tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69750565272155489362024-02-20T02:34:55.824+10:00Minke IIThe continuing adventures of Captain Jack Harris and his motley crew!Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09165597471411845575noreply@blogger.comBlogger76125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6975056527215548936.post-73770129497017885382014-04-23T20:28:00.000+10:002014-04-23T20:28:19.265+10:00Bundaberg - Yeppoon | Cyclone Ita | Rebel Heart | Sailing with babiesIf I believed in such things I might have started thinking that the universe was trying to tell us something...<br />
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The same week that we set sail for the first time with almost-five-month old Jack the internet was losing its collective mind over just how irresponsible it is to travel and raise children on boats. And as if to drive home the point, Mother Nature decided to test our resolve by throwing a cyclone our way.<br />
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By now it's old news in the sailing community, but the week we left Bundaberg the crew of sailing vessel <i>Rebel Heart</i> made international news when they were rescued 900 miles off the coast of Mexico after their one year old daughter Lyra fell ill. After years of preparation and 2 weeks at sea they were left with no choice but to call for help and scuttle their boat. <i>Rebel Heart</i> was their home of 7 years and it's heartbreaking to think of her at the bottom of the ocean somewhere.<br />
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Almost as heartbreaking is the judgement, vitriol and ignorant responses leveled at Charlotte and Eric by the media and by armchair commentators who seem to think it is their right to judge and spit hate at people they don't even know.<br />
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I only know Charlotte a little bit, and we've never met in person. We're friends on Facebook and she's been a terrific support to me through my pregnancy and the early months of being a mum. I know with certainty that she and Eric have been unfairly branded in the most hurtful way a mom and dad could be – as BAD PARENTS! <br />
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I'm sure there are people that think we are crazy to be travelling with a baby on board. Apart from the occasional passive-agressive "wow, that's a VERY young baby to have on a boat!", we have had only positive responses to our little sailor and our choice of "alternate" lifestyle. Most people are either supportive or subscribe to the "if you dont have anything nice to say, dont say anything" school of thought.<br />
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It does start to weigh on you a bit though when (stupidly) reading about the public reaction to the Rebel Heart saga.<br />
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Are we crazy, irresponsible - even criminal! - to consider raising our son aboard? HAVE WE MADE THE RIGHT DECISION???<br />
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A few weeks ago I would have scoffed - YES... DUH! - but when Cyclone Ita began to make its way down the east coast towards our safe-but-fairly-isolated anchorage at Pancake Creek on the Queensland coast, the doubts started to set in for the first time.<br />
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Having a young baby on board changes your perspective on everything.
Pancake Creek, while considered a good choice in extreme conditions, has no town, no
roads, no immediate escape route. It's edged by swampy mangroves, so even
getting off the boat would not have improved our situation much, should we have found ourselves in the middle of cyclonic conditions.<br />
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As Ita closed in on us Michael and I sat down and worked out a plan for the worse case
scenario. If the morning's forecast had the cyclone warning extended to our
position we would move the boat further up in to the creek on the high tide and "spiderweb" her to the dense mangroves. We would call the volunteer marine rescue to come and get me and Jack off the boat. Michael would stay with Minke and see out the storm.<br />
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We packed a ditch bag with nappies, baby formula, towels, changes of clothes, bug repellant, Jack's favourite toys, water, and flares for attracting attention. We talked over the details of how we would safely get off the boat and on to "dry" land if something catastrophic happened and it was no longer safe to be on board. It was all very sobering to go through the motions and plan for the "what ifs?".<br />
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I looked at my sweet, sleeping baby that night and thought ... wow, what the hell am I doing??? <br />
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As Ita raced past us as a tropical low, just far enough offshore that we were in no danger, we cooked pancakes and sat on the floor of our saloon singing "raindrops keep falling on my head", playing with toys and having a pretty great day! We saw a maximum of just over 30 knots of wind - nothing compared to what we've sat through on anchor before - and within 24 hours the rain cleared, the sun came out and it was all over.<br />
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And to mark the occasion Jack cut his first tooth.<br />
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We're very comfortable with our decision to sail with Jack. We have no big ocean passages planned for the immediate future (although I have nothing but admiration for the fleet of cruising families crossing the Pacific this season.) We are well prepared with all the safety equipment we would need in an emergency. We log all our movements with the network of volunteer marine rescue stations along the coast, and we have enough seamanship between us to give ourselves the best change of keeping ourselves and the boat safe. There are risks of course, but wow - it's SO worth it!<br />
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And here are some photographs to demonstrate that. This is why we sail and why we want to share it with Jack - a summary of the last two weeks as we travelled from the Port of Bundaberg to the town of Yeppoon, near Great Keppel Island. <br />
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<i>Hanging out at the Port of Bundaberg Marina</i></div>
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<i>Imortalising the moment before setting sail on our new boat Minke II for the first time. </i></div>
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<i>Anchored at the lovely Town of 1770, named for the year that Cook anchored there. (Minke in the middle).</i><br />
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<i>Junk rigged boat at 1770 </i><br />
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<i>Silvery sunset over 1770</i><br />
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<i>Taking the helm for the first time </i><br />
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<i>Sunset at Pancake Creek </i><br />
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<i>Practicing our safety drills </i><br />
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<i>Beetle Bum. Being away from land has led us to new adventures in cloth nappies - and its going well!</i><br />
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<i>Jack absolutely loves being in his baby carrier. Its perfect for walks and getting to and from shore safely, and he often has naps in it.</i><br />
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<i>The day after the storm at Pancake Creek. Perfect. </i><br />
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<i>No risking sun exposure! </i><br />
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<i>From Pancake Creek we headed towards Gladstone intending to head through "The Narrows" - a very shallow inland waterway that cuts behind Curtis Island. We had heard about the coal port development in the area but were really shocked by just how huge the expansion project was.</i><br />
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<i>Transiting the flooded Narrows at high tide. We would have struggled to do this in Bass Voyager with her 2 metre draft. </i><br />
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<i>Multi-tasking through The Narrows - passage making and doing the washing. </i><br />
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<i>Cattle crossing in the Narrows </i><br />
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<i>Kitty loves the spacious (and stable!) decks on Minke.</i><br />
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<i>On exiting the Narrows we had a spectacular sail across Keppel Bay to Great Keppel Island. There was literally no swell and very light winds, which allowed us to anchor on the southern side of the island which we've never done before. This is our anchorage at beautiful Long Beach, Minke furthest to the right. </i><br />
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<i>We also spent a night at beautiful Fisherman's Beach, another first for us. It was incredibly crowded because of Easter and the weather which was so damn good! It was a lot of fun though, and we swam and spent $47 on a pizza and two beers (ouch!) from the island's pizza bar. </i><br />
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<i>Beach day at Svendsen's Beach, GKI. </i><br />
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Just a final note about <i>Rebel Heart.</i> Thankfully the outpouring of support from the sailing community has gone someway to counter the ignorance and negativity surrounding Charlotte and Eric, and some of the responses and tributes to <i>Rebel Heart</i> are truly inspiring. Ive listed a couple below that I really like, but if you look at nothing else, check out this gorgeous tribute to the thousands of boat kids out there right now.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/G8WGmCOXkg8" width="560"></iframe>
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A fabulous article by a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/WomenWhoSail/" target="_blank">Women Who Sail</a> friend of mine Diane on<i> s/v </i><i><i>Ceilydh</i>: </i><br />
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/11/rebel-heart-parents-risks-worth-it_n_5126871.html?fb_action_ids=10151988060847187&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=feed_opengraph&action_object_map=%7B%2210151988060847187%22%3A502043576574039%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210151988060847187%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=[]" target="_blank">The 'Rebel Heart' Parents Want To Show Their Daughters The World. The Risks Are Worth It.</a><br />
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And another by fellow Women Who Sail member Tamiko who has been living aboard with her teenaged son since he was born: <a href="http://landfallvoyages.com/2777/rebel-heart-reality-check/" target="_blank">Rebel Heart - A Reality Check.</a><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074087439098899802noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6975056527215548936.post-4341994015914191492014-03-11T07:31:00.001+10:002014-03-14T09:24:36.312+10:00Missing Bass Voyager, and introducing Minke IIIt's funny how as humans we get so attached to inanimate objects. It seems especially true of boats which I swear develop a distinct personalities of their own and become a very real part of the family.<br />
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So much has happened since our last (ahem ... September 2013) post. Most importantly and wonderfully, we now have a son - Jack - who joined our crew on 21 November 2013. We spent 6 months in Adelaide catching up with family and friends and adjusting (somewhat) to being parents for the first time. We sweltered through the hottest Adelaide summer on record including 11 days above 42°C (108 °F). How funny that we chose to "escape" the Queensland summer by returning home.<br />
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In the meantime, <i>Bass Voyager</i> waited patiently for us up North.<br />
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And then a strange opportunity presented itself. Through family friends we learned about a small catamaran that may be coming up for sale. Curious, we followed it up and ... well, long story short, we went ahead and broke rule number one of boat ownership: never buy a second boat before selling the first.<br />
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Fast forward to one week ago and 15 week old Jack, Kitty, Michael and I moved on to our new catamaran<i> Minke II</i>, or just <i>Minke</i> as we've started calling her. She's perfect for us. Comfortable, not too big, plenty of potential to improve her and make her "ours". We're in love. For the boat nerds, <i>Minke</i> is a 11.5m Simpson Inspiration catamaran, built in Brisbane in 1995 by Bruce Roberts. Foam core construction, fractional rigged, blah, blah, blah... <br />
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<i>Minke II</i> is a family boat. She's bigger, more stable (she's a
catamaran after all). She's pretty and has bouncy trampoline things at
the front. She's fibreglass, which equals low maintenance - I never
would have fathomed how important that would become to us with Jack in
our lives. She's well travelled and has proven herself over many miles
sailing around Australia and South East Asia. As a result she's well decked out
for long term cruising. Her home port is Port Adelaide, so she was clearly meant to be ours!<br />
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Which brings me back to <i>Bass Voyager</i> and my statement about getting attached to boats. <i>Bass Voyager</i> will always be our first love. She's a truly great boat. She's strong and built to handle any conditions. She sails brilliantly for a heavy steel boat. She could take us anywhere, and did - through the Southern Ocean, into the most remote parts of Tasmania, and twice across Bass Strait. She was so forgiving to a couple of sailing noobs with more bravado than sense. She is the symbol of our new-found freedom and represents the best three-and-a-bit years of our lives (so far!). And so it hurts my heart to admit that we've got a new boat in our lives.<br />
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People can and do raise families on much smaller boats, but we're soft. We can see ourselves comfortably living on <i>Minke</i> well in to the foreseeable future. <i>Bass Voyager</i> would be harder with a young child, let alone an energetic toddler or a 6ft-plus teenager! At least that's what we're telling ourselves.<br />
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So what's next? We are currently in Bundaberg, getting used to living aboard with a baby, and slowly unpacking our lives into the new space. We are in no rush to put <i>Bass Voyager</i> on the market and want to spend some time showing her some love before we do. So the plan is to sail up to the Whitsundays on <i>Minke</i>, leaving Bundy in a few weeks from now (or whenever we feel like it and the weather cooperates) and then move <i>Bass Voyager</i> the few hundred miles back down from Magnetic Island. We can anchor our two girls together and commence getting BV ready for sale. I hope they get along.<br />
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So with a new boat comes a new blog name and address: www.minke2.com.au. All of <i>Bass Voyager</i>'s adventures will stay here, because they are all part of our ongoing story. I cant promise I'll keep the blog as up to date as I used to - its totally Jack-dependent - but I'll do my best because I love having this little journal to look back on and enjoy and remember.<br />
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<i>Jack Friedrich Harris and Mum. Man do I look tired in this photo... </i><br />
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<i>Minke II</i> <br />
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A few of our favourite memories on Bass Voyager...<br />
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<i> At Rapid Head in South Australia</i></div>
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<i>View from the homestead on Three Hummock Island in Bass Strait, Bass Voyager in the distance</i></div>
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<i>Arriving at Port Davey, Tasmania</i></div>
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<i>BV in Sydney Harbour</i></div>
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<i>Anchored in Cowan Creek, Hawkesbury River, NSW</i></div>
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<i>BV at Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island</i></div>
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<i>Bass Voyager under sail in the Whitsundays<!--3--></i></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074087439098899802noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6975056527215548936.post-36952729747915346422013-09-03T20:14:00.001+10:002013-09-03T20:26:20.916+10:00Whitsundays to TownsvilleAs we close in on the end of this particular segment of our adventure it seems appropriate that Mother Nature would give us a last-minute reminder of who's in charge.<br />
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After a couple more weeks exploring and relaxing around the Whitsunday Islands, including a really fun visit from my Mum and step dad, we once again headed north, spending a few days around the Woodwark Bay and Double Bay areas, and at the beautiful Gloucester Passage.<br />
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Our passage from Queens Bay (near Bowen) to Cape Upstart was frustratingly windless with only 5 or 6 knots on the stern, forcing us to motor-sail in order to make the 40+ nautical mile trip before dark. So when, just an hour or so after we dropped anchor, the wind finally piped up to a steady 15 - 18 knots from the east, Michael and I looked at each other with the exact same thought on our minds... "should we just go for it??"<br />
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"Going for it" didn't seem like that big a deal - an overnight sail of about 70 miles would get us all the way to Magnetic Island, only a stones throw from where we were hauling <i>Bass Voyager</i> out for maintenance in Townsville in a week's time. While we don't make a habit of changing plans at the last minute OR heading to sea just before dark, the seas had been so benign for the rest of the day, it seemed like a pretty safe bet.<br />
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And it was fine, really. Just uncomfortable. Monohulls, especially heavy, full-keel designs like <i>Bass Voyager</i>, are comfortable on most points of sail (i.e. most directions of wind) but when the swell is coming from off the aft quarter (i.e. hitting the boat on the side towards the back) they get this rolling motion going which makes things pretty yucky. I guess Ive become pretty soft since we got to Queensland. We tackled much more challenging seas in the southern ocean and around Tasmania, but (and being nearly 7 months pregnant is surely a big part of this) I really struggled on this trip. It was the first time in a really long time that Ive not just felt seasick, but was actually sick. This coupled with the tiredness from having already sailed 40 miles earlier that day, meant I was totally miserable.<br />
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Michael was amazing, taking on the lion's share of the night watch (guzzling energy drinks to stay awake), keeping me hydrated and comfortable as possible with pillows and blankets, and giving me lots of hugs and encouragement. I love my husband so much!<br />
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Anyway, we made it perfectly safely to Magnetic Island at around 10am the next morning, dropped the anchor and promptly crashed into bed for a long sleep. Funnily enough it was one of the best sails we've had in a long time - over 70 miles of consistent winds propelling us along nicely at around 5 knots, even under shortened sail (we always reef our sails at night, just in case the wind decides to get suddenly stronger.)<br />
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Now, a few days later, we are comfortably tucked into a berth at the very nice Breakwater Marina in Townsville. We're getting the boat all packed up and ready for her haul-out next Monday. I fly back to Adelaide on Friday (where we'll get sidetracked for a while by a - literally - little thing called having a baby). Michael, the trooper, is staying on to do the hot, hard and dirty work to antifoul and repaint Bass Voyager ready for her stay at Magnetic Island over the summer. Kitty has agreed to keep him company providing she doesn't have to lift a paw to help!<br />
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Its been an amazing 4 months since we left Hervey Bay and its hard to come to terms with the fact that we're stopping for a while, especially as it feels like the sailing season is only half over. But on the other hand there are exciting developments in our near future, not least of which is greeting our newest little crew member in just 8 or 10 weeks time! <br />
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<i>Airlie Beach ... beach</i><br />
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<i>Stunt plane over the anchorage at Airlie Beach. It was fun being at Airlie during their annual race week - lots going on with markets, live music and the chance to watch fireworks from the deck of our boat - very memorable. </i></div>
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<i>Tourists spill on to Whitehaven Beach. Mum and I caught this boat out to this beautiful and justifiably famous beach and spent a few hours lazing in the sunshine with 100 or so of our closest friends. It was a great day!</i>
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<i>Whitehaven</i><br />
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<i>Us three at Shute Harbour (thanks for the photo John)</i>
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<i>A few days after Mum and John's visit we took </i>Bass Voyager<i> back around to Whitehaven Beach, this time exploring the Hill Inlet (northern) end. We took our tender around from the adjacent bay and landed at this tiny cove - like a private mini version of the main beach. Spectacular.</i><br />
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<i>Goanna in the bush at Whitehaven</i><br />
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<i>Bass Voyager anchored at Whitehaven</i>
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<i>Caitlin at Whitehaven</i><br />
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<i>The Whitsundays are the most popular cruising destination in the country, and it is "crowded" (although its nothing compared to the Mediterranean, I'm told) but it 100% lives up to its reputation - it's completely beautiful and you are spoiled for choice when it comes to comfortable, picturesque anchorages and places to explore on water and land. And, if you look, you can always find a peaceful, quiet anchorage to hide away from the crowds in relative seclusion.</i><br />
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<i>Michael exploring in the tender</i><br />
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<i>Kitty was impressed.</i><br />
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<i>After stocking up for a final time in Airlie Beach we explored the bays north of the town which were very beautiful and comfortable. This photo is of Double Bay East.</i><br />
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<i>We then moved to beautiful Gloucester Passage and enjoyed drinks and lunch at the low key Monte's Resort.</i><br />
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<i>Its very rare to get a photo of yourselves under sail (for obvious reasons) but now we have we have one, thanks to our friends and fellow South Australians Cheryl and John on </i><a href="http://gypsy-chezjohn.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank">Gypsy Lover</a><i>. Thanks guys! Bass Voyager leaving Gloucester Passage for Queens Bay.</i></div>
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<i>View from the top of Castle Hill in Townsville. Magnetic Island, which will be Bass Voyager's home while we're in Adelaide, is in the distance - about 4.5 nautical miles from the city.</i></div>
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<i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKVXbDDw2VyBJUu2lIcQGwbTRoh1-zJWG5vvLoBMI2axJNCy93bZYlxLJkOy-yY_rbXCcuvGFy4CImNjJnmsQwyCrU2sQJjZev2hyVzcruOC3tdQxe_xiRtOovYkQXtJO8UBBrCFUO_GE/s1600/IMG_1932.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKVXbDDw2VyBJUu2lIcQGwbTRoh1-zJWG5vvLoBMI2axJNCy93bZYlxLJkOy-yY_rbXCcuvGFy4CImNjJnmsQwyCrU2sQJjZev2hyVzcruOC3tdQxe_xiRtOovYkQXtJO8UBBrCFUO_GE/s320/IMG_1932.JPG" width="320" /></a></i></div>
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<i>View to Townsville CBD. Townsville is very dry by QLD standards, and the landscape is totally different to adjoining regions to both the north and south.</i><br />
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<i>We love exploring inland and getting away from the (yaaaawnnn!) seascapes, pristine beaches and sunsets for a while, so this week we hired a car and drove north of Townsville to Wallaman Falls - the highest single drop waterfall in Australia apparently, although Im sure I heard that about another one we've visited along the way..... (just checked <a href="http://bassvoyager.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/port-macquarie-nsw.html" target="_blank">back in our blog</a> and that was Ellenborough Falls in NSW - "one of the highest single drop falls in the southern hemisphere." So not "the" highest.) It was beautiful, and so cool and peaceful up in the rainforest, such a contrast to the dusty heat of Townsville.</i><br />
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<i>I don't know what it is about Townsvillians and gelati but there are three artisan gelati shops within walking distance - one a very dangerous 5 minute walk from the marina. </i><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074087439098899802noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6975056527215548936.post-35765335888239682892013-08-09T08:39:00.000+10:002013-08-09T08:42:51.172+10:00Whitsundays and Bait ReefWell, we finally feel like we have made it to the Whitsundays. The weather has been nothing short of perfect most days with light but sailable winds and mostly sunny days. The anchorages here are very good and very close together - makes for lazy cruising. It easy to see why it is so busy here with boats but you can get away from the crowds if you forget about public moorings (which are rarely available even with the "two hour" time limit*)and go to places where charter boats aren't allowed.<br />
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One such place was Bait reef, only 18Nm from Hook Island and simply stunning. The water was so much clearer then any of the water we have see so far on our trip. The reef is very healthy and being protected from fishing has a great range of wildlife even just under your boat. We had several GT's and Bat fish join as immediately when we arrived. On day two we were treated with perfect weather and our own whale show. For much of the day whales were hanging out just outside the reef. We took the tender out to explore the reef at one stage and were surprised by a whale launching itself completely out of the water only 50m from us - no camera with us of course. Later that day a pod of whales came into the lagoon anchorage and swam about coming within 15m of our boat. It was our best whale experience to date.<br />
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Anyway, I need to get back to enjoying this weather so that's it for now.<br />
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<i>* In Queensland "Two hours" is anything between two hours and two days. Similar to the car hire in Mackay Marina where half day hire is actually four hours, very short days in Mackay.</i><br />
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<i>Stonehaven Anchorage</i></div>
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<i>Small manta ray by the boat at Stonehaven</i></div>
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<i>On a mooring in Butterfly Bay</i></div>
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<i>Great photo of Bait Reef showing The Stepping Stones and anchorage - from <a href="http://mskiana.com/">http://mskiana.com</a><span style="color: #0000ee;"><u>,</u></span> the dive boat we met there</i><br />
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<i>Perfect conditions at Bait Reef</i> </div>
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<i>Bat fish by the boat at Bait Reef - moored in 10m of water - check the water clarity!</i></div>
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<i>Pod of humpback whales right by the boat at Bait Reef</i></div>
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<i>Whales between us and the only other boat on the reef</i></div>
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<i>The slick in the foreground is disturbance made by a whale less than 15m from the boat</i></div>
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<i> Snorkeling and diving at Bait Reef </i></div>
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<i>Returning through the passage between Hook and Hayman Islands</i> </div>
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<i>View to Black Island near Hayman Island</i> </div>
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<br />Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09165597471411845575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6975056527215548936.post-31135858583810010272013-07-30T20:46:00.001+10:002013-07-30T22:04:34.980+10:00Mackay to Hamilton IslandHere we are at Hamilton Island, smack bang in the middle of the Whitsunday Islands. Being here feels a little like coming full circle as it was in the Whitsundays that we first caught the sailing, scuba diving and all-things-boaty bug (bugs?) on our honeymoon back in 2002. It was, in a sense, the beginning of the journey that has brought us back via 4000 nautical miles and more than 10 years. <br />
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You can stay in the marina
here for $105 per night which is really expensive as marinas go but -
here's the clincher - you have full access to the resort facilities.
Cocktails by the pool for us!! (Well, mocktails for me, but I can
pretend...) When others are paying many hundreds of dollars per night,
even thousands, we feel a bit like we're cheating but then our whole
lives feel a bit that way these days... We keep expecting someone to come along and tell us its not allowed and we have to go back to reality! <br />
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OK, a quick recap of the last few weeks. Our short stop in Mackay was much longer than planned as the weather came in and we couldn't seem to motivate ourselves to battle strong winds and choppy seas. This QLD cruising is making us soft! Oh well, it gave me a chance to break the back of a work project and Michael to do some much needed painting and boat projects. We were also able to scope out a nearby boatyard where we will most likely haul out <i>Bass Voyager</i> and leave her over the summer while we're off in Adelaide having a baby.<br />
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Finally we sailed from Mackay about 20 miles north to Brampton Island. Its a very picturesque spot with a public jetty and walking trails around the island, however it had an eerie atmosphere as the resort on the island is all boarded up and off limits - another apparent casualty of the struggling QLD tourism industry. From there we stopped for a few days at Goldsmith Island, another beautiful anchorage with none of the uncomfortable surge and swell that we'd come to expect in the southern islands. The tides are getting smaller as we head north and that seems to make a difference to the comfort at anchor.<br />
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With strong winds in the forecast we scoured our cruising guide for the area and chose nearby Shaw Island as a place to hole up for a few days. Its an excellent anchorage, again totally swell and surge free, even in developed trade winds. Just a few of the notorious Whitsusnday "bullets" (where the wind rockets down the gullies and makes the boat dance around the anchor for a minute) to contend with. Not in any great hurry to be anywhere, we settled in and waited for the weather to improve. All the other boats in the anchorage seemed to have the same idea and, like us, not many seemed inclined to get off the boat while the weather was so blustery. We did manage to do some exploring on land though, and as you'll see from the photos below even "bad" weather in the Whitsundays is pretty spectacular!<br />
A few hours north of Shaw is Hamilton Island. We expected the worst of Hamilton and so have had our expectations exceeded by quite a lot. I had this image in mind of a noisy, over-the-top resort stuck in the 1980s, probably run-down because of the GFC, and horrendously overpriced. Instead its very tidy, beautifully landscaped and ... dare I say it ... fairly classy as these things go? Perhaps I have been away from civilisation a little too long... <br />
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Generally we like to eschew the crowds and built-up resort-iness of places like Hammo but after a few weeks getting back to nature we get a real kick out of the opportunity for a restaurant meal and a bit of people-watching. Plus there is an awesome bakery here and we were also able to get an order from Coles sent over on the ferry saving us having to go in to Airlie Beach for another few weeks. <br />
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Tomorrow we'll head out again and bum around the islands for the next week and a half before we meet family in Airlie Beach!<br />
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<i>Views around Brampton Island </i><br />
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<i>Whale near Goldsmith Island </i><br />
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<i>Views of beautiful Shaw Island</i><br />
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<i>Rare picture of pregnant Caitlin. Back-burning a few weeks earlier made it possible for us to climb a hill for spectacular views over the anchorage. </i><br />
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<i>Checking out the facilities on Hamilton Island </i><br />
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<i>Spot salty old </i>Bass Voyager<i> among the superyachts at Hamilton Marina. </i><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074087439098899802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6975056527215548936.post-84066671014863432632013-06-29T11:37:00.000+10:002013-06-29T12:22:21.065+10:00Middle Percy Island<div style="text-align: left;">
We almost didn't stop at Middle Percy Island, despite its great fame among the sailing community ("you MUST stop at Percy!") The main anchorage on Percy, while beautiful, has a reputation as an
uncomfortable anchorage - as our cruising guide puts it
diplomatically, "no one would describe it as the most comfortable
anchorage they've ever visited." After three nights of big tides, surgy anchorages and sleepless nights we were seriously considering bypassing MPI and starting on the 2 day trip to Mackay. We are so glad we decided to stop as it was one of the great highlights of our trip so far.</div>
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Middle Percy has a long and interesting history and has long been a popular stopover for sailors heading north to the Whitsundays, largely because since the 1960's the leaseholders have welcomed yachties with open arms, offering fresh produce like honey, fruit, vegetables and goat meat for sale. In recent times the island has been subject to a great deal of controversy and a protracted legal battle after the elderly and ailing caretaker was conned out out of his lease for just $10 before he passed away. The island's facilities were left to deteriorate, animals died, and yachties were no longer welcome. Thankfully in 2008 courts awarded the island back to the family of the original leaseholder. His cousin, Cathryn, has returned the island to its former glory as a wonderful, welcoming place for sailors to meet, socialise and enjoy their own little slice of paradise.</div>
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(There is an interesting article here which details the dramas of the island's recent history: <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/national/the-possibility-of-an-island-20121218-2bl9b.html" target="_blank">The possibility of an island</a>).</div>
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The caretaker Cate was happy for us to spend the night on the island so we packed up our camping gear and mozzie coils and camped out by the beach under a full moon. We and the other boats in the anchorage were invited by Cate to meet at the fire-pit behind the A-Frame for a dinner of peacock stew! I'll try just about anything once and the peacock stew was delicious.
The closest I can compare it to is a strongly flavoured version of
turkey. </div>
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The island is a long boat ride from the mainland (two days sail if you stop overnight on the way) and so the residents have to be pretty much self sufficient. Like many other QLD islands, goats were introduced to Middle Percy in the 1800's to feed passing mariners, and the homestead also keeps bees, peacocks and chickens. Interestingly kangaroos were also brought to the island for food, a native introduced species. </div>
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We had a great night socialising with the other yachties and the island residents, and were talked into staying an extra day and visiting Cate in her homestead at the top of the island the next day. </div>
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In the morning, after waving off the visiting replica tall ship <i>Joshua C </i>from the lagoon, Cate offered to drive me up to the homestead in her ute, saving the poor pregnant woman the steep hour long walk. There have to be some perks to being up the duff, right??? We met the resident goats which, having been on the island for so long, are a really pure genetic strain which Cate is very proud of. She gave us tea and biscuits while we checked emails - you can access precious internet and phone reception from the mainland at the top of the island. We picked limes with backpacker Sarah who a week earlier jumped ship and has decided to stay for a while. We waved goodbye to Cate and the goats and went to visit resident Steve at the nearby "Rondavel", a circular stone house hand-built by previous residents of the islands. The steep but beautiful walk back down to the beach topped off a fantastic day. Not since visiting <a href="http://bassvoyager.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/three-hummock-island.html" target="_blank">Three Hummock Island in Tasmania</a> have we been to such a unique place so welcoming to sailors. Middle Percy's website is: http://percyisland.com.au/</div>
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The next day, getting very low on supplies, we reluctantly upped anchor and started the passage to Mackay, stopping overnight at Curlew Island. We're now stocking up on supplies and getting a few boat jobs done before we head into the southern Whitsundays over the next few weeks.</div>
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<i>Paradise</i></div>
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<i>The famous Middle Percy A-Frame - the Percy Hilton" - full of decades of memorabilia left by visiting yachts. We added our own little sign and felt suitable communal!</i></div>
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<i>The beautiful replica tall ship </i>Joshua C<i> careened against the jetty in the Middle Percy lagoon. Unfortunately the huge tides in the area mean only catamarans and boats able to careen up against the jetty are able to enter the lagoon and escape the swell outside!</i><br />
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<i>Cute MPI goats</i> </div>
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<i>A goat that thinks it's a dog</i></div>
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<i>Michael with resident Steve and visiting backpacker Sarah</i> </div>
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<i>Rows of coal ships off the Hay Point port South of Mackay</i> </div>
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<i>Flowering cane fields</i><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieCxzSP2jLAOC-bn3bcg0uiEi8MCV3x41Tdwp3WmgZHvWWol55DttkKwljWxsE9pHMKXtI6ipsHYdFE-tnU9tbCR-Md2-2GOHMNnGjPNhw-0CkifdbV8yB5VwBmASUnRKLMPHh6vK17lI/s640/IMG_1485.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieCxzSP2jLAOC-bn3bcg0uiEi8MCV3x41Tdwp3WmgZHvWWol55DttkKwljWxsE9pHMKXtI6ipsHYdFE-tnU9tbCR-Md2-2GOHMNnGjPNhw-0CkifdbV8yB5VwBmASUnRKLMPHh6vK17lI/s320/IMG_1485.JPG" width="320" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074087439098899802noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6975056527215548936.post-4972236585143658772013-06-29T10:59:00.000+10:002013-06-29T11:01:21.476+10:00North Keppel Island - Island Head Creek - The PercysAfter leaving North Keppel Island we made our way slowly to an anchorage called Freshwater Bay, part of the Army's training grounds which stretch around to Shoalwater Bay. While it's a convenient place to stop for the night you are not allowed to make landfall. There was some confusing activity involving three vehicles on the beach in the dark.<br />
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The next mooring we made for Island Head Creek and one of the most comfortable and beautiful places we have been in Queensland so far. With lots of mountains and lush mangroves it really was a great wilderness. Again being part of the Army's training area you can't go on land but we spent five days enjoying the fishing and very comfortable water. The weather was perfect each day and the fishing wasn't too bad except that the mud crabs seem to be hiding somewhere?<br />
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Leaving Island Head Creek we made for Hexham Island for a short overnight stop. The next day we made for South Percy Island. A very beautiful island with a great beach and rock pools. Unfortunately the Anchorage was very prone to surge with the 5 - 6m tides we were experiencing at the time. Moving to North East Percy Island the next day didn't improve much. <br />
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<i>Island Head Creek</i></div>
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Hexham Island<br />
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<br />Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09165597471411845575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6975056527215548936.post-77101279013641747402013-06-13T19:29:00.000+10:002013-06-13T19:29:04.861+10:00Keppel IslandsThis morning we set sail again after a week back in Yeppoon to sit out some less-than-perfect-weather and to have my 19 week ultrasound in town (baby is doing well, BTW). Before our return to the dock we spent a week out at Great Keppel Island, about 9 miles off the coast of Yeppoon. GKI has a reputation among yachties for beautiful but sometimes uncomfortable anchorages. <br />
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It didn't dissapoint on both counts. The main anchorage at Svendson's Beach on the north coast was very attractive with clear water and white sandy beaches. In calm conditions it was quite comfortable, but with any developed wind the swell strangely wrapped around the eastern point of the bay and caused all the boats in the anchorage to lie beam-to the swell. The pendulum motion of the mast working with the counter-weight of the keel is enough to make the more delicate among us despair!<br />
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<div class="uiStreamMessage userContentWrapper" data-ft="{"type":1,"tn":"K"}">
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent">We
rate the comfort of each anchorage is by how "cat-slidey" it is, i.e.
by how much Kitty slides back and forth across the cockpit floor! Our last night on GKI was appallingly uncomfortable with
the cat-slidey rating </span></span><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent">way </span></span>off the chart. Being
pregnant doesn't help, and in the end my only choice was to move into the
v-berth where I could wedge myself in with pillows and lee-cloths and
resign myself to fitful dreams of buying a catamaran.</span></span></div>
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<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent">Anyway, we are now on a mission to perfect the technique of "bridling" the boat to turn the bow into the swell - this makes things MUCH more comfortable. There is a good diagram on this blog to describe how this works: www.sailblogs.com/member/ashiya/?xjMsgID=45509</span></span></div>
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<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent">So tonight we are spending the night a few miles north of GKI on North Keppel Island, and debating whether to push off tomorrow towards Island Head Creek, or to spend an extra day here, getting some more work done and exploring.</span></span></div>
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<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent">There's a fair chance that we will be out of mobile range on and off for the next week or two as we make our way north through the uninhabited Shoalwater Bay area, through the iconic Percy Islands, and on to our next stop in civilisation - Mackay. </span></span></div>
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<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent"><i>Yachties have set up a fantastic picnic/campfire area on the beach at GKI with a big sign saying "Everyone Welcome". I got lots of work done there, even with the view to distract me.</i> </span></span></div>
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<i>Bass Voyager and friends at anchor at Svensons Beach</i> <br />
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<i>GKI has some fabulous walks. We did a 3 hour circuit walk from Svendsons Beach to Butterfish Bay and Wreck Beach taking in gorgeous views and meeting wild goats along the way.</i><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074087439098899802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6975056527215548936.post-61591991013410599092013-05-31T12:29:00.001+10:002013-05-31T13:23:45.079+10:00Southern GBR to Yeppoon<div style="text-align: left;">
Well we finally left Hervey Bay behind after 7 months! Great to be back out here again. First stop was just up the road at Platypus Bay to scrape the layers of barnacles from poor old BV's hull and for some reason the entire rudder. We will have to haul out very soon, antifoul not looking so good anymore. <br />
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The weather looked pretty good for an over night passage to Lady Musgrave Island so we packed up and left at about 3:00pm to get to the Island. Over night winds we a bit hit and miss with waves and slight swell making for a slightly uncomfortable trip but at least it was only about 90NM. We decided to do 3 hour shifts instead of our normal 4 hour shifts for a change but later we both decided that wasn't successful - we both prefer the 4 hours on/off. We find 4 hours is just long enough to get a good rest even if you don't sleep.<br />
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Lady Musgrave Island is a small island formed inside of a coral reef with a lagoon deep enough for boats to anchor and escape the swell and waves just outside. It's like a small boat haven 50NM off shore and attracts a lot of boats (13 when we got there!). The entrance was man made and depending on which story you prefer it was either done by the Japanese during WWII (this seems to be the local legend) to provide shelter for their subs or by guano miners and/or fishermen in the 1890's. Either way, it's a pretty safe entrance with a well marked channel and plenty of water. Once inside you need to proceed cautiously as there are numerous bommies and good daylight (or a steel hull) is essential.</div>
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The weather wasn't great but we needed a few days to relax anyway and sort out some small issues on the boat (mainly to do with lack of storage for all this stuff we have). Six days later we found our selves wondering what happen to the last six days and decided it was time to push on. We needed to be at Yeppoon for Caitlin to fly to a work meeting in Melbourne in about a week. Fitzroy Reef was our next stop and like Lady Musgrave it is a lagoon with a great anchorage inside. Unlike Lady Musgrave it has no island and a natural entrance which is somewhat trickier than LM but once inside there are no bommies to dodge to get to the main anchorage area.<br />
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We had planned on staying at least two nights here but the weather forecast via VHF wasn't looking great (20-30kn with possible 35+ in a few days). Previous experiences (re <a href="http://bassvoyager.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/launceston-hobart.html" target="_blank">Fortesque Bay TAS</a>) had taught us that we needed to move now and stay ahead of the weather even though it would mean arriving a 3 or 4 days earlier than planned at Yeppoon. After one night at Fitzroy Reef we pushed on to North West Island to stop for the evening and rest. We then packed up at about 10pm and pushed on overnight to Rosslyn Bay Marina just near Yeppoon cruising past the Keppel Islands at first light. It's a very beautiful coast line here, much more dramatic than the Fraser Coast.<br />
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So here we are in Keppel Bay Marina just waiting for the stronger winds to die down and doing some more work on the boat. It's a very good marina fro the price and has great staff and very good amenities - highly recommended. Yeppoon is a small town just 10mins on the bus and has most of what you need. We are planning to head out to the islands on Saturday and spend about 10 days exploring the area.</div>
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<i>Sunset at Lady Musgrave Island</i></div>
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<i>Lady Musgrave Island coral beaches</i><br />
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<i>Inland on Lady Musgrave Island</i><br />
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<i>Apparently the sun sets every day at LMI and has to be captured every time</i><br />
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<i>See...</i><br />
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<i>Spotted Mackerel - about 85cm - good eating, pretty fresh!</i><br />
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<i>Kitty agrees.</i><br />
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<i>Dawn while passing the Keppel Islands</i><br />
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<i>Keppel Bay Marina.</i><br />
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<i>Huge (eagle?) nest atop a light pole at the marina</i><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074087439098899802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6975056527215548936.post-28648048315103250632013-05-14T12:48:00.003+10:002013-05-14T12:48:57.751+10:001 + 1 = 3Finally, after more than 6 months in Hervey Bay, we're sailing again!!<br />
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And best of all, there's an extra person on board! After 12 years together, and after everyone had just about given up on us ever taking the plunge into parenthood, we're having a baby!!!<br />
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Yep. It's at the same time the most profund and yet utterly mundane thing. Like joining an exclusive club that almost everyone else in the world is already a member of. And so exciting!!<br />
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The plan, as much as we allow ourselves to make plans these days, is to spend the next few months sailing north from Fraser Island (where we are now) to Mackay, island and reef hopping and exploring parts of the coast we've never been.<br />
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We'll then head back to Adelaide for 6 or 9 months to welcome baby among friends and family. <br />
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A few quick vitals...<br />
Due date: 6 November 2013<br />
NOT twins - phewf! <br />
Sex: not telling!<br />
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We're going to be out of internet and phone range for the next week or so as we sail out to Lady Musgrave Island and some of the southern parts of the Great Barrier Reef, but will touch base with photos and a proper update when we get to Yeppoon. Until then, raise a glass to the newest <i>Bass Voyager </i>crew member (cos god knows its only sparkling water at this end!)<br />
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Sorry, no photos today. Please blame our internet access - or lack thereof.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074087439098899802noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6975056527215548936.post-61490187210515372222012-12-29T20:13:00.001+10:002012-12-29T20:18:20.502+10:00Fraser IslandMichael spent the first three days of his precious Christmas leave installing a new windlass (anchor winch) - shiny! - to allow us to escape for a few days. Remember the problems we had with <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMDndMJmswcq7_0UIin-DQWFj6M0pC4zez3Bi1lgkJDzuN7J9DotRN0A42JCyiNFuYl7hJ4-G_nazd1H6bFBnHamQLqpRsdbFFUYg6gTnZyBsYvdKHEMypRN5tnS8gjKEc8Zw9KtQTOyY/s320/IMG_9417.JPG" target="_blank">the old one in Tassie</a>, and every anchorage since? Yes, that's how long Michael has been swearing at it and threatening to violently throw it overboard. Meanwhile I got <i>Bass Voyager</i> packed up, provisioned and ready to sail.<br />
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The feeling of throwing off the docklines again was awesome. We spent our first night at Moon Point and once the wind filled in we had a fantastic, fast sail up Platypus Bay at the northern end of Fraser Island. It is a sweeping, 30 mile stretch of white sand and crystal clear water fringed by sandhills and wooded bushland. We dropped anchor (sans swearing) at Lagoon Anchorage, about two thirds of the way up the bay. I'll let the photos speak for themselves, but straight up - its freakin paradise.... the nicest anchorage we've found on Fraser Island so far. We swam, explored the adjoining lagoon, Michael fished (caught a baby shark which we went all gaga over before releasing), we cooked, drank apple cider and watched the summer thunderstorms pass us by. So cool.<br />
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Counting down until we can do this full-time again... <br />
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Merry Christmas!<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074087439098899802noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6975056527215548936.post-64567927169104563672012-12-03T20:40:00.000+10:002012-12-03T20:40:30.217+10:006 weeks in Hervey BayWe've been in Hervey Bay for just over 6 weeks now and we've managed to squeeze in a fair bit over that time... mainly we've been getting to know the area and settling back into a more land-reliant existence.<br />
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Its quite an adjustment after a year underway, especially for Michael who is now back in the 9 to 5 (actually 8 to 5) grind. Ive been working too - Ive picked up two new contracts, one local and one national, and Ive also been doing a small business course.<br />
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After 7 days in HB we decided that "one week on, one week off" was more our style and so we went to Fraser Island with Michael's parents for a week! OK, so the trip had actually been planned well in advance... Fraser Island and spending time with Margaret and John was awesome, sittin by the pool, cooking delicious meals, 4WDing ... even getting stuck in the middle of the island for 6 hours when our car broke down!<br />
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Oh! And last weekend we flew over to the spectacular Lady Elliot Island to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary.<br />
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So yeah, the adventure hasn't <i>really</i> ended, has it?<br />
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The latest development is that we're moving into an apartment for a few months over the hottest part of the summer. Much as we love life aboard its hard for me to work effectively during the heat of the day and unfortunately the boat harbour here is also quite surgey at certain points of the tide, making things pretty uncomfortable for a few hours, twice a day. The apartment we've chosen is one block back from the marina and part of a resort, which means just one thing: POOL! And a perfect place for friends and family to come and stay - HINT HINT!<br />
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Well I could write many more words about everything we've seen and done in the last 6 weeks, but well... pictures/1000 words....you know...<br />
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<i>View along the Urangan foreshore</i><br />
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<i>The historic - and very long - Urangan Pier </i><br />
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<i>Friendly local </i><br />
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<i>Michael and his Dad John sailed Bass Voyager over to Fraser Island. Anchored off the Kingfisher Resort.</i><br />
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<i>Beautiful Lake MacKenzie on Fraser Island </i><br />
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<i>Our 4WDing adventure was going great until the transmission dumped all its fluid in the space of about 10 metres. In a mobile phone black spot.</i><br />
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<i>A passing car felt sorry for us and gave us beer! What a champ. </i><br />
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We managed to get a couple of text messages out to Michael's boss who
was able to get in touch with the island's only tow truck and
taxi driver. We all kept our sense of humour and actually had quite a
fun time hanging out in the bush ... until it started to get
dark... We were just resigning ourselves to spending
the night in the car when finally, after 6 hours of waiting (despite us giving our GPS coordinates!) the taxi driver found us and took us back to resort. The car got towed back (at great expense!) the next day and Michael was able to fix it without too much trouble. <br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Margaret on the deck of our lovely villa at the Kingfisher Resort.</i><br />
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<i>So last Friday was our 10 year wedding anniversary. Nothing could top the incredible year we've spent together, but we decided to give it a try! Michael got to sit in the cockpit for our flight to Lady Elliot Island. The flight was THRILLING, not scary at all, and such an amazing way to start the trip! </i><br />
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<i>View of Urangan Boat Harbour. Spot Bass Voyager?</i><br />
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<i>View to Fraser Island and the Great Sandy Strait </i><br />
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<i>Lady Elliot Island - a little spec in the ocean, 80kms off the coast. Paradise. </i><br />
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<i>Coming in to land over the fringing reef </i><br />
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<i>Lady Elliot is an eco resort and we were privileged enough to be there during bird nesting season. There were literally thousands of noisy, randy and completely entertaining noddys and terns nesting all over the island. </i> <br />
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<i>The snorkelling and diving was spectacular. The turtles were so friendly - bossy even! One of them followed us for about 10 minutes and practically demanded that we scratch his shell. We've never had such an interactive encounter with one of these usually shy creatures before... </i><br />
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<i><br /></i>
<i>November 23 2002</i><br />
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<i><br /></i>
<i>23 November 2012</i><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgknHuKnXnHD9GxktVyfVwuwNs3zlSlPEQ3kk2QA8tfA0duuXzZmnv79XrxxfaaqXstgo1BkC2lC9btoMllnKJjrW5gjx7jjomK1fR6UehM3dSGb3GfRtCxXUurJBjiipuAPkTbNMoV2zo/s1600/IMG_9638.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgknHuKnXnHD9GxktVyfVwuwNs3zlSlPEQ3kk2QA8tfA0duuXzZmnv79XrxxfaaqXstgo1BkC2lC9btoMllnKJjrW5gjx7jjomK1fR6UehM3dSGb3GfRtCxXUurJBjiipuAPkTbNMoV2zo/s320/IMG_9638.JPG" width="320" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074087439098899802noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6975056527215548936.post-72625911145030672902012-10-14T18:28:00.000+10:002012-10-14T18:28:03.484+10:00Hervey BayWell, we arrived in Hervey Bay four days ago after a difficult trip up from Moreton Bay - a lot of close-hauled sailing followed by bashing into headwinds under engine.
Damn northerlies!! This is why we hate keeping to a schedule, but we had
to get here in time for Michael to start his job, which he did on Friday.<br />
<br />
We sailed overnight up to the Wide Bar Bar - the notorious southern entrance to the Great Sandy Straits. The local volunteer marine rescue gave us GPS coordinates to help us safety cross the bar. The approach is really long and unpredictable and has the discouraging local name of "The Mad Mile". Well, we're always up for a challenge! We crossed without incident, but considering the messy surf to our left and scary shallow water to our right it was easy to see how nasty it would be in bad weather. Exhausted, we dropped the pick just inside the entrance in the calm waters of Pelican Bay.<br />
<br />
We spent the next few days winding our way up the shallow gutters of the Straits, timing our trip with the tides, fishing along the way and catching undersized mudcrabs. Its sooo beautiful here, and a pretty damn good consolation to the fact that we are going to be staying in one place for a while. The western coast of Fraser Island is densely wooded in parts with mangrove-lined creeks and high sandy cliffs. The beaches are clean and white and gorgeous. The water is WARM and turquoise blue. What a backyard!<br />
<br />
On our last night out the weather was atrocious, strong northerlies of course. There was no way we could make it over to Hervey Bay against wind and current before dark so we dropped our anchor out the front of the Kingfisher Bay resort on Fraser Island. This is where we will be taking Michael's parents in few weeks, so it was a good excuse to get off the boat and check out the facilities. They are very welcoming to boaties, and even have showers, a pool and a bar/restaurant that you can visit for free!
Well, the food and drinks aren't free, but you
can use the pool and showers for nothing. We drank cocktails by the pool before splurging and checking in to a hotel room for the night. Kitty took one for the team and kept watch on the boat, enduring the rough conditions. <br />
<br />
The next morning the winds had dropped and we walked down to the jetty to take our dingy back to <i>Bass Voyager </i>and head over to Hervey Bay. What a shock to see that poor old <i>Guppy </i>(our dingy) had gotten caught under the jetty in the bad conditions and torn one of her inflatable pontoons. She was filled to the brim with water, the oars and petrol tank were floating, and the outboard was precariously close to going underwater. We dragged her up onto the dock to drain her and then the two of us balanced tentatively on the remaining inflated pontoon and very carefully motored back to BV. That, coupled with our broken anchor winch (which Michael fixed three times back in Tassie), the tired engine, and the loooooong list of other maintenance jobs, suggests that its clearly time to stop for a while! 11 months at sea has taken its toll on poor BV, but she has taken such good care of us and she deserves some TLC in return. That's my big goal for the next couple of months, while Michael brings home the bacon.<br />
<br />
So here we are at the Great Sandy Straits Marina. Hervey Bay seems to have everything you could possibly need, and
the town of Maryborough is only a 30 min drive away. We drove there on Thursday to
check out its weekly farmers market and see what the local chandlerys are
like. Maryborough is very quaint with lots of historic
buildings, and is the birthplace of the author of Mary Poppins. Hervey
Bay itself has a beautiful esplanade which
stretches for 15kms (maybe more?). Bundaberg is an hour or so north, and Brissy is only 3 hours south. A great location really! BHB (Beautiful Hervey Bay - thanks Aunty Genevieve!) overlooks Fraser Island and at this time of year it is buzzing with tourists coming to see the humpback whales who give birth in the safe waters inside the island. Although known as Hervey Bay its really a chain of smaller villages called
Urangan (where we are), Torquay, Scarness and Pialba which have melted together over the years. A great place for a seaside holiday - hint, hint family and friends!!<br />
<br />
Now the reason that Ive taken a while to update the blog is that we had a bit of a shock on our second day here. Kitty went missing. We searched everywhere for her, checked all the other boats on our arm of the marina, called the council and all the vets, spoke to all our neighbours ... there was no sign of her. Our worst fear was that she had fallen in the water, and this was kindly exacerbated by a neighbour mentioning that fisherman had seen a bull shark in the harbour recently! We really feared the worst, and I was an emotional wreck. Its ridiculous how much I love that cat! It seemed so unfair - she'd come so far, including two Bass Strait crossings, only to disappear now!! By last night we were almost 100% convinced we'd never see her again, when at about 9pm Michael heard a little "gooong" sound (her weird little broken miaow) on the dock - sure enough it was Kitty, very hungry, but otherwise not a hair out of place. She got a very stern talking to as well as lots of cuddles. And she's been grounded. No more dockside excursions! Oh, and she's going to get a collar, bell and nametag, much to her disgust!<br />
<br />
So that's about it for now. Oh, except Michael started work on Friday and it went really well - we went out to dinner with his new boss Lawrie who is a top bloke and has helped us out with a cheap car - a Jeep that I have christened "The Green Machine". A 4WD will be great for exploring the area, lugging the dingy down to the Mary River to go fishing, and checking out Fraser Island.<br />
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Here are a couple of pics. You know its been a hard week when there are only a few to choose from! LOL, some people have real problems, eh?? ;o)<br />
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<i>Anchored behind the Tangalooma wrecks in Moreton Bay </i><br />
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<i>Michael caught this gorgeous little baby shark in the Great Sandy Strait. My only regret is I didn't touch him before Michael released him! Sandpapery, apparently. </i><br />
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<i>Windless morning in the GSS </i><br />
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<i>Hangin' by the "day-visitors" pool at the Kingfisher Bay Resort </i><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074087439098899802noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6975056527215548936.post-38221530925206551672012-10-01T17:46:00.000+10:002012-10-01T19:31:27.166+10:00Beached Az! - Passage to Moreton BaySometimes in the sailing life, despite best laid plans and all due diligence, things just don't go as planned.<br />
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At dawn this morning we left a lovely anchorage at Jumpin Pin just north of the Gold Coast at South Stradbroke Island. The eastern channel from the Broadwater to Moreton bay has a couple of very shallow patches, but we'd been told it is much prettier than the main channel and from the look of the charts we would have enough water for our 2 metre keel. We timed our departure with the rising tide as we knew at least if you run aground the water will rise a bit more and pop you right off again!<br />
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Long story short, we ran aground. Oh, the shame. At least this time Michael was at the helm, not me! There is nothing worse than feeling the boat lurch to a stop with a "chhhhhhhhhhhhhh" sound as the keel digs into the sand. Annoyingly we were following the charts and were right in the middle of a marked channel. Our big mistake was getting to the shallow patch a little too early in the tide.<br />
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We tried reversing and motoring forward but BV was stuck tight and leaning over at a 15 degree angle. Michael sounded around the boat with our portable sonar to find a safe path out, and then we ran the anchor out using the dinghy and with a combination of the anchor winch, engine power and the rising tide we got free.<br />
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We were surprisingly calm through the whole experience and worked together well to get us out of the situation. The weird thing was, three other boats came pass while we were stuck and not one of them checked to see if we were OK. Who would do that?<br />
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The rest of the passage was fine. Michael scoped our course ahead using our handheld sonar and I followed a few hundred metres behind. The feeling of entering the deeper water of Moreton Bay was a huge relief and we cracked up laughing about the crazy experience.<br />
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One thing's for sure, the life we've chosen is never boring!<br />
<br />
Anyone with a similar draft should consider taking the main channel, or moving with a big high tide over the shallow parts of Tipplers/Canipa Passage. <br />
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We're now anchored at North Stradbroke Island and planning our next move.<br />
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<i>Slipping Sands anchorage, about 30 seconds before we ran aground. No, we weren't distracted and taking photos!!! Well, Michael wasn't....</i><br />
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<i>A grey and rainy day in Canipa passage. </i><br />
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<i>The last guy that ran aground. </i><br />
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<i>Anchorage on North Stradbroke Island. This is a great spot. Hard to believe that Brisbane is just over there! </i><br />
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<i>Baby mangrove </i><br />
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<i>Beachcombing </i><br />
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With all of the excitement of the last week we have neglected to tell you about meeting up with our friends Kim and Kim from <i>Captain Silver</i> who we met in Tassie earlier this year, first in Stanley on the North West Coast of Tasmania where <a href="http://bassvoyager.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/stanley-devonport.html" target="_blank">we weathered 55 knots </a>together on the Stanley Dock. They headed south down the west coast, as we headed east along the north coast. The second time we crossed paths was two months later as we were <a href="http://bassvoyager.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/launceston-hobart.html" target="_blank">speeding from Launceston to Hobart</a> to meet Caitlin's flight back to Adelaide for Imogen's engagement party, and the Kims were heading north, back to their home in the Gold Coast hinterland.<br />
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We had such a great day with you guys - thank you so much! There is nothing better than exploring a place with locals who know all the best spots. We cant wait to see you again. <br />
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<i>Picnic lunch near Mt Tambourine (is that right Kim?)</i><br />
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<i>Exchanging cruising stories and comparing war wounds </i><br />
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<i>View from the St Bernard Hotel, with its beautiful garden </i><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074087439098899802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6975056527215548936.post-53369366622159260452012-09-28T19:32:00.000+10:002012-09-28T19:45:45.303+10:00News - Hervey Bay ahoy!Four days ago I emailed Michael a job advertisement - as I sometimes do - fully expecting him to say - as he usually does - "nah, its not for me." Instead he said "hey, I could do this!" and sent in his CV. Three hours later Michael received a call from the boss saying "you are perfect for the role, lets meet". Yesterday we hired a car and drove the four hours north to the town of Hervey Bay on the Great Sandy Strait, and overlooking Fraser Island to scope out the place and have an interview.<br />
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Long story short, Michael got the job. Its perfect for us. Although we had planned to cruise for a couple of months more before stopping, the job is in the exact area we were looking at to settle in and get some much needed boat work done. The pay is good, the location is gorgeous, and the potential for weekend and holiday sailing around the area is really attractive - the Great Sandy Strait for starters, and the southern islands of the Great Barrier Reef. Plus its only 3 hours from Brisbane!<br />
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We've sorted a marina berth at the <a href="http://goo.gl/maps/eNrom" target="_blank">Great Sandy Strait Marina</a> in the Urangan Boat Harbour and will spend the next two weeks sailing up the coast.<br />
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A great bonus is that Michael's new boss Lawrie is totally happy for us to meet Michael's parents in late October and take them over to Fraser Island as planned - its all fallen beautifully in to place.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074087439098899802noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6975056527215548936.post-87001122031943616272012-09-23T19:09:00.000+10:002012-09-23T19:09:44.842+10:00The Gold CoastVisiting the Gold Coast by water is totally different to doing it by land. Oh sure, there are the kazillion-story highrises, pumped-up leather-skinned men in fluoro green budgie smugglers and dickheads on jetskis... but we've been lucky to see a different side to the Goldie to our previous visit about 8 years back (Isabella - do you remember???)<br />
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After a day or two in Bums Bay (which was surprisingly relaxing, with its contrasting backdrop of the Gold Coast skyscrapers and coastal scrub) my sister Imogen and her fiance Michael (yes, confusing - we call them Michael One and Michael Two) flew in for a friend's wedding. They put us up in their hotel for a night down at Nobbys Beach which was great because it was off the main drag at Surfers Paradise and had great views down the coast to Burleigh Heads. It also meant we could catch up on all our laundry - joy! After drinking A LOT and being denied entry to the hotel pool by a creepy caretaker around 9pm we scrambled down on to the beach and stumbled around like Schoolies, before coming to our senses and marvelling at the warm water, bright stars and dramatic GC skyline.<br />
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Two days later (after recovering from our crashing hangovers) we met up with Imogen and Michael Two again and drove 30 minutes south to the coastal town of Currumbin to check out the Swell Sculpture Festival - a beachside display of works from over 50 artists. It was a perfect QLD day: bright, bright blue skies, sunshine hot enough to burn if you let it, the coastline misty from the surf-spray - aahh! Its so good to be here. <br />
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To top off their visit, on Thursday we broke with <i>Bass Voyager</i> tradition, dressed up and went to a restaurant called <i>Glass </i>at the Southport marina (think Sheraton and Versace hotels - yikes!) and met Imogen and Michael's friends Tracy and Josh who were just married a few days earlier. We had a lovely night. Great company, amazing food and wine. Thanks Imo and Mike - we loved seeing you!<br />
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Two days ago we decided to up-anchor from Bums Bay and head a little further up the Broadwater for a change of scene. We're now anchored off the beach at Paradise Point, trying to have a sense of humour about the jetskis, power boats and waterskiers flying by dangerously close to us! On the up-side, the township here is really nice - cafes and shops along wide beachfront parklands. <br />
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Yesterday was a great day. A new friend of ours, Ron from the yacht <i>Stormalong, </i>who we first met back at Pt Stephens, picked us up for a day touring the GC hinterland with his wife Sue. First they took us to a farmers market at Nerang where we stocked up on beautiful local produce and, much to Michael's delight, experienced green olives stuffed with cheese, crumbed and deep fried - ON A STICK! Genius.<br />
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After that they drove us up into the hills above Mudgeeraba at a place called Mt Nimmel. Ron and Sue bought their property in the 1970's and have split their time between sailing the south pacific and raising their kids in this truly idyllic spot, 500 metres above sea level overlooking Burleigh Heads and the Gold Coast. It so was fantastic to see a different side of the region outside the craziness of the tanned bubble-men and meter-maids!<br />
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Over the next few days we're catching up with some other sailing friends before pushing on to BrisVegas, hopefully in time to find an anchorage and catch <a href="http://www.brisbanefestival.com.au/events/view/sunsuper-riverfire" target="_blank">Riverfire </a>over the weekend.<br />
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<i>View from Bums Bay</i><br />
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A selection from the Swell Sculpture Festival at Currumbin <br />
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<i>Ghost dogs...</i><br />
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<i>Imogen and Michael</i><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<i>Views from the hotel at Southport </i></div>
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<i>Scary, enormous, unfinished mansions on the Sovereign Islands near our current anchorage </i><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074087439098899802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6975056527215548936.post-18964576635247441602012-09-12T16:33:00.003+10:002012-09-19T14:24:49.437+10:00Bums Bay, Gold Coast, QLD10 months and 3000 nautical miles and we're finally in Queensland! Phew. Surely there's an easier way...!<br />
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I love the name of this anchorage. Its officially "Marine Stadium" but locals call it "Bums Bay" because mooring here is free and all the ritzy yachts (i.e. not us lot!) pay big bucks to moor down south in front of the expensive marinas, casinos and five star resorts. Apparently there are proposals to develop the bay into a private marina, but most locals want it retained for the bums who love it just the way it is. All power to them. <br />
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So anyway, we're here! Its been an amazing, fun, incredibly challenging journey so far, and its a bit overwhelming to think about how far we've come in such a very ... very long time! ;o)<br />
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We have a few social engagements over the next week or so - lots of
friends to catch up with plus my gorgeous sister and her fiance are
flying in for a friend's wedding - perfect timing! So we'll be around here for the next little while, before deciding where to go next.<br />
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<i>Motoring into the Gold Coast this morning over silky-calm seas... </i><br />
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<i>Last week Michael bottled his first precious home brew (Coopers of course)</i><br />
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<i>Can anyone tell me what kind of bird this is? </i></div>
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Hawk? Eagle? Very pretty bird - he moved on to BV while we were in Port Macquarie but really overstayed his welcome by dropping gory bits of fish he'd caught on the deck and crapping all over the place! Plus after three weeks I was seriously over his intensely piercing <i>squark</i>... damn nature is annoying sometimes!</div>
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<i>Update: ian.eco tells me this is probably a young White-bellied Sea Eagle - thanks Ian!</i> </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074087439098899802noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6975056527215548936.post-7043047192730608262012-09-04T17:18:00.001+10:002012-09-04T17:22:05.433+10:00Coffs HarbourWe just completed a fantastic two day passage from Port Macquarie to Coffs Harbour and are now anchored just off the historic Coffs Jetty (check out the new "Where is Bass Voyager?" map on the right). <br />
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After the excitement of <a href="http://bassvoyager.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/port-macquarie-nsw.html" target="_blank">our arrival</a> at Port Mac we left no "i" un-dotted in planning our departure. Tides were calculated and recalculated, weather forecasts deconstructed and reconstructed. Of course it was a complete anti-climax: not a ripple on the bar. How boring!<br />
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It was a "sitting-on-the-rail-dangling-your-feet-in-the-water" kind of passage: warm, sunny, good winds, calm seas - bliss! We overnighted at Trial Bay near where we went <a href="http://bassvoyager.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/south-west-rocks.html" target="_blank">diving last week</a>, before setting out again at the crack of dawn as the sun rose over calm, misty seas. Today we sailed close-hauled up the coast past Nambucca Heads to Coffs, running a gauntlet of humpback whales along the way, including this little guy...<br />
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To top off the trip, Michael caught a large bonito as we approached Coffs Harbour - Kitty was most impressed!</div>
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There is some strong northerly weather coming through the next few days so we will chill out here and look for an opportunity to head to Yamba and the Clarence River. Bye for now!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074087439098899802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6975056527215548936.post-82649865800189982602012-08-29T16:01:00.001+10:002012-08-29T16:01:29.411+10:00South West RocksWe are still in Port Macquarie, waiting for the weather to change so we can head north again.<br />
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Yesterday we hired a car and drove up to South West Rocks - a town about 1 hour north of here. We had hooked up the <a href="http://www.southwestrocksdive.com.au/" target="_blank">South West Rocks Dive Centre</a> to take us out to the famous Fish Rock Cave where we could dive with Grey Nurse Sharks. After launching at the boat ramp in the Macleay river we sped over the river bar and around the headland towards Fish Rock. What would usually be about a 30minute trip took much longer because we had a few visitors along the way! Three humpback whales, including a baby, approached us about half way across from the mainland. Not content to just check us out and leave, they began to put on an amazing show, broaching, slapping their tails, and rolling onto their backs and slapping the water with their fins. It was an AMAZING sight. The captain cut the engine into neutral and we drifted in the current for about half an hour as they stayed right alongside and playing around. They were completely uninterested in leaving us alone - they just follwed the boat as it drifted towards Fish Rock, popping up on one side of the boat, and then the other. It really felt as if they were showing off - to us or each other, Im not sure! Both the crew on the dive boat commented that they had never experienced such an long and active display. It was something I will never forget - everyone on board agreed it was a pretty special experience.<br />
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Amazingly, our day had only just started! Once moored at Fish Rock we kitted up and a group of us, led by dive guide Mike, descended into the rocky gutters beneath the boat. The visibility was fairly poor, but it didn't matter as we immediately spotted Grey Nurse Sharks, patrolling sleepily along the gutters. These fierce looking critters are actually harmless, but their ferocious look has meant they were mistaken for man-eaters and are now endangered. <br />
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After a surface interval we descended a second time to conquer the famous Fish Rock Cave. The cave is about 125 metres long and runs right through the small rocky island. Its entrance is a triangular hole at the end of a gravelly gutter at about 25 metres deep. The entrance is guarded by schooling bulls-eye fish, and it is quite a bizarre feeling to enter the darkness, pushing through a curtain of hundreds of these pretty sentinels! <br />
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With the dive guide in the lead, we switched on our torches and filed into the cave one by one, following a narrow passageway into complete darkness. The inside was rocky, and quite bare except covered with pink and brown algae. The cave roof opened up above us, but remained quite narrow for about 20 metres until we reached a "chimney" leading up to the next level. there was a large crack extending from the floor, up the chimney. Inside were at least 10 huge painted crayfish. We slowly ascended the chimney, controlling our buoyancy as we went. Large blue gropers and hundreds of other fish call the cave home. Soon a blue glow appeared ahead and the magnificent silhouette of two grey nurse sharks and hundreds of fish appeared at the exit of the cave. On the swim back to the boat we saw Eagle Rays, and more sharks. <br />
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A great day, and we can definitely recommend South West Rocks Dive Centre - they were very professional and fun.<br />
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PS I asked a local guy why the town is called South West Rocks when it is neither in the south, or the west. Apparently when James Cook spotted it, it was SW - from his position in the north east. So there you go. Its all relative. <br />
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<i>Michael's video of our amazing whale encounter</i><br />
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<i>A few still images</i><br />
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<i>Video with the Grey Nurse Sharks (and friends) at Fish Rock</i><br />
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<i>Map of Fish Rock Cave - courtesy of SWRDC</i><br />
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<i>Cave exit</i><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074087439098899802noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6975056527215548936.post-21672160908838936092012-08-26T13:46:00.000+10:002012-08-26T13:51:03.634+10:00Port Macquarie NSWAnother overnight sail saw us arrive at Port Macquarie on the 16th at about the right time recommended for a safe bar crossing. After speaking to Marine Rescue and getting some advice we were quietly confident. The winds were light, swell was low and the Marine Rescue operator said the bar looked pretty good. We watched a few motor boats pass through with ease. We had asked the Marine Rescue operator if we should follow the leads and were told "I can't tell you not to follow the leads" - not exactly what you want to hear at this point. We looked and looked and looked for the leads but could only find one of them? Consulting the charts showed the approach that the leads would have suggested but looking at the surf it was not going to happen. We waited until we thought the last of a larger set of swell had finished passing and made a run for it. We got it a bit wrong.<br />
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The boat was grabbed by some breaking waves and shoved from about the centre of the channel to the northern side and way too close to the breakwall. Luckily<i> Bass Voyager </i>has a great sense of self preservation and didn't allow herself to be over powered. Caitlin steered her hard left as I shouted directions from the deck - I had a much better appreciation of the conditions from there. (<i>Caitlin here - what he means is I was freaking out inside the cockpit! I don't get scared often when sailing. This time I was scared.</i>) It was all over in a matter of a minute and we were safe and sound inside the channel. On reflection we should have waited and studied the wave patterns longer before making our run. We caught the last wave of the larger set rather than coming in just after it. At least we know how well our boat can cope with some serious surf on the stern.<br />
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A few days later we met Caitlin's Mum at the airport and checked into a hotel called Macquarie Waters where we made the most of free wireless internet and free washer and drier (a novelty when you live on a boat!). We hired a car and explored the local region including the Ellenborough Falls and the Camden Haven area.<br />
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We saw Bev off at the airport this morning and now we are back home on <i>Bass Voyager</i>. We are waiting for the weather so that we can make our next passage up to the Clarence River and Yamba. In the meantime we're going to go scuba diving on Tuesday at the famous Fish Rock Cave which is just north of here. <br />
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<i>Kookaburra at </i><i>Kooloobung Creek Nature Park, Port Macquarie</i><br />
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<i>Fruit Bat colony at Kooloobung Creek Nature Park, Port Macquarie</i><br />
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<i> Michael and Bev on the roof of the Macquarie Waters hotel. The weather has been spectacular</i><br />
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<i>Checking the conditions of the Port Macquarie Bar - reconnaissance for our departure</i> <br />
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<i>Bev and Caitlin on the foreshore at Pt Mac. </i><br />
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<i>Visitors and locals have painted all the breakwall rocks. There's a lotta love out there for Port Macquarie.</i><br />
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<i>Ellenborough Falls - one of the highest single drop falls in the southern hemisphere.</i><br />
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<i>Spectacular view of Camden Haven from the top of North Brother Mountain. This is also a sky diving launchpad. </i><br />
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<br />Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09165597471411845575noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6975056527215548936.post-44712898461320878972012-08-08T21:37:00.000+10:002012-08-08T22:14:58.067+10:00Nelson Bay, Port Stephens, NSWToday we went diving for the first time in many months. Fly Point at Nelson Bay is apparently one of the best shore dives in Australia. Well, as South Australians we have Rapid Bay to compare to, sooooo...... OMG it was fantastic. a) we haven't been diving for AGES. b) the water is WARM !!! <span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span>What a difference 100 nautical miles makes! 4 degrees Celsius apparently. c) beautiful soft corals and colorful sponges, big blue gropers, free-swimming rays, nudibranches, crayfish... d) today we saw the largest flathead THAT EVER LIVED. Bom-Bom-BOM! Seriously. Photo evidence below.<br />
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The amazing thing about this part of Oz is it is the temperate waters start to integrate with the tropical waters. We have hundreds of dives under our weight-belts and today we saw fish we've never seen before. Soooooo great to be back in the water!<br />
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PS Michael to our cat: "Kitty, the world is good, you just need to know where to find the good."<br />
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Here's a few photos from today. As it was our first dive in a while I didn't bother with strobes or anything. It was a point-and-shoot kinda dive, so be kind! <br />
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<i>World's biggest pufferfish - 50cm-ish!</i><br />
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<i>These guys were everywhere, chillin' in the basket sponges. </i><br />
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<i>Slightly blurry photo of a big Eastern cray.</i> <br />
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<i>1 metre Wobbygong</i>.<br />
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Michael and the biggest flathead we have ever seen. We mistook it for a wobbygong shark to begin with! Well over 1 metre length. What a beauty. Tell Tony Abbott: marine parks clearly don't work... ;o)<br />
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<i>Pretty fishies. </i><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074087439098899802noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6975056527215548936.post-18233145808742699852012-08-05T14:09:00.001+10:002012-08-06T09:16:17.131+10:00Hawkesbury River - Pt StephensWe've just arrived at Nelson Bay in Port Stephens after a pleasant moonlit overnighter from the mouth of the Hawkesbury River. We had such an awesome time in the Hawkesbury/Cowan
Creek/Broken Bay area, and felt really lucky to explore it
during Winter while it is relatively quiet. Best of all we got to spend
lots of time with our new friends from the other side of the world Kathy and Jeff from <a href="http://www.svbeatrix.com/" target="_blank"><i>SV Beatrix</i></a>. <i>Beatrix </i>has sailed all through the South Pacific on its way from the US - really inspiring. Oh, and we saw Southern Right Whales near Dangar Island - that was a thrill!<br />
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On Friday we all hopped on a train back into Sydney to go to the Sydney Boat show - WOW. It made the Adelaide boat show seem like a few tinnies and three guys selling cheap fibreglass polish! We spent the day climbing all over incredible luxury yachts and trying not to feel like we were "cheating" on <i>Bass Voyager</i>. After resisting spending money in the football field-sized trade halls we celebrated by going out for dinner at Darling Harbour with <i>Beatrix</i> and our friends from Adelaide on <i>Wind Warrior</i> (we've discovered that yachties often get called by their boat's name, not their real names, which not for the first time makes me want to change "BV" to something prettier! Sorry BV. We love you just the way you are.)<br />
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It was a great way to end a really fun day - watching the sun set over the superyachts and men in striped shirts and boat shoes.<br />
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We'll probably hang around Pt Stephens for a week while I finish off my work project, then north to meet my Mum who's flying in to Pt Macquarie.<br />
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Here are a few photos from the last week.<br />
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<i>Cowan Creek is full of these really beautiful and unusual trees which look like they are growing right out of the rocks. They are called Angophora and grow out of the soil, then spread out onto the rocks before shooting straight up. The next four photos are from our favourite spot in Cowan Creek - Jerusalem Bay. We returned there three times.</i><br />
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Our friends on <i>SV Beatrix</i>. Not a great shot of Jeff and Kathy, but a good one of <i>Beatrix</i>!<br />
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<i>Perving on yachts at the Sydney International Boat Show. </i><br />
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<i>Taken thirty minutes ago, tied to the public berths at Nelson Bay Port Stephens. We're allowed to stay here for free for three days for free. Bargain!</i><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074087439098899802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6975056527215548936.post-59291353865428885742012-07-19T20:27:00.001+10:002012-07-19T20:27:57.934+10:00Cowan Creek - Brooklyn - Hawkesbury River<div>
We spent three nights at a beautiful spot called Jerusalem Bay, down Cowan Creek in the Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park. According to our guide book this area is "loved to death" during the summer, but in winter its fantastic - we've largely had the place to ourselves, except for some local fishos and a few bushwalkers. The weather has been gorgeous - perfect sunny winter days and cold, clear, calm nights.<br />
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It was the perfect place for me to work. Full internet access, mobile coverage... I feel incredibly spoiled - here are a few views from my office window. <br />
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And here is my chief finance officer procuring dinner.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwc-voMLzCVvuDd0PnOC63u-sZUOUh_rXvicHYLo0kPzoErubK5pcqfzJ-4jv1FRulXg4TKMvmUXjSwyrt16eP5Bcse0gK868Z1qcNeEq1GpBdCI4XPaFqLOPTmv5cJM4jp-894uCK3Rt0/s1600/IMG_0024.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwc-voMLzCVvuDd0PnOC63u-sZUOUh_rXvicHYLo0kPzoErubK5pcqfzJ-4jv1FRulXg4TKMvmUXjSwyrt16eP5Bcse0gK868Z1qcNeEq1GpBdCI4XPaFqLOPTmv5cJM4jp-894uCK3Rt0/s320/IMG_0024.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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We're thinking of renaming <i>Bass Voyager</i> to <i>The Office</i> (just kidding) </div>
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7 on one mooring... Pretty sure this is illegal... <br />
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<br />
This week I also learned a new phrase - apparently we are now
"digital nomads" - which wikipedia describes as "individuals
that leverage digital technologies to perform their work duties, and
more generally conduct their lifestyle in a nomadic manner." <br />
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Yesterday we moved to the moorings just off the little community of
Brooklyn at the mouth of the Hawkesbury so I could catch the train into
Sydney today for a meeting. Brooklyn has a definite alternative arty vibe. Nice.<br />
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We've decided to stay around the area for a little longer as I have
another trip to Sydney next Tuesday, there is heaps to explore, and plus
there is a chance we will be able to catch up with our friends on <i>Wind Warrior</i> and <i>Bravado</i> which would be fantastic.<br />
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Bye for now! </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074087439098899802noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6975056527215548936.post-61728645775049277972012-07-14T15:45:00.002+10:002012-07-14T16:23:57.989+10:00Sydney - Hawkesbury River<div>
Today we left Sydney and pointed BV north again. It felt fantastic to get underway, but I surprised myself by getting a bit 'motional about leaving! Its not hard to see why it was hard to leave - we had a great few weeks in Sydney in an amazing central location (did Michael mention, for FREE?) explored the city, mingled with the arty student-types on Glebe Point Road, scoured second hand bookshops and wandered the fish markets, met some lovely people, and all round had a fabulous time. I think maybe after achieving the huge milestone of reaching Sydney and sailing under the bridge ... well it kinda feels like "Act 1" of our trip has come to a close. Which is pretty cool really, because that means Act 2 is about to start!<br />
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Today we had a fabulous sail into Broken Bay and we're now anchored on the north side of Dangar Island at the mouth of the Hawkesbury river. We had strong NW winds today and were sailing close hauled the whole way - I am still so impressed by how well BV sails to windward - just 30 degrees off the wind and we were scooting along at almost 6 knots. Not bad for a big steel yacht I reckon.<br />
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What a pretty area this is - so glad was never developed like Sydney Harbour just to its south. Huge parts of the bay are National Park, which we want to explore over the next week. The only complication of course is I have a work project to finish and money to earn, so I am fantasising about a secluded cove, somewhere down Cowan Creek in the Ku-Ring-Gai National Park WITH internet access (!) where I can put in my 8 hours each day while Michael catches fish and I'm serenaded by native songbirds. Hmm. I have high expectations of my Telstra wireless internet. We might end up back here near Brooklyn/Dangar Island.<br />
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We plan to stay in the area for the week, before aiming for our next stop at Lake Macquarie.<br />
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<i>Approaching the Bridge at dawn this morning</i><br />
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<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg-Jj7PwaZsgIdHezS2KplzCK3ascS7Uf6GKQEnrBLj3A-1JCWf80UtTzXllG1AsN1j3aKYiqbAcoW986k6Zuh0Nni8YOxJHua83uzEObsuUKMkbYXhyphenhyphenX3YT7kHsZqQR8ABnNoY5w2-Jo/" /><br />
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<i>Bye bye Sydney </i><br />
<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim75-DQUZ6NSM8dCHyfO7wfMdZekQ_xpCwcQAfsfsUtQK5o-AWbgqVkP6uKkn_HTnauM3iwX9ygo4wGZkQLFAvau763Ko702v7ZG_qp-h74Q98ISDpfa-slazrCH_lhhJKkCYXq3GYNNk/" /><br />
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<i>Our anchorage at Dangar Island </i><br />
<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl-jS3AhPifU0sY4tn5BxBxiRZpcic5nF6ejz1egux2iIGWOAPzXduQ3pNs4hgOTtpRffAj2J2RbFWvXFWVKM9CmM_cyQPcAlt756psIKNGVUhZfxlyiM5D8c_0PRAyM1fxeQkexn37xc/" /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074087439098899802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6975056527215548936.post-88282979325850325282012-07-08T16:42:00.000+10:002012-07-08T16:42:46.712+10:00Sydney Harbor - Rozelle Bay<br />
Well here we are in Rozelle Bay not five minutes from the Sydney CBD in a very well protected, surprisingly quiet and FREE anchorage! That's right, we now live, albeit temporarily, on Sydney Harbour with three hundred and sixty degree water front views, easy access to shops and public transport, did I mention we haven't paid a cent?<br />
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I am quite surprised that we have spent so long here as we had heard from other cruisers that's its a pain to stay here with Maritime NSW hassling boats who stay too long and what not. We have had a great time and enjoyed Sydney more than we expected. Caitlin has also picked up some contract work which will fit in well with our current lifestyle and provide some much needed funds to keep cruising in comfort.<br />
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The weather is getting better by the day and has improved dramatically since leaving the Jervis Bay area - days are much warmer when the sun is out, right now I'm sitting in the sun with a light Northerly blowing - feels about 20C. We are now feeling the urge to move on though and have Pittwater in our sights by the end of the week if we can get the right winds.<br />
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So a few maintenance jobs to do this week while Caitlin works (real work) and hopefully we will be posting from Pittwater some time next week.<br />
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Best thing about our anchorage? Fish market 5 minutes by tender! And cheap! <br />
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Wharf where we leave our tender to go 'sploring. Crap location... ;o)<br />
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People watching at our anchorage... <br />
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Only in Sydney...<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE8iZCuNtL0bhCMY9tpB0VkcBBr7WGDSdcvJOB9YQBT3QNiCyuNuozlQ38sbdZdee4yTdgiYTmGMWdw4bUvI07mwpRm8GsLjzdz9C0HKHuGsuRDMp60vNT75h-J-JPNQXl7TU0-faEiQSp/s1600/IMG_9914.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE8iZCuNtL0bhCMY9tpB0VkcBBr7WGDSdcvJOB9YQBT3QNiCyuNuozlQ38sbdZdee4yTdgiYTmGMWdw4bUvI07mwpRm8GsLjzdz9C0HKHuGsuRDMp60vNT75h-J-JPNQXl7TU0-faEiQSp/s320/IMG_9914.JPG" width="320" /></a>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09165597471411845575noreply@blogger.com0