Mackay to TOWNSVILLE!

I'm home! Apologies for the long silence, but once we reached Airlie nothing would do for me but pressing on for Townsville as fast as we could, and that didn't leave time to write. But I mustn't get ahead of myself..

The strong weather that had us stuck in Mackay continued, and we were there for almost a week in the end. Mackay marina isn't nearly as scenic as some of the places I've been stuck, and is a way out of the town proper, so it was a long week. Luckily for us, Tshinta, a yacht we'd kept encountering since Bundy, was tied up right next door, similarly stuck in with the weather, so we had good company - there were a few late nights at the Mackay Yacht Club. Peter, Feargus, Andy and Kate were taking Tshinta from Hervey Bay to Bowen, I imagine they've arrived by now.

When the weather finally eased off, we made a lunchtime start from Mackay (thanks to one of those late nights at the yacht club) and did a short sail to Brampton Island, where we anchored for the night. It's a popular anchorage - we were, amazingly, the first boat out the next morning, bound for Airlie Beach. The cruise up through the Whitsundays has to be one of the prettier passages I've made:

Mackay to TOWNSVILLE!

Airlie Beach is a beautiful spot, I can see what all the fuss is about. It's a backpacker haven, with a marina largely populated with cruise and dive boats of various kinds, and a bustling main drag, but we spent our evenings at the Yacht Club, naturally. We went looking for Kate and Andy's boat, Windale, on the hard there, but couldn't find it.

Bowen, the last proper boat harbour before Townsville, was our next stop. It was an easy day sail from Airlie, through Gloucester Passage, where we saw the North Queensland Cruising Yacht Club all out for a race - the Tshintas had warned us that the club would be deserted as the locals would be out at Monte's resort for the night, celebrating after the race. Sure enough, I couldn't get through to the club (I'd been hoping to borrow a berth for the night, from someone out at the race), so we ended up mooring in the Marina Pool. We dinghied ashore for meal at the club all the same.

After Bowen, we were looking at anchoring at Cape Upstart and Cape Bowling Green, making the final passage in three days. Being so close to Townsville, though, I was feeling an urge to press on. We arrived at Cape Upstart before sunset, but I decided to go on to Cape Bowling Green and make it a two day trip - then, when we reached Cape Bowling Green around midnight, we decided we'd just carry on through the night and into Townsville in the morning.

So, the final passage ended up being a bit of a long one, 22 hours to cover about 100nm. We spotted Castle Hill and Magnetic Island a couple of hours before dawn, and slowed ourselves down, reaching the Ross Creek entrance at about 0630. By 1000, we'd showered, arranged Contessa II's home for the next six months, and settled in at the bar. It felt so good!

Rosslyn Bay to Mackay

Well, the local advice was quite correct - we would have been mad to pass by without visiting the islands going north from Keppel Bay. We spent four nights out, making short (well, all-day, but shorter than previous) passages and anchoring overnight at Great Keppel Island, Port Clinton, Hexham Island and Middle Percy Island. Five days, four nights is the longest I've been out away from shore power, water and amenities. Water was our limiting factor, a minor nuisance, because I forgot to actually check the tank before we left.

With two cameras aboard and Em's photographic knowhow, the most recent set of photos is a bit larger than usual. No apologies for that - I could go on and on about how beautiful the passage was, but the photos probably do a better job:

Rosslyn Bay to Mackay

West Bay on Middle Percy Island probably warrants a little description, though: there's a homestead on the island, and the last few generations of occupants have all encouraged passing yachts to stop by. The homesteaders and the visiting yachties have built a big treehouse, some outdoorsy amenities, a shack and a big "A" frame hut, the latter two of which are decorated (festooned, even) with plaques, flags, messages in bottles, spare liferings, flotsam and jetsam and innumerable other bits of boaty miscellanea, all inscribed with the details of visiting yachts and bits of nautical doggerel. It's lovely. The homesteaders will sell local produce, too, so if you're running low on victuals you can pick up some fresh fruit and veg, their local honey and lime juice, bread, goat (whole or leg of), peacock and chicken.

West Bay was where I spent my birthday, actually - we dinghied over to the beach for a swim and a picnic, and wandered around and explored, and of course left our own bit of jetsam in the hut. And thanks for all the birthday wishes, everybody! We were out of touch at the time, so I got them all at once when we arrived in Mackay.

We're still in Mackay - coming in on Tuesday evening, we just beat some really strong weather that was building and has been blowing hard ever since. So we're well and truly recharged and resupplied - without much prospect of getting away until Monday, at the earliest.

Bundy to Rosslyn Bay

We spent much longer in Bundy than I'd expected, caught by weather, which was a bit frustrating but did give us the chance to meet Noah and Vicky F., a lovely Canadian couple who are settling here and selling their beautiful Cape Dory 33 Serenus (I can't link to yachthub.com listings directly but it's worth a looking her up) after cruising all the way from Canada, over a couple of years. They had us over for dinner then took us into town to resupply, and to Bundy's local Shalom Markets for fresh stuff - Noah helped me out with my alternator, too.

When the weather finally cleared I was keen to make up some distance, so Em got to start her sailing career with a 24 hour, 130nm passage with a moonless night. Amazingly, she's not refusing to ever get on a boat again. We left Bundy just before sunset and set off for Cape Capricorn (so named because it's right on the Tropic), motoring as there was no wind. Decent sailing weather came up in the morning, but only an hour after hoisting the main the vang tore itself out of the boom on an accidental jybe.

At Cape Capricorn we anchored overnight, then set off the next morning for Rosslyn Bay, going inside through Keppel Bay. With light airs and the boom vang broken, we ended up motoring all the way. It was a pleasant trip all the same - gorgeous clear water and constant sunshine, with the sea calm in the lee of the islands. We sighted mother and juvenile dolphin (and plenty of others), and a sea turtle sunning itself on the surface.

I was quite lucky with repairs - the local rigger, Mal Whyte of Queensland Yachtcraft, was around the marina when I rang him the afternoon we arrived and popped out to look at the boom, then picked it up and patched it up and got it back to me all in the next day - and did a great job, too. I was expecting to be held up much longer, so I was very grateful to be ready to go again so soon.

We caught the bus into Yeppoon the day after to resupply - it's a lovely little town, with a big yacht club, pretty views from the strand and some decent little boutiques, where Em was able to find a stripey shirt and some bellbottom trousers.

The Capricornia Cruising Yacht Club in Rosslyn Bay is a fantastic little place, and the marina crowd is friendly. We ran into a few familiar faces from Bundy, and further down the way, and made some new friends. Our next stop was going to be Pearl Bay or Island Head Creek, both approximately Townsville-wards, but the locals and other cruisers persuaded us we'd be mad to go on without stopping off at Great Keppel Island, so we're bound there this afternoon.

Bundy to Rosslyn Bay

One for the geeks

Briefly, we're still in Bundaberg - it's blowing about 25kt here in harbour. It doesn't look like we'll get away until Sunday, so we'll probably go right on to the Keppel Islands or Rosslyn Bay in one passage.

So, pottering around in port, I took the time to work out how to transfer data from my chartplotter to the PC, and convert it to Google Earth format. I've taken a quick look at the tracks, and can't make much sense of them, but the waypoints are clear enough... the last four are for a trip we haven't made yet. Also, I didn't start plotting waypoints until Port Stephens, so for the very start of the trip there aren't any. Anyway, here's the file, which you ought to be able to simply open in Google Earth:

My GPS waypoints so far

Bundy

After all the motorsailing I did on the way here, I'd been feeling (that Contessa II was probably) overdue for an engine service, so I decided I'd have to sort that out before leaving Bundaberg. The local marine diesel guy (Gary of Marine Torque, very reasonable) wasn't available until this (Wednesday) morning, so I've ended up staying in Bundaberg a week.

Em and I have been making ourselves familiar faces at the Blue Water Sports Club and the Lighthouse Hotel, both of Burnett Heads (which is where we actually are, more accurately), and exploring Bundy. And, yes, sampling the rum. Waiting for the mechanic gave us time to do a few odd jobs, revictual and pick up some equipment. We meant to go for a swim, too, but the lady in Target looked at me like I was mad when I tried to buy swimmers, it being the middle of winter, and the pool was closed... iced up, presumably.

It's cane processing time here (as it is about half the year, I think), so the big trucks and ferries of cane are running to and from the refineries, the fields are being burnt off and there's generally a sort of molassesy atmosphere about the place.

We'll be trying to day-sail as much as we can from here on in - our next stop should be an overnight anchorage at Pancake Creek, or Gladsone if the weather turns unfriendly (as it looks as though it might), then on to somewhere in Keppel Bay.

Southport to Bundaberg

Steve's new boat, Castanet, is lovely - I'm really happy for him. She's large, forty feet, and spacious with it, but in many ways is a cousin to Contessa II, with the same classic lines.

In between tinkering with the alternator and inspecting Castanet, I was treated to a tour of the HMAS Bundaberg, which was tied up at the Soutport Yacht Club. A friend of Jo C. and my brothers' happened to be on board, and when I looked him up he showed me around the ship, leaving me with a severe case of navigational instrument envy.

I have another recommendation to make: Joe Gergay of Mojo Marine was working with Steve on his boat, and kindly took some time to look at my alternator. He helped out and gave lots of good advice - anyone looking at marine electronics in the Southport/Brisbane area should certainly give him a ring on 0434375375.

From Southport we made pretty good time, and I'm now more like two-thirds of my way to Townsville. I expect to slow down a bit from here on in, as the better weather, the Whitsundays and the reef will probably encourage dawdling - especially as Emma is joining me here in Bundaberg.

Eugene and I stopped in Mooloolaba for one night. It's a strange town - home to Jessica Watson and Steve Irwin, if that gives any idea. There's a few Mooloolaba photos in the latest set:

Yamba to Bundaberg

Most of the photos, though, are of the Great Sandy Straights and Hervey Bay. We went inside Fraser Island to Bundaberg, rather than around the top - trading stronger offshore winds and easier navigation for a shorter but far more scenic route and tricky inshore pilotage. We started late in the day from Mooloolaba and made it to Wide Bay Bar the next morning, then moved about half-way through the Straights to the South White Cliffs and the anchorage known as "Ceratodus", where we stopped for the night. It's a beautiful spot, I could have lazed there for days.

I didn't, though. The next morning we got off early, and spent the day racing to Bundaberg as best we could with no wind. We got in after dark, with no moon and a tidal current running quite strong, which was a bit tricky, but there's a shipping "runway" (Eugene's mot juste), so there was no chance of missing the entrance. I sort of expected rum piped to berths here, along with water and power, but as it turned out we had to wander all the way to Burnett Heads before we found an open pub, the Lighthouse. We had to find a pub, though, because after over a fortnight Eugene was disembarking and heading back to work - a great shame, we made a good team.

I'll be resting up here for a few days, doing some maintenance and cleaning and resupplying. And drinking some rum, I expect.

Yamba to Southport

Queensland, at last! Southport isn't quite half way to Townsville, but as a psychological milestone, it'll do. We're tied up round the corner from Seaworld, in a forest of highrises and resorts - quite a contrast to the last few stops. Hopefully somewhere around here I can find a new alternator. Steve Y. is up here buying himself a boat (which is a relief, I've been feeling bad about taking his), so we had a friendly face to meet us when we arrived.

The trip from Yamba was the longest passage I've made so far, and one of the most beautiful - after a rough start, the weather turned very fair, with a decent breeze. There was a near-full moon that lasted most of the night, and mild seas, and of the 30 hours we spent, berth-to-berth, we only had the engine running for 9. With some offshore hazards and a bit of set-and-drift, I got to do some decent navigation work, too.

We were particularly well-favoured by dolphins (attentive readers might remind me here that in 'Port Macquarie to Coffs Harbour' I said I'd stop going on and on about dolphins, to which: I didn't mean it), particularly off Cape Byron. I was happily reminded of my one-time brother-in-law Andy plunging into the surf to swim with them in his wedding clothes in Byron - I wonder if we encountered any of the same ones? Resting with the engine off, you could hear them through the hull - I reckon I can rig myself a bedside bathyphone by stickytaping on a stethoscope down below the waterline. That's one to add to the list.

Coffs Harbour to Yamba

Leaving Coffs was bittersweet - it's been my favorite stop so far. Still, there was northing to be made, so off we went! The day started (I say started, but we didn't leave until mid-afternoon) with a slow but scenic sail, with no wind to speak of. It had become completely calm by dusk, so on went the motor again, for some hours. It was a lovely clear evening, with a bright moon. At midnight we observed the solstice and celebrated with cake, and after the moon set had a nice couple of hours of stargazing.

In the pre-dawn watch, the wind suddenly struck up, and we covered almost a third of the distance, arriving at Yamba, in two hours. Wonderful sailing, with the sun rising - but the wind kept building and we've been sheltering in Yamba since.

Between starting slowly and arriving early, we actually managed to snap a few photos while sailing - including some of some pilot whales that passed by outside of Yamba, though you might need to take my word for it on those photos:

Coffs Harbour to Yamba

Yamba is a nice town - the bowling club is good value for hungry, thirsty sailors, and we found the lovely Pacific Hotel, with its pleasantly surprising bistro, when walking up Clarence Head to take a closer look at the lighthouse.

I'm itching to get away, though, as on the next passage we'll cross into Queensland. At last!

Port Macquarie to Coffs Harbour

Coffs Harbour has been the best place to be delayed, yet! A really friendly marina crowd, and yacht club, beautiful location, whales daily and an excellent marine electrician: Marcus Edwards - look him up if you're ever stuck in Coffs with electrical problems. While I'm remembering to recommend people, Peter Elms is the man for marine diesel in Forster-Tuncurry.

Eugene and I had a lovely calm night sail from Port Macquarie, after two nights spent there. We had a close encounter with a couple of humpbacks outside the Macquarie bar, and dolphins are becoming too regular to mention. The weather is improving hugely as I head north - the locals are still complaining about the cold, but apparently they're doing that in Townsville, too.

By the time we reached Coffs my batteries were completely flat - we finished the trip quite dark, and came in without the chartplotter. It's a good thing Coffs is so easy. Easy, easygoing and just beautiful - the boat harbour and marina are tucked in behind Muttonbird Island, which is well worth a visit. There are some photos of it in the latest set:

Crowdy Heads to Coffs Harbour

We're just having lunch in the yacht club, then off to make a late afternoon start to Yamba. If everything holds out we'll carry on the next day for Southport-Brisbane, where I can start looking for a new alternator!

Port Stephens to Forster to Crowdy Heads to Port Macquarie

I encountered a whale, and crossed the famously scary Port Macquarie bar!

I know it's been a while, which is largely because I've been having small irritating difficulties with batteries and my engine. After Tony left for work and Sydney, and the awful weather passed, I eventually sailed from Nelson's Bay to Forster-Tuncurry. I wouldn't recommend a night entrance into Cape Hawke Harbour, the bar is easy enough but the tidal current there is quite frightening. I came awfully close to a major mishap, the day after arrival, crossing the harbour from one berth to another.

I was all ready to leave Forster-Tuncurry when the same engine problem struck again - it seems like the mechanic I used before leaving Pittwater didn't do a very thorough job. The chap I called in Tuncurry was much better, and hopefully the leaking fuel bleeding system is fixed for good, now. Still, it cost me another fine sailing day.

From Forster-Tuncurry to Crowdy Heads I went solo, for the first time, which was good to try. A Right Whale broached a couple of times nearby about halfway, a wonderful sight.

My sister, Soph, came up for her all-too-brief chef's weekend and joined me for the overnight trip to Port Macquarie. We were favoured by dolphins and rainbows as we set off, but it quickly turned unpleasantly rough and squally - poor Soph was under the weather most of the way, but admirably didn't let it stop her working.

I'd heard many dreadful tales of Port Macquarie's barred entrance, and I can't say they exaggerated much - it was a hair-raising entrance, despite timing and planning it carefully. Still, we made it alright - now all I have to do is get out again.

Eugene C. joins me for the next few weeks, which'll be great - plenty of time to get organised and get a routine together and really cover some miles. We head off to Coffs Harbour tomorrow, with a probable overnight stop at Trial Bay along the way.

Broken Bay to Port Stephens

The engine trouble wasn't all that bad, as it turned out, and fixing it only took a bleed and a new washer. I'd also managed to drain both batteries, so it wasn't until mid-Tuesday morning that everything had been put back together and we (Tony H. and I) finally sailed, with mum and Steve Y. waving us off.

The Port Stephens course was about 70 nm (after allowing plenty of offshore room - there are always cargo ships queued outside of Newcastle, and as we were going to be sailing overnight, I wanted to be well outside of them). We had a steady 10-15 knot southerly in the morning and made an excellent start, broad reaching NE out of Broken Bay then sitting on an easy NNE leg until late afternoon, making better distance than I'd anticipated. Around sunset a squall overtook us, and we lost the wind in its wake, and a lovely day's sailing gave way to a slow, wet night. A visit by a dolphin around midnight perked us up a bit.

Despite the slow night, we made it to Port Stephens around 0330. We really hadn't been keeping ourselves well enough fed (a lesson learned, for me) and were quite exhausted by then, but prudence dictated holding on until morning before entering the Port. We napped in shifts and tacked back and forth between Little and Boondelbah Islands for a couple of hours. Tony shouted down to me at dawn, calling me up on deck - a pod of dolphins had arrived and were playing around the boat, and they kept us company for a while as we turned into the harbour.

Hot showers, hot breakfasts and catching up on sleep took up the rest of the day - mum drove up from Sydney for a visit, and lunch in Shoal Bay. We were looking at another overnight sail starting the next day, I thought, but left the detailed planning until the morning.

Did anyone note that tornado, smashing Lennox Head? The weather didn't exactly cooperate with my plans... four days later, I'm still in Nelson Bay. Poor Tony has gone back to work, so missed out on a lot of sailing: poor reward for his invaluable assistance getting ready and moving. I owe him some cruising through the reef.

The nasty low seems finally to be moving off to a safe distance, so tomorrow I'll be setting off again - a day passage to Forster. An early start calls for an early night, so let me close with some photos:

Broken Bay to Port Stephens

Sod's Law

It's been a very busy week getting ready to depart, with endless little jobs needing doing, supplies and gear to buy, install and load, and plans to make and make over again. The invaluable Tony H. turned up with a car and all sorts of mysterious technical know-how, which was lucky, because without his help I'd never have been ready by my end-of-May-ish deadline.

One crucial step was taking the boat down to Sydney to have it looked over by Jonathan. Below is a link to some photos of that trip, showing Pittwater and then suddenly Sydney - outside the Heads we were far too busy with the boat for photos, as there were significant seas and an awkward south-westerly.

Almost ready

Sadly, Tony has signed up for paid employment, and only has a little time left for sailing, so it was a bit of a blow (so to speak) when a big East coast low formed and delayed our sailing date. We made good use of the enforced extra preparation time, though, and told each other it was nice to have a few more home-cooked meals and nights in proper beds.

Finally, with the low wandering off to the northeast, and almost every item crossed of my little lists, and plans laid and bags packed, the morning arrived. We got to Pittwater around 0800, with a mountain of bags and packages, had a coffee and boarded the boat, getting her ready to take in for fuel and loading. And, lo, the engine failed to start!

Tomorrow, for sure.

Buried treasure!

The weather was rotten in Sydney over the last few days -I've been pottering around the house rather than pottering on the boat. I'd heard rumours that there was some vintage sailing stuff buried in my dad's old workshop, so I decided to excavate. The workshop has been exposed and barely touched for about ten years, and at some stage suffered a white ant infestation, so most of the shelves collapsed - it's piled high with unloved tools, rotting timber and old papers and boxes. It wasn't a very encouraging sight.

My mum told me to look for a "bazooka", which I somewhat anxiously asked her to explain in a little more detail, because you never know.. it turned out what I was looking for was a large, home-made fiberglass chart case. Eventually I spotted the end of it sticking out of a pile of decaying planks and sheets of perspex. Shifting all that wasn't much fun, but it paid off - behind the "bazooka" and an old tea-chest full of broken autopilots, I found my dad's old sextant! It's a beautiful piece of work, and seems to be in good shape. The "bazooka" turned out to be full of the original designs for my parents' yacht Vambrace, which they built in Japan in the early '70s, which was also a bit of a treat.

Buried Treasure

PS Thanks, Karinne, for pointing out that I hadn't enabled comments. That should be fixed, now.

What next?

Well, I finally have my boat! I'm so glad I waited for Contessa II - I'd been ready to buy since January, but having seen her I was sure she was the boat for me, and was worth waiting 'till April for. Her previous owner, Steve Y., is a lovely guy and has given me loads of help setting up and learning her ropes. He and I have done quite a bit of messing around and sailing already, and we'll be doing more before I undertake the big sail to Townsville.

Contessa II has been slipped, surveyed, antifouled and insured - now it's time to plan and prep for the trip north. I'm aiming, probably overly optimistically, to be ready to go by the week of the 24th of May. With any luck Tony H. will be available to sail with me then. Euge C. will hopefully be joining me in Brisbane, around the 12th of June. That should see me arriving in Townsville around the end of June. I'm wary of fixing dates, even this vaguely, though - in the end it will all depend on the weather.

Listing all the things I need to do before I'm ready to go is a bit daunting - here goes (not exhaustive and in no particular order):

• Pick up copies of Alan Lucas' cruising guides (http://www.alanlucascruisingguides.com/)
• Lubricate the depth sounder.
• Get my marine radio license (urgently).
  
• Get a new marine radio! And install it.
• Wire up the solar panel and generally explore the electrics.
• Get a chart collection together - I ought to really list the charts I need, but basically, everything from Sydney to Cairns, no amount of detail would be too much!
• Get the dinghy on board and stowed.
• Fill up the water and get stores in.
• Rig lazyjacks (time allowing, I could manage without but they sure would help).
• Get a couple of decent life-jackets/harnesses, and jackstays.
• Get a proper toolkit together.
• Get a proper 1st aid kit together.
• Change the EPIRB registration.
  

Plenty to be going on with! It's going to be a busy couple of weeks. Well, by my standards.

Early days photos

I'll make an introductory post any day now, meanwhile, here's a link to some photos!

Contessa II