the galley!!!

Just another floating Christmas tree!

Today we started our search for an outboard motor mechanic. This was easy because our sailing mentors Ken and Lyn from Tasmania were on a road trip holiday in this area. They kindly drove us hither and tither and we enjoyed a long luscious land lunch at the famous Jupiters Casino. According to the publicity there are 5 of their customers who will be millionaires within the next 5 weeks. Probably a bit strange to most people but I have been feeling incredibly wealthy in these past 7 weeks even though Glenn and I are carefully counting our pennies.

I reckon it's fake.

Jupiters Casino: The lucky zodiac includes everyone who was born during any year. It's about 15metres high. The scantly clad figure at the top is curious.

Where we are:

http://skipr.net/where-is/boat-pages/?boatid=1122

 

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Return to Iluka

We are back in Iluka Harbour after a three day adventure up the Clarence River. We are expecting to sail to QLD on either Sunday or Monday.(depending on the weather). We have really enjoyed this area of the coast . It has so much to offer those who love the ocean.


Maclean 2013. ( for my English relatives)
At Maclean We woke to visions of fog cladded sugar cane farms. A photographers delight.

Cane farm.
How's this for an accidental photo?

Around the next bend from our anchorage, the Clarence River veered to the left and flowed off to Grafton. On the right a massive opening formed the Broadwater Lake. It's a water bird paradise and breeding area. Pelicans, Spoonbills, Darters, Cormorants, Egrets, Herons, Ibis and many other native water fowl nest and breed here. We couldn't wait for the fog to lift.
11am and exploring up stream.
Glenn likes to " drive" the dinghy, while I find it frustrating. He does get tired as we putter along with our 3hp Yamaha outboard motor. The trip to the Broadwater took well over an hour. Here he is seen perfecting the "knee controlled tiller technique" while reclining.
A versatile man of leisure.
We could see from a distance what Glenn thought were long floating obstacles, maybe floating pipe lines. As we approached we realise that these were dense lines of ducks swimming in formation. (Eurasian Coot actually, exhibiting their winter rafting up behaviour). There were 100s or possible 1000's in each very long line. Guess whose 'knee' made the decision to charge straight through this line. Frantic flapping of wings in all directions, but no injuries. The helmsman was duly scolded and repentant. These long dark lines were frequent on the Broadwater and extended well beyond the visible horizon.
Neat rows of little ducks.
ST3 close to the Pacific Hwy Bridge at Harwood.
A "fouled prop" is a yachtie's nightmare. (Anything from fishing nets, discarded rope and plastics can cause the failure of the propeller to create thrust in the water. The engine will be on but there will be no forward motion). We were preparing to position ST3 in mid river for our second Pacific Hwy bridge underpass at Harwood. Our booking time was approaching. By chance Glenn heard a bumping noise along side the pontoon. Nothing was visible except for the end of a bit of stick. Our hero pulled at the bit of stick. It did not yield. He then pulled again and this time swore. It was apparent that the stick was part of something much bigger. The call was raised: "Jen, I need help. This bugger is twisted around the prop". Glenn had located a submerged sugar or bamboo cane with shoots that were grasping thevprop so that it just wouldn't float away. We both twisted and pulled as it suddenly yielded. The stick was half of the yacht's length. Thank goodness we found it before the cars and trucks were stopped up on the highway bridge.

Great prop fouling material.

by Glenn: Meeting Alan Lucas. As mentioned in our last blog post we discovered that we had anchored right next to Mr Lucas's boat "Soleares". In cruising yachting circles Alan is a legend. Anyone who has sailed the east coast of Australia over the past 45 years would have had his essential cruising guides on board. I have been studying the guides for years and with the hope of fulfilling the dream that we are now undertaking. It was great to chat with Alan. Although his wife Patricia has been unwell they will also be heading north at around the same time as Sea Trek III and crew.

Alan Lucas's yacht Soleares sharing the fog with us.

Where we are:

http://skipr.net/where-is/boat-pages/?boatid=1122


 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Motoring up the mighty Clarence River

Did you know that a keeled sailing yacht can motor 40kms up the mighty Clarence River to Grafton and beyond. We just had to explore the Clarence because this is probably our only chance. We are not in a rush and the weather is glorious. Everything we read said go! The depths under Sea Trek III to Maclean ranged up to 16 mtrs. The river is both wide and deep.


We were surprised to pass a reef fishing vessel called "Tom". The chart plotter and the sailor's voluminous guide by Alan Lucas "Sailing the NSW Coast", reassured us that we would not be grounded. Neither of us ever expected to be travelling on deep Australian rivers.

Introducing Tom. What's he doing here?
Going under bridges is a buzz. The Hardwood bridge required opening just for us. With a phone call the traffic on the Pacific Highway was stopped and the span raised. Full acceleration. There can be current disturbances when passing under bridges. Pylons and boats don't mix and we have previously experienced a few hairy moments on someone else's yacht. This passage was easy, but it did cause some anxiety. Glenn hates heights and will not look up when we pass under. (even the Sydney Harbour Bridge). I know that doesn't really make sense. ST3's mast is approx 18mtrs high and we had heaps of room.

The dinghy enjoying itself.
 
Maclean is "Australia's Scottish Town" according to their tourist pamphlets. While looking for a good cup of coffee and roaming the streets we noticed an abundance of murals. I have to ask why they are all so darn awful. The craft shoppe was just as bad.
Don"t flush 'me umbrella down the well Donald! Woof Woof. WTF!
The Scottish heritage of this town is on display on over 200 light poles decorated with Tartan and the names of the founding families. One of the very first I saw was on pole 58: CAMERON. I was so excited that I instantly messaged my life long friend Maureen about it! It's not her surname but is included somewhere on her birth certificate. (I do know her full name but am sworn to secrecy, lest she reveals too much about me to others). I then went on the search for Mc Slattery, McAndrew, MacGordon, MacLove and of course also hoping to find a McHuppatz. Glenn became tired and scuffly again, telling me that he had already walked a lot this week. (today is Tuesday) He also worried that I would be hit by a car because the names on the tartan cladded poles are only visible if viewed from the road.

A pole of distinction for Maureen.
 
The Scotts are known to be extremely thrifty. This sign "Tidiest Street 1982" is probably due to be retired now. It is on the main tourist road and I think that it has been recycled annually. It is a very very tidy street. The light poles are all nicely draped in Tartan. When you're on a winning streak why change!
A very proud street
 

Glenn is cooking his way through the Iluka meat raffle tray. He couldn't be happier. I wonder why a fishing town didn't have a sea food theme for the pub fund raiser? I suppose then it wouldn't be a meat raffle.

AND HERE'S NEWS...

Where to anchor or moor ST 3 safely while at Maclean? We had consulted various reliable sources (friends after sundowner drinks) and of course the bible for sailors : Alan Lucas's "Cruising the NSW Coast". (in print since 1968). We scoped the area for depth and then took the written advise of the author. We were congratulating our selves on choosing an anchorage in perfect depth etc, and Glenn proclaimed "Alan Lucas recommends this spot so it must be good". We then saw that Alan Lucas himself was right behind us and leaving his yacht Soleares to row to shore. We waved. Mr Lucas was in the other perfect position. We may approach him for an autograph.


Alan Lucas: our bed time reading.

 

Monday, July 15, 2013

Iluka

The Iluka Pub. Not very glamorous and the extensions are built of fibro.(asbestos) We reasoned that the food had to be good. Lots of locals there. Steak and chips and perhaps a refreshing ale, was on our minds.


Has seen better days.
OMG. We won the meat raffle. How did that happen? There was fierce competition for the trays on Saturday night. The footy was blasting out on the big screen. So it was sausages for breakfast, rissoles for lunch, cutlets for dinner and Mylanta for supper. Luckily the fridge is fixed.

Jen "I'm a Vegan now"
 
The Iluka peninsula has a World Heritage listed Nature Reserve, and is the largest remnant of littoral rainforest in NSW. The strangler Figs were fascinating.

Don't hug me so tightly
 
We walked about 10kms around the rainforest area. It has been a long time since either of us had walked this far. By the end Glenn was a thirsty scuffling wreck. The view from the lookout foretold of the weather change.

Time to get moving, back to ST3
 
We also scrambled along the break walls to watch the course taken by other vessels entering and leaving the mighty Clarence River. This rock is reminiscent of our recent whale encounter.

A whale of a tale

Catamaran cruising over to Yamba
We are off to explore the mighty Clarence River tomorrow, going up as far as Maclean. Do I here the bag pipes playing. Glenn hopes to find his own tartan.