04 Jan 11 - After considering the weather on the BOM site (got to love internet at sea) I decided all was good to go for the run to Southport after my short anchor at Inskip Point. It was like a washing machine as I crossed the Wide Bay Bar at the bottom of the tide. Once clear we made good progress with a reefed main and full genoa averaging between 6 - 7.5 knots motorsailing. I planned my route to give a wide berth to each headland with the added bonus of catching a ride on the East Australian Current that runs south at 1-3 knots. By the very nature of a headlands landscape - jagged cliffs and weather beaten shoreline jutting seaward into the prevailing winds and currents - you don't have to be the master mariner to figure out its not a good place to be! I gave myself sea room at each headland of 10-15M and at times 25M as I cleared the coast bound for Cape Moreton east of Brisbane. By 2200 h the wind had died and the sails doused to prevent flogging. The remainder of the night I dodged the ship traffic enroute to and from Brisbane.
05 Jan 11 - Morning greeted me with the usual rain and rough conditions as I made my way down Moreton and Stradbroke Islands. By the time I was abeam of South Passage Bar the weather turned foul. ESE winds of 25 gusting 30 knots with torrential rain beat me up for about an hour. The best part of the storm was when it was blowing hard with heavy rain, as the seas flattened and tended to go under the boat rather than over!! With a favourable current I could still maintain 7-9 knots under sail which kept the old girl eating up the miles. By 0500 h conditions had abated and the seas were much calmer below Jumpinpin Bar - the bar between North and South Stradbroke Islands. These are my old stomping grounds when I was an Air Sea Rescue Skipper back in the 80's, so I am very familiar with the area. I reached the Southport Seaway way ahead of schedule and well before high water which is the ideal time to cross a river bar. After a call to the Seaway Tower for a bar report and the old Mark 1 eyeball of conditions, I deemed it safe to enter Southport despite the ebbing tide. Once inside the main was dropped and we motored to the Southport Yacht Club for a berth. Unfortunately Sail Paradise Regatta starts Monday so the old 'No Vacancy' sign was out.
I headed for Mariners Cove Marina fuel wharf to refuel and figure out my options. The tide was ebbing fast making navigation in the choked Southport Broadwater challenging. After filling the tank and arranging a berth at Mariners Cove I returned to 'Rogue Wave' to find 40+ litres of my new fresh diesel in the bilge!! My near new 110 litre stainless steel tank had ruptured in the rough conditions. Back on the tools again and within a few hours the tank was out, welder found, 2"cracked weld repaired and a plywood support base made to prevent further flexing of the tank base, referred to as 'oil-canning' of the tank. Then to the thankless task of cleaning out that bloody bilge yet again. I reckon I took over 100 litres of bilge waste to the waste area before the smell of diesel was replaced by the smell of degreaser! I had the fan going all night to clear the fumes but I think it will take several days. I can't open any hatches for long periods as it buckets rain without warning. So Sundays job is to install the tank and inject expand-a-foam into any hollows where the tank sits on its new support.
It was not all work - the weather is crap and blowing hard from the SE. The forecast is for more of the same for several days. I caught up with old friends Brian and Elise and their family and had a great night at their local pub.....it was like stepping into a country pub. Everyone knew everyone and only locals went there.....no tourists. Good to see they are all doing very well and the boys grown into fine young men. My neighbours on one side are Brazilians who like to party, a South African Super Yacht Captain on his Leopard 45 catamaran and a couple on another huge flash Bahia Fountaine cat who just returned from the US. I will most likely stay here until at least Mon or Tues then travel directly to Port Stephens arriving 3 days later.