Sunday 22 May 2011

6) 22nd May - 1st August 2011. Cairns to Sydney.

Nico enjoying the ride.
Finally the day had come when we could leave Cairns. Michelle had returned to Sydney for work and Nico managed a few more days so he could sail down the coast with us and his cousin, Ross. But there was no sailing to be had as the weather was really benign. There was no wind and if there was it was right on the nose so we couldn’t sail unless we tacked back and forward, which not only made for very long days and hardly any progress south but it also meant that we would not make our booking at the boat yard in Southport. So out came the iron main. Nico re-christened the boat “On The Nose” and this stuck for the rest of the year.





Leaving Cairns - Peter, Denise and Ross.
We stopped overnight every night as we didn’t need to do it too hard. Stops included High Island and then Dunk Island. We had dropped Ross off at Innisfail Beach so he could catch a bus back to Cairns. Thinking he would save us the trip up the beach he decided to jump out of the dinghy not far from the shore. He was convinced it was only waist deep but the water went up to his neck, but no problem he managed to swim to the beach. During a phone call to Cairns the next day to see if he got back for work okay, we found out that he had his mobile phone in his top pocket, so it had a swim as well. So not a great shortcut after all.





Good Food. Good Wine....
 



Next it was onto Orpheus and Magnetic      Island. We stayed one night in Horseshoe Bay (north side of Magnetic Island) and then checked into the Nelly Bay Marina at $55/night (south side), which must be the cheapest marina on the coast.









And Good Company.

 



We were only going to stay one night to fix the anchor but ended up staying three, as we were given a wine voucher at the restaurant for the 2nd night and a $50 meal voucher for the 3rd. So what can you say to that - we decided to indulge. Nico left on the ferry for Townsville on the 27th and then we slowly made our way down the coast.










Sunset at Cape Bowling Green.


First stop was Cape Bowling Green, then Upstart Bay, Gloucester, Haselwood and Keswick Islands. Then we went into the Mackay Marina for food and to top up the tanks with water and fuel. With all the motoring we were doing we were going through the fuel.





Our only neighbours at Keswick Island.

Then southwards again stopping at Prudhoe, Hexham and Great Keppel Islands, which were all great overnight stops as the weather was still benign. We decided to stay overnight in Gladstone Harbour before heading into Hervey Bay.



The next day a low was centred over Sydney/south coast and was sending gale force winds north, so we stayed in Gladstone Harbour while it raged outside. Three days later we were on our way again, stopping at two inlets in Hervey Bay for the night, prior to going into Port Bundaberg, you guessed it to reprovision and refuel. We managed to leave a great long black streak on the port bow as we reversed out of the fuel dock. This was accompanied by a lot of cursing and swearing from Peter.  

Ever onward, we stopped at Fraser Island, Double Island Point, Noosa Beach, and Moreton Island before we would reach our destination - the Southport seaway. We left Tangalooma Beach at 3am in the morning and it was at first light that we rounded the top of Moreton Island. For a couple of seconds Peter was perplexed at why there was all this mist coming up from the ocean into the air. Suddenly a huge whale surfaced right on the port side of the boat and blew water and air from its spout, and consequently all over Peter. As you can imagine this shocked and then delighted Peter. He then had to swerve in and around 15 whales that surrounded the boat. Coming up at 7am to do my shift I had missed everything and I was so disappointed. Later in the morning I was at the wheel to reset the autopilot when a large whale appeared 5 metres in front of the bow. He looked directly at me with his right eye and then quickly plunged back into the water heading to starboard while I immediately turned the wheel hard to port, to miss him. Seconds passed which seemed like minutes, but there was no thud. I was so glad I had missed him, not that I thought it would sink the boat as it is steel, but more because I didn’t want to harm him. We arrived at Southport just as the sun was setting and were ushered through by a pod of dolphins riding the waves in through the narrow entrance. We anchored in Bum's Bay just behind Main Beach.


Reverie on the hardstand.
The next day we manoeuvred the boat up through the narrow channels that lie between the Gold Coast and South Stradbroke Island, to the slipway and just in time for our booking. The boat was up on the hardstand for 18 days while the hull was repainted and then antifouled. This was only supposed to take 14 days but you know the longer they take the more money they make, all the while happily draining our wallets. Meanwhile, we stayed with our good friends Trish and John, visited family/friends in the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Caboolture.



Finally back in the water we again made passage south to Sydney, stopping at Bryon Bay, Coffs Harbour, Hat Head, Perpendicular and Sugarloaf Point. The Pacific Ocean was like duck pond during this time, we were sure we had experienced more waves in our bathtub. We were grateful however, as the NSW north coast does not offer many safe and calm anchorages unless you have a catamaran or a shallow keeled boat. We have a long keel of about 2.4 m and this restricts us from getting in close to beaches or up any sand-barred river systems.
The last few days of our trip we quickly ticked off - Port Stephens, Norah Head, the Hawkesbury River, before coming into Sydney Harbour on the 1 August 2011. We were delighted to be approached by a seal at the stern of the boat as we entered the Heads. He clapped his flippers together and looked directly at us. After a while he just left, obviously annoyed at us not knowing the routine. We surmised that he was used to fishermen gutting and cleaning fish and throwing him the scraps. It was so good to be home after 139 days since leaving Sydney for Hong Kong. We would not be leaving again until March 2012, so we had plenty of time to catch up with family and friends and get back into the land of the living and enjoy being land lubbers again.



Welcome Tulla and KT - Woolwich Marina.
Enjoying guests on board  - Sydney Harbour.

 





 




Nico and Sally - a great party.




Dale and Wendy.



David and Jenny.


Peter, Des, Denise and Gwen.


 

Chris and Michelle.



Peter, Ron and Denise.






Saturday 7 May 2011

5) 7th May 2011. Cairns.


Finally made it to Cairns.
On 7th May 2011 "Reverie" finally arrived in Cairns 38 days after leaving Hong Kong. The boat performed really well; handling the big swells, gale force winds and light weather easily. It was a good 'shakedown' trip for the crew and for "Reverie". We got a good sense of what the boat was capable of doing and more importantly of what we were capable of doing. A couple of things needed fixing, but nothing major broke and it also highlighted the improvements we could make to 'Reverie'.

Bad timing again saw us arrive on a Saturday and that meant more money to pay Customs, Immigration and Quarantine to come out from the airport to the marina. No one was allowed off the boat until their clearance. Welcome to Australia - infamous amongst fellow sailors as the most difficult and expensive country to get into. We thought it would be a simple affair for us - after all we were Australian. Boy were we wrong. We had already been checked out by the search plane as soon as we were in Australian waters. They contacted us by radio to query who we were, where we were going and what we had on-board. Then the full assessment began. Firstly, every inch of the boat was looked over - searching for drugs, guns, smuggled passengers and any other illegal contraband. Luckily we didn't have any of these. Then all non-canned goods were confiscated. Meaning all items in the fridge, freezer and cupboards were seized, bagged and thrown out. We had planned for this so not much was thrown out.

Excellent we thought, we have got off lightly. But then the Quarantine guy came aboard. He spent several hours inspecting every bit of wood in every nook and cranny on the boat for termites. Peter followed him around putting everything away, as he turned our boat inside out. He was convinced we would have termites because we are an older boat, we have a lot of wood and we had been to some countries that were notorious for termite infestations. This was going to mean more money to get it sprayed and cleared. So you can imagine our relief when he pronounced the boat clear.

The relief was short lived however after taking a call from a senior Quarantine officer the following Monday morning. The senior officer advised us that the weekend inspection officer was not qualified and another officer would be coming out later that day. They would repeat the process without further cost to us - thank God. After several hours, again our boat was cleared - yeh. Then, in a scene resembling a Monty Python sketch, the following morning the same senior officer rang again. He explained that he still was not happy and that we would need to undergo further testing. This would involve us paying for a sniffer dog to be sent by plane from Brisbane, or a local pest controller with a sensitive listening device, to detect the termites. We went for the pest controller and again our boat was cleared much to the unhappiness of the Quarantine department. We didn't get much change from $1000 from the whole Quarantine debacle.



Alann and Michelle.
















We thought we would stay in Cairns roughly one week before setting sail down the coast. So we had arranged for our friends, Nico and Michelle to join us, and they were due to arrive in a week's time. But this time came and went as further issues arose. We had to calculate the amount of CFC's in our old air conditioners, fridges and freezer and then pay around $400 for their disposal at the end of their lifetime, in the unforeseeable future. We spent time catching up with good friends (Nico and Michelle), catching up with friends we hadn't seen for a while (Suzan and Greg) and meeting new friends (Ross, Jeanette, Graham and Amanda). It was so nice to get dressed up to go out and enjoy ourselves, instead of being in our sailing wardrobe.







Suzan and Greg.


 




















Lastly, the importation of our vessel, the national and state registration process, and insurance costs. By this time we were bleeding and Michelle's two week holiday had come to an end. Nico arranged another few days and with his cousin, Ross, we set off south down the coast. We loved Cairns but we were so glad to see the end of it because it meant an end to the endless red tape, paperwork and the money to be spent. 

  

 

Graham and Amanda.


 





Ross and Jeanette.