My last update had us chillin in Seven Mile creek eating fresh fish and Mud crabs but eventually the time came to keep moving north so we picked a weather window and sailed up to Cape Capricorn and then on to Great Keppel Island. Both spots proved to be very uncomfortable. So with the captain and crew surviving on a few hours sleep and some very strong winds on the forecast we moved over to Keppel Bay Marina to wait out the bad weather. This turned out to be a good call with southerly winds around 35 knots blowing for 3 or 4 days. On the upside it also gave us a chance to spend some time with my brother Troy and family we had some awesome dinners and drinks not to mention our Pool comp on Troys state of the art pool table with a surface that changes based on the weather. Certainly adds a new challenge to the game. Long story short the boys beat the girls 7 games to 5. Jules and Holly were great driving us around to the shops and anywhere else we needed to go, Thanks so much guys.

After a couple of great weeks, it came time to move on so we headed out to Port Clinton about 45 miles north of Yeppoon, what a great spot. Lovely scenery too many turtles to count and I even saw an elusive Dugong. The fishing was also great with loads of Trevally and Cod caught, Gail even managed to catch a nice squid. Unfortunately the outboard motor on our tender was playing up which limited me to fishing from the Kayak, I still caught fish and got some exercise at the same time.

Needing to get the outboard running properly we decided to head into Mackay so we did a quick run to Island Head Creek to wait out some more strong winds. I managed to get some more fishing in from the Kayak and caught a very big Hammer head shark from the boat. Check out the photos in the Gallery. Then onto the Duke islands and Curlew Island for overnight stops before heading into Mackay. Both of these spots had spectacular views and if the outboard was working we would have spent longer.

So were now sitting in Mackay Marina, the outboard is fixed and once we restock the boat we’ll head north again. Next stop the Whitsundays and Airlie beach.

Given it has been 12 months since my last entry I’ll endeavour to makes this as brief as possible and now that we’re back out on the water try and provide more frequent updates on our adventures.

After leaving Coffs Harbour and finally arriving on the Gold Coast we made our way up the Coomera River to the Gold Coast City Marina to do some long overdue maintenance on the Millennium Falcon, this included taking the mast out, having it sand blasted and painted as well as replacing the rigging. This was all done by my mate Jason at JCMS Rigging if you’re on the gold coast and need to have anything done rigging wise, I would strongly recommend having a chat with Jas.

As well as the rigging I finally bit the bullet and replaced the main sail and had a host of other smaller jobs done as well, needless to say I left a lot poorer then when I arrived but the falcon is ship shape and ready for action.

Due to the fact it was November by the time we had finished all the work on the boat we decided it was too late in the year to start heading further north and elected to stay on the GC for a while. I found some work driving a delivery truck for Coles and Gail got a job working in aged care just down the road from Hope Island Marina where we were staying.

By the time April rolled around we had both had enough of the GC and decided it was time to move further north but not before a quick trip to Sydney for Gail to visit her mum and family and me doing a short camping trip with my youngest siblings Andrew and Barbara (good times).

So it was back to the GC and a quick visit from Gails sister Ruth and husband Glenn (also good times) some quick provisioning for the trip and we were finally on the move again. We had a very lazy run back down the river and then up through the broadwater to Moreton Bay, with some bad weather forecast we made our way to a place called Myora on North Stradbroke Island to wait it out. The weather passed after a day or so and we realised what a lovely spot we were in so decided to stay a while. Eventually we had to move on to we ran up to Moreton island and then off to Double island point the next morning.

After an 18 hour sail we arrived at 2.30 am anchored down to catch a few hours sleep before crossing Wide bay bar on the high tide later that morning and anchoring up at Inskip point for a few days. The plan was to wander up through the sandy straits and do some fishing and relaxing. So next stop was Kingfisher bay where we stayed for a few days but decided to leave before I spent to much money on lunches in the resort.

We planned to go to moon point for a few days but the winds swung SW so we decided to head into Bundaberg. We were having battery problems again so this was a good chance to sort them out before moving on. It was also a better chance to catch up with family and friends. So we organised a few dinners with my Sister Colleen and family as well as a weekend camping at Kinkuna beach and night on the boat for my niece Maddison who managed to out fish me 2 to 0 (so much for me being the expert). We also managed a visit to see our good friends Paul and Chris at their lovely new home in Monto (as usual we were all a little dusty the next day)
After all of the fun we had to keep moving so we planned a 3am departure to sail up to Pancake creek, with a promised of 10 to 15 knot SW winds we were expecting a very comfortable trip until the wind picked up to 25 to 30 knots for a few hours before backing off a bit and hour or so after sunrise (at least we made some good milage in those couple of hours).

We are now sitting in a place called seven mile creek and are planning to spend a few weeks here (hopefully catch some good fish and Crabs) before moving further north to Great Keppel Island. Stay tunned for the next update and photos of our adventures and freshly caught seafood.

After an extended stay in Sydney where Gail spent her time caring for her Mum and me back working for Grace Information Management, we once again sailed out of Sydney heads and turned left towards the sun.

We only got as far as the Camden Haven River/ Laurieton when once gain the QLD border slammed shut. We secured a spot in the old trawler berths with power and water for a very reasonable price and decided to wait out covid in this lovely part of the north coast.

During our time there we made some amazing friends and Gail secured a job at the fish Co-op. If you’re ever in the area I recommend dropping in for a feed, these guys do the best seafood I’ve had in a long time.

Eventually the border opened again and the winds turned south, so with a little bit of sadness and a lot of excitement at being on the move again we decided to head out, of course there were numerous farewells and lots of wine and one false start that saw us head out to the bar crossing to be greeted by a massive wave, we turned the boat around and waited for calmer weather.

A week later we headed out again and after 2 days of very quiet sailing where we were treated to some fantastic aerial displays by numerous Whales we arrived in Coffs Harbour where we are now waiting out this weather so we can start the next leg up to QLD.

Another 4 am start saw us motoring out of Tin Can bay towards Wide Bay Bar and back into open ocean for the first time since 2009, having spent the last seven years in behind the great barrier reef. We were going to do the crossing just after low tide which is not the recommended time to cross an ocean bar but with the last few days of strong westerly winds the ocean was flat so off we went bound for Mooloolaba.

It was a long uneventful day sail down the coast and we entered the Mooloolaba river around 5:00 pm. After a minor setback getting up the river we tied up at our good friend Amanda’s house and the fun began.

It was great to catch up with Shane and Amanda and they spoiled us with dinners and parties to the point that we considered becoming a permanent addition to Amanda’s back yard / pontoon. (Thanks again guys for the good times and hangovers.),

But we had to continue the trip south and with a small weather window available we were off leaving at 5:00 pm to start the overnight trip to the Gold Coast. It was a very uncomfortable trip to say the least having to punch into a SE swell for the first 5 hours until we reached Cape Morton and turned onto a more southerly course. The wind eventual dropped out an we motored the rest of the way to the Gold Coast. Crossed the Seaway, got the anchor down, the boat squared away and then some long overdue sleep.

So now we are stuck here waiting for the next weather window to do the run down to the Clarence river but it will give us the opportunity to catch up with my mum and sister once this wind backs off a bit.

It was a very early start (again) so we could do the 70 miles from Great Keppel and be anchored in Pan Cake Creek before dark but we had ok winds for the second half of the trip and got to Pancake around 4:30pm. Gail noticed a post on Facebook that our friends Rob & Lyn on Strawberry Runner were heading north from Bundy to Pancake so a short phone call later and sundowners were all organized. We had a great night catching up over a few drinks which can be painful when you have an early start the next day.

We were up before the sun the next day ready for first light and the trip to Bundy. We had some good winds and had a comfortable motor/sail reaching Bundy around 6:00pm where we spent the night at the Marina. The next day we were joined by my sister Colleen for a short trip to anchor up the river for a few days. It was nice to be anchored in the river but the weather forecast was not looking good with heavy rain and winds of up to 35 knots + predicted we decided to get back into the marina and wait it out. Turned out that it was a good call with south east winds gusting up to 40knots (70km/hr) and torrential rain the marina was a good place to be. Quite a few boats including us snapped lines or pulled cleats due to the wind and the swell coming in the river mouth.

What was meant to be 3 or 4 days stay turned into 2 weeks thanks to the weather but every cloud has a silver lining and the extended stay allowed us to catch with lots of friends and family that we may not have been able to see otherwise. This included of course my sister and her wonderful family, our God daughter and her husband Matt and father Stuart, plus numerous Marina friends from the past visits to Bundaberg. We also celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary at Baltimores Restaurant which was where I proposed all those years ago.

The forecast was looking good so we said some sad goodbyes and left Bundy bound Moon Point on Fraser island. Had a very slow trip over with little or no wind until we were almost there and the wind picked up from the north west giving us a very rolly and sleepless night and once again we were up at first light to make our way down through the Sandy Straits. We had 25 knots of wind on the stern for most of the trip which made it uncomfortable but we got through without any drama and are now anchored in Tin Can inlet waiting on some good wind to cross Wide Bay Bar and shoot down to Mooloolaba were we hope to catch up with a very good friend before he heads back to Brisbane.

After 4 years in Townsville the boat was ready, we were ready. I had finished work the day before with some sad goodbyes to friends both from work and from the Marina and with the weather looking good we were off. I backed the boat out of the berth as Gail was waving madly to our friends with a tear in her eye and we started the long trek south back to Sydney where it all began.

The plan was to do an overnight sail to the Whitsundays where we were to catch up with some good friends Hugh & Krys on board Kasyma.

After a slow start we picked up some good wind and had a great sail until around 11 pm when they died out. We persevered as long as would could but eventually I had to start the motor to maintain a reasonable speed. Apart from having a great sail I also managed to pick up a nice Bluefin tuna while trolling some lures (photo in the gallery). Now while it was fun to catch the tuna and even better to eat it, it did come at a price. While trying to gaff the fish to get it on board I managed to snap the antenna for our VHF 2 way radio and break the lure while trying to remove it from the fish so this makes the tuna about a $200 fish but my friend Bill assures me it would be worth a lot more in Japan.

So, we arrived at Cid Harbor in the Whitsundays around 1 pm Sunday absolutely exhausted said a quick Hi to Hugh and Krys, got the anchor down a settled in for a nap to ensure we were refreshed for sundowners that night. We had a great catch up over the next couple of days with our friends and it was great to see them again after such a long time but we had places to be so the trip continued. Wednesday morning around 6 am we were on the move with a long day hop to Keswick Island, next day to the Percy Islands followed by another long day to Port Clinton and finally arriving at Great Keppel Island where we planned to catch up with my brother Troy and his wife Jules before continuing south.

I hadn't done any trolling since the Tuna due to the fact that there was no room in the freezer for any more fish but on the final leg from Port Clinton to Keppel I decided to give it another go catching a nice Spotted Mackerel which made a lovely dinner that night.

Tomorrow we head off again with another 13-hour sail to Pancake Creek where we will rest for the night before doing a further 13hrs the next day into Bundaberg.