Opal Lady - Our Adventures

Hinchinbrook Island to Yorkeys Knob, Cairns

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT

We enjoyed our time in Sunday Creek, catching up on odd jobs, hunting and gathering trying to get a feed of mud crabs in preparation for the coming week and visits from my very dear friend, Sue and husband Warren as well as Mum and Dad coming aboard.
We did get a few mud crabs, but it definetly took lots of hard work and persistence! The pots played truant on several occasions. Overnight the current must have been that strong that they were swept several miles south in the main channel. After doing a head count and check, this was done at daylight each morning, we then set off in the tinny searching for them! Our thoughts . . a big crab got in and in his efforts to escape he swam the pot into the main channel, each time we retrieved them it was necessary to repair the pots!!! Who knows!
With a few crabs in the fridge and some baking done as well as some maintenance we made our way to Cardwell. This small town is on the mainland at the northern end of Hinchinbrook and has the facilities to reprovision. There is a marina there but as the entrance to this is silted up and requires a high tide to enter, as well as being too far from the shops we decided to anchor off Cardwell and dinghy to the long wharf in front of the town.

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Gloucester Island to Hinchinbrook Island

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Our decision to leave the beautiful passage was made due to the weather again~ Our dilemma was whether to spend another peaceful day here and run the risk of the bad weather pattern catching up with us. Although the boat handles bad weather superbly, if you don't need to then why do it????
So at 6am we jumped out of bed and fired the motor, and the kettle, most important! The 8 hour, 47 nautical mile trip was very comfortable, calm seas, 10-15 knt SouEasters pushed us along nicely at an average speed of 6 knts. The high rocky cliffs of Cape Upstart could be seen from miles away and it seemed as if we were never going to get there. By 2pm when we rounded the point and entered Shark Bay, it was empty of any other yachts. This is a popular spot as its the only shelter for a nights stop when going north. By sunset the bay had become the overnight stop for 8 other boats. Next morning we were up and rods and bait thrown in the tinny for a fishing trip out around the rocky headland. Well for hours we tried, drift fishing with lures and bait, trolling, and finally we anchored but to no avail! So Alan decided to troll the beach back to the boat. We hadn't got far when we saw a HUGE Manta Ray coming towards us, then another one equally as big behind it, so we cut the motor and sat and watched as they circled the tinny. I stood up and took photos whilst Alan tried to balance the boat.Then a third came on the scene! It appeared to be a mating type ritual that was in progress!It was nearly 2 hours that we were watching them. One would chase one away and then 2 would go off together, next minute one would reappear and the same over again. Totally Amazing!
By now we had been out there tooo long, the sun was beginning to burn and our tummies were rumbling.
We enjoyed Happy Hour sitting on the bow watching the many turtles popping their heads out of the water all around us. The stars were magnificent with the absence of lights from any towns. The foreshore is dotted with shacks, they must all be running generators as no lights shone at night!
Next stop . . . .Cape Bowling Green, 36nm, 7am start and arrived at 1.30pm, SSE 5-10 knt, avg speed 6 knts. When we travel the trolling lines are always out the back if we are not in a National Parks Green Zone. And today we were lucky enough to catch a 1.3metre Queenfish weighing in at 10.5 kg, Alan was one happy boy! It put up a great fight and after the official weigh in and a photo shoot he was put back to swim another day.
Cape Bowling Green is a large sand spit that protrudes like a finger into the sea, the anchorage is just around the tip, but as it is sand and constantly moving, we needed to be very careful where we droped anchor. We have used this anchorage many times before and once again we vowed not to stay here again!! The afternoon is always nice and calm which lulls you into believing that this time will be different and as usual by 3am, Why did we do it came to mind!! As the charts are so inaccurate for this area, it is not wise to move at night, so we hung in til first light!!
Horseshoe Bay on Magnetic Island was our next planned stop, it is 10nm NE of Townsville. Again our run of luck with mother nature is continuing and we had 36nm to go and had SSE 5-10 knt winds. Coming across Bowling Green Bay we saw some whales playing a few miles away from us, but they dissappeared before we got to them.
Our stay in Horseshoe Bay was rather rolly, we did anchor way out to allow us to put our flopper stoppers down in the required depth of water. Thank goodness! Horseshoe Bay as one would expect was in the shape of a horseshoe and inshore of us were 30-40 boats of all sizes. The foreshore was full of holiday maker accomodation and eateries with a beautiful golden sand protrolled beach. Whilst relaxing after we arrived, a dinghy began to circle us and eventually Alan went to speak to the driver! A Nordhavn dreamer! Later his wife reported the elation he had when we entered the bay! So we invited them over for morning tea the following day!
Another batch of Rock Cakes and a quick tidy up had us ready to receive visitors the following morning. John and Annie owned a Clipper 36 (Motor) and have cruised extensively up and down the coast but would like a Nordhavn to live aboard. We declined their offer to swap!!!
The next day we booked a tour of the island with www.tropicanatours.com.au in a stretch Mini Moke. Our driver was Mal, a very knowledgeable chap who had all the answers for us and prepared us a great morning tea on the shore at Picnic Bay! Excellent trip! He picked us up from the beach and 3hrs later dropped us back at a Hardware store at our request so we could get a few scrapers to make it easier to complete the hull cleaning.
Many of our friends had mentioned the 'hut' on the beach with yacht name plaques secured to the frame but up and down the beach we walked and couldn't find it! Eventually after asking John and Annie we went back to the shore for a final look and found it. Not sure whether this is what it looked like before but now it isn't that impressive. I think the council must have done a tidy up and only a few remain in what appears to be a new shelter!
In search of a quieter anchorage we left at 3.30pm for the short 14nm trip to Rattlesnake and Herald Islands. The suggested anchorage was the northern side of Rattlesnake Is but after going there and finding the swell running straight in, we went back to Herald Is. Only small with a sandy point and fringing reef we anchored just outside the reef and had a quiet night! It was worthwhile moving! Our 'safe' anchorages are diminishing fast and soon we will be in CROC!! country. So we took the tinny ashore for a full detail and hair cut!! It has been in the water since Lady Musgrave Island (1/6/10) and had grown hair. . . Barnacles! Next job was tackling the scrubbing of our hull. As neither of us are proficient at diving, it takes us a lot of effort to stay under the boat for any length of time. 1 1/2 hr later we were well and truly stuffed!! We met a couple on the beach whilst cleaning the tinny and invited them to join us for Happy Hour at 4.30pm on the beach to watch the sunset! We barely made it there and back and collapsed early that night!
In the early hours of the morning the wind blew up, we lasted to sunrise before we decided to pull the anchor and get underway!
The wind on our stern at 20- 25knts really didn't concern us, and as we settled down to enjoy breakfast in the pilothouse, whilst keeping watch for whales at play. about 15nm north we were trated to a magnificent display of tail slapping and frolicking by several whales. We ventured off course a little to get closer but alas they disappeared.
Orpheus Island in the Palm Island group was todays destination.
Great Palm island has a large Aboriginal settlement, and in recent years has had some unrest!! So we gave this area a miss and decided that Little Pioneer Bay on Orpheus Island was a better choice.
This small bay had fringing coral reefs and 5 heavy duty moorings, big and sturdy, rated for vessels to 20m! During the night a storm passed over, blowing to 35knts that we saw!! All was fine! As we were nearing Crocodile country we needed to finish scubbing the bum in preparation for our trip to the Louisiades. Alan spent 2.5 hrs scubbing and cleaning all the thru hull fittings before climbing onto the swim platform totally knackered!!!
We had another yacht hovering around, awaiting our mooring so I quickly got us underway and Alan barely made it to the helm chair, where he sat to recover for a few hours whilst we made our way towards the 2.5nm Lucinda wharf. This wharf was built to load sugar from the nearby cane mills and is still in use. We went in on the making tide and made our way for an hour in calm, peaceful and picturesque surroundings past Haycock Island and turned into Sunday Creek and it was only Saturday!!
The crab pots and fishing lines were bought down from upstairs and next day as the sun was rising we went out to deploy them and begin our 2 hourly checks in the hope of a feast of mud crabs!! In Queensland it is illegal to keep Female crabs and this area has a lot of commercial fisherman so our hard work only reaped us 3 mud crabs in 4 days. Expensive!!

Montys' Bar and Resort

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

We left Woodwark Bay with the outgoing tide and made the journey to Gloucester Island in 5.45 hrs. I christened the new Breadmaker on the way as well as baking a batch of Rock Cakes. After arriving at the northern end of the island we travelled south looking for shelter from the wind and swell. It is a little different as we had been travelling WNW all day, unusual when travelling north along the east coast. Finally we went to check out the state of the wind in Gloucester Passage. The passage is well marked and to our surprise it was flat calm and only blowing 4 knts! Although it was shallow and not suitable to put our flopper stoppers out, we thought we would try it out for 1 night. There were already7 yachts anchored here, so it can't be that bad, surely!!
Once anchored I noticed that the yacht in front was from Newcastle and its name rang a bell!! 'Lets Go!' I looked at the vessel sheet for the Louisiade Rally and they were on it! After settling in we bagged the remainder of the Rock Cakes and went over to visit. Alyn and Danielle are from Port Stephens and we chatted for the afternoon over a few cold ones before we all headed into Montes Bar to join the other yachties for Happy Hour and then enjoyed a beautiful Reef and Beef meal!
We staggered back to the boat at 10pm, barely able to find her as we hadn't put the anchor light on before leaving at 3pm! Must remember that next time!
The following morning the sun shone, and as the anchorage had been beautiful and calm throughout the night we decided to stay and catch up on the washing. Lately every anchorage has been that windy that keeping the washing on the lines strung on the boat deck has been tricky. In the last month I have lost several items from the boat deck lines! Unfortunately a favourite pair of 3/4 pants!!! We also decided to wait for the slack tide and dive under the boat using the hookah unit to remove the growth that had built up on the skin fittings! This job exhausted both of us as we had to hang onto a rope that we had tied onto the bow. We have made a mental note to next time have Propspeed put on all the skin fittings and importantly the Stainless Steel Poles that support the swim platform as we had a real garden growing here! At least we manage to clean up the port side, we will endeavour to do the starboard side at Cape Bowling Green.
The weather was perfect, 29 degrees and sunshine at last!

Windy Whitsundays!

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Our Flopper Stoppers were on board and we were ready for some rest so we headed for our favourite spot, Cid Harbour, Whitsunday Island.

Mackay to Airlie Beach

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The weekend had arrived again and for promoters of the 'drag races for powerboats 'http://www.mackay-revealed.com.au/story/2010/06/26/marina-hosts-ocean-drags/ all their hopes and wishes must have come true as the wind that had blown it's guts out for 2 weeks had finally calmed down. For us it meant that we were able to get out and head north. The new membrane for the watermaker had still not arrived, nor had the flopper stoppers but as it was only expected to be a small break in the weather we decided to go. Barry and Lyn packed their 4WD and Van into storage at a nearby caravan park and made their way to the marina. Coming down the very long wharf to the boat alongside loads of people who were going out for the day to view the powerboats competing just off the marina breakwall. The sun was shinning and the temperature was 24 degrees and a mere 7 knts from the SE as we cleared the Ports breakwall and set the rhumb line course for Goldsmith Island, 20.40S 149.08E, steering 321 degrees, it was a very pleasant 5 hr trip. All of us were keeping a watchful eye on the water around us hoping to see some whales playing in the northern warm waters.
We set the anchor at 3pm just in time to get organised for a relaxing Happy Hour. The boys cast a line off the stern whilst I prepared dinner. As the sun was setting several more boats entered the bay for the night. This is a popular anchorage for those heading north to the Whitsundays.
Just before we retired for the night we asked Barry if he wanted to come fishing with us tomorrow morning. . . His first question was 'what time????' Daylight was our answer and the NO thanks, was his quick reply! So we told them to make themselves at home, gave them instructions on how to start the generator when they wake up. Then we were off to bed for the night.

Daylight came around quickly and we tip toed off hoping not to wake them. Our fishing destination was the rock 1nm SW of us. Here I caught my first Coral Trout, not quite big enough to keep, so he won a reprieve and was thrown back. From here on we pulled up an assortment of small coral reef fish, beautiful colours, all different shapes and sizes.
The sun was now high above us and we thought we should venture back to the boat to our visitors. Very quickly we swung into action to ready the boat for the next step. . .

Destination was Shaw Island, 14 nm in near perfect conditions, all the way we were on lookout for whales. 2 1/4 hrs later we anchored in the bay, sheltered from the SE wind. There were a few boats in the bay, and a nearby resort that had small fishing boats buzzing around, but otherwise it was very peaceful, lovely crystal clear water, The bay was surrounded by steep tropical hills that ran down to golden sandy coral beaches and reef all around the foreshores.
We had a quiet night and relaxing breakfast before heading north 1 1/2 hr to Hamilton Island where we all were looking forward to seeing the completed Hamilton Island Yacht Club.
In the Whitsundays it is important to take note of the tides when you are moving around. Tides flood south and ebb north, so to minimize discomfort and wind against tide waves, we try to travel accordingly.
Coming into the passage between Hamilton and Dent Island you can see the runway for the airport protruding into the bay. We looked up the Whitsunday Bible '100 Magic Miles' and they indicated that the zoning of this area had now changed, No Anchoring in the passage at all! There were moorings, but of course, all come at a cost! There were 2 public moorings, but only rated for monohulls under 9m! For anyone thats been here, there aren't many yachts up here that qualify for that one!!
So our short visit to Hamilton became even shorter and as I took some photos Alan did a few circles out the front. Then we proceeded to Daydream Island and picked up a courtesy mooring whilst we sat and enjoyed a Salmon Salad lunch and a glass of wine!
We only had another few miles to get to Abel Point Marina for the night. Tomorrow we had booked a Hire Car to take Lyn and Barry back to Mackay(130 klm), as well as going back to Mackay Marina to pick up our mail and most importantly a new membrane for the watermaker, and our new Flopper Stoppers! We squashed so much into our day, as well as calling at the Whitsunday Tourist Park at Proserpine to have dinner with Mum and Dad.

Pancake Creek to Mackay

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Our 3 night stay in Pancake Creek was very relaxing, so much so that we didn’t even get the tinny down. We fished a lot from the cockpit but it became very frustrating as all we caught were Puffer Fish, so eventually we gave up and resorted to my fish stocks in the freezer. Our plans were to await the arrival of our friend, Royce, delivering another Seawind, 1160 Yaminda to the Whitsundays for charter work.

He arrived at 7.30am with a crew of 4 weary men, who were looking for the Cafe that served Muffins and Coffee! (The stories that Royce tells!!!) Our fenders were out ready for them to tie alongside. This was their first stop since leaving Sanctuary Cove Boat Show, Southport a few days ago and they were looking forward to a short break. Calm waters and sunshine was a relief to a couple who were feeling a little green even though it was fairly
flat!
Pancake Creek provides shelter to many boats on their annual pilgrimage to dodge the cold of the southern states. It is sheltered from the Northerly wind and waves at low tide as the sand banks dry and provide protection. And excellent whilst the prevailing Sou’ Easters blow.

The weather forecast for the next few days was ideal for our 41nm trip East to Lady Musgrave Island. It was a perfect day, light winds, flat seas and as Yaminda followed us out of the creek I took some great photos. Only a few miles from the island we crossed paths with a tanker, we slowed to allow it to pass, and we were very lucky to see dolphins playing off it’s bulb. They would swim up and then jump high above the bulb! Just amazing!

Lady Musgrave is an island with a coral reef surrounding it (2nm wide by 3nm long), there is an entrance into a lagoon that is well marked to allow safe anchorage amongst the coral bommies. There were 10 yachts already anchored in the lagoon and we had to pick our spot between them and the bommies. There was only enough time before the sun began to set to pour our drinks and take up our favourite position on the foredeck to witness one of many island sunsets, breath taking!! Orange, pinks and yellows!!
We spent our days exploring the reef with the tinny, just making it across the reef for a short fishing trip one day where we hand scooped a Moreton Bug, unfortunately it had been maimed by something bigger and was destined to be dinner for someone that day! So it may as well be us!

To stretch our legs we walked around the island and met the crew of La Rochelle, a catamaran from Sydney, who were also exploring. A small world, we have friends in common! Later that afternoon we visited their boat, and enjoyed fresh hot Chocolate Muffins that Louise had baked. They then followed us back to see our boat.

As a strong South westerly change was due late tomorrow we left the following morning for the trip back to Pancake Creek. This time we anchored just inside the creek to enable a quick getaway early tomorrow. As the tinny was still down we were able to troll our lures over the rocky shelf that lines the headland. We caught lots of Estuary Cod, one big enough for dinner!

At 5.30am the alarm woke us and very quickly we completed our pre – trip checks, made a cuppa and were underway. The seas were calm with light winds for our trip to Gladstone and then up the Narrows between Curtis Island and the mainland. It was 16nm before we reached the shipping channel, then following the markers we moved between Facing Island and the city of Gladstone. It was a hive of activity aboard the ships that were tied to the wharves being loaded. This is one of the major shipping ports on the east coast. The ships that were parked off the coast were visible from Pancake Creek. Upon entering the area with the shipping leads it is necessary to radio Port Control and request permission to navigate the area otherwise a huge fine (approx $10,000!!) will result.

It was a very pretty trip through a mangrove lined channel, whilst keeping an extra

lookout for a whale and her baby that were seen 2 days ago in Graham Creek. Our local knowledge came from Greg and Leonie, Nordhavn enthusiasts and they advised us to wait at the last port marker before the first drying banks for the top of the tide before proceeding. We anchored and enjoyed our lunch sitting in the cockpit getting a good dose of Vitamin D. It wasn’t long before a trawler came and anchored to windward of us and Alan came to tell me our ‘leader’ had arrived! Local fisherman, local knowledge and someone we could follow closely! As soon as he bought up his anchor we were on his tail, he gave us a friendly wave to acknowledge us to follow him! This made our journey nearly stress free! We followed him closely at times I had to pull back on the revs as we would have ended up his tail! Then, black smoke came from his exhaust and he slowed, more smoke and then I realised it was because we were wiping our bum on the sand/mud!! A few more revs to get us through, we were up to 2500 rpm at one stage as we crawled through the 6nm of shallow water! Once into deep water again there was a sigh of relief from us both. A wave from the fisherman to tell us we would be right from here on! Alan tried to thank him but he pointed to his ears! Can’t hear!! Obviously many, many years in his wheelhouse with no insulation has caused it! Greg suggested Badger Creek anchorage for the night; it had a good fishing hole out the front and was a great creek to put the crab pots in.

He was right although all we only caught was a ‘Jenny’ (slang for female mud crab), illegal to keep in Queensland when we pulled the pots at 6am next morning. Then back to the boat in search of another creek that may be full of males. Whilst underway we had a big breakfast of Bacon, Eggs, and Mushrooms, these early mornings are making us very hungry! The Narrows spill out into Keppel Bay in a maze of shifting sandbars as does the Fitzroy River(from Rockhampton) and just before the area widens we found Barker Creek and decided to anchor there. Again we went straight to put the pots in the mangroves upstream. Our best Mud Crab hint – Check pots every couple of hours.
This all happened before 8.30am!! It was a hectic day as I did several loads of washing, we went out trolling along the edges of the creek and checked the pots constantly all day! By sundown we were racing back to the boat to get the washing in before the dampness fell. Our bucket had 4 huge muddies, several Skipjack and a few salmon, not a bad days work! Needless to say we fell asleep very quickly that night!

Next morning the crab count had gone to 6! Hooray! Crab salad for lunch at Great Keppel Island! We are now inside the Great Barrier Reef and it is dotted with numerous islands, that appear to poke out from nowhere. The government and National Parks have put more Green Zones in place, so we are constantly watching for them on the chartplotter and putting the fishing lines out and pulling them in to avoid being in trouble.

It was 32nm(5hrs) to Great Keppel Island from Barker Creek , it was very tranquil and protected from the SW winds when we arrived and a tropical vision to behold(crystal blue water, sandy beaches and palm trees). There was a metre swell coming in from the north which made this anchorage not so pleasant. After a cruise along the northern shore of the island we headed 8nm east to Rosslyn Bay boat harbour where we were to meet up with Heidi and Wolfgang Hass, owners of Nordhavn 46, Kanaloa from Germany with their little dog, Zulu on board. Our supplies of fresh fruit and vegetables were getting very low so I would be able to use the Marinas Courtesy car to drive to Yeppoon shopping centre tomorrow. We found Heidi and Wolfgang before they took Zulu for a walk around the beaches. They visited us after their walk for Happy Hour. An extremely interesting and very knowledgeable couple who have completed 3 circumnavigations of the world! We were able to show them our favourite spots down south as they are heading there after finishing their engine overhaul.

We quietly sneaked out of Rosslyn Bay the next morning at 5.45am, just on dawn, with a light Southerly blowing and calm seas. Clear of the green zones the lines went out and we caught 3 good sized School Mackerel around 10.30am so the vacuum packer came out and I filled our freezer. We are still trying to stay with our plan of only doing day hops north! So with this in mind we went the 44nm to Port Clinton. We heard constant radio warnings from the VMR regarding the closed state of the Shoalwater Bay Military Area. Thankfully they were allowing access into the southern arm for recreational vessels to anchor, but that didn’t stop us from hearing the bombs in the background on our arrival. We followed the headland around staying well inside the broadcast coordinates and anchoring out the front of a little creek lined with mangroves, mud crab country!

We swung into action in the tinny, first set the pots then traced our track back to the point where we found a deep 40m hole on the way in. Here I wanted to try a new deep water jig that I had purchased. Deep water jigging involves dropping the jig to the bottom, then winding up while pulling the rod up and down in a jerking motion! Good exercise! It didn’t take long for me to catch a small mackerel which we threw back. 2^nd try and I had a massive bite that had the line whistling out by the metres, I’d reel it back and it would take it out more!! The fight went on for 30mins before I saw colour and boy was it a big one! I continued the fight with Alan watching and asking if he could help! Hell NO!!! But eventually I had to let him as I had already worn through the skin on my thumb and my arms felt like they were going to come out of their sockets. By now the fish had made a few trips to the surface and it was a Northern Bluefin Tuna, 4ft long and weighing approx 40-60 kg. That was Alans’ estimate, mine would have been more!! 10 more minutes fighting and then the line broke and he went free with a little added jewellery! A few laughs and the decision to call it a day after checking the crab pots had us back at the boat just before dark, very exhausted with 2 x 1.7kg mud crabs. Not a bad effort!

The current ran very fast all night. We waited for daylight before retrieving the pots and weighing the anchor ready for the journey north. From the southern headland we had to go due east to clear the Military Zone bombing range before heading north.

Our preferred anchorage tonight would have been Island Head Creek but due to the closure of the area we had to continue. Running parallel to the coast 10nm out we were still able to hear the bombs as well as seeing them. We had 2 choices when we reached Cape Townsend, Thirsty Sound to the west 36nm or 31nm north to the Percy Islands. So Percy Islands it was decided due to the fact we had to be in Mackay by Sunday anyway! To do this distance at the current revs would have us anchoring in the dark, so we increased the revs to 1800. The SW wind started blowing up throughout the day to 25knts with the seas rising to 1-2m. Just before the sun went down we anchored in Rocky Shelf Bay on Sth Percy Island after completing the 64nm voyage.

Safe from the wind but still a Nor’ Easterly swell, so the paravains went down, but this was a bigger swell and we still experienced rolling throughout the night. We are having bigger flopper stoppers made and can’t wait until they arrive in Mackay. Thankyou Gary!

In the early hours of the morning we were still rolling and decided to have breakfast and leave at first light for Digby Island only 20nm north west of the Percy Is. We approached and experienced 30 plus knots as we neared the small islands surrounding it. Slowly making our way into the bay through a narrow passage with a strong current coming out, we saw a yacht anchored closer to shore. We decided to see how much the yacht was rolling before we made our decision! And sure enough the yacht was rolling from side to side and the crew were on land, after circling the bay we took off in search of a quiet night’s sleep in Mackay Marina.

As we neared Mackay the wind and waves abated and the rest of the trip was very comfortable whilst navigating around the 50 vessels awaiting a berth at Hay Point that formed a city at sea. Their lights came on as the sun set beyond Mackay and we made our way into the Marina and found our berth.

Life is always hectic while we are in port, every day has been busy. We have met lots of people, dined out at our favourite ‘fish and chip’ restaurant as well as eating at a new restaurant, BURP!, in Wood Street Mackay. It was a 5 star food and service experience, a totally enjoyable evening. Thoroughly recommended! I have also spent a lot of time with relatives living here. Ruth has 5 children, Luis 9 yrs, Zack and Elijah 7 yrs, and Bella Mia and Micah 2 yrs. Yes that is two sets of twins. She has her hands full. I have really enjoyed my time with her and the tribe!
Meanwhile almost 2 weeks have past and the strong South Easterlies are still blowing, every day! Barry and Lyn Hunt have arrived after completing their trip on the Canning Stock Route. Their intention was to come aboard for a few days as we head to the beautiful Whitsundays, but the wind doesn’t seem to be letting up, so for now we stay tied to the dock!

P.S Apologies everyone for the placement of photos and text, the website formatting tool has gone haywire on me!!! Not Happy!

Arrival At Pancake Creek

Sat, 29 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

You can disregard most of the last post as just as we were approaching Bundaberg on one of Alans engine checks he found that the Shaft Brush was completely worn and needed replacing so we made a bee line for Bundaberg Port Marina in the hope that the chandlery may have one. We did a quick reverse tie up and Alan bolted up the ramp to the chandlery whilst I powered the engine down and turned everything off, by the time I reached the Marina office he was there but alas it was show day holiday and we would need to wait til tomorrow morning to see if they were available here.
It was all to no avail, everyone we spoke to were scratching their heads, they had no idea! It was a rainy overcast day and spent the day relaxing before walking up to the Marina Restaurant for a beautiful Steak and Seafood Dinner and early night in readiness for a 4am start.

The weather forecast for today was for light 10-15 knt westerlies!! Wrong !! We have had 25 + Northerlies for the majority of the day! We are just rounding Clewes Point ready to enter Pancake Creek now.
We have had lines in and out all day as we have passed through several Green Zones (National Park - NO FISHING) and have caught several small bonito, all thrown back!

First Whale Sightings!!

Thu, 27 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Finally we were able to leave Great Sandy Straits marina at 9.30am this morning after painstakingly waiting for Llew( Marine Electrician) and Andrew(Nordhavn) to solve our intermittent problem with the igniters on the Viking Stove.
The weather forecast was for strong winds later in the day offshore, but as we near Burnett River Heads the Westerly winds have died and the seas abated to make a near perfect trip. So calm, that with only 7.5 nm to go we saw several blows from the seasons' first whales on their 5000km migration north. The East Australian Humpback Population is estimated to be between 11,000 and 13,000 in 2009 so we will have ours eyes peeled all the way north. Watch this space for photos!!
The first 2 1/2 miles of the river is used primarily for commercial shipping, the loading of bulk sugar and further up stream used for commercial fisherman and recreational yachties. This is one of the major Customs Clearance Ports on the east coast. There are full facilities available here and it is the home of the Bundaberg Rum Our Favourite Factory!!
Our intention is to anchor about a nm up the river overnight and get an 4am start in the morning for Pancake Creek, 60nm North West of Bundaberg.
Pancake Creek has a deep entrance and good shelter from most winds. The creek lies under the lee of Bustard Head and should be an ideal spot for us to while away a few days fishing and crabbing. This is also the anchorage where back in 2006 on a catamaran I broke my ankle! No intention of replicating the event!!!
(P.S Sorry for the delay in previous entries, I was busy with the photography course and visitors. More to come soon!!)

Scarborough to Great Sandy Straits Marina

Sat, 15 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Opal Lady was gleaming and all dressed in nice new clothes before we undressed her and left the dock at Scarborough. Whilst having our warranty work completed we engaged Paul from AT SEA Marine and Auto Trimming, Redcliffe Qld that did an amazing job of providing us with midgie proof white screens for all windows and also Midgie proof black screen doors for every door, as well as a fantastic awning that fits under the pilothouse brow and fits forward to the bow allowing us to have the foward hatches open and not allowing rain or extra heat to intrude. We would recommend his work to anybody.
Jim and Martha Lyle owners of Special Blend N43 had arrived back from the US to resume their cruising life a few days before and we enjoyed an Aussie Prawn Lunch while discussing idyllic locations and our Nordhavn 43s. They kindly threw off our docklines and took some photos as we left.
Aboard for the trip we had Don and Mike from the Nordhavn office at Scarborough, they were eager to experience being at sea on a Nordhavn as they are only new to the breed!
We set off at 9am in beautiful Queensland sunshine, a 15-20 knt Sou'easter heading for Bribie Island, around Skirmish Point and into the Skirmish Passage. This passage is almost parrallel to the main shipping channel for Moreton Bay. This gave us a wonderful view of the Bribie Island east coast and the Glass House Mountains as we sat and enjoyed fresh baked bread rolls and roast chicken for lunch! The boys were amazed at the comfort as we had lunch with 2m seas on our aft starboard quarter. Once we rounded Coloundra Head to was only 12nm to Point Cartwright Lighthouse and the turn into Mooloolaba. The entrance is well marked and was easy to navigate through. We made our way up the river to our berth at the marina. Our docking pattern involves ALL guests to 'Sit down, shut up. . . ! And as Doug labelled it, hold on!!) But we have found it more successful to do it this way as my view from the helm chair aft through the Saloon Starboard windows is crucial in the reversing process, and sometimes guests get in that view whilst trying to help and don't realise!
Our lines were taken by nearby boat owners with the cry 'Not another Nordhavn!' Moana Kuewa N55 Christine Bauman (US boat) had left the dock at 11am that morning.
After farwelling Don and Mike we walked back to the boat and saw Harmonic, Karyn and Bill whom we had met 2 years ago whilst bringing Catherine Mary (Alan's Catamaran) down the coast, we invited them for Happy Hour and enyoyed hearing about their travels in the past few years.
It was early to bed as tomorrow our crossing of Wide Bay Bar needed to be at 11am to get the tide right. This bar known as one of the most treacherous in Australia. At 3am we were up and underway, sneaking out of the marina trying not to waken our fellow yachties, this meant not using the bowthrusters! With calm seas it was very uneventful, we turned just past Double Island Point at 10am for the appoach to the leads. We made contact with Tin Can Bay VMR (Volunteer Marine Rescue) to obtain the most up to date waypoints for the bar, we crossed without incidence in a 2m swell! Once inside we crossed the paths of the several Car Ferries that transport everyone onto Fraser Island. The worlds largest sand island!
Calm waters and sunshine made for a most scenic trip north through the Sandy Straits to Gary's Anchorage. This is one of the safest anchorages in this region, although be careful to protect yourself from the sandflies (midges). We use a Raid Outdoor Can (self emmitting spray) with our new screens down. In the morning the cockpit had a thick carpet of dead midges over it.
http://www.cooloola.org.au/Destinations/Eco_Destinations/Fraser_Island/Fraser_Island.aspxhere
We spent a few relaxing days there before leaving on the outgoing tide and making our way to Kingfisher Bay. This bay has one of the most used access points to the island with several vehicle and passenger ferries arriving daily. They service the large Eco Resort and Yachtie Friendly Resort.
.

Port Stephens to Scarborough, Brisbane

Mon, 03 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Sorry for the delay, but will be on to this very soon! Life got really busy for a while!!

Another adventure begins!

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

After a hectic 3 weeks on Lake Macquarie, catching up with family and friends we departed the Lake with excess cargo!! Mum and Dad were on board for the 6hr trip to Port Stephens and after going through the Swansea Bridge on a 0800 hr opening we cruised north through the ‘parking lot’ of ships off the coast all awaiting a berth in the port of Newcastle. It was a calm day with little wind and sunshine which enabled Mum to settle in as this was only her second off shore passage. Once clear of the channel, Alan set the game rods with different lures in the hope of catching dinner. It wasn’t long before we heard the whirring of the lines and as I backed off the motor Alan fought the fish and reeled him in. A 10kg Mackerel Tuna, catch and release.

I handed the helm to Alan and went about putting the ingredients in the bread maker for our bread rolls for lunch and then making a fresh batch of Rockcakes for morning tea. We passed quite close to one of the ships and they acknowledged us with a few friendly toots on the horn to which we replied with the same. Some of the men on deck were sweeping, others fishing to while away the hours before moving into port.

The good weather continued all day and 10nm south of Point Stephens we were treated to a fantastic display of playing dolphins under our bow as well as a hundred or more frolicking off our starboard side. We woke Mum to come on deck and see them and for the next hour all four of us stood on the bow watching and laughing. Two dolphins jumped simultaneously right under our bow and splashed us. Nelson Bay has a very large commercial Dolphin Watch Tourist fleet so we suspect that they are used to performing!! We gave them a 9/10 for difficulty!!

Outside the heads was a swarm of activity as the buzzing of small runabouts with weekend fisherman were all trying to catch the Big One!! We pulled in the lines as we rounded Tomaree Headland, 12 caught and released, as they are not prime eating fish. A lot of this area within Port Stephens has now been made a fish sanctuary.

We weaved our way around the shoreline passing Shoal Bay, the beach full of holiday makers on the beautiful white sand beaches. We were amazed at the increase in high rise apartments since our last visit.

Just on the headland is the local Volunteer Marine Rescue and I logged off with them before proceeding around the point and down beside all the shoals in the middle of the bay until we anchored in Fame Cove, the only all weather anchorage in the area.

Happy Hour was enjoyed by all as we hung a line over the stern and waited. . . waited. . . I caught a nice plate sized Sole, sadly only one. As the sun set we dined on Roast Lamb and veg before retiring.

Early next morning we went to Soldiers Point Marina to pick up Nathan and Nicole so they could enjoy a days’ fishing with us before driving Mum and Dad home.

Only a mile from the marina we dropped anchor over a 30m deep hole, for the boys to try their luck with the rods. Before long Alan had caught a 1m Gummy Shark and he didn’t take long to lay it out on his new filleting table that Nathan had made him.

Straight from the table to the galley where Mum and Nicole helped me with the crumbing production line and from there it went straight to a hot pan for lunch!

As the tide had changed and the wind strengthen, the water was getting very choppy and we needed to move to stop everything falling off the bench and table, so the anchor came up and as soon as we went around the point and back to the marina, the water was like a mill pond.

Simultaneously we decided to stay here for a few nights, and what a great decision that was!! We found Marina Heaven, Soldiers Point Marina is a Five Star Marina, Margaritas delivered at 5pm, Cappuccinos and a newspaper at 9am, a courtesy vehicle to use, luxurious large bathrooms, sauna, massage therapist, Restaurant and Cafe with service to your boat, and the list goes on . . . great staff! We will definitely go back there!

After checking in, we farewelled everyone and shortly after welcomed Peter and Julie, Seawind friends that live at the Bay, they enjoyed our Margaritas with us before taking us back to their place for a swim, spa and a scrumptious meal.

The arrival of the morning paper and coffee before we had gotten out of bed, was a great start to our day, once showered we strolled to the cafe and enjoyed a hot Big Brekky of Bacon, eggs, and all the trimmings. With the use of the courtesy vehicle we set off to Salamander shopping centre where we managed to find lots of goodies that would be suitable to take to the Louisiades for donations to the school and returned back just in time to receive Mum and Dad with Aunty Val and Uncle Bill in tow, they had drove up to bring a few things that we were waiting to come in the mail. More Margaritas and then we joined them for dinner at the Salamander Hotel.

How quick 3 weeks fly!!!

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The weather has been fantastic for the entire three weeks. We had Barry and Lynette join us for the Cruising Divisions' St Patricks Irish night at the Duckhole, down the southern end of the lake on our first weekend home. A good night was had by all. I cooked Irish food to take ashore for dinner that consisted of appetiser of fried Black Pudding, dinner of couse had to be Irish Stew and dessert of Irish Apple Cake. Barry and Alan thought that the evening needed a little spark or two!! So they gathered wood and lite a cosy fire just as the rain started to fall. It wasn't long and I saw flashing lights in the distance and then the two large headlights of the local fire brigade were on us all!! They saw that we were looking after the fire and we offered them some green cakes so they too could get in the spirit of the night. Not half an hour later and the flashing headlights were returning but this time it was a different station and they requested some i.d from someone as the Police had also been called! Alas Alan appeared to be the only one with a wallet and licence on him or just that the others didn't own up to it!!! After also accepting refreshments they departed as the rain became steady. This sent most people back to their boats. Our cruise back to the F Jetty was very pleasant and we picked up the public mooring at the back of Pulbah Island to sit whilst we enjoyed a Smoked Tassie Salmon for lunch.
The week flew by and after spending Saturday morning baking in readiness for my 3 boys to arrive for some quality time
and now we find ourselves having to leave Lake Macquarie and head north. I have kept a constant eye on the weather for the past week in preparation for the hops that we intend making up the coast. If all is well we are leaving on Saturday morning with Mum and Dad on board for the 39nm mile trip to Port Stephens, the home of Game Fishing. A light south westerly wind is forecast which would mean it is on the stern and should provide us with an easy ride.
13nm North east of Swansea is Newcastle which is a major coal loading port, the best ship parking lot along the east coast. The AIS will give us a more accurate number but it is likely to be in excess of 25 ships anchored and waiting.

Snuggled in a warm blanket!!

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

We are back in Lake Macquarie after a great weekend on the Hawkesbury at a Nordhavn get together . . . the first one in Australia .. 5 Nordhavns in Castle Lagoon! 2 x N43's, 1 x N46, 1 x N47, and Sunday morning an N55.

The weather here is perfect at the moment, 5 -15knt NE - E winds and it is very comforting to know that in the black of night we can make it across the lake and anchor without the need for Navigation systems, safe and comfy like being " Snuggled in a warm blanket!!".

We have been very busy trying to catch up with everyone, getting the doctor and dental appointments out of the way . . for those that we haven't caught up with yet. . . give us a call, lets know when you are free????

Went shopping with Mum today . . Boy!!! Lots of changes around the shopping centres!!!

C U soon!!

Crookhavn River to Pittwater

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The anchorage at Batemans Bay was right up near the township and once again we were the topic of conversation with the locals. Several times that evening the local cruise ferry went around us and he pointed out to them that we were from Lake Macquarie. The supermaket and Restaurants were all on the riverbank and would have been easy to reach by dinghy. After a relaxing night we slept peacefully until the alarm woke us at 5am. By the time we had our breakfast and turned everything on,first the Motor, then the Stabilizers, GPS x 2, then the Autopilots, Chartplotters x 2, VHF radio, AIS. Then due to the low light outside it was necessay to lower the brightness on ALL screens so they didn't ruin my vision!! By then daylight was breaking and we were able to easily navigate out of the bay.
We enjoyed another great day at sea with only a SE 5-10 knts and 1m swell although once we made it close to Jervis Bay we realised that the bay was closed to maritime traffic and being used by the Navy for bombing practice!! The next viable anchorage was an additional 15nm north at Crookhaven River. After reading Cruising the NSW Coast we decided to head across the protected bar into the river and it was instantly calm and we had the most peaceful evening of the whole trip. It is a sleepy fishing town and the river winds it way several nautical miles inland. At 5.30 the next morning it was like Pitt Street in the river, a lot of little tinnies all buzzing around with Navigation lights on . all going fishing. As we headed out to sea there was a procession of Game fishing boats in front of us and listening to them on the radio checking in they were all going east to the continental shelf. The good weather continued and we made our way 60nm to Port Hacking to visit fellow Nordhavn 57 owner Jack from Speedbird. He is an amazing man to talk to with a lifetime of sea experiences. He part owns the Burraneer Bay Marina and we were treated to a wonderful weekend in a boat filled bay.
The weather forecast looked good for the journey north to Pittwater and Broken Bay, 64nm north past Botany Bay and Sydney Harbour. We attracted the attention of many passerbys in other fishing boats. Nice calm seas all the way to the Royal Motor Yacht Club - Newport. With the help of Doug the bosun, we secured Opal Lady into the berth and almost instantly the rain and wind started.
All week, after our Happy Hour at Burraneer Bay, I spent time trying to contact all Aussie Nordhavn Owners and visitors to attend an impromptu get together in Castle Lagoon, Hawkesbury River the following weekend.
Thanks to a very generous donation from PAE - Nordhavn US, Thanks Dan!!We went shopping for some fluid to keep us all from dehydrating on the weekend. We left the marina Friday morning and as went headed east along Pittwater, off to our port side came another Nordhavn, a N47 Elfrida Beetle owned by Paul and Christy Taylor. They were sitting up in the flybridge sunshine on them and steaming in the same direction. We took photos of each other side by side and continued around the headland port into the Hawkesbury River, and a few miles on, port into Cowan Creek and Castle Lagoon. There are 4 public moorings in the bay and just enough room for a few boats to anchor. The small bay is well protected by steep tree covered banks that form part of the National Park

Up the New South Wales Coast!

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

200 nautical mile and 30 hours at sea, we arrived!
The treacherous Bass Strait waters stayed calm for the remainder of our crossing and as the morning sun rose we were off Green Cape Lighthouse, we maintained our 3 hour watches throughout the night and as we entered Two Fold Bay and headed to the township of Eden we past 20+ small fishing boats all milling around the reef trying to catch their quota of fish!
The VMR Eden were very welcoming and directed us to the western public wharf where the fisherman tie to. "tie anywhere there is a space" we were told "But, if the fisherman returns you will have to move!!" and we only just got tied up and the stories started! " The fisho will be back in 20mins and he's not happy, when someone takes his spot!" This went on and on . . .and by the time we left - 1 1/2 hours later we are sure that 12 blokes had told us this story!! So we moved, milled around in the bay before heading south to the limited comfort and shelter of East Boyd Bay, behind the very long disused naval wharf and adjacent to the large woodchip mill and loading facility. The roll coming in the bay had us deploying the paravanes very quickly, but as there was a forecast heavy SW change coming through later that evening we thought the roll would eventually stop. At 2am the 40 - 45 knt South Westerly hit and woke usbut we held fast, unlike another yacht that dragged anchor and then had to reanchor with the normal amount of yelling at each other! Funny how you can't hear each other but everyone else can hear you clearly!!! The wind blew most of the night but when we rose at 8am it was a perfect calm sunny morning.
We were lucky to catch up with some friends whilst in Eden and also got the buildup of washing done, even though with the strong winds this meant threading everything onto rope and stringing it between the shrouds of the paravanes.
Wednesday 24th - Happy Birthday Brendon!! Today we left Eden at 0330 hrs in darkness and headed north, currently at 0900hrs we are abeam of Bermagui and have perfect conditions for a Nordhavn, 3knts from the west, a 2 knot current heading north 1600rpm @ 8knts SOG and flat seas and sunshine. What more can you ask for!! Our ETA into Batemans Bay is 1500hrs (3pm) today.

Bass Strait ready!

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The past week we have been slowly moving north whilst exploring the Furneaux Group of Islands.

After a great year of cruising Tasmania we farwelled our friends on Lemaris as they head towards Melbourne for some family time and later in the year they too expect to head north.

We are currently anchored on the southern side of Inner or West Sister Island (on the North Eastern tip of Flinders Island) awaiting the weather window to cross Bass Strait. Here the NE swell is turning the corner and rolling in towards the beach causing us to roll a little so we quickly deployed the paravanes which helped immensely. The small catamaran anchored in the bay is also waiting to cross the Strait. Alan and Chris aboard Rush went ashore and climbed the hill and took a video of the bay and surrounds which I will endeavour to upload!! After which they came calling and enjoyed a cuppa and cake and viewed the lastest weather on the net before returning to Rush for an afternoon snooze as they too are going to leave in the early hours of tomorrow morning.

It is necessary to stow all loose items down below before heading out to sea otherwise if we hit some rough weather it will all be flying around the pilothouse. There is quite a lot seeing we have been in cruising mode for so long, and the pilothouse bunk is needed for my cat naps as Alan sleeps downstairs at sea. We have 180 nautical miles to get to Eden on the NSW coast and this should take us approx 30hrs. We use the BOM government site for our weather and generally keep watching it every 12 hours several days before we leave to guage the movements! http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/marine/wind/index.jsp

Note the shallow sea floor between Mainland Australia and Tasmania hence the reason for the wave pattern that is experienced here. The waves from the west, hit the giant land mass and steep up across the strait.

The fishing around this group of Islands has been very poor, no crays or fish! I even asked Alan if he have a hook on! So unlike him to catch nothing!!!!

The wait continues!

Middle of Bass Strait!

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

39.00.639S – 148.29.300E

By midnight we had enough of the extremely rolly anchorage and decided to pack up the paravanes and leave.

Once around the Island and into clear air we experienced 15-20 knt Northerlies but this was forecast to change to SW early hours of the morning so we plugged away at 1200 RPM giving us 3knt Speed over ground. The seas were large it was definitely sit in your chair weather!! For several hours we took turns snoozing for approx 1.5 hrs each. Now at 11am it is still lumpy, we are just going across the Continental Shelf and the swell is starting to get farther apart. The wind has changed to the SW 10-15 knts so I only hope the seas follow!

We are 109nm SW of Gabo Island and 57nm NE of West Sister Island!

19hours and 56 minutes from Eden at our current speed of 6.9 knts!

Sunshine and heading north!! Yeh!!

We are off again!

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

For our final night in Launceston we visited a local restaurant, Stillwater, on the foreshore of the river.

Eva, Alan and Karen ready to go for dinner. In the background is the Marina Units and restaurants that border the waterfront.

At low tide the yachts on the inner arm of the marina are left in the mud until the water returns.

Thankyou to Callum - Seaport Marina Manager for the great stay!

It has been 4 weeks to the day since we were last here at Rosevears Hotel. We left Launcestons Seaport Marina at lunch time as the tide was slowing, and on the turn.The clouds were shielding the sun as we left the marina that was full of Wooden Boats all displayed, shiny and gleaming with many coats of beautiful varnish at the annual Wooden Boat Festival. It was 12 nautical mile downstream to the Pub, where after a fair bit of jostling we snuggled against the jetty, then waited for the 2 smaller boats to leave before tying Lemaris alongside.

1) One of the beautiful homesteads along the Tamar River. 2) Rosevears Hotel

We have done 3 weeks hard labour at the "Convict House"/ White House in Campbell Town. It was built in approx 1820 something!! from convict bricks with the thumb print in and was originally built as the Watchmans residence, part of the Mens and Womens Prison and Hospital grounds. Now listed with the National Trust. We have painted, wallpapered, cleaned and repaired as well as laid new floorcoverings. Now it is ready for sale and a new family to live in and love.

The White House - Campbell Town, Tasmania.

Thankyou very much to all the family, for their help and support in completeing this project.

Now its back to our travels on water and the journey north!

Position - Launceston, Seaport Marina

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The first month of the New Year has gone really quick and our plans constantly change. But in the spare few moments we have I am trying to get the blog up to date. Go to http://www.opallady.com/aspx/blob2/blobpage.aspx/msgid/626342 for the story and photos thus far. After leaving Hobart on the 12th January and making our way to Wineglass Bay to meet up with Lemaris and Somoya. During Happy Hour we discussed the plans to head north and we (Alan and I) made the call to head north as the weather window was right with only light winds for the next 24hours until the NE change came in.

(from Left - Martin & Judy, Eva, Duncan- Lemaris, Lorraine & Gary- Somoya)

Wineglass Bay was packed with yachts and Cray boats and we anchored in the deeper water to allow us to deploy the paravanes to prevent the roll from the tail end of the NE swell coming down the bay. We planned on leaving at first light or when one of us woke up. Well by 3am, we had enough of the roll and the motor, Nav instruments and lights were all powered up whilst I made some tea and toast. With the help of the radar we crept out of the bay leaving everyone else fast asleep. Until daylight we stayed 5-10nm off shore and then we moved in close to take advantage of the calmer waters. Lemaris left at 5.30am and Somoya decided to wait until late afternoon to leave. It was calm for the majority of the day except when I went close, close to St Helens Island and then the waves steeped up. The fine day had bought all the small fishing boats out to fish the reefs that are sprinkled along the East Coast, but the only fish we caught was a giant Weed fish . . .15-20 kilos of kelp!!!! As the afternoon wore on Lemaris slowly moved closer to us and as it was getting later the calll was made to investigate Swan Island for a suitable anchorage. As we pulled into Jetty Bay the swell took over once the Stabilisers stopped and that was enough for us to seek the shelter of the bay the the west, Telegraph Bay. Once anchored Duncan arrived in his RIB to pick us up for Happy Hour on Lemaris. Via the HF radio we heard from Somoya who had decided to return to Hobart due to a malfunction of his Autopilot.
The following morning the swell had followed us into Telegraph Bay and again we moved to get a more peaceful spot. The turning weather and Lemaris' guests that were flying out of Launceston in a few days time had us heading west. Foster Inlet on Cape Portland was the next closest anchorage suggested in the guide. We navigated through the interesting waters of Banks Strait with it's swirling currents and overfalls caused from the highs and lows of the sea floor and the wind against tide also adding to the conditions. Foster inlet is a small shallow bay with a few islands helping to protect it from the ocean swell. Once anchored the sun shone and as it was the first opportunity for several days I loaded up the washing machine to clear the pile near the machine. Soon after we anchored the rear door was wide open and we were invaded by several swallows that were trying to get in and then 3 managed to find their way in and the hunt was on to shoo them out. Looking forward out of the pilothouse windows it was difficult to see the rails as the swallows were thick along them. Needless to say there was spatterings of bird poop on the decks!! The land around the bay laid low and didn't provide a lot of protection from the wind so we were swinging to the wind with the swell coming from amidships, not that flash!
The swell continued to roll in throughout the night and at 4am (Seems to be the norm, of late!!!) we were up and underway. With very little wind it was a pleasant trip in towards Low Head at the entrance to the Tamar River, 70nm, as the departure was early we took it in turns to go to bed and catch up on some sleep.
It was 2pm and we were both anchored near the wharf at Beauty Point, which made for a short dinghy ride in to visit Seahorse World and the Platypus Place.

1) Anchored at Beauty Point 2) The Seahorses in the breeding tank 3) Watching the Echidnas feed! ( the platypus were camera shy!)

The weather closed in whilst we were doing the sightseeing and it was a rush back to the boat to retrieve the anchor before we got wet! Just 3nm west of here, down West Arm we weaved our way along the arm being careful to stay in the deepest part as the tide was dropping. The fenders were out and the anchor dug in securely and we were ready to receive Lemaris to berth alongside, when we called to them to ask them whart the holdup was we realised that they were stuck hard on the mud!! They were too busy watching us and they drifted back onto the bank! And this is where they stayed for several hours until the tide returned! His new nick name is Captain Sandbar!!

With the incoming tide the next morning we started our journey up the 40nms of the Tamar,under the Batman Bridge (pic above) and we had timed it perfectly to arrive at the jetty across the road from Rosevears Tavern where we were aptly named 'boat people' by the staff as we booked in for a great lunch. This was also a memorable day for us as this was Opal Lady's 1st Birthday!!!!!!!! And several bottles of wine helped us celebrate! We sobered up quickly as we walked back to the boats to find that the 25+ Noreasterly had blew up and was blowing all 55 ton(both boats) onto the wharf and it was all hands on deck to go further upstream to get some protection from the wind.

With Martin and Judy's holiday coming to an end we needed to be in Launceston so they could catch their flight back to Melbourne the next day. And after a phone call from Alans family we also needed to be there to visit Campbell Town and his Mum. Only a 1 hours trip, 6nm away from Seaport Marina but we needed to time it to arrive at the top of the tide to make it somewhat easier to maneover in the narrow space between the mud banks and the marina without the usual 3-4 knt flow that is present here.
It has now been several weeks that we have been in Launceston, travelling the 72 klm each day to Campbell Town to renovate a property for sale.
Our planned departure is the 14th February when we will continue our journey north!!

Happy New Year

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The sunshine has finally come out in Tassie for a walk down through Salamanca to the Taste Festival, where all the local food and wine was being served. We spent the afternoon eating and drinking whilst listening to a variety of musicians playing to the crowds enjoying the sunshine and watching the yachts enter Constitution Dock after a long race. The afternoon ended with us walking down to look at the Maxi yachts in various states of disarray, all trying to clean up after a much longer Sydney to Hobart race than they thought they would have, some even ran out of food 24hrs prior!!
The following morning as Nathan and Nicole slept peacefully we headed for the supermarket to restock our pantry with supplies for a week out around Tasman Peninsular. Alan pushed a wheel barrow full of groceries back to the boat as Nathan was surfacing , rubbing his eyes. We said our Happy New Year wishes to our friends at the marina and headed south to Cape Raoul. The light south easterly winds allowed the tailend of the Sydney Hobart Fleet to fly their spinnakers up the Derwent, a spectacular sight. The amazing pipe structures of the Cape showed a variety of colours in the setting sun as we made our way east to clear the land before heading into Port Arthur for the night.