After a quick trip down the east coast we finally arrived safely home on the 10th of November.
We had a blustery start, with unpredicted gusts reaching 40 knots as we crossed the boarder from QLD to NSW. Luckily Matt had kept us nice and close to the beach, so we were able to tuck in to the protected waters behind the Cape Byron headland and slowly pace the beach until the wind dropped enough for us to make a dash for Ballina.
The following day we had perfect weather for our sail to Coffs Harbour, where we stayed for 4 nights, before setting off for a couple of days in New Castle, a week in Sydney Harbour, a night in Wollongong, a week at Broughton Island and Jervis Bay, couple of days in Bermagui and a night in Eden.
Although we had already stopped at many of these spots on the way up, it was great to be able to make the most of the beaches in the warmer weather and explore anchorages that we didn't stay at on the way up.
Matt and I both loved Jervis Bay. I has about 10 different beaches and we have now spent at least a night at each of them. The clarity of the water and colour of the sand and surrounding bush was as striking as anywhere we have seen on the trip, including the Whitsunday's, and we will definitely be back to visit the area soon.
Matt had been keeping his eye on a weather window to cross Bass Straight, and on the 9th of November the conditions looked perfect. We still had a couple of weeks to play with, but were concerned that if we didn't take this opportunity we might be waiting a while for the next one.
We left Eden at 5:00am and motor sailed through thick fog, of around 200 metres visibility until lunch time. Although this meant that we had to keep a really careful watch, there was something quite majestic about it, and with zero swell the conditions were a bit surreal - one of the most memorable mornings of the trip.
The fog lifted and we were surrounded by literally hundreds of dolphins over the course of the day, and throughout the night. We crossed an unusually calm Lakes Entrance bar at 5:00am on the 10th.
We were struck by how beautiful the Gippsland Lakes are as we sailed past Metung and Paynesville. They seem to be in better condition than the past couple of years, and the lovely sail home softened the disappointment of the trip coming to an end.
That was until we walked home from the Loch Sport Marina to greet our overgrown garden and cars that wouldn't start!! A couple of days of hard work and we have settled back into the house and caught up with friends and family. The house feels too big, but running hot water makes the dishes so easy!
We want to thank everyone who has been keeping an eye on us over the past 6 months, and for the messages of support (or harassment from my work colleagues - K Rudd!) on the blog.
We are both back at work next week - although Matt already has some big ideas for the next trip - and the next boat... We will see!!
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The Way Home....
On the 21st of September we decided to take advantage of the strong northerlies coming our way and begin the long trek home. We had spent the previous night in Shute Harbour, Airlie Beach stocking up on food, water and fuel for the sail ahead. Our plan was to test ourselves out a little and see how long we could sail continuously without a break.
We arrived back at the boat at about 5:30pm for a 6:00pm departure (due to the favourable tides). From the dinghy I passed the last of the groceries and supplies up to Matt, and then I climbed up on to the boat and we started our last minute preparations (packing things away and pulling out our warm clothes etc). Just as we were about to leave Matt looked out towards the harbour entrance and saw our dinghy floating out to sea. It appears that when I got out of it I forgot to tie it on to the boat. An unusual error for someone who has been living on a boat for almost 5 months, you could say. By the time I realised what I had done, Matt had stripped, shouted "Hello Crocodiles" and jumped overboard, swimming like a mad man after the dinghy. Thankfully by the time he recovered it, all he could do was laugh - what a bloke!!
After Matt dried out we set off for our first 48 hour continuous sail (covering 230 nautical miles). 2 days later we arrived, exhausted and hungry at Great Keppel Island, but very glad that we had managed such a big trip. During the night we kept watch at 2 hour intervals, but found that it was not long enough to get any quality sleep. We have since switched to 4 hour watches and have found it much easier.
We spent the following week moving between bays on Great Keppel, depending on the direction of the wind. We both regard it as one of our favourite Islands, with so many options for sheltered anchorages and great beaches. It turned out that there was a group of nudists having a retreat on the Island that week, and we got a couple of cheap giggles watching the middle aged men playing boche on the beach at sunset wearing nothing but hats!
On Saturday the 26th we sailed to Yeppoon and left Lissa in the Roslyn Bay Marina while we flew to Brisbane for a bit of an Indian family catch up before Scotty and Mika moved to NZ to live.
After a weekend away it was nice to be back on board our tiny home as we prepared for another long sail. On the 30th we left Great Keppel Island and sailed directly to Fraser Island (about 170 nautical miles). We spent the following week sailing slowly down the west coast of the Island and into Tin Can Bay.
After a couple of nights catching up with sailing friends, we left TCB via the notorious Wide Bay Bar and sailed for Mooloolaba, which we made without any drama in about 12 hours. We were both starting to feel a little 'sailed out' and decided it was time for a rest so the following day we sailed into Morton Bay, where we have spent the past week doing very little. Our timing has been perfect, we have been able to sit out a week of strong winds, big swell and thunderstorms while we caught up with friends and soaked up some gold coast bling...
It doesn't take long to feel ready to set sail again though, and we are keen to be back in NSW by next week so that we can then relax and take our time along the NSW coast.
The forecast is looking good for this Wednesday, when we plan to sail straight through to Coffs Harbour, then Port Macquarie, Newcastle etc... We are making an effort to stop at towns that we skipped on the way up so that it does not feel like we are retracing our steps home. Looking forward to gaining an extra hour of evening daylight when we cross the boarder and forgetting these ridiculously early QLD mornings!!
We are starting to realise that we are on the home straight, but trying not to think about it. Matt is spending every spare second on the internet researching the next boat and the next trip... There is no doubt we have started something!!
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The Whitsundays
Just a quick note as we have been a bit out of touch on the blog, and in general... For the past month or so we have only had phone/internet range on about three occasions, so apologies to anyone trying to contact us!
We have had an amazing trip, and are loving every minute of it. As planned, from 1770 we sailed out to Lady Musgrave Island, which has possibly been the highlight of the trip for both of us. A beautiful sand Island that has been rehabilitated to its original state in recent years and declared National Park. It has white silica sand, unbelievably clear water and an abundance of bird life. The Island is surrounded by a huge lagoon, which is boarded by coral reef (apart from one small opening to allow us in). Fantastic snorkelling and so many giant turtles!!
After 2 nights we let the winds carry us north to Great Keppel Island, via Pancake creek and the narrows, and from there we have basically Island hopped our way through Percy Island, Scawfell Island, Brampton Island, Thomas Island, Lindeman Island, Whitsunday Island (Whitehaven Beach) Long Island, Hayman Island, Hook Island and Hamilton Island, staying a night or two at each. I am not going to pretend that it has been hard work! We have fallen into an easy routine that swings between swimming or snorkelling off the boat, eating, reading, exploring the islands by foot and then sailing on to the next place.
The weather has been perfect, and we have found that we can last about 2 weeks on our own before we need to stop off at Airlie Beach for water, fuel and fresh food. The coming week is bringing the first of the northerly winds for the season so we have reluctantly decided to take what's on offer and begin our trek south. We still have two months before we are due back at work, so we should have plenty of time to explore all of the places that we missed coming up.
Thanks to everyone who has checked out the blog, and posted a message! Looking forward to catching up when we get back...
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A little bit of backtracking to bring things up to speed!!
We arrived at Iluka on the 16th of July and spent 4 days exploring and relaxing in this sleepy little fishing village with a great surf beach in Northern NSW.
On the 20th we sailed out at 5am and headed north past Evans Head, Ballina and eventually arrived at Byron Bay at about 4pm that afternoon. We were determined to stop in, but we were yet to meet another yacht that had successfully anchored in Byron before. We soon found out why - we tried anchoring in three different positions, but found each too rolly and even though the swell was below 1 metre it seemed impossible to take the dingy ashore without getting caught by a breaking wave.
We bobbed around in the swell for a while listening to the old soaks and the hippies playing drums together in the park, and watching the beach empty and the pubs fill. Eventually we decided that it was all going to be too hard, so we lifted the anchor and headed towards the Gold Coast.
We sailed through the night, dazzled by the neon glow of the sky scrappers and high-rise apartment blocks lining the coast until we reached the South Port bar just on dawn. We dodged fishing boats, day trippers and surfers (paddling across the channel in search of better waves) as we entered the bar and anchored in Bum's Bay a great spot where visiting yachts can anchor free of charge - hence the name - next to Sea World.
We spent three days on the Gold Coast catching up with family and friends, and stocking up on supplies before again heading North. We filled in the following week sailing between South Stradbroke Island, Russell Island, North Stradbroke Island and Peel Island before entering the Brisbane River and sailing into town.
The anchorage in Brisbane was fantastic - opposite the Botanical Gardens in the centre of the city, with hot showers and laundry on the jetty. We stayed 4 days/nights, exploring the city and enjoying the sunshine which seemed to be becoming a constant - finally!!
From Brisbane we entered Moreton Bay and sailed east to Moreton Island, anchoring at Tangalooma Wrecks. The site is lined with 15 old dredges and barges that were intentionally sunk in 1963 in an attempt to create a break wall/ sheltered anchorage for visiting boats. The plan was not a complete success and was never finished, however the wrecks have provided a great breeding ground for coral and attracted an abundance of fish, making it a popular snorkelling/ fishing site.
I snorkelled and Matt spear fished until a 2 metre 'Wobbegong' shark took an interest in my legs and hung around my ankles for a while. Once Matt pointed it out (for fear I would kick it) it was all over for me - I was back in the dingy very quickly. Matt speared a fish (thanks for the spear Pete Toone!!) and we cooked it up for lunch.
We both really enjoyed Morton Island, but on the 2nd of August the wind changed and the SW's made it an uncomfortable anchorage, so we decided it was time to move on to Mooloolaba. We arrived that afternoon and spent the next 4 days anchored in the canals in the centre of town. We caught up with old friends Liam and Ryan Toohey and spent plenty of time at the beach.
On the 6th we left Mooloolaba at 4am and headed for the Great Sandy Straight, the 100km section of protected water that stretches between Fraser Island and the mainland. We were apprehensive about navigating the Wide Bay bar at the entrance to the GSS, which has a reputation as one of the trickiest in Australia, but the days sailing conditions were fairly calm, so we were surprised when the yacht next to us called a medical emergency. The boom had swung - as a result of an accidental jibe - and hit a crewman in the back of the head knocking him out and almost overboard (luckily the captain caught him!). We watched, feeling a little helpless as a chopper appeared and winched down a rescuer. About 15 minutes later the rescuer and patient were back in the chopper, heading to hospital. We heard the following day that he was fine but it makes you realise how lucky we are to have these services available.
We entered the bar on dusk, and as we navigated our way towards our final waypoint we had some confusion with our GPS with it telling us we were in a different location. In a panic we had little choice but to turn around and re-trace our steps back out to sea, while Matt attempted to find a solution. We bobbed around in deep water for another hour before deciding to turn around and follow the leads by sight without the GPS, which we eventually did successfully, but it was a long day! The main problem turned out to be that the "transit beacon lights" simply had not turned on immediately after sunset as they normally do in most locations and its extremely dangerous, and stupid, to attempt a bar crossing without being able to see the leading transit beacons (hence, why we went back to sea to figure out the problem). We eventually anchored and stumbled down into the cabin, exhausted and ready for bed to find that we had left the front hatch open and the bed was covered in salt water - not all plain sailing!!
The following morning we moved to find a protected anchorage amongst the mangroves to sit out a blow. Matt put on a snorkel mask and jumped over board with a broom to scrub the hull. After he splashed around for a few hours we went ashore and noticed a large sign - Beware Crocodiles.
We spent just over a week sailing along the west coast of Fraser Island, sharing cups of tea and drinks on board other boats, hiking around the Island and sneaking into the resort pools - it has been lovely!!
While visiting on board Tanamera, with new friends Ned and Heike, Matt mentioned that he wished that we had invested in an asymmetrical spinnaker for light wind sailing days. Having known us for literally 5 minutes Ned went down stairs and returned with a sack containing their old asymmetrical spinnaker. He threw it to Matt and said "Just drop it off on your way back down". We have been blown away by the generosity and kindness of the other cruisers!!
On Wednesday we caught up with a friend in Harvey Bay for a drink, who also drove us around while we restocked our supplies (thanks Liz!!) and we sailed out the following morning for Agnes Waters/ Seventeen Seventy, with a night stop over in Bundaberg. As seems to be the case quite often, the winds were lighter than predicted so we sailed for most of the day under spinnaker. We are getting better at sailing in light conditions. Seventeen Seventy is a stunning town, which consists of about 30 houses (most of which are worth over a $million these days) surrounded by National Park, a surf beach and a Lagoon. We haven't seen a cloud for about 3 weeks now and the days seem to be fairly constantly in the mid 20's. What more could we ask for!!
We're currently waiting on weather forecasts to decide where we go next. At this stage it looks like we might be able to go out to reef later in the week staying at Lady Musgrave and Fitzroy reef. From there we'll head north again to Great Keppel Island then the Whitsunday's.
We've got heaps more photo's to post next time we get a fast internet connection - we're back to dial-up speed here!
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Love from the wanderers at Port Lincoln
Currently in Mooloolaba catching up with friends on the Sunshine Coast. Planning to head to Fraser Island then onto Great Barrier Reef over the next couple of weeks. Will update blog stories soon. Weather has been awesome - no clouds, all sunny days and 22 - 25 degrees for past 2-3 weeks!!
Heaps of new photos in PHOTO GALLERY. Been hangin' out with heaps of Humback Whales!!
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I follow your travels with interest. Your photos are fantastic. A fantastic adventure! Keep enjoying - as I jnow you will.
Over the last couple of days we have sailed 140 Nautical Miles through a Tsunami warning, lightning storms, close encounters with whales, some tricky navigation and a couple of bar crossings. We have pulled up for a well earned break in the tiny town of Illuka. We plan to stay for a couple of days before crossing the QLD boarder early next week. Will update with more details soon. Hope everyone is well and keeping warm!!
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Stay safe....n look out for tsunamis!
