The Final Leg
23 November 2013
Sue
Our mooring in McCarrs Creek is calm, a true haven. Sunlight glints off the ripples on the water. Whip birds are calling in the bush opposite, a sweet note above the drone of the cicadas. No, I’m not out in a rough sea lost in a dream of being home, we’re actually here.
I’d love to be up to date with the blog, so that I could finish on this note, but I’ve only just posted up the Lady Musgrave section, and perhaps I owe our readers details of our final push to get home. I’m going to try and keep it brief (not one of my strong points).
We left Lady Musgrave and did an overnighter to Mooloolaba, opting to go outside of Fraser Island rather than through the Great Sandy Straits, effectively avoiding the Wide Bay Bar and the potential hold up it might cause. We anchored up the river in Mooloolaba rather close to other boats, and watched the weather anxiously, worried a change might come through and cause us some grief. There was a severe thunderstorm forecast. I don’t think the Skipper got much sleep that night, keeping a close eye on the anchor track we were making on the plotter, but fortunately the storm didn’t arrive. We were away again by 0530 so that we could leave on high tide. Not much depth in the channel, and we wanted to make sure we weren’t going to get stuck there. It was a lumpy, rolly trip. Windy left Mooloolaba later in the morning after refueling, and we farewelled them over the radio when they headed in towards the Brisbane area.
We were in South Port, anchored outside Bum’s Bay (opposite Sea World) exactly twelve hours later. Severe thunderstorms were approaching so we had everything battened down and ready in nervous anticipation. We were spared the brunt of the storm, but Mooloolaba and Maroochydore were not so lucky, with fifty knot winds, and tennis ball sized hail that shred boat canvas and left a trail of destruction.
We were now ‘stuck’ in Southport, waiting for favourable sailing conditions. Not a bad place to get stuck, with lots to do, but we had arrived just as Schoolies Week was beginning, coinciding with the weekend. The waterway was at its usual chaotic best, and our anchorage was far from calm. On the day following our arrival, we dinghied over to the yacht club and left our dinghy next to Haven III at the marina. Deb picked us up and we went back to her place at Runaway Bay for a lovely BBQ afternoon-evening. A storm passed through while we were there, and we had everything crossed hoping our anchor wouldn’t drag, hoping there wouldn’t be any hail. When we got back that night we discovered the anchor had tripped, allowing us to drag about 20 metres, before resetting.
On Sunday we dinghied over to the park and walked to Australia Fair, picking up some shopping, enjoying lunch and letting Jamie have some fun in the park and on some racing car games near the cinemas.
Monday morning we had some visitors: Margaret and Robert from their yacht Run to Paradise. We’d met them through the guys on Chilli Heat, way back at Hayman Island on the trip north. They were also heading south, with a new mooring waiting for them in Pittwater, and I understand they will be joining the CCCA so we look forward to seeing more of them.
Deb picked me and took me shopping to the huge Robina mall where we had a lovely day. While I was off feeling human again, Graeme and Jamie did some washing at the marina and had lunch on Allusive. They came back to the boat and watched a huge thunderstorm come through. These were a daily occurrence while we were there. In the evening we enjoyed dinner at the yacht club with Peter from Haven III, John, Andy and Kelli from Allusive, and Andy’s daughter and her partner (who live locally). The food was sensational. We retired back to Allusive for a hot Milo and a night cap.
On Tuesday we took Jamie to Sea World for the day. Jamie loved the monorail, the sky rail, racing cars, water play, and the dolphin show. He was desperate to go on a jet-ski roller coaster, but lost his nerve on both the first and second attempt. Given a little more time, I think he would have found the courage. Maybe next time! After Sea World we went round to the seafood co-op. A couple of guys on a trawler gave us some crabs for free. They were still very much alive! – well, until I dropped them into a pot of boiling water. Peter came over for a drink on Symphony, and we stayed up late doing the 1000-piece lighthouse puzzle Alison gave me for my birthday. Something about puzzles, once you start you can’t stop. They’re addictive!
The weather window kept slipping. We expected to be able to leave on Wednesday but after consultation with the other skippers, it looked like there was now a window on Thursday, albeit a small one. We spent Wednesday preparing the boat for departure and had some time at the park and back at Australia Fair. Allusive came out of the yacht club and joined us and Haven III, all itching to leave. Peter cooked spaghetti bolognaise for us, with peaches and custard for dessert.
Waking up Thursday morning, we soon learned that Allusive had departed at midnight for the run south, and were making good time in reasonable conditions. By 0845 we were off too, and heading out the seaway. Haven III left a few hours later.
Not much to report about the trip except that we were thrilled to find the elusive East Australian Current (dude), which had us hooting along at 10 knots, with a peek speed of 11.2!
There was some thought of going into Coffs Harbour, but we wanted to make the most of the weather conditions while they were good. We’d also been told boats were being turned away due to the marina being full, (and for some reason we’re a little averse when it comes to marinas at the moment) so we set our sights on Port Stephens. We heard Allusive had gone in there in the early evening to have a rest, but on approach we changed our minds about going in. We wouldn’t get there until 0300, and with nasty weather moving up the coast from the south, we would really need to be underway again at first light, so there wasn’t much point. We continued on, finally arriving at the heads of Broken Bay around lunch time, with thunderstorms accompanying us, a very dark sky, forty knots of wind and white caps all around. Pittwater was much calmer, to our great relief – strangely, the racing boats were sitting becalmed, their spinnakers like deflated balloons.
We've since learned Allusive (sailed down by John and Andy) made it to the Harbour, and we'll be catching up with them on Tuesday for a slap-up lunch at a waterfront restaurant. Di is flying up from Tassie and Kelli down from the Gold Coast, and we'll be celebrating birthdays, and other successes. Last we heard, Haven III was anchored in Towlers Bay, just around the corner from us, and heading to the Harbour today.
We picked up our own mooring at 1445 yesterday afternoon where we received a rousing welcome home from Andrew and Lynne (Mischief) into the early hours of the morning!
So we’re back, but not off the boat yet. We're not really ready to go home just yet, so we'll stretch it out a few more days since we're a week early.
What a wonderful adventure we’ve had. We’ve made some great friends and come away with a lot of fabulous memories. And we’ve sailed nearly 5000 miles. I really must post up some of our Louisiade photos once we’ve sorted through them. Thank you to anyone who’s read the blog, and if you’ve come this far, an extra special thank you for finishing this journey with us.
Until next time, safe sailing and fair winds.
Sue, Graeme and Jamie
SV Symphony.