Opal Lady - Our Adventures

Coffin Bay to New Years Eve, Adelaide

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Because the seas were so flat and calm it allowed us a more restful sleep in a 2 hour watch pattern. As the sun rose we were nearing the mouth of the Coffin Bay, and Scarlett was close behind,

as they had been motoring all night! It was difficult to find the way into the bay as there were confusing navigation marks. I weaved our way back and forward across the mouth of the bay until I finally saw a charter fishing vessel coming out. I turned on the radar to identify his path as it overlays the chart. Then I headed in with Scarlett hot on our tail.

Once we were in and following the inner leads, it was easy to navigate the bay, zigzagging back and forth through the oyster leases with the oyster boats whizzing straight down the bay, knowing exactly where they were going! We finally made it to the Coffin Bay Public Jetty where another Seawind owner, Kerryn was eagerly waiting for us to arrive. After morning tea on Scarlett we headed to the anchorage suggested by a local fisherman and had a sleep.

After a quiet night, the wind and tide changed the next morning and with it came several problems, 1) we found ourselves running out of water underneath us and 2) the generator started to cough and splutter and the temperature rose, and the Genset shut itself down.

Just in the nick of time we pulled up the anchor and moved further south in the bay but the generator was still not happy. Alan went to investigate further and looked into the intake where he found the strainer to be full of tiny jellyfish and weed. Once cleared everything was back working but alas only for 15mins before it went off again. Same problem, and back to the stainer for another clean out. Again only 15mins later, same story, this went on for a few hours, before I answered an email from local, Les who had read the website address on our stern and said that he was watching us from he verandah, and asked how we liked their bay!! I relayed the events of the day and informed him that we were going to have to leave as the problem was not improving and Alan wasn’t happy sitting in the engine room all day!! Can’t see why not!!! Anyway Les told us he was the person in charge of the fuel wharf and advised us to come in and tie to the jetty where we could plug into power! Problem solved and this gave us a chance to meet with other locals.

During that all happening, I made the Christmas Puddings!

We enjoyed oysters for Happy Hour on board Scarlett and came back with 2 boys, Stephen and Lachlan and dog, Rhett, so they could have some play time on shore!!

Below: At Coffin Bay Wharf

Scarlett leaving Coffin Bay!

With Christmas fast approaching we all wanted to be ‘in town’ beforehand, so we pushed on and stopped at D’Anville Bay on the Eyre Peninsular.

This ocean anchorage had several cray boats anchored whilst they wait for the crays to get caught, but it also had a 3m swell coming in. This was another time that we were thankful for our flopper stoppers!! Scarlett arrived a few hours later and radioed asking for a lend of one!! In the rise and fall of the swell their cabin would disappear completely. There is another story there about 'something about me hooking the ocean floor' but I will leave that for Alan to tell over a beer!!! Too Funny!

D'Anville Bay at sunset. one of the Crayboats and the wind farm!

Early, early next morning we left after doing a complete circle of Scarlet to wake them and then rounded Cape Gurnot and Cape Catastrophe before entering Thorny Passage. From here we motored north to round Cape Colbert before tucking in and anchoring in Colbert Bay so we could get the tinny up before we arrived at the marina in Port Lincoln. It was a beautiful sunny day and the bay was protected, National Park boarded the bay and the waters were crystal clear. We enjoyed a few hours fishing, washing and enjoying the sunshine before we pulled anchor for the 5nm trip across the bay.

We berthed in an extremely tight spot alongside Scarlett and awaited their return from the shops. I joined Craig and Kerry for a taxi ride to town the following day, Christmas Eve to gather supplies.

Festive dinner, Christmas Lights, carols and a cruise on board Scarlett to wander up the festooned canals, trying to dodge a lot of smaller boats in a very narrow space in the dark filled in until it was time to go to bed and await Santas’ arrival!

Port Lincoln Marina

Craig and Kerrry cooked pancakes for Christmas Day breakfast before we all caught a taxi into town to enjoy Christmas Lunch at the Port Lincoln Hotel. Stuffed full and tired we had an early night.

On Boxing Day we untied the docklines for Scarlett as they were leaving to make a quick passage to Adelaide as they were expecting the arrival of another new crew member. We stayed behind as we had to wait for the O Ring for the Transmission cooler to arrive by courier. A $5 part with a $30 courier fee!! It was supposed to be overnight delivery, ordered on the 22nd Dec,arrived the 28th!! You can see how fast a week gets chewed up!! Thanks to a close network of Nordhavn owners, we had full instructions at hand and Alan replaced it quite easily. If this part completely failed the transmission oil would have gone into the coolant and this would have been a very major job! I think it was a stitch in time Job!! He was determined not to move again until it was replaced!

Whilst be waited we met nearby boat owners Breck and Robbie (also Nordhavn Dreamers) who were visiting from Adelaide. They invited us for Happy Hour and we joined them for dinner at the pub on the marina front, very enjoyable.

Next morning we followed the local fishing fleet out of the port in darkness and turned SE for Wedge Island, only 40nm. It was less than desirable seas so we were very happy to stop, have a fish and continue the next day!

With 70nm to go until a respectable anchorage at Troubridge Island, 36nm south west of Adelaide, we left early but this time had to wait until first light so we could take a short cut inside the off lying islands. We arrived at Troubridge Island and sought anchorage near the other yachts west of the island in calm water.

New Years Eve was here! Boy where has that year gone! We started reflecting how far we have come?? Where were we this time last year?? Scary!

The waters of the Gulf of St. Vincent were glassy the entire way across. We had now entered the Port Adelaide shipping area and kept a close eye on the shipping lanes as we crossed.

We followed the leads into Adelaide and found our berth at the Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia where we were met by my cousin Helen and her daughter, Tamra.

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South Australia- Ceduna to Coffin Bay

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Merry Belated Christmas and Happy New Year to all! Due to our very busy social schedule I have not had the time to update the blog BUT I will be getting there this week!! Check out the front page and it will have a shortened up to date report!

During the night at St Francis Island, the wind turned to the NE and made the bay very lumpy and sleep was not easy!

The 30nm to Cedunna was pleasant although the southerly wind had increased throughout the trip to 30knts, but no seas as we had protection from the numerous islands.! We tied alongside the Town Jetty with Scarlett rafted to us. It was to be a very quick garbage run and shop as the safety of the boats tied to the wharf was questionable. In Craig words “if it wasn’t for rust the jetty wouldn’t be there!!!” They have recently reinforced the raft up section with a few new timbers, but still. . .

Alan and Craig stayed with the boats as Kerri and I raced around the supermarket, then back to the jetty. We formed a human chain to get the groceries down from the high jetty and across the boats. Quickly we motored across the bay to beneath Thevenard Point and anchored in 3m of water, side by side to shelter from the strong winds.

Cedunna is known for it’s beautiful fresh oysters grown in crystal clear waters.There are also fish farms down this stretch of the coast, mostly oysters, but also Tuna, scallops and of course, loads of Cray fisherman!

Scarlett said farewell to their crew member Jo, and then made their way to the nearby Thevenard Wharf to fuel up. Here they met some locals that offered help with the shore based jobs of provisioning and getting their washing done. Whilst we were getting the tinny off the boat deck, Alan kicked his leg on the bracket and deeply punctured it. After applying pressure and placing a bandaid in position, I had him laying horizontal until the colour returned to his face. Meanwhile the phone was ringing, it was Craig to see where we had got to, as we were to meet him at the jetty. Story told and ‘She’ll be right, Alan’ got in the tinny for the mile trip to the jetty where Craig, asked all the relevant questions, as doctors do!! He then assessed that it would be fine without a stitch but he would dress it later in the day!
For the photos see http://web.me.com/craigandkerry/SCARLETT/Frankly_my_dear.../Entries/2011/12/14_Day_222_-_Thevenard_Wharf_at_Ceduna_and_Questions_Answered.html

Marty drove Craig and ourselves around the town, helping us fill our wish lists. We needed a piece of hose and some washers (to try and fix the troublesome water pump. . .still!!) at the Hardware store, which was a few k’s from the town centre, and we also wanted some of the renowned oysters of this area. Peter, from the Local VMR suggested that we also come around to Thevenard Wharf to stay overnight. Thanks Peter and Marty for your hospitality!

At 6am the next morning the guys on the tugs tooted their horn as they passed us to signal that they were heading out to bring a ship in and this meant we had to be gone! Alan and I were already on deck with the lines free and ready to depart, Scarlett were a little slower.

The trip through the sand banks and south to Streaky Bay was pleasant and perfectly calm for the 60nm, we put the anchor down in front of the town wharf at 5pm, with Scarlett dropping theirs an hour later.

The Streaky Bay Foreshore Park

It rained the next morning and we took advantage of the overcast morning and slept in. A trip to the shops again for a few last minute things, a gas bottle to fill and a look at the replica of the Great White Shark caught by rod and reel in 1990 weighing 1,500kg and 5m long, this massive shark was a world record catch and was caught on 24kg line! A replica is now mounted in the local Service Centre.

As well as a thriving fish industry, they also mine Monumental Granite from here, that has been used in Adelaide and Canberra Parliament houses'.

I visited the local butcher and bought a bag bigger than I could carry, but with old fashioned country service Wayne offered to carry it to my car, short explanation later and he said he was coming down to the Streaky Bay Hotel after work for a drink and would deliver it to the boat. Alan went and picked him up for the 1 stubby trip out. We followed him back to the pub for the raffles, a drink and dinner, I even won a monster chook!!

With an ideal weather window we left the following morning for Venus Bay- Port Kenny. The scenery on the way was magnificent with high deep orange cliffs of granite, there were storms to seaward of us that menaced Whyalla later that day with large hail damaging winds and rain. But other than a five minute burst of 30-40knts, we missed it all!

The entrance to the port is well marked with leads high on the cliffs ahead, turning to port once in the wharf is to starboard with the fishing fleet trawlers tied alongside. We anchored at 4.30 just north of the wharf. Scarlett followed a way back but they had caught a nice tuna on the way, so we went over at happy hour so Alan could give them a filleting lesson and the boys a crab pot setting lesson to use up the tuna bits and pieces. Sadly they only caught small sand crabs.

Next day we had a visit from Ross from the Caravan Park on the waterfront near us! He was only telling his mate the day before about Nordhavns, and then we moored in the bay the following day. He chatted for a while and we gave him a few DVDs to watch and invited him back for a cuppa, but he was unable to get someone to look after the park.

The monster chook was prepared with lots of roast veges for a pre trip dinner with Scarlett. Dinner was all over and by 6pm the anchors were up and in perfect conditions (for us!!) we went overnight to Coffin Bay.

The Great Australian Bight

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

We left the beautiful Arid Bay, Scarlett was still sleeping. We plan our passages to leave in the early hours before the wind gets up! In most cases this happens.

Above: Anchored at Arid Bay

The many islands and bays of the archepeligo of the Recherche are well worth exploring!
After yesterdays’ large seas, we decided to stay well offshore and it has paid off! The swells are large 3-4m with the occasional one higher. The nose comes up and over the swells, but when the nose dips down the swell, the height of the swell in front is at least a metre above the height of the bow rail. It is definitely a ‘sit down’ day! Breakfast was ½ an apple and ½ a banana each.

Yesterday we stayed only a few miles offshore and the swells were short and sharp, but today they are further apart and more even. Winds are still NE 20-25knts with gusts to 33.

It is a 30nm trip today, to the last safe anchorage before we cross the bight, it will be 24/7 from there!

We put everything on the floor this morning as it was going to land there anyway! At 8am we had 17nm to go!

We found Daw Island, in the Eastern Group to be a very protected anchorage, with the 30-35knt E – NE winds blowing. In the neck of the bay there was a little beach, home to several seals and sea lions, all basking on the rocks and sand.

The winds and swell had eased throughout the following day and by 3pm they were 15-20 knts. I had spent the morning cooking a few meals for the trip, and had just started to cook some Gingerbread Cookies when Alan called ‘up anchor, let’s go!’

We left and the seas to the east of Daw Island were steep and short as they came up over the shallows. We continued on once clear they flatten out UNTIL the afternoon turned into night and the winds increased and the seas continued to rise. We took a few greenies over the bow and on one of my visits to the ladies, I noticed a wet floor in the forward stateroom and bathroom, on further inspection I found that the water was coming through both the forward hatches. These being well above my head, Alan had to try and adjust them to prevent more from coming in! Before leaving Mandurah we had fitted new canvas hatch covers and they were not fitting the same as the old ones and were coming between the seal allowing for water ingress. We have a policy of not going on deck in seas or darkness and we had both!! So I made the call at 8.18pm to return to Daw Island to solve the problem as there was an awful lot of night and nautical miles to go!

Getting back through the shallows to the east of Daw Island was hair raising to say the least. Similar to crossing the worst bar, that lasted for 10nm. We rode the waves using the throttle to stay on top of the waves. By midnight we were safely anchored in the same position we had left 9 hrs and 50nm before. Scarlett was now anchored in the bay, having arrived there at 6pm from Keyhole Bay, Middle Island.

Above: Scarlett anchored at Daw Island

7^th Wednesday

We slept past our scheduled phone call to Dad for our weather update, eventually I rang and he gave us the sad news that the high in the bight has remained stationary and the high winds were going to continue over Wednesday and Thursday. The first probable day of departure would be Friday. I crawled back into bed and we slept for a few hours more.

The rest of the day we cleaned up the aftermath from yesterday, washed carpet, towels and the rest of the washing, cleaned up where the salt had touched and enjoyed a well earned drink. I also had a baking day and finished off the Gingerbread that I had started, then baked some of Mary’s’ Lemon Cookies, Chocky Rock Biscuits and Double Chocolate biscuits, these would all be useful for the passage!

8^th Thursday

Another cleanup day, the rest of the windows had an application of Rainex, highly recommended. Next we embarked on another one of those 5min jobs that manage to last a few hours!! Alan decided to put the second anchor back in the anchor locker; we may as well clean the locker out before that! So the anchor locker was completely emptied, scrubbed, de seaweeded, mud and shell removed, and given a pressure wash before returning all chain, rope, 6 Jerry Cans, a reel of Occy Cord and 2 extension handles back into their positions. Alan can actually get in there with room to spare, it’s that large!

We finished our day with a Roast Lamb dinner and fruit salad. I served up four plates, which will enable us to just heat up our plates the following night!

9^th Friday

Dad reported that conditions were going to be much better for the crossing today.

SSE 10-15knts Seas 1 m Swell 1.5 -2.5m

Saturday SSE 10-15 Seas 1m Swell 2-3m

Sunday Variable winds 5-10knts tending SE/SW 8-13 knts in the pm.

Monday (SA) Partly Cloudy 15-25 klm SSE.

Our arranged departure time with Scarlett was 7am, normally we would have been gone at 4am but we had a leisurely morning, watched ‘Sunrise’ (via VAST Satellite) with our cup of tea in bed and then got up and had a breakfast of mushrooms and eggs. Quite civilized!

Above: Scarlett in between the swells

I set the waypoint in at St Francis Island 15nm west of Cedunna, 467nm.

2 hours east and the seas are much calmer and the swells had flattened out. 456nm to go! Scarlett 1.3nm west of us!

11am Scarlett 3.9nm west of us! Morning tea

1.30pm Scarlett were now 6nm behind us, I called them to see if all was good?? Sailing boats get a burst of wind and eccelerate but when the wind dies, they stop and have to turn the 'iron sail' on!!

Just after 7pm I called again on the radio and they reported to be 4nm west of us at 7.8knts.

Their AIS was not transmitting when they were greater than 4nm away from us.

The galley is ideal to prepare food whilst at sea, the curved timber stack provides a resting place to prop yourself against the movement of the boat, and still enable you to reach the bench, sink etc. A Toasted tomato and cheese sandwich Alan requested for dinner.

Tonight the moon was shining brightly, looking north out of the port pilothouse windows I could see the shearwaters still flying effortlessly across the top of the water in the moonlight, just managing to fly above the water with their wingtips so close to the water’s surface, yet not flapping their wings.

Above: The Southern Ocean at sunrise.

The 10^th and the 11^th went by with calm conditions continuing. Although great for us, Scarlett was struggling to maintain a constant speed. Slow and steady wins the race or the story of the Tortoise and the Hare comes to mind. Early hours of this morning we passed the 129* longitude and we are officially into SA, and with some pressure from Alan I succumbed and changed all the instruments to OTC + 10.30. I had a chat with Craig, as we had scheds at 7am and 7pm. Originally I said we wouldn’t change time until we had arrived, but he also had discussions with his crew and they changed also!

The stand out event for our entire crossing would be witnessing the lunar eclipse, http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-619-0-0-1-0.html It was still in progress when I got out of bed, several hours later. Alan had tried to take photos but the boat was moving a little too much! Awesome event!

The moonlight illuminated our way across the Bight and made the night passage much more enjoyable when it’s not sheer blackness!

Have a read of Scarlett’s blog from the trip!

http://web.me.com/craigandkerry/SCARLETT/Frankly_my_dear.../Entries/2011/12/9_Day_217_-215_-_Out_to_Daw_Island_-_Eastern_Group_2.html

Above: Mother and baby dolphins joined us for a play in the middle of the Bight!

We arrived at St Francis Island on the 12^th at 11am after 3days and 1hour at sea in perfect weather. Scarlett arrived 1.5 hrs later to tie alongside and enjoy celebratory drinks on board Opal Lady. Kerry baked some Sun dried Tomato and Olive scones, very yummy!

The party concluded at 5pm and then Alan and I hit the sack for some well earned sleep.

Above: Alan prepared to welcome Scarlett after the crossing, at St Francis Island.

Comment on: The Great Australian Bight

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 20:24:48 GMT

It was such a great crossing, and was made both safer and more pleasant in the company of Opal Lady! I think the two of us were some of the luckiest to be able to see the eclipse without cloud - in a pristine clear southern ocean sky! Thanks for being part of our memories of this special part of the world! Kind Regards Craig, Kerry, Stephen, Lachlan (and Jo and, of course Rhett!)

Road Tripping! A different view. . .

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Whilst Opal Lady enjoyed our berth at the Hillarys Yacht Club, we offered to tour with friend and singer Graeme Connors and his fellow artist Melinda Schneider, on their Heartland Tour of the southern region of Western Australia.

Alan drove the mini bus. Also on board was Graeme's wife, Lyn and Gary, Chris and Dave as support. It was a 2500klm trip from Perth to Bunbury, Merredin, Kalgoorlie, Esperance, and Albany.

We thoroughly enjoyed the break and the concerts every night, the beautiful scenery, an array of wildflowers, the historic buildings in the outback towns.

Once back on water we left Hillarys early one morning to be in Fremantle to take Opal Lady out of the water for a quick bottom scrub, annode check and adjustment before going back in. It was a frantic few hours with no help from the weather gods as it rained the entire time. Wet and dirty, once back in the water we waited for Steve and Yvonne to join us for our 35nm trip to Mandurah over the weekend. It was only a short 9nm trip to anchor at Sulphur Bay, Garden Island. We enjoyed dinner and a few relaxing cold ones!!!

Next morning the wind picked up from the North and this made our intended anchorage open the the wind and swells, so we decided to head straight to Mandurah and the sheltered anchorage for the night. We were met at Mandurah Offshore Fishing and Sailing Club by the officals all done up to the nines, we have arrived on their Open Day!!

We readied Opal Lady to spend a week or so alone at the marina as we again headed off for another road trip!! Mandurah is an hour by car from Perth and we caught a cab back to the airport for the red eye flight to Cairns, here we picked up Steve's small Isuzu truck that he needed back at his work in Perth.

We arrived in Cairns at 5am and were met by the vehicle storage people, then quickly made our way to Yorkeys Knob Marina and onto Steve and Yvonnes Beneteau 57 Yacht, Pure and straight into bed to catch up on some sleep!

We caught up with friends, Don and Carole and Guy(Louisiade Rally Organiser) for lunch at the club and then enjoyed some of Guys Louisiade Crayfish on board Dons' yacht for dinner. Alan spent the afternoon packing the truck tray with old chain and a few 44 gallon drums full of water to weigh the tray down and give us a better ride.

Early next morning we drove through the tropical rain out of Cairns and down the highway south. We stopped at Cardwell for a cuppa, this was the town devastated by cyclone Yasi ealier this year.

All my photos of this trip were taken at 100 kph, so please excuse the lack of clarity, there was no stopping Alan this trip, to take photos!!!

Our first night was spent at Proserpine, then onto Mackay the next day for lunch with Graeme and Lyn and then a long drive west through outback Queensland towns until we could find some accomodation. This area is full of mines which fill every available bed in the towns. Finally at 9pm we manged to find a bed in Emerald, after looking for the last few hours.

We saw a lot of wildlife along the roadside, goats, kangaroos, emus, cows, sheep, eagles, Plus hundreds of black crows that hung close to the road feeding on road kill.

TBC.... For more photos of the trips go to the Nov'11 Blog Page.

BUT for now we have been at Cape Arid waiting for a weather window to cross 470nm across the Great Australia Bight. Our days have been spent with 20-30 knt Easterlies blowing over the deck, whilst we were trouble shooting a house water problem!!! Many hours, a new pump, filter etc later but only minor joy!! So it will still be on the list when we reach Cedunna in 4 days time. We have had the company of Scarlett, Seawind 1160, with Craig, Kerry, Steven, Lachlan and Jo aboard. Last night we all went ashore for a fire and enjoyed sausages, potatoes and marshmallows(freshly made!!) roasted on hot coals.
This morning at 5am we have left Arid Bay for Daw Island , Easter Group. Tomorrow we hope to be taking off!!!!
Cheers Karen

Hillarys Yacht Club

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

We have arrived at Hillarys Boat Harbour, just north of Perth and we are tied to the marina preparing to wash and polish the salt from the decks. Our last marina visit was May this year when we left Cairns! So it will be great to use marina water to wash instead of our home made water!
The couple of weeks at the Abrolhus Islands was beautiful, the wildlife throughout the Abrolhus Islands was magnificent.

Above: There are over 100 islands that contain the temporary homes for the Crayfisherman and their families in the cray season, they even have a school out there!!

On Morley Island, the middle group, we found this sea lion basking in the sun getting warm, as we got closer he was very disinterested in us!

She yawned. . .

She sat up and had a stretch . . . .

Then it was back to sunning herself .. . . But she still had one eye on me!!!

As I got closer, she just lifted her head! (Now only .5m away!)

We also found some of the largest Cuttlefish we have ever seen. . .here it's next to Alans' size 11 foot!

There were only these bright purple shells on the beach, Morley is one of the uninhabited islands.

Baby birds that were unhappy with our arrival on the beach!

Many birds were out catching their dinner in the clear waters surrounding the islands.

Above: the weight was nearly on his shoulder!!

We moved to the most southern group and on our final day of fishing, we ventured out to a reef 3.5nm east.

On the way we were boarded by Fisheries in 2+m swells!!!! They wanted us to stop and they would just jump from their bow to ours!!! I don't think so!! When we stop the stabilizers STOP working!! So that meant that they would be rolling and so would we have been!! Alan went to pick them up in the tinny, even though they just wanted to jump still! We were all good, except they informed me that after the 15th Oct until the end of December we were not allowed to have any fin fish on board! So we will have to eat it all!!
We enjoyed 3 different anchorages before leaving for the 200nm trip into Hillarys. Some of the trip was dead calm and some of it we had 6m swells, makes the passage an interesting one! We arrived into the boat harbour 33hrs later.

Hillarys Light on the entrance to the harbour at Sunset.

Enjoying the Reef!

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

We are still at Wann Islet, Abrolhus Is enjoying a well earned break after travelling pretty full on since we left King George River, 1717 nautical miles ago on the 13th August.

The whales have provided some entertainment early one morning, on the outside of the reef near us. Alan went upstairs early to make a cuppa and then came running back with the camera in hand. He thought he would get a bettter photo out of the porthole above our bed.

Note the reef between the whale and us!

Amazing creatures!

The Abrolhus Islands are well known amongst fisherman for being fishing mecca!!

Our second day of fishing was more productive than the first. A WA Dhufish 64cm 5kg, 3 more Bald Chin Groper, a Coral Trout, Treveley and a Mack Tuna. Not all were kept as there is a daily bag limit to adhere to. We also lost twice as many. But it was all fun in only a few hours.

Alan's first W.A Dhufish

My Bald Chin Groper!

Above: The weigh in, with the international measuring stick!!!

We have been fishing when the weather has allowed us to and the weather out here has been from one end of the spectrum to another.

Above: Looking East, Below: Looking South. . . . .Not nice in any direction!

1/2 hr later the Rainbow appeared!

Since yesterday it has been blowing SW 30-40knts, 2' wind waves but still no swell inside our protected reef, with showers pelting down at times. There is very little tidal difference here, so the reef height remains the same! I have noticed the drop in air temperature since we arrived here. Now it is only 15-20 degrees and I have found the need to pull out some warmer clothing and Socks!!! We haven't experienced these temperatures for 18 months!

I'm sure the 95m of chain that we have out is well and truly laid out straight by now! The up side of the wind, the elephant sized birds have stopped visiting and depositing equally sized deposits all over the deck!!!!

Once the seas abate we will move south to the Easter Group 15nm south.

Coral Bay to the Abrolhus Islands

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Yardie Creek to Mauds Landing - After a good days travel (50nm) we arrived into Coral Bay behind the enormous reef and searched for a spot to anchor out of the swell in the southern end of the bay, finally we put the anchor down, flopper stoppers out and then settled down, had a drink and waited for the most recent forecast(via internet) and as our luck would have it, it was going to blow Thursday so we made the call to up anchor and go through the night 120nm to Carnarvon, and a peaceful nights sleep.

In the early hours of the morning we passed close to Point Cuvier to look at the huge salt loading facility, we could see their lights from 10nm back. The salt is brought by train from the nearby saltpan and loaded via a huge wharf onto ships for export.

Another 16nm south the Blow Holes in front of the lighthouse at Beagle Hill made a spectacular sight. This was also our turning point to head SE into Carnarvon. The seas had flattened out and were very glassy calm!! Highly unusual!!

The channel markers into Carnarvon Boat Harbour started a few miles out. As we passed through the channel and into the Fishing Boat Harbour we passed a large fleet of fishing and prawn trawlers from Nor West Seafoods and proceeded to the Baileys Fuel Wharf.

We tied to the wharf and quickly became the centre of attention with cars pulling up, several asking questions. One local couple were intrigued and we starting getting the info on the local shopping when they offered to take me there, to which I quickly accepted. Once at Woolies I provisioned up again for the next 4 weeks while we make the passage down through the Abrolhus Islands and then onto Fremantle. Both our lovely locals and the Taxi Driver that delivered me back, thought it would be good to take me around the water so I could enjoy a water view!! As if we need to see more water!!

Alan washed and cleaned the numerous tons of salt and red dust off the boat, as well as answering the curious locals’ questions.

We fueled up with 2100.61 L of Diesel, a very easy self serve process.

DO NOT think about going there for any longer than 5 minutes or they will slug you with a bill that is larger than the most luxurious marina in the country would charge!!! AND do not supply any services!!!! No power, facilities, not even somewhere that you could stay uninterrupted!! We had to move through the night for others wanting fuel!!!

In the wee small hours we left Carnarvon for Herald Bight, north of Monkey Mia.

The whales put on more displays, the bay was very choppy with a SW & SE swell and easterly wind wave. The bay was calm as!! The SW wind came in at 4.30pm. 25-30knts.

We left Herald Bight early for the passage that took us close to North Peron Point to avoid the sand shoals as the SE’ er was blowing the waves were rolling up our stern until we turned the corner. Then in flat calm water we had a beautiful days travel, nice calm seas. We lost the whales company today, and met a ship departing the Denham Channel and then we headed down the South Passage where we anchored in Shelter Bay in 6.5m water and put out one flopper stopper. Later that evening it blew up 30-35knts from the SE. We pulled up 20m of chain, repositioned and put back down another 20 giving a total of 90m of chain out.

The wind didn’t give up, so we made the call to stay here another day and leave tomorrow. It was washing and baking day, 5 loads, a double batch of Marys’ Biscuits and 2 dozen little cup cakes with various toppings. For dinner a cooked a roast lamb dinner for 4, this gives us a spare for the next few days. By mid afternoon we had a few other boats anchored near us, all waiting to leave tomorrow.

Sunday had a more favorable weather report and we left the bay along with the other boats and encountered very confused seas, quite a shake up,until we got further off the coast where the seas dropped and flattened out somewhat.
On this part of the coast there isn't any day hop anchorages and it was 150nm (26hrs) before we arrived in the Abrolhus Islands. We went into Turtle Bay on the northern point of East Wallabi Island but the bay is very prone to swell, so we moved 3.5nm south to Wann Islet.
Here we are STILL!! Enjoying some rest, fishing and generally smelling the roses. . . or coral!!

We caught 2 Bald Chin Groper, one 4kg, one 3kg and a large squid. Enough for a few dinners!

Get a load of his teeth!!

Loads of coral!

NINGALOO REEF

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Our night at North West Cape was less than pleasant, actually one of our worst as the wind changed to an Easterly and blew 30-35knts. Thank goodness that we have a Nordhavn, and Thankyou Gary for our Flopper Stoppers. The anchor held well, we had 85m chain out, and once daylight and the outgoing tide came we set off. We were able to hug the Cape and once around we were protected from the wind and the seas abated as we made our way 45nm south.
The whales continued to join us on the journey, sometimes coming quite close. We stayed a few hundred metres off Ningaloo Reef all day, this allowed us to stay out of the current heading north, thus increasing our speed by a knot! All important!!
The sun was getting lower on the horizon when we were trying to decide whether to take advantage of this beautiful calm sea and travel through the night or stop here at Yardie Creek. Yardie Creek is accessed through one of the many gaps in the reef. Before we could make that decision, we had a wind change, 33knts from the SW, swell and waves grew rapidly so we both agreed to call it a day. Although you still have the wind behind the reef, there wasn't any swell.

Photo: The sunsetting with the huge swells breaking on Ningaloo Reef.

The wind continued to blow until 2am when the tide changed,
and wind went to the SE. We woke at 5am and started the process all over again, flopper stoppers in and anchor up and back to sea.
The swells have been much bigger today, 4 metres high, but are slowly getting smaller. Yardie Creek to Mauds Landing is 55nm, at midday we had only 13nm to go!

Photo: Bugger, wrong lense on!!

Photo: Mother and Baby Whale, right beside the boat. You never know where they are going to come up!!

This one was taken very early in the morning!

There are more whale shots at the end of the Kimberley 2011 page that have been taken in the past few weeks!

NOTE 1 : For the technical people that would like to know our fuel data and facts, my Chief Engineer has given me the low down to put on the website under 'Our Location'
http://www.opallady.com/aspx/m/490255

NOTE 2: Go to www.nordhavn.com and the photo that they have on their front page is the one I took at Castle Lagoon, Hawkesbury River March 2010. This was when we had our first Nordhavn get together.
From L to R - Opal Lady, Barquita N43, Elfrida Beetle N47, Suprr N46
I climbed the mast of a friends' Seawind 1160 to take this one. Thrilled that they are using it!

The Montebellos

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

We arrived at the southern channel into the Montebello group of islands at 4pm and as we entered the reef between Dot and Daisy Islands we had a whale come right across our bow only just missed her!!

It was then only a few mile north to Main Bay where we anchored for the night on the low tide. Because of the Nuclear Bombing back in the 50’s, we were unable to go ashore so the following day we moved south, very slowly to the Stephenson Channel, during the high tide.

There isn’t a lot of deep water at the Montebellos nor is there a lot of the area surveyed, so caution was necessary. The channel was narrow and 6 mtr deep at high tide, max tidal range is 4.5m here. A majority of the Montes is a Sanctuary Zone(No fishing!!) but Stephenson Channel had fishing allowed and I cast a line a couple of times from the back deck and managed to catch a cod and a beautiful Spangled Emperor (both released).

As the weather dictates how long we stay places, unfortunately after 3 days here we only had a 2 day weather window before bad weather was expected, so we made the call to leave on the high tide the following day.

Picking our way through the bommies and reefs whilst enjoying the wonderful frolicking of the local wildlife. We watched a couple of outgoing turtles happy to be mating whilst we past by, dolphins swam under the bow, a dugong ducked under as we approached, in the distance we saw the large blows from the whales and then had a White Bellied Sea Eagle tried to land on the pullpit. We left the Montes behind us and exited through the western channel, currently we are 5nm from Boodie Island, south of Barrow Is.
We anchored in 7m at low tide and enjoyed the evening before retiring for an early night. All was well until 1.30am when the tide and wind changed which caused the anchor chain to cuddle a rock???, we think!! The noise woke us and then we decided to get under way. But the anchor chain stayed around ???, a few times of letting more chain out and driving out around where we thought it was caught eventually after 1/2 hr we were free.

55nm and 10hrs later we found ourselves at the Mackerel Islands in a magnificent bay on Serrurier Is, watching a dozen or more turtles making their way up the sand beach to lay their eggs. Others had us in stitches watching their mating antics whilst we were trying to anchor. Obviously monogamist relationships don't apply, as there were others waiting their turn!!

This one is obviously shagged Out!!

Still at it!! Only 20m from us!

Another lot. . .with another waiting!!

Thats a happy look!

We have just anchored at North West Cape and like the Bark Endeavour, we are enjoying the display from the numerous whales frolicking.

The Kimberley

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

After several months of cruising the beautiful, amazing, stunning etc, etc Kimberley we are back in limited service. Head to the Kimberley 2011 page and I am slowly getting the story and photos posted.

The 401nm passage from Beagle Bay(43nm south of Cape Leveque) to Dampier took us 63 hours non stop! We anchored at midnight in still conditions in Marney Bay, Malus Island in the Dampier Archipelago and quickly made a rush for the bed. We slept soundly for a few hours until the expected Easterly blew up! 35knts, once the day dawned we were underway for the 10nm journey into Hampton Harbour, Dampier.

Dampier is a huge shipping port, servicing the many Iron Ore ships also ships that service the Gas Wells off the coast. Gotta love these cute tugs! George and Mildred, about the same length as Opal Lady!

We found anchorage just off the Hampton Harbour Sailing Club in 5m of water and settled in for another sleep.

We have taken on 800Ltrs of fuel @ $1.85 pl and provisioned. Thanks to Rory & Tracey for the loan of their car to drive into the main shopping centre in Karratha a 20klm drive away! Otherwise it would have been super expensive in Dampier. I did purchase at the local IGA here in Dampier a few things for dinner the first night, 1/2 Cauliflower, 150gms Snow Peas and 12 Brussell Sprouts totalling $20.50, deciding that a big shop here was going cost a fortune!!! Real Estate and wages here are huge. A 3 bed, 1 bath house costs $ 1.1m and the rent on this sort of house is $1,800pw! Surprisingly once in Karratha the supermarket prices were very cheap, so I stocked up! Restaurant prices are also expensive.

Photo above: The Hampton Hbr Sailing Club in the background, we reversed the car down their ramp and then juggled the groceries across the pontoon and into the dinghy.

We were waiting for the 30+ knt Easterlies to abate , before we left for the Montebello Islands.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montebello_Islands

Above: The sunrise over the loading ships as we left Dampier at 6am this morning!

ETA Montebello Islands 5pm tonight, just in time for Happy Hour!

Apologies for the double up in mail outs but we are dropping in and out of service!

Cape York, the Wessel Islands and Darwin

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMT

We left Horn Island stop at Booby Island we headed off across the Gulf of Carpentaria to make

Cairns to Cape York

Mon, 30 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Friday 13th May and t’was the day we left Yorkeys Knob for an appointment in Cairns with the fuel dock, it was also my birthday.

3720 litres @$1.43 cpl it took to fill our tanks for the trip over the top! The young guy at the fuel dock allowed us to stay there for a few hours before we went out into Trinity Inlet to anchor. The rest of the day we spent at Rusty’s fresh food market doing our last minute green grocer trip. Stocked up I spent the afternoon putting it away in ‘green produce bags’. Dressed up and ready to party we had a dinner reservation at Waterbar and Grill. Don from Half Moon Bay Chandlery met us there to deliver a spare anchor windlass foot switch that we had ordered and it had turned up the morning we left. Don has been fantastic helping us source all the bits we needed before leaving. We have replaced all the globes with LEDs, now it takes 2 amps to run the whole boat where previously it took 30+ amps. His help was much appreciated. He also took us for a sail the night before we left Yorkeys on his yacht. We still love sailing but for what we are doing Nordhavn is best by far!!

We laid in bed this morning until we felt the current in Trinity Inlet running out, this would give us another 2knts of speed. Then it was all hands on deck and underway. Whilst heading out between the channel markers we had several charter boats overtake us and a few boats were returning to port. One of them was the Australian Warship - Childers.

We spent the morning whilst underway, packing away stores and tidying the boat, the seas were calm and the sun shining. The 37nm trip to Low Isles passed quickly and we rounded the visible reef and entered the bay that was full of charter boats with day tourists aboard. As it is only 8nm from Port Douglas, it makes a popular day trip destination. Also in the bay was Lady Kay of Falmouth (cat) and a few charter yachts.

There we picked up one of the 3 National Park moorings and started preparing Toasted Cheese and Tomato sandwiches for lunch. It wasn’t long before Alan saw some big fish swimming around under the swim platform. It took a lot of effort to identify them, they were Pacific Spadefish/Batfish. Thanks to the internet!
We began feeding them a piece of bread and they were very friendly, coming right up and taking it from our fingers. After checking out the teeth I wasn’t that frightened of them and they were sucking on my fingers, not quite the manicure I wanted! Also circling under them were several large Black Tipped Reef Sharks, another good reason not to go swimming here.

As the tide began to flood we headed off in the tinny to explore the island. It has a lighthouse that was built in 1878, a, Lighthouse Keepers’ cottage, the Assistant Lighthouse Keepers cottage(now a Research Station operated by the University of QLD) and another unmarked cottage. As we walked along the paths to the Lighthouse we saw a disused large winch with a eroded rock carriageway leading to the water that was used to pull up the boats laden with fuel for the Lighthouse.

The high tide was only a few hours away and the swell began to come around the corner and make us roll, so our 2 trusty flopper stoppers were deployed. This dampened the roll somewhat and I imagine it made others in the bay jealous!

Throughout the night the low tide gave some relief but again as the tide came in, the rolling conditions worsened again. The other boats in the bay rocked and rolled all night. By 2am one had given up and left and the next left at 5am. We were underway by 6am. As we pulled the flopper stoppers clear of the water our friendly Batfish came to visit.

The high unpopulated mountains lined the coastline and at 9am we were off Cape Tribulation. In this part of the Great Barrier Reef the numerous reefs are close to the mainland and at low tide we can see the waves breaking over them. It has blown 25-30 knts all day, the waves and swell have increased although we only notice their size when we walk down into the saloon and galley.

The low tide was at 1.37pm and as it was only 3pm when we approached Cooktown we slowed down a little more to allow more time for the Endeavour River to flood. We turned and headed west, passed the headland and followed the markers to the channel. Although the entrance was very wide, there is very little navigable water. The cruising bible, Cruising the Coral Coast by Alan Lucas doesn’t paint a pretty picture The fishing trawlers were tied to the wharf on the port side and to starboard was a line of anchored vessels, and that was it!!! So all we could do was anchor right in the middle of the entrance, metres away from the wharfs and dock restaurant and wait for the tide to get higher so we were able to get further away from the town and some space to anchor.
At the top of the tide we moved 1/2 nm further upstream and anchored near the southernmost lead marker. The bullets were still blowing over the mountain causing us to screw around on the anchor and heel over. Max gust we saw was 38 knts.
Next morning on the high tide, Alan took the tinny for a run another mile upstream and found the depths to be acceptable for us to navigate further upstream and away from the bullets that we buffeting us here near the town.
We moored in the deep hole around the first corner, just near the mangroves and were very protected from the wind. A little further up the river Aqua Safari (Catamaran) Paul and Barbara Banks were anchored they had arrived the previous day.

I made Rock Cakes and we went for a visit the next day. We planned a dinghy trip with Barbara and Paul to the upper reaches of the Escape River for the following day. With both dinghies loaded with cameras, lunch, rain coats, umbrellas and fishing gear with started up the river keeping a watchful eye on the banks and in the water for Crocodiles. Only 3 nm upstream Paul’s outboard stopped working and after trying every conceivable tip given to him by the 3 of us ‘home mechanics’, we abandoned their tinny and tied it to a tree and continued on in our tinny. We saw some beautiful flora and Cottonwood trees in full bloom and the kingfishers playing in the branches near the waters edge.

We tied to a rock on the edge of a high bank to enjoy lunch while Alan flicked a lure around. It was an all day adventure very beautiful and on the return picked up Aqua Safari's tinny and towed it back. The no name motor was only 3 months old and after lots of phone calls to and fro plus a delivery of all possible spares it still never gave another flicker, so it was sent back to Brisbane for a full refund and they have purchased another Brand name one in Cooktown.
We took them into Cooktown the following day for a shopping, laundry, mail and lunch trip in our tinny.
22/5- 2.45am left Cooktown, Alan stayed awake watching the footy and cleaning up, preparing the boat for sea whilst I got some sleep. At 2am I woke and we decided to go, once at sea Alan was able to go to bed. The whole day was amazingly calm once we cleared Cape Bedford.
23/5 - Overnight Cape Melville

24/5 - Anchored at Blackwood Island finally we are in clear waters to make water and today I did several loads of washing to catch up.
We went in search of a wreck to fish first thing in the morning, but to no avail, even thou we had GPS coordinates we were unable to find it! So back to the boat and underway. The trolling lines were out and we meandered through the Owen Channel. The 15knt Easterly had just about died and I thought we could go to Atkinson Reef another the 2.5nm further north. It was picture perfect and flat calm seas! We anchored in 10m water, although we had a roll up, we decided against flopper stoppers as we were getting straight in the tinny to go and fish the reef. 20m off the bow and before I had finished putting my line out, a monster fish came and stole my rig, leader and lure! I re rigged and it wasn’t long before both of us continued to hook more spanish mackerel.
By 3pm we were stuffed and enjoyed lunch and cuppa before heading back in the channel to anchor for the night. The wind was coming from the west, which made our original plan of Stanley anchorage a no go!

We spent the night in the Owen Channel between Stanley and Flinders Island.
25/5
At 4am we woke as the wind and current were playing with us, then decided to leave Owen Channel and the Flinders Group. Heading SW around the southern tip of Stanley Island then NW to Eden Reef. It was a magic day, light winds and sunshine. We planned to stop at Magpie Reef for a fish. On approach to Magpie Reef I was getting some fruit and yogurt ready for a feed before fishing when I heard Alan outside winding in the rods, when he yelled to cut the motor back as he had a fish. he passed the rod to me and it took me 15mins to wind him the 1.6m Barracuda weighing in at 20kg. After a few happy snaps we returned him to the sea!

We anchored in 10m of water at the western end of Magpie Reef in the shelter of the sand cay. As we were setting the anchor fish were breaking the surface all around us, we were both excited and took to the tinny with rods and lures. Before we were 100m from the boat we both hooked up.

28/5 6.30am and the anchor came up with the 75m chain that we had put down, wing and main engines running we headed out into the channel and headed north. It had been months since we had given the wing engine a run, it started and ran for 1/2hr before turning it off.The currents running through the islands were a bit strong for it to keep us underway comfortably.
After 76 nautical miles and 11.5 hours before we dropped anchor a few miles up the Escape River. The seas were bigger today and the majority of the trip was through a Green Zone so we were unable to fish!

The day was very warm and overcast, and at 8.40 the log had ticked over 10,000nm since we launched her! AMAZING! So many wonderful people, places and things we have done since Jan 2009!

29/5
Escape River - It was a beautiful calm night, full of stars. Our body clocks had us awake early and we had jobs to do. First one was to put out the new crab pots, and they were terrific. We ordered 5 new PUP (Pop Up Pots) from www.CrabNGear.com.au . These pots would be legal in NT as they have only 2 openings, and would you believe the bureaucracy, we also had to order another model Lift Dilly to allow us to catch crabs in WA!!!! As I love crabs I am always eager to get them out, but the old conventional pots were always a pain in the arse to assemble. Yesterday it was so easy, they have put a smile on Alan’s face. We still put 3 of the old pots out, just to see the difference but I fear they won’t have very more swims! At the end of the day it was the new pot that caught 2 large Mud Crabs, 1.7kg & 1.3kg! In between checking the pots we fished and caught and released a mixed bag. Couple of Queenfish, Cod, Mackerel, GT and a few other species of Trevelly, as well as several queer cod with huge bulging eyes (will wait until we get internet to identify).

Next job on our list was to rid the boat of several layers of salt, built up over the last few weeks. This ended up taking all day with crab and fish stops, lunch and breadmaking.
By 4pm with a cold drink in our hands we headed off in the direction of the boats that had just arrived in the river. Liso, Decoy and Starfire all travelling indendently but all heading to Darwin and then Asia. After saying Hi to them we went and collected all our pots as the sun was setting, and we arrived home just on dark!

30/5
Waking at 7am, before we had our morning cuppa we decided to head off and catch the high tide going through Albany Pass. Flood tide heads north through the pass.
By 11am we were anchored at Cape York Peninsular and we took the tinny in with a cold drink and celebrated once more our arrival at the most northern tip of Australia.

Comment on: Cairns to Cape York

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 20:35:38 GMT

Hi to the both of you. Hope this finds you both fit and well. Not long now before the man in a red suit turns up. I am already for him. Not alot happening down this way. Beth and Billy was down on Monday Beth had to buy new washing machine. I have 9 days off for xmas looking forward to that break, I think I have earnt it, people should'nt be made to work that hard during the year. Alan hope you are staying out of the war zone no more fish hooks mishaps. Well better go and find something to do, nearly knock of time. Played on the computer enough this morning. Love Gaye xxxxxxx

Comment on: Cairns to Cape York

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 21:17:37 GMT

Howdy to both of you. Your weather not good it is'nt down in Tassie. It appears you are enjoyoing yourself. Not much happening down under.

Comment on: Cairns to Cape York

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 21:06:19 GMT

Hi guys, just came in ph cover area at LLoyd island so checked your site, noticed our fame in your blog, how kind of you. our new ob is going well can not say the same for the weather sww after sww for the last 30 days. i will up date you next time i have cover and send out a general e mail. hope all is well with you both.

Cape Upstart to Cairns

Sun, 22 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT

After dropping the boys 5 nm from our anchorage we continued on and anchored, deployed the flopper stopper, only one was needed as the weather was calm and only necessary as we know from experience that the swell develops later in the evening. The boys arrived back for some fresh bait and a few beers before heading out again. We directed them to a reef a mile behind us that is well known by local fisherman.

The boys returned at sunset with a small shark and a mackerel which fed us all for dinner. Next morning the boys had disappeared again before we got out of bed but returned for lunch and Alan then took Nathan out and they caught a 9kg & 12kg Tuna and lost 3 others. Out again until well after dark but sadly only caught little stuff. After an early night, again they surfaced and took off fishing early, this time they had a ball catching 9 Northern Blue Fin Tuna Tuna and loosing a few more. Exhausted by 10 o’clock they were back on board and we decided to move on which gave them time to recover on the 68nm trip past Cape Bowling Green in perfect weather and we anchored in Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island at 8.30pm.
Next morning Nathan and I went for a fish and caught a couple of mackerel that were filleted and in the freezer real quick before taking Brendon ashore with me to pick up a few extra supplies at the small corner store at Horseshoe Beach. I took him to the pub, sad for him it was shut:(((!!
From here we motored the 40nm to Orpheus Island where we picked up a National Park mooring and continued with our jobs before relaxing on the bow with sundowners and awaited their return.
Early next morning we left for the 22nm trip out to Bramble Reef. Today was Justin’s 28th Birthday and he was allowed to pull the first fish of the day not long after leaving the bay. It was an 8kg Mack Tuna, what a start to the day for him.

It was a perfectly calm day to be at the reef and we anchored on the edge in 20m water. The boys took off in the tinny again and fished the day only returning for food, things haven’t changed over the years!!
On the foredeck with a cold Bundy Rum we were enjoying the near perfect sea conditions when the VHF radio sprung to life with a Pan Pan call!! My ears picked up and we waited to see if they gave further information, but No the radio waves were silent! I answered the call and found that the vessel was a 6m runabout on Bramble Reef! Seeing we were the only other vessel out there it was simple to figure out! Their motor had failed to start and seeing they intended to stay the night out their I sent the boys over in the tinny to tow them closer to us for the night as we weren’t returning to Lucinda until tomorrow and this was where their trailer was. They came over to use our phone to call their wives and then returned for the evening.
For Justin’s Birthday feast I cooked up some of our cray supplies from the freezer and then for dessert I had baked a Chocolate Hazelnut Meringue Torte.

After dinner Justin was hell bent on catching a mother of a fish, so with live bait on, he relaxed back in the tinny with pillows and a beer and waited. The scream not long after told us he was hooked, the fight went on for 20mins before we pulled in a 1.3m 10kg Reef Shark.

Next morning Nathan and Brendon picked Robert up to take him spear fishing with them.

They had an amazing time catching a painted cray and several other reef fish. After lunch with their tinny in tow we left and went back to Lucinda. Turns out that Robert is a Nordhavn dreamer and we reckoned that he made the motor inoperable just to get the ride back!!!
Alan towed them back across the shallows and into the creek at Lucinda while the boys and I motored up the Hinchinbrook Channel

We stayed in Gayundah Creek for a few days and the boys came back with Mud Crabs

and after finding a lure stuck on a rope in one of the side creeks they caught an amazing 12 Barramundi, all on the found lure.

They always had 3 other lures out but it was the 'found' one (Classic F18 -shallow diver) that caught the fish!!! So after Brendon caught 3 we suggested he pass the lure around.
The devastation in the area was widespread and looked as if a bulldozer had gone through the area in parts. The rest of the area was whipped apart with a huge amount of leaves missing off trees.

Travelling north past Cardwell and Dunk Island the sight was no better, as they were the worst hit by Cyclone Yasi. You can see the tree across the hut on the shore at Dunk Is, so sad!

We made our way to Mourilyan Harbour where we had a peaceful night, the boys went up the river fishing and missed another big!! Barra, so the story goes and then did a garbage run to the boat ramp over near the loading dock.
Next morning we left and went to Fitzroy Island where the fishing adventure continued with them catching some large Spanish Mackerel by going to the northern side of the island.

It is only 15nm from Cairns and after some more early morning fishing we went into Cairns where the boys and Alan flew into gear with washing 2 weeks of salt off Opal Lady. It was Good Friday and seeing we have lived off the sea for the past 2 weeks we booked into the Waterbar and Grill for a thick juicy steak. Having not been near a pub they were eager to check out the local ones along the water front, but as it was a public holiday they weren’t allowed to serve alcohol to anyone that didn’t have a dinner reservation and they then made their way to Waterbar and awaited our arrival.

Sad to say that the following morning after wrapping their Barramundi in loads of newspaper and packing the bags we farewelled them in a taxi for the airport. A fabulous 2 weeks for them and us!!!

To see all the photos go to " Photo album" page.

Comment on: Cape Upstart to Cairns

Sat, 28 May 2011 01:40:55 GMT

Hi U2 sorry haven't call for a while, but time seems to fly by. Jess said that you are now on face book, looks like I will have to join, but after work the computer is the last thing I want to see. Heard that you had a lovely time with the boys over Easter, heaps of fishing as usual. Hope all is good, take care, talk soon Luv Liz xxx

The Wetsundays!

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The past 3 weeks have been nothing but rain and strong winds, SE 20-35 knts and higher at times. We stayed in Cid Harbour before moving to Gulnare Inlet, Whitsunday Island. Gulnare is opposite and north of Hamilton Island, only a short few mile. It needs to be entered on a rising tide and once inside provided great shelter in all winds, very secure as well as picturesque, even though it was raining all the time. We ventured out the following day as Danny and Al our friends from Lets Go were visiting Hamilton Island and Danny managed to sweet talk the marina Manager into letting us stay overnight.

It was great to catch up enjoy a few drinks at the local tavern. In the rain and wind we took them back to the airport the following day, head to toe wet weather gear and a tinny ride, they made an amusing spectacle!! Back across the Whitsunday Passage we went to Abel Point Marina ready for the installing of our replacement Intellian i9 that has been playing up now for 18months. After a days work by Sean from TMQ, although better it is still not 100% fixed.
The strong wind warning was still current as we made our way across the Whitsunday Passage and as the tide was flooding( tides in the Whitsunday region flood south and ebb north) we had a waves that steeped up, and white water sprayed across us. Much to my horror we were covered in salt!
The rain was falling as Alan went in with the tinny to the Airport Wharf to pick up Justin, Nathan and Brendon, whilst I circled around waiting for them. There is a No Anchoring Zone in the whole of the Dent Passage now.
With the wind at our back we headed past Cid Harbour and in very calm waters as the tide had turned, we headed north along the western side of Whitsunday and Hook Islands until we came to Stonehaven Anchorage. Here we searched for the correct national Park mooring buoy that would accommodate our 35,000 ton weight for the night. The buoys are all colour coded.
It wasn't long before the boys had their fishing gear in the tinny for a spot of Whitsunday fishing. The bullets were blowing off the high steep mountains at 40+ knts, buffeting us around which made sleeping cool.
The next morning as I surfaced Justin greeted me with "Oh no, someones stolen the tinny and Nathan!" He was sick of waiting for them to wake, so he left to find fish on his own! Trying to play the tides right we waited til midday before heading west to Gloucester Island. We reached the Gloucester Passage at 4pm and went through and anchored outside Gloucester Eco Resort. The boys spent the evening getting ready for their Pirtek Fishing Comp the next day in aide of Prostrate Cancer. They were filling the tackle boxes with new lures, the esky was filled with ice and cold water and food was stowed in the bow then it was off to bed for an early night.
All day they fished but did not manage to get the target fish- Queenfish, Whiting or Yellow Tail Bream but all was not lost we had enough Mackerel for a feed at the end of the day.
We startled everyone this morning at 6am, the motor started and the anchor pulled as it was a perfectly calm , flat seas and 5knt Sou'easterly breeze for the 50nm trip to Cape Upstart. First we went the 10nm to Bowen to fill all the jerry cans with outboard fuel before continuing on.
It's now 2.35pm we have 4 nm to go and we have turfed the boys in the tinny on the end of Cape Upstart and they will be able to fish their way back to us!
We still have a beautiful SUNNY day, haven't had one for weeks!!

A Little Further North

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The dock lines are free and we are back in the Wetsundays again. After 3 1/2 months, 2 cyclones and 2 trips away from Opal Lady we left the marina last Thursday with friend, Graeme aboard. Very fitting that the man who wrote the song A Little Further North, came with us as we started our next adventure north!!
www.greameconnors.com
It was a calm morning as we left Mackay Outer Harbour, weather forecasters had predicted 3 days of 10-15knt Norwesters!! In the Whitsunday region the tides flood south, and ebb north. The first part of the trip the waves although little, were choppy. But once the tide turned it was a very smooth ride. Clear of the harbour I set the next waypoint at The Anchor Islands consisting of Ladysmith Islet, Bellow Islet, Hammer Island, Blacksmith Island, Anvil Island and Anchorsmith Island. Ladysmith and Blacksmith all but join running NW/SE with Hammer Island running parallel on the western side approx. 700m apart. We cruised up through this passage as the scenery was magnificent, but they do not provide any suitable anchorages in any weather.
Continuing NNW to Shaw Island we passed Silversmith and Thomas Islands before anchoring opposite the northern beach of Shaw Island at the popular tourist spot of Lindeman Island. Plantation Bay is north east of the main resort and secluded. We very quickly found some refreshments and settled on the bow to enjoy Graeme playing his guitar and singing whilst watching the sunset and the storm clouds scoot down the coast on the mainland. Later we heard of the deluge that fell on Mackay that evening. It had been an early start for all of us and it wasn't long before we had dinner and retired for the evening.
I think we jinxed ourselves as we had explained to Graeme the possibility of us moving through the night if the SE came in early and sure enough we were woken at 4.15am as it blew through.
Alan and I got up to check everything and decided to prepare to leave at dawn. We stowed the gear and had a cuppa before starting the engine and pulling the anchor to head 6nm to Hamilton Island where we picked up a Public Mooring ahead of Sea Voyager, a Nordhavn 57. Kim, the skipper was waiting to pick up owners Richard and Louise, due to arrive in a few hours from Melbourne. He enjoyed fresh Rock Cakes and a cuppa with us before he picked them up!
From here we followed the Hamilton Island shore past the spectacular structure of the new yacht club and around the point into Fitzalan Passage where we had a 4knt current take us into Catseye Bay. The VHF came to life with a call from the Lets Go crew who were up in their 17th floor room and saw us in the bay. Graeme broke into song with one of his recent songs - Somebody's Watching and they were! Danny, Al, Greg and Wal flew to Hamilton Island as volunteers for the 505 Dinghy Class World Regatta. Sorry to say they have experienced the worst weather.
From here we made our way ENE through Solway Passage to Whitehaven Beach to anchor for lunch and take the tinny from the boat deck. Halfway taking the tinny down we received another call from Lets Go crew to advise us of a boarding party coming our way. Within 5 minutes they were on board, beers and rum all round! After a late lunch we headed along Whitehaven Beach past Hill Inlet and around into Hook Passage heading for Cid Harbour but the weather was closing in and we detoured into Nara Inlet on the southern end of Hook Island. This inlet heads north approx 2.5nm and is quite narrow, in the head of the inlet there is a large waterfall that runs after rain. After breakfast the following morning we all hopped in the tinny for the ride up to the waterfall, because of the high rainfall overnight there were many more waterfalls cascading down the rocks for us to see. On the way back to Opal Lady we spotted a family of goats warming themselves on the rocks.

From here we headed back to Abel Point Marina to shelter from impending stronger winds expected to blow through that evening. Graeme provided the entertainment on the bow again in the short time before the rain.
After farewell Graeme and Lyn we headed back out to Cid Harbour where we have stayed anchored all week, sheltering from the wind and the bucketing rain, thank heavens we are floating! We have had approx 200mm rain every day, visibility is only 500m most of the time. We have spent the time planning our trip across the Top End.

Above: Kim, Sea Voyager came to borrow some crab pots. Note the weather today!

Digressing a little, the week before we left Mackay we spent in Tweed Heads, at Tweed Waters Motel (excellent Motel) this is on the border between NSW and Qld and left us confused to say the least, as NSW has Daylight Savings and QLD doesn't!! Don't know how the locals do it!! We visited there for our friend, Royces' birthday party. A pirate party! T'was a party week not day!!

Oh What a night!!!

Safely back in the water!

Sat, 05 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Well the week turned out to be nearly exactly as planned. Once out of the water the travel lift guys began the high pressure wash down and when they asked were we happy, Alan asked if he could have a go, and with the gun in hand, gave the keel coolers another go.

The more that is removed by high pressure means the less time we have to spend to scrape and sand to remove all the shell. Based on the recommendations in our manual it doesn't advise treating them with antifouling.

Above: The main propeller anode deteriorated.

First up we scraped down the barnacles that were underneath the keel and then Alan polished the waterline whilst I removed all the old anodes and dismantled the bow thruster. It took quite a bit of time to sand the keel coolers Then came the messy bit of sanding down. We both ended up black as and full of dust. For the 4 days we worked from 6am til 7pm to get the work done. We had several offers of work from the Shipyard "tradies" as they can't get workers to work. The ones that were there Alan had to line them up with a post just to tell if they were moving at all. The heat was non stop all week with only one or two very light sprinkles of rain, nothing that made us change our plans.
The final day we applied the Propspeed to the props and struts, this took 2 of us to apply. It is a silicone product to stop the barnacles from sticking.

Once we were ready to be returned to the water on Thursday we were informed by the shipyard that the travel lift had broken down and it was a wait to see if they were able to get it up and running for the lift back in. Staying off the boat for another night wasn't appealing.
Lucky for us they had some new hoses fitted to enable them to put us and a few others back in the water but then it would be out of action for the coming week.

With the slings back into place Opal Lady was then lifted above the blocks and I was able to put a coat of antifoul where she sat on the blocks.

And then the slow pace back into the water begun.

Once in the water the pace picked up as she glided through the water with ease. We headed out of the boat
harbour and spent an hour going for a run before tying back into our pen. At 1200rpms we attained 6knts!

The weather has closed back in, winds have increased to 35knts and rain is all around!

Thankfully the weather held up for the week!

Getting ready for a Bum Clean!

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT

As Monday nears closer we are compiling a variety of items in the lazarette in preparation for our haul out at 7am!! Shock horror! What a ghastly hour of the morning, but we will do it! On the upside, it will be cooler then and as we are doing all the work ourselves, it all helps!
The temperature here in Mackay is 30-32 degrees with 90% humidity, so it should be an exhausting week of hard labour.
We have 20L Antifoul, antifungal additive, thinners, a new set of zincs, sandpaper, masking tape with drop sheet attached (to protect the topsides), brushes and rollers. Alan did ask that I get him a 3' roller but I have been unable to source one!!!

Once we have been lifted from the water on the travel lift the boatyard will high pressure wash her down. Then we will mask her all up, having learnt from experience. Last time in Hobart we picked up a layer of dust that could only be removed with a buff and polish. Then we will start to remove the shell from the keel coolers and bowthruster and pipes that support the swim platform. We do have Propspeed on the propellors, so this hopefully will mean that they will be OK and only need another coat.
Day 2 should see us ready to apply the first coat of paint, fingers crossed! Day 3 should involve a second coat around the waterline and fitting the new zincs(annodes), 11 in total and checking the annodes in the stabiliser fins, although we expect them to be new still. Our final job will be to polish the waterline before being lifted back into the water.

That's the plan, we will see how our week goes!

Most importantly I have food and plenty of cakes (I've baked this week) ready to feed us for the week.

Comment on: Getting ready for a Bum Clean!

Sun, 27 Feb 2011 16:01:49 GMT

Hi U2 sounds like fun, wish I was there but have the works conference in Tasi this weekend, fly out Thursday until Sunday, rest fly home, Joe & I have hired a car to travel around the next week. Take care, Good news, Jess and Adam, having a girl and they got engaged the other Sunday 13th Feb. no plans at the moment except to have a health bub. take care XXXX Liz

Tropical Cyclone Yasi

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Within days of T/C Anthony, Tropical Cyclone Yasi hit, devastating one of our favourite towns, Cardwell. Cardwell is our grocery stop whilst we are at Hinchinbrook Island.
We further prepared Opal Lady, adding our 20mm thick storm boards to the saloon windows, added more docklines (now 18!!!, can't have too many, they are pretty useless in the locker!), and removed our 'important stuff' to suitcases and booked a room for a few days in the Clarion Hotel on the foreshore of the marina. Before leaving we disconnected from shore power to avoid suffering any power spikes. We requested a room on the southern facing side of the building, so we could see Opal Lady from our window. I don't know whether this was good or bad as we were up all night with the binoculars watching the height of the water on the poles of the marina, we had about 1 1/2 m free. That's what it looked like to us!!
The wind started with some intensity at midday Wednesday 2nd February, at this point we decided to check in early with several loads of gear. The wind continued to gust higher and higher until 9.10pm when an almighty shuddering bang hit (later we were told it was 80-90knts) and the palms outside our window were blown horizontal, rain was horizontal and we watched, noses close to the vibrating window we peered out into the semi darkness, we only had the lights from the courtyard of the hotel and those of the marina to watch by!! We eventually laid down to get a little sleep with the aircon on but it wasn't long before all the power went out, no more watching, no more cool!! By 4am day dawned and Opal Lady had survived as did all the boats in the marina, not so the vessels at Port Hinchinbrook Marina. The storm surge had lifted the pontoons from their poles and allowed the yachts to crash to the shore most still secured to their pontoons. So sad!!
With the swell coming down the marina we opted to stay in the hotel another night so we could catch up on some sleep! It had been a hellish week!! Power was restored by lunchtime Thursday and life around the marina returned to normal.
For us we continue to plan our trip around Australia, we are preparing to slip Opal Lady here in Mackay as we don't relish the thought of scrubbing the bottom in the northern waters.

Pic 1- Our view from our room at 12.25pm, you can just see 'the knob' our sat dish! In the first top third of the photo on the left hand side.
Pic 2 - At 5.27pm
Pic 3 - Taken at 5.35pm
Pic 4 - Taken at 9.10pm

Comment on: Tropical Cyclone Yasi

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 21:00:07 GMT

I'm glad to hear she made it through the storm safely! Here's hoping there are no more cyclones in your path!

Tropical Cyclone Anthony

Sat, 29 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

We await the first of two cyclones to pass, the first to the north of us, around Bowen expected tomorrow or early Monday morning. The second is forecast to pass to the south, near Gladstone on Wednesday. Other than removing our awning from the bow we are all Ok sitting safely within the high rock walls of the marina, snuggled up with the aircon keeping us cool. The largest tidal range on the East Coast is just south of Mackay at 9 metres, so at low tide we are well protected behind the rock wall. We can take the local bus into town for a fresh load of vegetables and the odd groceries and generally staying in touch.
I have enjoyed my time with Ruth and her 5 beautiful children, taking them to the Lagoon whilst Alan helped pack her up for her move back to Newcastle. The Lagoon is situated in the heart of the shopping precinct, it is man made to replicate a beautiful tropical lagoon nestled amongst palm trees, free to enter and fully patrolled by lifeguards. The kids had a ball as did I.

From the left: Luis, Zack, Bella, Micah and Eli - I was treading water to take this one!
Hence the water on the lens.

Luis 9yrs and I with twins, Bella & Micah 3yrs

Twins Eli & Zack, 7yrs

A special few days!

On a different note, thanks to the Australian Government our free to air Digital TV viewing has improved out of sight as they have turned on the VAST Satellite system. We had a new receiver box installed and then applied for a travellers' license to view the channels. It utilizes our existing satellite dish, with no monthly fees!! Crystal clear every time, no matter where we go!!

For now we will keep everyone updated on T/C Anthonys' progress.

Comment on: Tropical Cyclone Anthony

Fri, 04 Feb 2011 07:07:33 GMT

I hope you both missed the worst of cyclone yasi & all your travelling companions escaped the carnage too. Trusting this short message finds you both well. I read your adventures with interest, you lucky bastards! ps Davo there must be a shit load of fish out there if you can catch them!!!

Waters Rising

Tue, 11 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

We have landed in Brisbane yesterday amidst the worst floods since 1974, the devastation is widespread. We are staying out of harms way and will be flying back to the boat later in the week.
Meanwhile this month Alan has made it into the latest edition of Afloat Magazine thanks to our friend, Royce.
http://www.afloat.com.au/afloat-magazine/2011/january-2011/Hooked_on_Me