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AUGUST , 2008 |
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| SOUTH PACIFIC WINTER |
Woodwark Bay turned out to be quite a nice spot. According to our cruising guide it is not a popular spot for the charter boats and if one wants seclusion then this bay is the place to go. After the hectic past six weeks, we were looking forward to perhaps being the only boat in Woodwark Bay. Unfortunately there was no wind for our journey to Woodwark and we had to motor the entire way. The good side of this is that the batteries were then topped up and we made 6.5 hours of water and our water tanks were then full. We could have waited one more day to leave the reef but the weather forecasts were predicting very strong winds from the southeast in the next few days and we didn’t want to miss the opportunity to travel comfortably and not bash into the wind and waves. When we were just about at the entrance to the bay we could see Meridian of Sydney heading in the same direction. And to our surprise, we saw at least four other sailboats when we entered the bay. Obviously, we were not the only people looking for peace and quiet! So we dropped our anchor near Meridian of Sydney and proceeded to settle in for a stay of longer than a few days. We were quite sure that we would be well protected from the gale force winds in this bay. The predicted gale arrived the next day in the early evening and we spent several hours listening to the VHF radio traffic about the many boats that were dragging anchor at Airlie Beach. In Airlie there are a lot of moorings with unmanned boats tied up to them. In February of this year, there was an episode of very strong winds (greater than 70 knots) and 50 boats were damaged or destroyed on the rocks when they broke free from their moorings. You would think that lessons had been learned, however, we heard many calls that night about unmanned boats that were drifting by other boats. A couple of charter boats also got into trouble at Nara Inlet (which is open to the prevailing tradewinds) and had to be rescued. Imagine having that kind of trouble when you have saved and planned for a dream vacation on a charter boat. We were in flat water that night in our bay but with 30-40 knot winds. Only one boat dragged in our bay and they went past between Meridian and us. The owner knew that it was happening but he was having some trouble with his engine and we were watching it happen in the dark with our engines at the ready. The other boat settled down quite a ways behind us and all was well for the night. We went to bed after 2300h and slept fitfully as the wind was loud. The wind finally eased during the next morning and we had a beautiful sunny day with little wind. We went ashore the next day with Paul and Judy from Meridian to walk the beach and play bocce. There is a small but very exclusive resort on the beach with huge “No Admittance” and “Trespassers will be Prosecuted” signs. We were careful to stay on the beach below the high water mark and we were hoping to see a celebrity or two, such as Nicole Kidman or Russell Crowe, but no luck. Paul and Judy returned to Airlie Beach a day or two later and we decided to stay for a few more days of relaxation and dealing with the never-ending list of boat projects/repairs. We had fruits and vegetables to last for a few more days before we would need to provision again. A few days later, just as we were planning on leaving the next day for Airlie, another catamaran arrived in the bay and anchored nearby. Mary recognized it as “Two Easy”, with owners Chris and Judy, whom we had met at Great Keppel Island three years ago. When we were new to this cruising lifestyle, Chris and Judy were the first yachties to ask us to join a “sundowners on the beach” session. We have been watching for Two Easy ever since and were delighted to see them in Woodwark Bay. Paul raced over in the dinghy and asked them (and their visitors from another boat in the bay) to attend sundowners on Bella Via that evening. We had a nice time reminiscing about our time together three years ago and getting to know their friends Angela and Allan from “Kiemar”. So, we stayed in Woodwark Bay longer than we had intended and had a good time socializing with Two Easy and Kiemar. We had dinner on Two Easy one night and then sundowners on Kiemar another. The highlight of those few days was a mid-day beach barbecue, organized by Chris and Judy. By that day, more boats had arrived in the bay to make a total of 8 (with 18 people). Chris went around in his dinghy that morning and invited all to the barbecue. At 1300h everyone gathered on the beach and we had a very enjoyable four hours of bocce, good conversation, great food, and lots of laughs. It wasn’t all play while we were at Woodwark – we discovered that Allan and Angela on Kiemar have a single side band radio but don’t use it for much. Paul, ever the teacher, volunteered to teach them how to use their radio to receive weather information and for emailing. Allan and Angela proved to be very apt pupils and we have since received several emails from Kiemar recounting how much they are enjoying getting up to date weather information via their radio. We also discovered that Angela is the avid fisher in the family and she and Paul had several discussions about lures. Paul told Angela about his favourite fishing spots along the east coast of Australia and they spent some time talking about painting lures that have been scratched or dulled from use. We recently received this email from Angela about painting lures - “I took your advice re painting our old lures. While in Bowen recently Allan spotted a jar of women's nail vanish called Glam Glitter.......it just looked like tiny fish scales in a clear suspension ..... yahoo.... I'm thinking just the perfect thing. So back at the boat we gave two coats of this glitter to the lures and ......hey presto....these two lures now are dressed to kill in silver and iridescent blue tiny sequins. Off Cape Upstart we hooked up two spotted Mackerel......what can I say ...thank you so much for the great idea.” The “yachty network” in action! July 30, 2008 We said good-bye to Two Easy and Kiemar and motored over to Airlie Beach where we anchored near Meridian of Sydney. As we were preparing to start heading south soon to Brisbane and Paul and Judy were staying north for a few more months, this would be our last few days together. We had an enjoyable dinner at a popular Thai restaurant in Airlie one evening and a good-bye dinner on Bella Via on the last night. We were sad to be leaving them but gladdened by the fact that we will probably see them in Tasmania just after Christmas as they will be flying there to see friends. We hope to have them stay with us for a few days. |
It’s winter in the South pacific and for the past two years we have been in the tropics in July and August. Not this year, and it’s cold. When we get up in the morning it’s only 15° Celsius in the cabin and we have no heater. We were having sundowners with Paul and Judy from Meridian and Paul from Bella Via kept adding more and more clothes as he got colder and colder! Our Australian friends got a big kick out of this. |
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Our journey south to Brisbane began with a fast sail to Shaw Island. At times we had over three knots of current pushing us along. We gave ourselves lots of time to get to the pontoon in Brisbane that we have rented while we are away in North America for our daughter’s wedding. The prevailing southeast winds were still quite strong and we didn’t want to be bashing into the waves and wind while heading south. Therefore, we tried to travel on calm days, which meant motoring, or the rare occasion where the wind came out of the north. We spent two nights at Shaw and enjoyed the beach walks. We then traveled to Scawfell Island, with only an overnight stop. The next morning looked good for a long travel day to Island Head Creek, a journey of 18 hours. As we have lots of waypoints for the complicated entrance into Island Head, we didn’t mind getting there late at night. It is a zigzag course, somewhat, due to the multitude of sandflats, which dry out at low tide. We had a good motor sail and arrived at the entrance to Island Head at 0115h. Picture Paul on the bow of the boat and Mary at the helm. It is pitch dark as there is no moon. The steaming light is on at the mast, which gives Paul forward visibility but totally destroys Mary’s forward visibility. Mary can see Paul, but nothing further ahead. We motored into the entrance, with Paul keeping an eye on the few anchor lights that he could see in the distance and Mary navigating from waypoint to waypoint. As this was happening, Mary remembers thinking that this was an exercise in absolute trust in your partner – Mary was trusting Paul to lead us into the anchorage without hitting any other boats (especially the occasional dingbats who don’t have anchor lights!) and Paul was trusting Mary to follow the track in, and his directions, with skill. Whew! We made it in and dropped anchor and gave each other a big hug. We got to bed at 0200h but didn't sleep that well - probably due to the adrenalin after effects of anchoring in the dark. We set a wake-up alarm (a definite rarity!) and got up at 0630h so that we could get the 0630h weather fax and Paul could check in on the ham radio net as usual. If we didn't check in, they would start to worry, as they knew that we had been travelling all that day and most of the night. Mary didn't even make the bed that morning because she knew that Paul would be using it and he was back in bed shortly after the net. Once Mary is up, that's it; Mary is up for the day. August 7, 2008 We moved deeper into Island Head Creek, but only after a dinghy ride to Pinetrees Point. This is an area that Paul had been in briefly when he was fishing the day before and he wanted to bring Mary back to see it as it reminded him very strongly of our cruising ground in Northern Ontario. We enjoyed the ride and the scenery and it was extra special when we came across at least 8 dolphins playing in the water. We stopped the motor and drifted and enjoyed the show. Unfortunately, when we turned around to head back to Bella Via, the wind had strengthened and the tide had turned so our ride back was choppy and spray-filled. Oh well, at least we enjoyed the rocks and trees of Pinetrees Point. |
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The rocks and trees that remind us of our cruising grounds in the Great Lakes. |
August 10, 2008 On this day, the predicted strong winds did not happen and, at noon, we decided to make the next jump south. We had a passage of at least 40 miles to Great Keppel Island and, because we left late in the day, we didn’t arrive until 2200h. Fortunately, it is an easy anchorage to get into and we also have good waypoints from previous visits to the area. We stayed at Great Keppel Island for three days and very much enjoyed the beach walks. We also were invited by other yachties to a campfire under a rock ledge to watch the sunset and this was very enjoyable. The other yachties were actually “locals” – they live on their boats full-time and move from anchorage to anchorage at Great Keppel Island, depending on the wind direction. It’s called the “Keppel Island Shuffle”. We also had a visit with Geoff and Daphne (ham radio net members and our friends from Rockhampton) while we were at Great Keppel. Geoff and Daphne came out with their friend Jim on Jim’s boat for the afternoon. Daphne had packed a lunch and we spent an enjoyable afternoon. August 14, 2008 We continued on and moved to Cape Capricorn. We had spent one slightly rolly night here three years ago and then we moved into Yellow Patch on the high tide. This time, we weren’t planning on going to Yellow Patch and still intended only one night’s stay at Cape Capricorn. We had a very comfortable night at anchor (no rocking and rolling) and decided to stay one more day so that we could climb the hill to the lighthouse and have a picnic lunch. |
This is such a beautiful sight. There is Bella Via off in the distance and our dinghy down on the beach as we climbed to the lighthouse for a picnic lunch..
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From Cape Capricorn we traveled about 30 miles to a new place for us – Mast Head Island. The locals at Great Keppel Island had recommended it as a stop on the way to Fitzroy Reef. Mast Head Island is completely surrounded by coral and it looked as though shore access would be very difficult. We approached the reef until we found suitable depth and a large sandy patch and dropped the hook. Paul immediately went snorkeling and speared a fish for that night’s dinner. While he was hunting and gathering, the wind came up out of the west and, since it was now wind against tide, our calm anchorage became a bit uncomfortable. The conditions were tolerable, but not flat and calm. In the morning, we continued on to Fitzroy Reef. Our friends on Two Easy, Chris and Judy, had encouraged us to go to this reef and said that the entrance into the lagoon is well marked and the coral bommies are large and easily seen. Sure enough, we easily made it through the narrow pass and found a large sandy patch close to the reef in which to drop our anchor. We had a pleasant stay of three days. Most of the time we were alone in the large lagoon, except for a large police boat that had come in, with five officers aboard. They told Paul that they cruise the reefs for a week at a time. Paul visited them after a snorkeling session and while chatting with them from the dinghy, they finally got around to asking about our onboard safety equipment. They do have the right to board us and check our equipment but they were satisfied with Paul’s answers and didn’t ever come over to Bella Via. Paul wanted to stay longer at the reef as the spearfishing was good, however, the wind was quite strong and Mary finds it hard to sleep throughout the night with the sound of the wind in the rigging. The last night there, Mary wore earplugs and managed to get a good night’s sleep. August 21, 2008 We headed west to Pancake Creek for what we hoped would be a calm place to wait for another chance to head south to Brisbane. We moved in as deep as we could into Pancake Creek and settled at anchor. We weren’t entirely confident in our anchor set as we could see quite a bit of coral rubble under the boat. Next day, Paul went out in the dinghy with our hand-held depth gauge and found a large sandy patch with enough water for Bella Via to stay floating at low tide. We re-anchored and spent a very comfortable 9 days at Pancake Creek. |
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In 2005, we twice took the walk to the lighthouse and, each time, veered off the path before we reached the lighthouse and went down to Aircraft Beach. This time, we were determined to get to the lighthouse. Here is Mary, with Peter and Sally, this month’s volunteer lighthouse caretakers. The working lighthouse has been restored to its original state and there is a museum and a cottage for the caretakers. |
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Paul, at the mast, hand-sewing reinforcing straps on the third reef point on the mainsail. |
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We needed to repair the UV cover on the leech of the jib (foresail). We didn’t relish the thought of wrestling the large sail into the salon where we usually set up the sewing machine. So, we brought the sewing machine out to the foredeck (not an easy task) and managed to repair the sail cover with a minimum of difficulty. |
We finished up this round of sewing projects with the making of a cover for our washing machine to protect it from salt spray (as it stays in the cockpit) and Paul wanted a small waterproof bag for the dinghy under the seat. On Friday, August 29, we had decided to move on to Bundaberg the next day, when Alan and Patricia Lucas from Soleares motored into the anchorage. We last saw them on the Clarence River at Christmas in 2006. Alan wrote the cruising guide that most yachties use to cruise the east coast of Australia. They immediately asked us over for sundowners, however, we already had an invite that evening on the boat, Bellatrix, that was anchored nearby. Thus, we decided that we must stay for one more night. On Saturday night, we enjoyed a pleasant sundowner session on Bella Via with Alan and Patricia from Soleares, Gillian and Bob from Bellatrix, and Ian and Janet from Rebel. August 31, 2008 We hauled up our anchor at 0730h, waved good-bye to our friends and motored out of Pancake Creek to head for Bundaberg. On the way out of the anchorage, Alan and Patricia followed us for quite a ways in their dinghy. Patricia took quite a few photos of Bella Via and maybe we will be in the next edition of “Cruising the Coral Coast’! The forecasted winds of 10-15 knots from the east/northeast (a good angle for getting to Bundaberg) never happened. We had very little wind and it was out of the southeast in the morning and out of the east in the afternoon. We motored all day and it wasn’t until the end of the trip that we were finally traveling at a respectable speed of 7 knots. It was a very long day and we made it into the channel at Bundaberg just at twilight. Thankfully, it is a well-marked channel and we settled at anchor in exactly the same spot we were in a few months ago (thanks to our waypoint on our chart plotter). We plan on being in Bundaberg for several days as we take care of what we call “town business”. |