Miss Behaving

Hello again everyone. Well it has been a long and arduous few days but after several last minute mechanical issues, weather nightmares and mapping problems we made it to terra firma. We spent 2 days at beautiful East Diamond Islet getting ready for the passage to Mackay. Due to the truncation of our itinerary I had forgotten about the minimum 96 hour notice required to Customs/Immigration/Quarantine prior to arriving within the port limit of the Australian destination. Had we not had the mechanical issues we would have been facing an $80,000 fine for an early arrival. Explain the logic of that when I can get on a flight in Bali with my boogie board and half a tonne of crap one hour prior to departure, fly to Darwin and be met with open arms yet you must give them a minimum of 4 days notice if on a vessel. We were stunned with the marine life at Diamond Atoll. Sharks coming up to the boat for a look, perfect 100 ft visibility, thousands of large birds, mating turtles calm water and almost 360 degrees of calm blue ocean. Leaving the atoll we took a tack for Mackay but soon the wind changed and kept changing. A grib wind update soon showed we were in for fun nearing the coast. Crossing the barrier reef for newcomers you need to cross via Hydrographers Channel. Only problem is this takes more than 12hours and involves a turn which means you need to motor at some point. Currents are up to 3 kts. With a suspect water pump (more than suspect, buggered more like it) we faced a real prospect of committing to the reef crossing then losing the motor and the wind and ending up as one of those wreck markers on the reef. I took the easting as much while waiting for a minor miracle. Within 6 hours just that happened, the wind shifted to the east allowing us to take a tack direct for Gladstone. This is great but when you look at the chart there is a great reef in the way, Swain Reef. Open CPN showed the reef as a brown foreboding reef with no data, Max Sea had some detail but Navionics had one spot with a series of soundins winding through the reef. I assume a survey vessel made a drunken pass at some stage. I set course for the first of the soundings then plotted a winding course which was 55 miles long, 10 hours to pass. We set sail to arrive at the eastern side of Swain reef at 8am. Arriving at 0815 over the first of the soundings I was surprised to see, well, nothing. The charts showed more than 30 reefs in our way yet there was nothing. I took a punt and a straight tack of 175M and of the 30 marked and named reefs we saw 2, Rip Tide Cay and one sand bar. We made it through the reef with 20 minutes of light to spare. An update of the winds showed a massive system bearing down on us from the east. We set course straight for the Gladstone port entrance and were able to maintain 9kts and following seas for the next 10 hours. Just as we were to turn to enter via Fitzroy reef the wind changed, the rain began and the winds hit 30kts. A turn right for the East Channel was the only option other than heaving to. As we entered Gladstones main shipping channel the winds hit 30kts. We lost one Harken cart from the main but other than a thumping we arrived in Gladstone Marina safe and stuffed. Customs/Immigration were great. Quarantine was next and very thorough, and very f*****g expensive. More than $600AUD for 1.5 hours including nearly $300 overtime charge for the Sunday arrival. They operate on a cost recovery system. Despite having to use Gladstone due to weather and mechanical issues they still charge. Customs have impounded our boat in Gladstone until Duty is paid so this is a heads up for anyone entering Australia with a vessel they wish to import. BE WARNED, you must arrange for a broker to value the boat at the point of landing otherwise you need to get special approval to have the vessel bonded over to, in our case Brisbane but you must not stop enroute. Pain in the arse!!! By the time CIQ was done with us the wind was 30kts in the harbour with torrential rain. Had we spent 5 more hours getting there we would have been bashed. As we have finished our journey for the moment I must say thanks for your thoughts and wishes. I will respond I promise. I am happy to help anytime with advice so just email me via my gmail. From Gladstone we will complete the import of the boat then take her to Brisbane for a refit ready for the next adventure. Not sure where to or when but that it will happen there is no doubt. Love to all and see you soon. Kev and Irina.