8) June to October 2012. Brisbane to the Whitsundays.

2012 ended up being the antithesis of 2011. We continually had storms coming up the coast from the lows that were centred in the Tasman Sea. You would look at the map of Australia and you would see a low over Sydney/Melbourne, one over Adelaide and another over Perth. So they would deliver three to six days of really windy and ugly weather. After this it would die down for two to three days of perfect weather, and this is when we made passage to the next destination and before the next low made it to the east coast of Australia. This weather situation followed us from Sydney and we were not finally free from its grip until we passed the Tropic Of Capricorn.



Leaving Brisbane City.

Finally the day had come to leave Brisbane and the weather forecast was going to be good for at least 4 days, which was plenty of time to get up safely behind Fraser Island. We motored down the Brisbane River and anchored behind Bribie Island for the night. Just on dusk a huge storm hit, with 40 knot winds it turned Moreton Bay into a raging torrent. We were tossed about quite a lot but the anchor held. At 1am the anchor alarm went off. On investigation we weren’t dragging our anchor but it had pulled the anchor chain taut and we were now too near the shore for comfort. With visibility down to one arm’s length, pitch black, wind and rain coming in sideways we would have to move. So here I was lying flat on the bow as the boat pitched and rolled like a bucking bronco. Hanging on for dear life with one hand and pulling up the anchor via the winch, with the other hand. We then motored further away from the shore and reset the anchor. After 10 minutes we were satisfied it was going to hold and went below to get out of our wet clothes and warm up. During the night we took turns every two hours to watch the GPS position and the anchor chain (anchor watch) to be sure we didn’t move. The next morning we noticed that the neighbouring boat was on the rocks. The wind and swell had picked up the boat and its mooring ball and with no one on board had flung it on the beach. Three days later the storm abated and we finally remembered to wait another 24 hours before setting north again.

We stopped overnight at Noosa Beach and then it was a quick sail up to Wide Bay, south of Fraser Island. We had arrived at the perfect time it would seem - calm water and midday on a bright sunny day. We could not see the daytime light leads so we followed our chart plotter to the letter to find the deepest channel across the shallow bar. It wasn't until we were committed that we realised that something was deeply wrong. The waves were standing up signalling that it was very shallow water. I suggested to Peter that we turn around immediately but as he pointed out we would take numerous large waves over the side, which could potentially sink the boat. So over the bar we went.

After this photo was taken it was too rough to take any further shots.

The waves got bigger and the boat was tossed around in what felt like a washing machine. The waves flooded into the cockpit and everything here, cushions and books, was swimming around on the floor. I scrambled around trying to close the hatch as quick as possible with one hand, as letting go would mean falling.

Meanwhile, Peter was madly trying to keep the bow into the waves to prevent us from being swamped and going under. The waves smashed into him and he nearly lost his grip on the wheel several times. During this time the keel just kept smashing into the sand below, each and every trough. We were bobbing around like a cork. The feeling it gives you is nauseating. You know the keel is tough but if it breaks the boat will turn upside down and you cannot help thinking of this every time it would hit the bottom. The crossing took about 20 minutes but it felt like an hour. We were utterly exhausted and shaking uncontrollably after crossing this bar (well I was). Later we were enlightened that it had the reputation of being the worst bar on the east coast of Australia. Great, our first bar crossing and we had to pick the worst. They don't call it "the mad mile" for nothing.

More bad weather was upon us but we were safe and snug up the river at lovely Tin Can Bay. Feeding 'Mystique' the local dolphin was a highlight. We met our now good friends, Patrick and Marie from 'Gael Force', at the yacht club. As we found out our chart plotter software was last year's model and was out of date for the quickly shifting sands of Wide Bay Bar and behind Fraser Island. Luckily for us Patrick and Marie had an up to date one, so we closely followed them safely through the shallow 'Sheridan Flats'. At one stage we had only 400mm below our keel. Sharing meals and sightseeing Fraser Island with them was great fun. But after Fraser Island we went to Gladstone, while they continued to Yeppoon, to refuel, provision and to have my tooth refilled (yuk!!!).




Coming into Great Keppel Island - just on dusk.

Ever onwards and north, we had to make passage during the limited good weather windows if we were going to get to the Whitsundays in time to enjoy the dry season and also make our rendezvous with our good friends - Karen, David and Frannie. So we made quick progress from Gladstone to Great Keppel Island, Port Clinton, Marble Island, the Mackay Marina, and then finally Airlie Beach.



Arriving at beautiful and safe Port Clinton.

Arriving in Airlie Beach at 8pm and having to dodge all the unlit boats in the harbour and navigate through the 'S' shaped marina entrance, was challenging. The marina staff had told us to tie up on our starboard side - which we did. It wasn't until trying to connect the electricity and water later that we realised they should have told us the port side. We were paying $140/night here for this luxury but didn't want to go through the whole process again at 9pm at night, so we would have to do without the amenities overnight. We were just glad to finally be in the Whitsundays and breathing a sigh of relief as we had made it just in time to see off Marie and Patrick from 'Gael Force' at midday the next day and welcome our guests from Tasmania some hours later, at 4pm. 

After having dinner Peter checked the depth of the position the marina staff had allocated us. After rechecking his calculations he realised that at low tide later that night we would only have 100mm of water under our keel. Worse still, every night after that it would get shallower. This would see us take out the wharf and the catamaran beside us the next evening. So after speaking to the security guard we moved into the deeper water berths, usually reserved for the super-yachts (boy, do some people have too much money). When going to the office the next morning to pay they were annoyed that we were in this section and suggested a third move. Peter nicely pointed out all the stuff ups that had occurred and the fact that we could not contact their on-call staff the previous night to reassign another berth. So in their wisdom they decided to leave us there for the rest of the week, bless their hearts.



Peter, Denise, Frannie and KT.

Our guests arrived and we all spent the next five days stocking up on food, eating out and seeing the sights of Airlie, Bowen and the pretty coast in between. Then it was off to the Whitsunday group of islands a few hours sail away. We based ourselves around Hook Island, where we could easily see all the sights for the remaining week. It was a great sail over and we were greeted by a whale; breaching and waving its fin and tail. We anchored for two days in Nara Inlet and went ashore for a bush walk and to see the aboriginal art. We also spent our time snorkelling around the fringing reef and swimming in deep water off the back of the boat. Well the Tasmanians did this bit, as it was too cold in the water for us on these occasions. They breed them mighty hearty in Tassie.


 



KT, Frannie and David - on way back to Airlie.

Then we went around to another inlet on the west coast of the island. This had a spectacular fringing reef and even provided an opportunity to swim with turtles. On the last day we slowly motored back to Airlie, again seeing three whales together and a pod of dolphins. 9 year old Frannie was in heaven by this stage. Nothing can beat seeing whales, dolphins, turtles, stingrays and numerous birds in the wild.


 




Wendy, Richard, Denise and Peter.

We dropped our guests back at Airlie to continue their holiday and then did all the usual chores, before we could head out again. It was during shore leave that we met some lovely people, Richard and Wendy from 'Charon'. They convinced us to stay in Airlie for the annual race week and festivities that was starting the following day. After this fun week we were firm friends, so we followed them up to Gloucester Island and Monte's Resort for the annual Shag Island Cruising Yacht Club General Meeting.


 






Over 100 boats attended.

Members are affectionately known as 'shaggers' and the annual general meeting was basically a good excuse for a lot of partying. On the serious side, they did also raise $30,000 for Prostate Cancer. There was the welcome party, the Shag Island low tide party, the parrot party and a pirate party. There was even a wedding and of course the after wedding party.




  



Pirate party - Peter with other pirates.

These parties usually started at 10am and with most people going back to their boats by about 10pm. After 5 days of this regime Peter and I were absolutely 'shagged' (excuse the pun). We said goodbye to our new friends as they went north to Bowen and then onto Cairns. We chaperoned them to Bowen, only a short half day sail away and then returned to Gloucester Island for some much needed rest and recreation. This was a popular choice as some other shaggers obviously had the same idea. There was the usual knock on the hull and the invite for an impromptu lunch on the island for 20 of us, which helped fill in the lazy days. 



Beautiful Shaw Island.

We returned south with the agenda to see as many of the Whitsunday and Cumberland group of islands that we could fit in - Hook, Whitsunday, Cid, Haslewood, Long, Shaw, Lindeman, Scawfell, and South Percy Islands, before leaving to go south.






 



Peter and Richard - full after eating fresh oysters off the rocks.

At Hook Island we met another new friend, Richard from 'Sail La Vie'. Richard was sailing south to Brisbane as well, so we teamed up with him. As per usual for 2012 the lows were ever present off the south coast of Australia. As usual giving us days where we had to shelter behind islands and then pleasant days when the weather passed, and we managed to make passage south again. It was nice to have Richard with us on the rest days to spend time swimming, bushwalking, beachcombing and fishing. 

The biggest and best highlight of the whole trip was the last island. We arrived at South Percy Island late afternoon to find ourselves alone in the anchorage. Richard had decided to stay at Middle Percy Island for the night. To our delight two whales also decided the anchorage was to their liking, and they were swimming around the boat. We watched them up on the deck for ages until it was too dark to see them. Later we went to bed and listened to them through the steel hull, singing to each other.

All too soon it was the end of the season and we headed south to Brisbane to wait out the northern cyclone season. We would get work, visit family and friends and drive down to Sydney for Christmas.

7) 11th April to May 2012. Sydney to Brisbane.




Suchitra and Satish.

Well 2012 arrived and before we knew it, it was March. We had spent the last three months packing our entire life up, putting it in storage, selling our two cars, preparing the house for rental and getting reliable tenants. 








Peter and Lynn.

Yet again we had to say goodbye to family and friends. This is always the hardest thing to do and this time it was worse as we knew we would not be back for a while.











Sydney Harbour sunrise.

We had planned to leave our Woolwich moorings early March but it was mid-April by the time we got everything ready to leave. On one hand it was sad leaving Sydney our hometown, but on the other we were finally able to start our big adventure and our first season on the boat together.

Our neighbours at Woolwich. 

We had moved the boat from the marina berth to a mooring, so when we were ready it would be simple to just let the rope and float go and we would be on our way. However, getting the rest of everything on the boat and all the food we would need, a dinghy full trip at a time was not fun.








The saloon.

Finding a place to stow all the items was almost impossible and there was crap everywhere. Slowly but surely we got most things stowed or at least lashed down, and we left our mooring on the 11th April.





The galley.

As soon as we left we noticed that the motor was unable to get up to full speed, but we decided to continue north and sort the problem out when we got to the Hawkesbury or into Port Stephens. 



We motored down Sydney Harbour and out the Heads. The waves were large from the previous low off the south coast but we had to make a break for it as there was another low predicted to hit the south coast in three days time. So onward and upward as they say, climbing over the 4m waves (swell and wave height combined) in a 20 - 25 knot wind is not fun but we did it. With only 2 people on board it was a mad scramble to steer, get the autopilot going (christened Steve) and pop up the sails. We managed and without vomiting too, marvellous. The moral of the story; wait at least 24 hours for the waves and swell to subside after a storm. It was a quick trip up to the Hawkesbury River in just 4 hours. The calm anchorage at Resolut Beach was just the trick to get a pleasant night’s sleep before the next leg.

The next day we left early for the long trip to Port Stephens. We couldn’t get into Brisbane Water as the entrance is barred by sand and only shallow draft vessels can risk it. We discussed Newcastle, but being a busy port and entering in the dark was not high on Peter’s wish list. So we arrived to the safety of Port Stephens 26 hours or so after leaving the Hawkesbury River.

Port Stephens was beautiful though, being anchored just off Shoal Bay Beach we spent five lovely days luxuriating on the water. Well at least I did. Peter spent 4 of the 5 days trying to work out the engine problem. On the 4th day and after pulling apart and rebuilding the engine and finding nothing wrong, he finally dived over the side to look at the bottom of the boat. Well the special coating on the propeller that was applied in Southport to retard growth (which we were charged $400 extra for), was coated in growth. So hence the cheaper version on the bottom of the boat was fine, with no growth. Sydney barnacles obviously love the more expensive stuff. So holding his breath with mask and snorkel, he had to manually chip off the growth. Three hours in but not completely finished I had to call an end to the activity as he resembled a blue ice cube and was shivering uncontrollably. So he decided to finish the job in warmer waters. We spent 3 days enjoying evenings with Chris and Colin (who we had seen that week in Sydney) and then Sue and Mark (who we hadn't seen for 2 years or more). It was great seeing all of them and enjoying good food, wine and friends for a while.
  

With the locals predicting a future thunderstorm (as it seemed Sydney was going to get a drenching) we set off. Will we ever learn!!! Apparently not it would seem. The effects of the bad weather system that was giving Sydney it's worse and most rain in years, was following us up the coast. So instead of taking 10 days with a rest stop every night in coastal alcoves like in 2011, we just had to keep going. Two hours on and off for 23 hours saw us reach Coffs Harbour. We managed about 4 hours rest here as we were exhausted. But unfortunately the waves and swell just roll right into the harbour as it has an eastern opening, directly into the Pacific Ocean. So we decided to continue north as we were awake anyway. After 29 hours we got to Cape Bryon and again stopped to catch 4 hours of intermittent sleep. The last leg from Cape Bryon to Southport was the quickest part of the trip as the weather system was finally losing its bite, and we entered the Southport Seaway at 10 pm at night. We imagined entering the narrow seaway in the dark and with a swell would be hair raising. Luckily though the seaway was well lit with beacons and the waves had diminished somewhat, so the entry was not too bad. Finally safely anchored in Bum’s Bay behind Main Beach, we threw some food into our heads and went off to bed.

The plan was to stay about 5 to 7 days in the Gold Coast but after 3 days another low centred itself just off Main Beach, and raged for over a week. Even crossing the sheltered seaway behind Main Beach in the dinghy was hazardous. After 2 weeks it was time to leave the Gold Coast. We attempted going up the narrow channels between the mainland and South Stradbroke Island and then into Moreton Bay to get to Brisbane. Ultimately saving us a much longer trip - going around South Stradbroke, then North Stradbroke and then up along the outside of Moreton Island. But we only got a quarter of the way through the channel system when we hit sand. According to the chart and the chart plotter it was supposed to be 4m deep. So we turned around and went back to Bum’s Bay for the night. We could not risk it as there were even shallower patches down to 2m at low tide and we didn’t know where the sand was at any given point in time. The next morning we left about 4 am and finally arrived at Tangalooma Beach on the west of Moreton Island late in the evening, for a well-earned rest overnight. The next morning we then motored across the bay and into the Brisbane River.



Brisbane City with pile moorings out front.

We were nervous about going up the Brisbane River because of all the flooding that had occurred in January 2012. We were concerned that there would be many submerged items hidden under the water after seeing TV footage of boats, bridges and jetties floating downstream. But we were assured by a fellow ‘yachtie’ that the river had been cleared of all debris and that an anchorage opposite the Botanical Gardens was so central to the city, that we had to go. After 5 hours motoring upstream we went past the Storey Bridge and were positioning ourselves for anchoring when we noticed a pile mooring berth empty. We had been told to grab one if there were no ropes and floats up – meaning it was vacant. But finding one vacant was akin to winning the lottery. You can imagine our delight. So we quickly grabbed the first pole with a long rope and then managed to get a second rope around the second pole and we were in. This was no mean feat as the current is so strong in the river. You really need to get slack water (best shortly after high tide) to attempt the tie up. We stayed 3 weeks in Brisbane because of this central location and it allowed us easy access to our lawyer’s office while we tied up some important matters. Plus it was only $70/week, which entitled you to a jetty to tie your dinghy to, showers, toilets, laundry and you were on the doorstep of Brisbane city. We met some lovely people at this anchorage and spent a fair bit of time with Glen, Julie and their children on board 'Honeymoon'.