Manly, Queensland

Arriving at Manly
Note the strong wind

So here we are, comfortably tied up in Manly Marina. Looks very nice, and indeed it is… but coming in was a bit of an adventure. The first berth allocated to us by the marina office would have been fine, if it hadn’t been for the 40ft motor yacht occupying the neighbouring spot in the pen. I was proud of the way I manoeuvred the boat into the berth using quite a lot of prop walk (don’t ask!) to turn the boat in what was a very tight spot, but once in the berth, I had to phone the office and ask for another one. I didn’t think Jo would want to spend a week standing on our deck, leaning on the motor yacht to keep it away from us!

They were most understanding, and we did move, but getting out was a learning experience, as prop walk, which had worked well getting in, worked against us going out!

The big job that had been waiting for Manly was fixing the engine exhaust. Not long after leaving Newcastle, I’d noticed that the pipe leading from the engine manifold was loose and that there appeared to be soot coming out of the exhaust. I’d made a temporary repair using exhaust putty and it had been holding up ok, but I kept having visions of the pipe falling apart and the boat filling with noxious fumes …

According to the Catalina website, the exhaust pipe is a custom manufactured item, made out of stainless steel lagged with heat-resistant fibreglass, and precision fitted to the engine at one end and the muffler at the other. So I steeled myself for the prospect of a visit from a marine exhaust expert, with much tut-tutting and shaking of heads, and the inevitable heavy whack in the credit card.

So, with some trepidation, I contacted an engineer.

Said engineer was called Jeff and he runs a business called Manly Marine Services. Jeff was a real find. Not only did he remove the offending pipe and take it away, but he also came back the very next day with the news that it was far from worn out. The reason for this was that, instead of being a smart piece of custom made stainless, it turned out to be a couple of cheap lengths of 2in steel water pipe, screwed into a couple of steel right-angle fittings. And as the piping was still nearly 3 millimetres thick, there was little chance that it was going to rust through in the next decade or so… Seems the problem was that the end that is screwed into the engine had not been screwed up tight enough, and over the years it had worked loose.

So Jeff put it all back together, lagged it with fibreglass tape and left. The bill was well under $200, and the engine is fine again! His parting words were ‘change the soundproofing matting on your engine cover. It’s deteriorating, and soon it’ll get sucked into the engine intake and bugger the engine up’. So I shall do what I’m told.

Needless to say, I highly recommend Jeff Ross!

Mike

Mick and Sue came for lunch on Wednesday with Elaine and Bernie, Rebecca’s parents-in-law, who are also escaping the cold Melbourne winter!! It was lovely to see them all. The sun was shining brightly so we sat in the cockpit and had a lovely relaxing afternoon.

Mick and Sue
Mick sporting a
new (to us) beard

Mick, Sue
Elaine and Bernie

Today, Thursday, Mike and I decided to go out for a sail (but then, as usual, there was no wind!). All was not lost though because we really did need to go a long way out into deep water and empty the holding tank. I know this is a very distasteful subject but you lot can’t expect to only hear about all the nice things. After all life isn’t just a bunch of sweet smelling roses it also consists of smelly holding tanks that require emptying!! Mission accomplished, we then put the anchor down (miles away from where we had done the deed mind you!!) off one of the islands in Moreton Bay and spent the afternoon having lunch and reading in the warm sun.

Jo

North Stradbroke Island

Excitement excitement!!! We navigated our way through the channels between Southport and Brisbane. This turned out to be a very pretty part of the country, with winding channels between islands, eventaully leading to the southern end of Moreton Bay.

We didn’t, however manage to get through totally unscathed. We hit bottom at one of the trouble spots ‘three times’ So now I know it’s no big deal to touch bottom, plus, it was sand so it’s not like it’s going to do too much damage is it? We were on a rising tide so we could have always waited until the water rose and we floated off .That’s my landlubber version of the whole adventure, Mike probably has a more technical or nautical (and accurate he might say) account of it. (No. That’s just about it – apart from the wide eyed look I got from Jo the first time it happened! [Mike])

We anchored at a place called Jacobs Well for the night and left early (on the right tide but I’ve forgotten if it was a rising or falling one!! (mmmm I don’t seem to have taught her much at all have I??[Mike])) and we are now anchored again just off North Stradbroke Island, almost at the entrance to Morton Bay. Our plan is to head for Manly (just south of Brisbane) tomorrow where we will stay at a marina for a week or so.

Us at Blakeley's
Anchorage on
N. Stradbroke Is

It’s actually raining quite heavily at present but as soon as it stops we hope to be able to take the dinghy ashore where there appears to be a lovely beach, where we’ll have a wander around. We spotted some dolphins and caught a glimps of a turtle as we were approaching North Stradbroke so I’m hoping we will be lucky enough to sight more throughout the day.

Just to prove that
it does rain in
Queensland!

………

Well, the rain did stop, and we did get onto the island. No turtles, but hundreds of little crabs, marching along the waterline, looking for food. Further up the beach were larger versions of the same crabs. One was even kind enough to pose for a photograph!

The grey stuff at
the water's edge
is lots of tiny crabs

One of the larger
crabs (about
2.5 cm across

So after all that excitement, we headed back to the boat and settled down for a night at anchor. This turned out to be quite magical: calm waters and deep silence punctuated by the calling of hundreds of birds as they settled down for the night on the island.

The stuff cruising is all about!

The next day we were off to Manly.

More Southport

It’s midday on Saturday and we are sitting here in Southport Yacht Club Marina waiting for the winds to go down and the tide to come up!! These two should occur quite conveniently around late afternoon. Today we intend making our way through the inland waterways, in the direction of Brisbane.
After many hours of pouring over tide and times tables and reading and re reading Alan Lucas’s Cruising The Coral Coast (yes we’ve moved on from Cruising The NSW Coast ….. that’s progress hey???) and numerous other articles written for our edification plus of course listening to and taking into consideration the advice given by local boat owners we think we are ready to DO IT!!
We will probably head off on the first leg and try to get as far as the first obstacle which is a stretch of the water that threatens to have less depth than the draught of or boat (hopefully only at low tide). In theory, if we get there on a rising tide and touch bottom as we try to make our way through, we can wait for the tide to rise further and lift us off. Sounds easy doesn’t it? Another option is we fill our dinghy with water then tie one of the ropes coming from the top of the mast to the dinghy: then when we (well, Mike) pulls on the rope, it makes us heel and gives us another couple of inches draught. Ummmmm sounds a bit dodgy to me (Mike sounds convinced though…).
Anyway I’ll let you know in or next blog which option we chose and how successful (or not) we were.
We’ve had a lovely time in Southport. Yesterday we walked into Surfers Paradise (took an hour!) to see the movie ‘10 Canoes’ at the Gold Coast Arts Centre (I suspect Jo was looking for more inspiration on how to get us through those shallow spots [Mike]). We got there 20 mins. late so we then walked across the whole of Chevron Island into Surfers proper and had some lunch, a walk around (as if we hadn’t already done enough of that!) then walked back to the Arts Centre and watched the movie. It was a beautiful film which we both enjoyed immensely. Then of course we had to walk all the way back into Surfers (our fourth crossing of the island) to catch a bus back to the Yacht Club.
You can bet that we both slept well after all that…
It’s almost time to commence our intrepid journey so wish us luck.
Till next time.
Jo

Southport

We ended up staying in Coffs Harbour for almost a week. As usual the weather was the deciding factor regarding our departure for places further north. Almost as soon as we got to Coffs the winds had started to build, and we were stuck in the harbour as increasingly heavy waves crashed over the enclosing breakwaters, occasionally soaking entire families of tourists who were walking along the paths on top of them.

We bought a printer (an idea we had been toying with since commencing this adventure!) so now we could print out our twice daily record of weather reports from The Bureau of Meteorology and Buoy Weather and sit and study them. We poured over these printouts for days before finally deciding it would be good to go. The forecast was for 10-15 knot winds all that day and for the following day, but increasing to 25-30 knots late in the second day. There was a very narrow window of opportunity, so we made the decision to do an overnighter and hightail it straight to Southport bypassing Yamba and Balina (both have river bar entrances and we’d had enough of these for a while anyway!!)

It was going to be a long haul as it was 160NM to our destination. We decided to leave very early in the morning. Thermoses filled, sandwiches made, wet weather gear, beanies, gloves etc donned, we were ready to set off at 0430hrs. We were expecting to be on the water for anything up to 36hrs. As it happened we made it to Southport in 27hrs averaging 6.5 to 7 knots most of the way (we had a lot of help from the engine, actually).

I headed back down into the cabin and to sleep as soon as we had cleared the Harbour and the sails were set. I figured there was no point in both of us sitting up there getting cold!!!!

It was a great trip. We both thoroughly enjoyed the tranquil smooth seas. We could see whales in the distance and at one stage through the night we spotted schools of fish jumping out of the water. There were literally thousands of little fish which Mike told me were being herded by bigger ones (obviously organizing their breakfast).

We saw a stunning sunset of amazing pinks and blues reflected in the water. Neither of us had seen anything quite like it before.

Jo

We took lots of pictures, but once again the bloody PC laptop decided they weren’t good enough and wiped the camera card before downloading them. Bloody thing. Now I know why I don’t like Microsoft-based machines. From now on I’ll download the camera onto the Apple and only work with copies on this PC.

So no pix –again.

The other thing that has gone wrong is the fridge compressor – which decided to die on us while in Coffs. So we’ve had to replace it, at vast cost. Mind you, it brought home to both of us how dependent we were on the fridge – not only for ice for the gin and tonics, but also for the smaller things of life, such as keeping meat from going off and veggies from turning into a limp, messy slush.

Jo looking happy
after getting
the fridge
fixed!

The winds are still strong (4 meter waves for the surfers today). We’ll wait a few more days for the winds to abate before taking the inside passage from the Gold Coast to Moreton Bay. Don’t fancy negotiating a shallow expanse of water like Moreton in 30 to 40 knot winds!

Mike

Trying to
work out
times, tides
and routes
through the
channels north
of Southport

Meander
enjoying
the Southport
sun!

Coffs Harbour

We left Forster Tuncurry as planned at 0600hrs on Saturday 8^th July heading for Camden Haven about 38 miles NNE. We had no problem crossing the bar out of Forster and we had a nice WSW breeze into the bargain which meant we could ‘hoist our sails’ once again!!!. That only lasted 2-3 hours then the breeze died right away and we once more found ourselves motor sailing. But the sun was shining and it was a lovely day.

We were making pretty good time so we decided to by pass Camden Haven and head straight for Port Macquarie 15 miles further North. We arrived there at 1600hrs. The entrance to Port Macquarie also has a bar and one which has a reputation of producing rogue waves. We discovered what this meant as we were crossing the bar, when Mike pointed behind us to a rather large wave coming up on our stern. Fortunately for us it decided not to break- otherwise it would have soaked us and the interior of the boat.

As a consequence, we have learned some important rules about making bar crossings. One is always to wear life jackets (we knew that) another is not to leave any lines, ropes etc lying around in the cockpit (we knew that, too), but now we also know that we must close up the companion way to the cabin to protect the interior from unexpected waves crashing into it from astern. It is all just common sense I suppose and experience (not that we have much!!!) highlight their importance.

Jo

Moon over
Port Macquarie

We had a couple of pleasant days in the calm of the Port Marina, but on the morning of the third day, when we had decided to leave, we had another lesson about bars. We set out alarm for 5.30 am, and in the dim light of early dawn dressed ourselves for departure – wet weather gear, lifejackets, ropes tidied away, storm boards ready for the companion way. But on logging on to Coastal Patrol, we were told that there were three meter (three meter) waves on the bar, and that it was not a good idea to even consider crossing it that morning.

So it was wet weather gear off, and back to bed…

The following day, things were much better, and we made it across the bar with no incident. We were all set for Coffs Harbour, about six hours sailing away –in theory.

What we weren’t prepared for was the East Australian Current, which sweeps down from around Frasers Island all the way to Sydney, and runs at between two and fours knots southwards. Most of the time it is a little way off the coast, but between Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour, it is very close to the land, and very strong.

On the way to
Trial Bay

The result was that instead of the trip taking six to eight hours, it took twice as long, and in fact led to us taking the decision to spend the night at Trial Bay, half way in our passage.

Trial Bay is a large, open bay facing North, in the middle of which are two public moorings. It was only when we finally picked up one of these moorings that we realised that we were going to be in for an interesting night. The day had been one of light winds but unfortunately they had been blowing from the North. As a result, the waves were rolling right into the bay and past us, sitting in the very middle of this wide shallow bay.

The boat rolled back and forth in the northerly swell, we rolled back and forth in our bed, the food crashed back and forth in the cupboards, while the ropes in the mast slopped back and forth in concert. Thank God that after about three hours we both became used to this cacophony, and actually fell asleep.

The next day we left early and made it in good time to Coffs, mainly because we decided to hug the coast and keep out of the East Australian Current!

Our neighbours
in Coffs harbour
Marina

Here we sit, and are likely to stay so for the next few days, as the weather and big swells are likely to prevent our progress North to Yamba!

Mike

Met a nice Tassie couple in Port Macquarie who have also made their way here to Coffs. We have been invited to their boat this evening for ‘sundowners’ ummmm hope it means G&T’s Then we are going to sample the local prawns for dinner. If we ever get this blog finished and get ourselves to the fish market before closing!!!

Jo

Forster Tuncurry

After spending 3 weeks back down South Mike and I along with Adam Emmy and Indira had a wonderful family holiday in Jabiru with Sara Marcus and Matilda. It was the first time my two beautiful granddaughters had spent time together since Indira was born last September. It was lovely to see them interacting with each other.

While Adam and Emmy stayed with Sara and Marcus, Mike and I had a lovely - albeit unusual - bungalow nearby which we could retreat to each evening. However, it was great arriving back at Sara’s each morning to be greeted with cries of ‘It’s Grandma and Grandpa Mike’ from a delighted Matilda. This was also sometimes preceded with a phone call from Adam requesting croissants and other goodies from the bakery which was very near to where Mike and I were staying. It’s nice to be wanted ???

Jo at the dooreway to
our 'bush bungalow'
in Jabiru

We did some sightseeing with Sara and Marcus (and Matilda) as our guides. We also swam in some of the beautiful rock pools. Even though Mike thought it wasn’t warm enough he was first in after the long climb to the top of the waterfall!!

And this photo
proves it!

At then end of our week in Jabiru we had a 0200 o’clock flight back from Darwin arriving in Melb at 0650hrs. Then the next day we had a 0600hr flight back to Newcastle and Meander. We stayed in Newcastle 2 days, mainly to catch up with our friend Gary who had brought his boat Somoya up from Sydney on the next leg of his journey North.

We made plans to leave early for our next stop, Port Stephens, which is 26miles ENE of Newcastle. Mike often asks me if I would like to take the boat in or out of the Marina as he feels this is good experience for me. Usually I decline but this time I asked if I could take her out: which I did but in the process, I almost took out a whole boat full of rowers (about 9 in all) including their coach. They were rowing very quickly past the arm we were just about to exit. I heard a voice calling woah!woah! and saw the centre of the rowing eight in line with our bow. Even though my heart had stopped (well it felt that way!!) I rammed Meander into reverse and revved the engine as hard as I could but it seemed like an eternity before we ceased our forward motion and began to move backwards so that the canoe would be clear of our bow. Everyone in both boats looked equally shaken by the near miss.

The rest of the day proved to be a lot less dramatic but nevertheless exciting. The most remarkable feature was that we got to sail the whole way to Port Stephens – a full day’s sailing has been a rare event on this trip so far!

Jo

After a night at a public mooring in Shoal Bay, Just inside Port Stephens Heads, we headed towards Forster Tuncurry. The wind was quite light, and so it was back to another day of motor-sailing Jo got most excited when a school of dolphins came up to us and played on the bow for about ten inutes. She took lots of pictures, sadly lost (my fault L) then we began to see the telltale jets of water that indicated the presence of whales…

Soon we were to see four whales, at a distance of about 200 meters – plenty close enough, actually.! We got a very good look at the tail of one of them waving in the air as it dived and it was not something I would like to see descending on the deck… I had great photos to show you all.. but…… Jo

Our berth at
Foster Tuncurry

We arived in Foster Tuncurry, and were allocated a pile berth on the Tuncurry side, where we now sit.

We’ve been here for a few days now, waiting for the 3 to 4 metre swells to abate. We’re waiting, not because it’s a problem getting out of this harbour, but because it’s a potential problem getting into any of the other harbours along the coast between here and Coffs Harbour. All of these have bars at their entrances, and I really don’t relish trying to get across any of them in a four meter swell!

One plus to the presence of the heavy swells, however, is the spectacle of the dolphins that inhabit the harbour surfing them! They surf in on one large set, and then swim out to catch the next large set. They are clearly having a lot of fun.

The weather forecasts suggest that we will able to move on Saturday. Here’s hoping!

Mike

Our exit path...