The Cure for Work
| Vessel Name: | Antidote |
| Vessel Make/Model: | Seawind 1160 Catamaran |
| Hailing Port: | Mooloolaba |
| Crew: | Greg and Annette Irvine |
| About: |
12 December 2008 | Mooloolaba
Home at Last
Wednesday morning saw us up early with the smell of home in the air and the excitement was present in both of us to finally be nearing home. At 0600 we left the Bundaberg marina and shortly after we were doing 8 knots under full sail in a 10-15 knot breeze.
25 November 2008 | Bundaberg
The final leg home
Six days sailing to go and we'll be home, and today we've just completed the third day of those six. Yep, Yeppoon to The Narrows, The Narrows to Pancake Creek, and today Pancake Creek to Bundaberg. Tomorrow we go to Big Woody Is (Near Kingfisher Bay Resort), then Wednesday on to Inskip Point, then [...]
23 November 2008
Sun, wind, spinnakers, and storms
Our friends, Garry and Liz Stewart from Perth, arrived Saturday afternoon and the weather looked perfect for our southbound trip to Yeppoon, so we departed Mackay early on Sunday morning for our first stop-over at Digby Is. Tony Patch and the crew on "Last Resort" joined us in this beautiful anchorage [...]
11 November 2008
Spinaker runs to the south
After Mario and Carmel (friends from back home) boarded at Hamilton Island, we set off for Shaw Is. and anchored in Billbob Bay for the night. After sundowners on the beach with the other cruisers in the bay, we headed back for a great BBQ tea and long catch-up chat.
04 November 2008
Cruisin' the Whitsundays
The next morning I cleaned the other hull and then set sail for Macona Inlet. WOW! A 15knot breeze over the beam and we sat on 9.5-10.5 knots (Max 12 knots) for most of the trip. It's amazing what a clean bottom can do!
01 November 2008
A trip to remember
With the SE winds dropping we topped up the water tanks at Nelly Bay at and made the bold move to head for Airlie. The forecast on Monday was "E/NE winds 10/15 knots with afternoon seabreezes 15/20 knots inshore. Seas to1.4 m" Our heading for most of the day was SE so we went for it. It was a reasonable [...]
A Magnetic Is holiday with friends.
There still was a strong wind warning in place, and was forecast to remain v strong from the SE for all the next week, so we decided not to go to the Palm group of islands now because returning back to Townsville would have been most unpleasant.
We were now being constantly spoilt at sundowners with some really nice Kiwi wines.
The next day we motored very early (0600Hrs) before the winds picked up again to 25-30 knots around to Nelly Bay, then hired a car and drove all over the Island, seeing the rock wallabies and of course, Horseshoe Bay again.
That night we dined at 'La Paradis', a French restaurant that has won many national awards for best restaurant, and it lived up to its reputation magnificently.
The next day, we caught the ferry over to Townsville and drove out to Charters Towers for the day.(thanks again Tony for the use of your car) We had lunch at one of the old pubs on the recommendation of one of the ladies at the information centre. Roast beef, fish and chips etc all only $5.each .. amazing for such a huge plate of food. We also visited the museum and the miners cottage where the owner gave us all the run down on gold mining, past and present A most interesting day, and I would like to return by land and see all the other things we didn't have time for on this short trip
The strong winds were forecast to continue for another week, so when Willy and Sarah left on Tuesday, Greg and Annette flew home as well to catch up with everyone. Meanwhile Antidote is still tied up in the marina at Magnetic Is.
Thanks for the great company Willy and Sarah (and the beautiful NZ wines). It was a great pity that the winds were so strong while you were here, but that's cruising. Maybe next year?
Our plans now are to be in the Whitsundays by the end of Oct, and the winds look as though we may do this with some comfort.
(ps. The GPS coordinates are of course for Charters Towers)
