Wednesday afternoon (14 July) I winched Richard up the mast as he wanted to check out the steaming light which had stopped working. This was just corrosion so with a quick clean and a spray it came back to life. Whilst there he checked out the fixings at the top of the whisker pole as, when we had tried to deploy it the other day in light airs, it was firmly stuck in place. So a bit of cleaning following by a coating of sailkote on the track and everything was fixed. And just in time because as I was bringing Richard back down to the deck it started raining and the wind switched north as forecast.

So we spent a few hours down below before the weather eased again and Richard decided to service the windlass while I just chilled out. We had a quiet night in.

Thursday morning very early, the wind had died away, so we took the opportunity to pull out the main sail as it didn’t appear have to furled properly the last time we had put it away. All was good and yet another gym workout for my upper arms on the winches. We ran the weather models again and the forecast now had northerly winds until Friday night so we decided to stay in Mackay marina until Saturday.

We then had breakfast, showered, and headed out on the bus to Mackay. We got off at the Caneland Central Mall and managed to tick everything off our shopping list – including new flip flops for Richard and a haircut for me – except the Netflix downloads. We had taken the computer with us as Mackay marina appears to be in a ‘dead’ internet zone and it was pretty poor most of the time. Well the Mall wifi was equally as bad so we did get a couple of films downloaded whilst we had lunch out but that was about it.

Oh yes and, of course, Richard just had to try a Crocodile Dundee hat adorned with genuine crocodile teeth. Not sure this really suits him LOL.

Late in the afternoon, having been out for most of the day, we returned to the marina and stopped off in the on-site tavern for a couple of cold ones before returning to Morphie for a quiet night in.

Friday morning we got cracking with boat jobs again. Whilst I was at the laundry Richard changed the oil filter; the oil; and the primary and secondary fuel filters. Good job! He also did a tidy up down below and some general departure preparation. We then had dinner on board before being tempted back out to the tavern by the sound of live music. The ‘group’ were really good and we had a very social (late) evening chatting to some locals. A really good time had by all and a very nice end to our stay.

Saturday morning we waited for slack low tide and left at 10.15 am going slowly through the exit to the marina into the main harbour passing the huge ship that was tied to the wharf.

We sailed in very light airs towards Brampton Island. On the way we saw humpback whales. They were quite a way in the distance (and too far away for photos) but this certainly put a smile on our face. So happy!

We had our anchor down by 3.20 pm in Maryport Bay having covered 21 miles. Whilst on the bow dealing with the anchor snubber we were welcomed into the bay by a lovely big turtle – such a shame we didn’t get a photo of him. We then watched the sunset and had a quiet night on board.

Sunday morning and the wind was howling but there was good holding in this anchorage although it felt a bit chilly. We got the outboard off the rail, dropped the dinghy, and installed the outboard. We then waited for the tide to come up so that we could get across the rocky shoreline and head ashore to check out the beach and the deserted luxury resort which had been abandoned to rot. There are custodians living on the premises to ensure there is no trespassing and, apparently, it is up for sale with planning permission to develop a 7-star resort. That would be an expensive project! Was interesting to see the power of nature at work though, particularly in the way it had smashed up the beach swimming pool. What was sad though was that there was a sting ray inside the murky waters of the pool and we wondered how on earth he had got there as the remains of the pool are above the high water mark.

We checked out the beach and then returned to Morphie where we had another turtle visitor welcoming us back on board. We also had to chase the seagulls away as they seemed to quite like sitting on our bow. We then watched a small aircraft coming into land on the tiny airstrip behind the resort before settling down to watch another spectacular sunset before retiring down below for the night.

At 8.45 am on Monday morning we picked up anchor and headed out on a slow downwind sail towards Goldsmiths Island. And suddenly we were treated to a whale show of slapping and breaching. OMG just amazing!

We carried on towards Goldsmith Island and then another two whales decided to check us out as they swam parallel for a short time. The whale encounter rules here in Australia are that boats are supposed to stay 300m away from them but guess no-one told the whales that LOL.

We arrived into Goldsmith around noon having covered 13 miles and were met by another turtle. As the wind had dropped off it felt a bit warmer so we rested up and waited for the tide to clear the fringing reef so that we could go ashore. Around 3pm we headed into the beach and had a couple of hours just sitting on the sand and enjoying the surroundings. So beautiful…. Back on board we got ourselves cleaned up, had dinner followed by a movie night.

Tuesday morning we left Goldsmith planning to stop at Thomas Island. The wind was just strong enough and on a reach so we were able to get both sails out and we had an amazing sail.

When we cleared the headland and turned into Thomas we realised that the anchorage was quite crowded and with a bit of a blow forecast to come through that night we decided to abort. So we turned around and headed to the next island Shaw. At this point we came across a whale and her new baby calf – she was quite content swimming along but then, suddenly, she turned towards us so we quickly motored away in the opposite direction LOL.

We arrived at Shaw Island at noon having sailed 16 miles. We then spent the afternoon on our own private beach enjoying the sights and sounds of this beautiful place and its surroundings. But this time the high tide was at the wrong time so we had to beach the dinghy and, during the afternoon, Richard had to pull him up closer a couple of times as the tide flooded in across the muddy/sandy bottom.

Then it was back to Morphie for another beautiful sunset before turning in.

Today, Wednesday, the wind is howling and is supposed to strengthen even further overnight so we are staying put. So I’m blogging while Richard is reading. We are expecting an influx of boats into this large anchorage today because of the weather and we have already got three new catamaran neighbours. Luckily the bay is large so there is plenty of room to spread out – although they do tend to stick together! We plan to move on tomorrow to take advantage of the southerly winds to get to the Whitsunday Island where we have found a bay that we can stay at for a few days to sit out a northerly blow which is supposed to come through on Friday night. As we go further north we are in credit-card captain territory as there are large charter fleets in the Whitsundays so we’ll just have to assume that nobody knows the “rules of the road”.

Anyway that’s it from us and we hope you are enjoying the blogs as we explore some of the beautiful Great Barrier Reef islands. Hope you are keeping well at home and enjoying your new found freedoms. Please stay safe and look after each other. We love and miss you all. So today we have another Australian bird – this time it is a laughing kookaburra.

Jan

Sunday (4 July) we awoke to a flat calm sunny day. What on earth is going on?!? We ran the weather models and it definitely looked like Monday was going to be the best day to move on so we quickly got into departure planning mode. We realised that Mackay Marina (which wasn’t on our radar really as an intended destination) was only a two hour drive away from Airlie Beach (which is where our 2nd Covid jabs were scheduled for on Tuesday 13 July). By going there and driving to this medical appointment, we could spent more time exploring other islands on the way north rather than running past them in a hurry. So, decision made, we contacted Mackay and got ourselves a berth and booked a hire car for the day too. Result! At the same time, we cancelled our booking at the fancy Airlie Beach marina / resort but they kept our ‘flexible’ deal open so we can just rebook when we get closer. So everything came together nicely.

We got together a list of what we needed to do and started working our way through it. First, we headed into town on the bus and picked up fresh fruit, vegetables, eggs and bread. We then headed back to the marina and into the laundry; downloaded some more Netflix content; and filled up with water. We then had a relaxing evening onboard.

Monday morning we got up very early and moved the outboard off the dinghy transom onto the rail. This was only possible because our marina neighbours were out fishing so we listened out for their engines as they left their berth and got this done as quickly as possible. We then ran the weather models again to make sure they hadn’t changed and, yes, it was still looking good. So I prepared the overnight passage food before heading to the marina office to tell them we were leaving earlier than planned whilst Richard did the engine checks. On my return we worked out our overnight route to Middle Percy Island and programmed that into the plotter. At 10 am we motored away. Despite being there for longer than we planned we enjoyed our stay at Keppel Bay and may well revisit when we return south later in the season.

Initially there was little wind but it kicked in a couple of hours later and we sailed away nicely. We had dinner together before going into our overnight shift patterns. It was a really dark and black night with only a tiny sliver of moon so the star show was absolutely fabulous. The wind was a bit flaky at times but, because we knew we would definitely arrive during daylight hours we didn’t mind, and continued sailing even when our speed dropped down to 3knots. But, despite it being a bit slow and a bit chilly, the sailing was absolutely great and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The wind died as we got close to the Percy Islands so we motored the last few miles.

We had our anchor down in West Bay, Middle Percy Island, by 9am on Tuesday morning having covered 107 miles in 11 hours.

We had just got settled when another boat came in and, despite there being lots of room, he dropped his hook virtually over our chain and then settled back sitting directly in front of us. We were not happy and Richard informed him over the radio what he had done. Although the guy picked up and moved (having four more abortive anchoring attempts before finally settling on a spot) he was definitely not happy and both him and his wife shouted at us as they went around the anchorage looking for alternatives. Hmmmm…..great! Never mind. Other boats started coming in during the day and it became quite busy but everyone stuck with the ideal diamond formation when anchoring and we were all quite well spaced out.

We caught up with some sleep before getting cleaned up and heading ashore. We visited the famous A-frame of Percy Island Yacht Club and had a wander around. The A frame reminded us of an early Foxys and Ivans in the British Virgin Islands. We also had a quick explore of the beach and the lagoon where a couple of boats sit high and dry at low tide.

We returned to Morphie getting a bit wet as we negotiated dink through the swell which is a constant feature on this beach. Later on we came ashore again (and got wet again LOL) for sundowners where we met a lot of other cruisers, including catching up again with the crews of SV Gypsy Soul (Matt and Grace) and SV Jaraman (Kat and Jerrad). Was a very social evening and great fun.

Wednesday morning we had a lazy start before heading ashore. We had decided to try to walk to the Homestead (where the unpaid custodians Robin and Ann live) but after about 45 minutes on an uphill rough sand / dirt track I gave up and turned back. Richard pushed on but he gave up shortly afterwards when he turned yet another corner and was faced with even bigger hills to climb LOL. So we decided to chill out on the beach and explore the Tree House (which is available for rent if you really want to get away from everything) before returning to Morphie.

We did come ashore again for sundowners in the evening. We also met Robin and Ann who had come down to the beach to meet the cruisers – they were cruisers themselves before deciding to apply to be custodians of this island for the Marine Parks. A very interesting and passionate couple who have great plans but, as all material has to be sourced on the island and nothing is allowed to be imported, they have a lot of very hard physical work ahead of them. Ultimately they would like to be able to offer adventure camping / cabin trips to disadvantaged teens – really hope that they can pull this off. When chatting to them we told them that I wasn’t able to do the trek to the homestead but would like to visit and Robin offered us a guided tour on Friday in his truck – we were really happy about that. Check out the beautiful sunset and Morphie glowing in the red sky at night.

Thursday morning we had a lazy day on board and it was lovely and sunny for a change with light airs – Richard even took the opportunity to sunbathe on deck for a little while. We decided that today was the day for us to take our boat plaque ashore and install it in the A-frame. Richard had made this (with only a little bit of assistance) whilst he was bored on a rainy day in Keppel Bay Marina.

So we found a spot and got it installed out of the direct sunlight so that it wouldn’t fade. Very pleased with the output. Richard was so happy he went and shucked and broke open coconuts for some fellow cruisers to have at sundowners that evening.

Friday morning we awoke to a grey and cloudy day. We went ashore for 9.30 am and met Robin. Ian (from SV Zatara) joined us on the beach for the tour so Richard and Ian climbed into the back of the truck while I got the front seat. We drove up and over the hills admiring the valleys; thousands upon thousands of butterflies; white cockatoos flying; noisy crows; wild goats; kangaroos; views out to other islands and down to coves. Just absolutely wild and beautiful. So pleased we got to see it.

We were then taken to the homestead and met Ann who had prepared some home made goat pate for us to try and also some starfruit and chilli relish with cheese. So along with a cup of tea we had a bit of a taster session and both products were so delicious I persuaded her to sell her first attempts to me! This was followed up by an apple cake which quickly got demolished. It was very generous of them both to invite us into their home and to treat us so royally.

We also got to meet their pet cockatoo – he has a particular illness which affects the growth of his feathers and he would probably not have survived in the wild – but he was found and adopted by them and now definitely rules the roost! He is quite demanding, particularly when cheese is on the menu, and he even rode in the truck with me on the way back down to the anchorage LOL.

Robin and Ann need to earn an income from the cruisers during the sailing season so they are looking at opportunities to use up surplus crops and Ann is trying her hand at making stuff to sell. She has already (in the 10 months onsite) learnt how to manage the bee hives and is now producing very good organic sweet honey which is sold in the A-frame along with a surplus of fruit; eggs and other merchandise (on an honesty system). We decided to support this great couple by joining the 400 other boats who have already become members of the Percy Island Yacht Club so we now have another flag on board LOL. Such a great place and a very special day.

Back on board we ran the weather models again. The wind was switching back to S/SE in the early hours so it was time to move on and we decided not to go ashore again. The anchorage had thinned out in the last day or two but had filled up again during the late afternoon. We set our alarm for 2am hoping for a 3am departure but, when we woke up, we realised that the wind and tide shift had meant that we really couldn’t tell in the inky black night where our anchor was. It was also so crowded with surrounding boats it would not have been safe to pick up. So our departure was aborted, we reset the alarm for 5am and went back to bed. At 5am we got ourselves ready to go at first light and by 6am we were heading out to sea as the sun came up. Of course the wind was stronger than expected with gusts up to 30 knots and we had large and lumpy seas so it was pretty uncomfortable for the first few hours with the boat rolling from side to side and it was cold! But then, as we got further away from the pull of the island, the wind moderated a bit and the seas flattened and we had an absolutely amazing fast downwind run. We had anchor down at Scawfell Island by 4.30 pm having covered 65 miles.

We anchored in quite deep water (allowing for a 13 feet tidal range) in the most amazing bay with a fringing reef. Just wow! So we enjoyed sundowners in the cockpit watching the sun go down before turning in for an early night.

Sunday morning we had a leisurely start. The wind was still blowing at up to 25 knots and it was chilly in the wind despite the beautiful sunny day. So the wind generator was definitely earning his keep! Later on we headed ashore in dink and walked the beach and just admired the spectacular scenery. These unspoilt marine park islands are just absolutely stunning and we hope to go snorkelling here one day if we ever do find some warmer settled weather….

Monday morning, by 7am, we were pulling out of Scawfell towards Mackay. The wind was much stronger than expected so we had quite a feisty run arriving into the main harbour (dominated by the sugar processing plants) and into the marina by 11.15 am having covered 28 miles.

The marina had no staff to assist us on the dock so we had to do this unaided – which we managed – but really don’t understand why they run these places with just a couple of young girls manning the office. Anyway, we got ourselves sorted out, and went to check in. They gave us a “pay three get four” nights deal so we were happy with that. Now it was time to clean Morphie as she was totally salt encrusted and to get the shore power connected. Having done some jobs we headed to the Marina Village Tavern for some dinner before returning to the boat for bed. The tides here are quite big so the slope on the dock is quite a challenge!

Tuesday morning we picked up our hire care – a true ‘rent a wreck’ which we were surprised was even legal LOL. Check out the rust!

Anyway it drove OK so we headed north towards Airlie Beach around 9am. We enjoyed the quiet main roads and the mountainous scenery along the way before arriving into Airlie Beach around 11am.

We did a quick shopping run to Woolworths and the bottle shop before then going to the chemist to get our prescriptions filled. The day before we had received them via email from our GP in Coomera so printed them off and presented them. But this wasn’t acceptable according to Australian rules so there was some conversation about how we would get round this. The pharmacist, in the end, contacted Coomera and got the originals sent to her so she was able to give us one month’s supply but no ‘repeat scripts’. Oh well, at least we’ll be OK for another month.

We then headed to the Whitsunday Doctors surgery for our 2nd Covid jabs. There was quite a line of people waiting but they were pretty efficient and we had them done together, then sat outside for 15 minutes to check for no ill effects, then headed over the road for some lunch. We then returned to the pharmacy to pick up our medications before starting the drive back to Mackay. All done and Covid vaccination certificates in the bag – woo hoo!!! Back on board we had a quiet night in.

This morning, Wednesday, and we have treated ourselves to breakfast out in the marina village cafe and I’m blogging while Richard catches up with the news. The weather gods have decided to not play ball again with the winds turning north so it looks like we could be here until Saturday but we have a list of jobs to do, as always, so no worries.

Hope you are all well at home and enjoyed the football, despite the sad result. What great efforts from the team though – I think the tabloid headlines just sums it up perfectly.

Take care everybody and sending lots of love and hugs coming your way. So it must be time for another iconic Australian animal to make you smile – this time it’s a happy emu.

Bye for now, Jan

Saturday (26 June) it rained all day….and all night…so we just stayed down below keeping warm and dry. During the evening the shore power tripped and, despite Richard getting pretty wet on the dock trying to sort it out it wouldn’t stay up, so we changed our fridge / freezer settings to maintain the battery bank overnight.

Sunday morning it was raining again….sigh….and it was very cold! Richard managed to get the shore power back on so that was good and, as a result, we were able to get the small heater out of the locker and sat down below keeping toasty warm wrapped up in joggers and fleeces. So another day of Netflix loomed. We had hoped to go to the marina restaurant to listen to the live band in the afternoon but, for obvious reasons, that didn’t happen.

Monday and it was still raining when we woke up. But by mid morning it had stopped so although it was pretty soggy we treated ourselves to lunch out at the Waterline restaurant. This on-site restaurant has Asian chefs so there is quite a range of food on offer – so Richard tried Malaysian and I had Vietnamese. And it was absolutely delicious. We were very impressed and, having been stuck on the boat for a few days, it made a really nice change. Later in the afternoon, as forecast, the wind picked up and was blowing a hooley so it was pretty creaky on board with all the lines pulling against the dock.

Tuesday morning and the wind was still howling through the marina. The sun was trying to break through but the forecast for the next week remained absolutely awful. So we extended our stay here in the marina again….sigh…. We were lucky, actually, as some boats that tried to extend were told they couldn’t as this place is pretty busy right now with people looking for respite from the unseasonal weather. Luckily no-one had booked our berth in advance. But this delay puts us under a bit of pressure to get to Airlie Beach where we have organised a berth in the local fancy marina and resort for a few days whilst we get our 2nd Covid vaccinations. Oh well, looks like more overnight sailing is in our immediate future LOL.

So another lazy day on board but at least the rain held off although we did lose our shore power again temporarily. Something for Richard to investigate more thoroughly at some point. During the day there was news of more Covid lockdowns here in Australia with areas both north and south of us involved. Luckily we had not been to any of the places listed so were unaffected by these new restrictions.

Wednesday morning we got the bus to Rockhampton (carrying facemasks just in case) to the large Stockland Mall were we did some banking. We had a number of old UK paper sterling banknotes on board (which will cease to be legal tender next year) and thought it was time we got rid of them so exchanged them for some more Australian dollars which topped up the kitty. We then returned to the marina for a quiet night in.

Thursday morning and we awoke to sunny skies. What?!? Had the forecast been wrong again? Could we have left as we originally planned? Then suddenly the winds died, the clouds built and the drizzle started, so we had another rainy day on board and we just lazed around after doing a little spring clean. In the evening we headed over to another boat where we had been invited to sundowners – was a really nice evening. But, trying to get photos for my blog and the camera whirred and died, so here is the last photo it will ever take!

Friday morning it was cloudy and grey but at least it was dry – so we had breakfast out at The Waterline (and I borrowed this photo as I had no camera!).

Afterwards we headed back on the bus again to the Stockland Mall to buy a new camera in JB Hi-Fi. We managed to get exactly the same model – in silver rather than black this time – so were very happy especially as we were given a discount because the display model was the last one they had of this camera.

The old camera had lasted three and a half years and with our heavy usage I guess that isn’t too bad for a point and shoot and the benefit of buying the same model is that we now have a spare battery for the new one. On the way back on the bus we played with the new camera so here is our bus selfie and a picture of all the fruit bats roosting in the trees near the Yeppoon river inlet.

Back on board and Richard investigated the shore power issue. It turns out that our transformer, which steps down from 220v to 110v, had got damp in its container and this is what had kept tripping the shore pedestal breaker. So Richard dried it all out and then fabricated a wood bracket inside the transformer’s box so that it is now elevated. Of course, it immediately worked when he reconnected everything together. Phew, that was definitely a relief! Overnight we had heavy rain again…sigh….but, thankfully the power stayed connected and Morphie is staying nice and clean too LOL.

This morning, Saturday, and yes it’s still raining. This is definitely getting tedious! We have decided to do an overnight passage from here to Middle Percy island which will take about 20 hours (at an average of 5 knots) and, so far, the conditions are looking favourable for a Tuesday late morning departure. So we are currently planning on that basis and keeping all things flexible crossed. And this is what we are hoping to find there!

As I write this, the short three-day lockdowns in Queensland have been lifted apart a short extension for those in the Brisbane and Moreton Bay areas. But New South Wales appear to be struggling to contain this latest outbreak so lots of residents are under strict ‘stay at home’ orders and interstate borders remain firmly closed for the foreseeable future. So while the rest of the world continue to roll out vaccines as quickly as possible and try to get some normality back Australia is taking a different path and is continuing to isolate itself. Interesting times or what?!?

Anyway, that’s it for now. Keep safe everybody and take care of each other. Sending lots of love and hugs, so here are a couple of Australian possum cuties to make you smile.

Jan

Saturday afternoon (19 June) Chris and Sharon came onboard Morphie for sundowners. They supplied the food and drinks and we supplied the cockpit LOL. Was a lovely evening and I thoroughly enjoyed the bubbles! Thanks.

Sunday morning we headed ashore to Great Keppel Island after breakfast. We went exploring up the little creek at one end of the anchorage and spoke to the guy who lived on the trimaran that was happily sitting in the mud. We then headed to the other end of the beach and found quite a few sunbathers who had managed to find a warm sunny spot out of the cold wind. We wanted to go around to the resort and found a cliff path which, for the first part, had a rope hanging down to help people climb up. So we decided to go for it!

I managed to get to the top and then we walked through the bush, down to the beach, and finally to the resort where we enjoyed the sights from this vantage point.

We came across Chris and Sharon so joined them for a coffee before we all made the trek back and said our sad farewells. Back on board we rested up and had a quiet evening aboard.

Monday the weather changed again with strong winds forecast for the next few days so we decided that this was as good a time as any to head into the Keppel Bay Marina over at Rosslyn Bay on the mainland. But first we headed to our neighbour in the anchorage as Greg (who we had met in the Boatworks) had helped the owners of this boat bring it up the coast. So was lovely to catch up over a cup of tea with him.

Back on board Morphie we picked up anchor and timed our arrival into the marina for a couple of hours after low tide so that we would have enough depth in the entrance channel. This worked out great and we were given assistance on the dock and got ourselves settled. We washed all the salt off Morphie, checked in, and then had a wander around the facilities. Whilst we were in the office we found out that there was no nearby car hire company so we would mainly have to rely on the local buses to get out and about. To celebrate our safe arrival here in Rosslyn Bay we headed over to the local yacht club for a couple of cold ones but we didn’t stay long as it was pretty cold out on their deck!

Tuesday morning we got the bus into the local town of Yeppoon. We did a bit of shopping for the freezer (wanting to freeze stuff down whilst we were attached to shore power) and walked between two small shopping malls. We had some lunch out in the food court before heading back to Morphie on the bus. All very exciting!

Back at the marina we did some laundry and sat outside the on-site restaurant (which closes at 2pm on weekdays) so that we could use the wifi. We did some downloads but it was a really slow internet speed and we found it very cold in the strong and biting winds so we definitely didn’t linger longer than necessary. Back on board I checked our general grocery supplies and then did some on-line shopping for a ‘click and collect’ service from the local supermarket in preparation for our run into town with the marina’s courtesy car on Wednesday. We then started to plan our next anchoring stops on our run north. We also ran the weather models again and were seriously unimpressed by the forecast! There was the possibility of a reasonable Thursday and Friday (although a chance of showers), then a wet weekend (with a chance of thunderstorms), followed by really strong winds for at least the first three days of the following week. So we were contemplating sitting on the boat at anchor out in the cold and the wet for quite a while and looking for somewhere to hide if the wind changed direction. So we made the decision to extend our stay here in the marina. Oh well, never mind….

Wednesday morning we had a leisurely start and then went to the office and extended our stay. We then picked up our courtesy car and did a run to the bottle shop; the supermarket to collect the order; popped into the supermarket for fresh fruit and vegetables (preferring to select these ourselves); and then headed back via the scenic lookout over the islands. Back on board we stowed everything away and then had a quiet evening on board.

Thursday morning we decided to head back out to Yeppoon again on the bus. This time we explored the beach, the promenade and more of the town. Whilst wandering the beach we were keeping a careful eye out for saltwater crocodiles as there had been a large one spotted here only a couple of weeks ago surfing in the shallows – check out this photo taken by a local fisherman! Before we returned to the boat we had a coffee out and then caught the bus back. We then tried our luck at the internet downloads again before returning to Morphie for the night.

Friday morning were up and about early and got the bus to Rockhampton just over an hour away on the bus. This is the fourth largest city in Queensland and started life as a frontier town which then turned into a bustling river port before becoming a gold rush city. Currently it is now famous for its links to the beef industry. As a result, it has some interesting colonial architecture along the river waterfront. It was raining on our arrival so we took shelter for a while before heading to Quay Street and checked out the Fitzroy River and the historic district.

We then wandered the city streets for a while before heading back to the bus stop and our trip back to Rosslyn Bay. Was a good trip out. Back on Morphie we rested up before heading out to the local yacht club for their Friday night ‘special’ which was a fish and chip supper. We sat with some other cruisers so it was quite social and we had fun.

This morning, Saturday, we awoke to the sound of rain on the coachroof and it is definitely in for the day. So we are glad we are staying here safe, dry and warm!

So that’s it for now. There has been another covid outbreak so the Queensland border with New South Wales has completely closed again. If these sporadic outbreaks continue we can’t see there being any appetite for opening the international borders anytime soon, especially as most cases can be linked back to the restricted numbers of international arrivals (currently Australian citizens only) and their stay in quarantine hotels. Chatting to locals they strongly support this position too so politically there is some pressure to keep the borders closed until at least late 2022. So we are just ‘parking’ any difficult decisions (as none of the options currently available are particularly to our liking) and will continue to enjoy tropical Queensland whilst we can. So, on that note, it’s time for another Australian cutie to make you smile.

Jan

Friday evening (11 June) we headed to the Lighthouse Hotel in Burnett Heads for our last evening in Bundaberg. We enjoyed a spectacular sunset on our walk – about 30 minutes – but, sadly, there were no kangaroos to be found. Perhaps it was too chilly for them too?!? Anyway, the tavern was pretty busy as it was steak night and there was even a log burning stove warming up the place. We were lucky to get a seat and enjoyed our meals and a few drinks. Due to the download failures I had experienced in the marina, I had brought my laptop with me and set it up on the edge of our table. There was a high speed public network available and, during our few hours in the pub, we managed to download quite a lot of Netflix content which should keep us going for a while. Result! When we were ready we got the courtesy bus back to the marina and had an early night.

Saturday morning we got ready and slipped away from the marina at 8am. There was no wind so we motorsailed towards Lady Elliot Island. This is the southernmost coral cay of the Great Barrier Reef and is 46 miles north east of Bundaberg and covers an area of approximately 45 hectares. The seas were flat calm so we made really good time and even got a lift from the current once we had cleared the Burnett River entrance.

By 3pm we had arrived and were delighted to find a Marine Parks mooring ball available (which are free of charge and available for 24 hour periods only). So we quickly headed over and picked that up. As we were doing so a small ray jumped completely out of the water and we had a dolphin swim by, so a pretty special welcoming committee! It was slack water at this point so the mooring ball started bumping along the hull. We then decided to read the mooring instructions (which would have been a good idea earlier LOL) and it said that the pennant should be pulled onto the bow of the boat. Well, it was a huge rope, so we pulled it up, through the spare anchor bow roller, and put the loop over the windlass capstan. Then to secure it we tied it off with two ropes to the cleats on either side so that the the capstan would not be taking the full weight of the boat. Thankfully the tide filled in and the ball floated away from the hull so we were finally set. Woo hoo, we had arrived!

There is an eco resort island and we were welcome ashore (just having to radio for permission first) but, having checked out the shore line at low water, we decided that we didn’t fancy it as it was very rocky and we would have to carry the dinghy across the foreshore. As the wind was non-existent it was actually quite warm in the sun so we enjoyed sundowners and supper in the cockpit having watched the spectacular sunset and the thousands of sea birds returning to roost on the island. We then had a movie night down below before bed.

We had a very disturbed night’s sleep because when the tide changed the mooring ball banged really hard against the hull. Thankfully the mooring ball moved away again once the tide had changed and the current kicked in and held us off.

After Sunday morning’s breakfast in the cockpit we got out our 1mm dive suits and slipped into the water. It was a bit chilly but we got used to it pretty quickly. We then checked Morphie’s hull and was relieved that all was well, as both of us were convinced the mooring ball would have left it’s mark. We had already decided that once we had finished snorkelling we would drop the ball and anchor off instead. So, how brave are we, snorkelling in the waters off the Great Barrier Reef???

We were comfortable being back in the water and we took off looking for some critters armed with our GoPro in it’s underwater housing. The first sight was a school of squid swimming in front of us. Now that is not something you see every day so that was quite joyous.

Then we spotted a small turtle but he was clearly nervous of us as he shot under a coral outcrop. The coral was in reasonable condition although not particularly colourful. We saw the usual suspects of parrot fish and lots and lots of brilliantly coloured nursery fish on the reef. There were signs of bleaching of the reef in places but it seemed to be recovering which is great news. Not sure how long we were in the water but when we had had enough we swam against the current back to Morphie.

Back on board we showered on the back transom, rinsed all our gear off, and got ourselves warmed up. We were just having a hot chocolate in the cockpit when suddenly these big shapes turned up and we realised we were watching manta rays disturbing the water. Then suddenly there were five or six of them swimming towards us. We did consider getting back into the water but a couple of swimmers from the resort tried to get close and the rays swam off immediately. So we decided to sit on the coachroof and just enjoy the beauty of these majestic creatures swim backwards and forwards by us and they entertained us for about an hour. OMG what an experience – absolutely fantastic! We were so happy.

Around 1.30 pm we dropped the mooring ball (before the tide change) and anchored off in about 20m over sand. We were now ready for an early morning departure to Lady Musgrave island as we needed to arrive there for slack water at around 10am to get through the reef into the centre of the lagoon. So we rested up for the rest of the day and just sat watching more dolphin and ray encounters and another lovely sunset before retiring down below for dinner and more Netflix content.

In the early hours of Monday morning we woke to the sound of torrential rain on the coachroof! What?!? We immediately started up the Iridium Go! and downloaded the latest weather. The wind had picked up and we were rocking and rolling around a bit. Downloads completed and it was bad news – rain, thunderstorms and clouds were forecast for the entire day. Which meant Lady Musgrave was not an option as we needed sun to be able to eyeball navigate inside the lagoon to avoid the coral bombies. Disappointed we mulled over our options. The anchorage became increasingly uncomfortable so staying put was certainly not one of them.

By 9am on Monday morning we had planned our escape to Great Keppel Island almost 120 miles away so this was going to be our first overnight passage for a while. We sorted out something to eat for that evening’s passage dinner and boiled some eggs for the following morning, Not sure why we always have egg mayo rolls for breakfast on passage but hey ho, they are tasty LOL.

We picked up our anchor, relieved that it was not being held captive by a random coral bombie, and headed out of the anchorage before raising our genoa and sailed downwind at about 3 knots in light airs. Annoyingly the earlier strong winds had eased considerably. We were very slowly making our way then the wind died off so we motorsailed – and then we saw the huge black clouds rolling in and watched this thunderstorm on the radar go across our bow and head straight at Lady Musgrave. Would not have wanted to be anchored inside that lagoon through a thunderstorm so glad we had decided to abort our trip there!

Squalls and storms continued for the whole night as we got into our passage routine of three hour shifts and we had no moon to assist us at all on this wet night. We also had to cross shipping channels near Gladstone and had quite a few cargo ship encounters – ahead of us, behind us, across us and alongside us. Certainly kept us on our toes!

As we continued towards Great Keppel we were treated to a fabulous jumping and diving display by two dolphins who put on a show just for us – could they have escaped from SeaWorld?? Was absolutely fantastic and seeing dolphins always makes us smile.

When we arrived around Tuesday lunchtime we quickly found an anchoring spot at Fisherman’s beach in lovely water which was so clear I could see the chain all the way to the bottom. Happy that we had a good set we then got cleaned up and went to bed for a few hours. Feeling refreshed we decided to stay on board and just enjoyed watching the comings and goings in the anchorage. Great spot, nice beach, and we looked forward to exploring the following day.

Wednesday morning and it was eerily quiet and grey outside so we popped our heads up to find that it was foggy and drizzly. Really?!? Never mind, we both had a list of small jobs to do so got on with them before finally relaxing down below for the rest of the day.

Thursday morning the weather started clearing and we were visited by Mike and Karen from Island Girl (an IP 380) who were anchored in the bay. Accompanied by their cute poodle boat dog Dudley. So we had a cup of tea with them and organised to go ashore for sundowners later. After they had gone I went back to bed as I was feeling quite poorly. Not sure what brought that on…. Later on I did feel marginally better so we headed ashore to meet the other cruisers for sundowners on the beach. Was a fun evening but, of course, I completely forgot to take any photos!

Friday morning we awoke to some serious nodding movement as the wind had switched to the SW so we had no protection from the fetch and waves which were steadily increasing.

So we picked up anchor and headed around the corner, through a narrow cut, to the north side of the island to an anchorage called Leeke’s Bay. We got our anchor down and the difference was huge – flat calm – and it wasn’t long before we were joined by all the other boats coming round the corner too. This is known as the Keppel Island Shuffle LOL. Leeke’s Bay has a beautiful beach and we decided to go ashore just before high tide so we wouldn’t have to drag the dinghy up the shore too far. So, in the meantime, we enjoyed relaxing in the cockpit.

At this point a Border Force boat came through the anchorage and was checking out all non-Queensland registered vessels. We were about their third stop – they just wanted to know when and where Morpheus had arrived in Australia; were we still on a control permit and when did it expire; had we met the regular reporting requirements of said permit etc. They took photos of us (presumably so they could check against their records) and asked us about our movements going forward. Obviously satisfied with our responses they went on their merry way. They were very polite although we always find it a bit disconcerting when an ‘official’ boat comes by for a chat!

It was lovely and sunny and we enjoyed sitting in the cockpit watching the world go by and I even did some hand washing. Richard did a few other jobs too like greasing the rudder bearing and clearing out the port lazarette. During the afternoon Chris and Sharon on Watusi came into the anchorage so we made arrangements with them for a reunion on the beach later. Heading over to the beach we stopped by Island Girl to wish them safe passage as they are leaving in the morning.

Hopefully we’ll see them again on our continued journey north. We then had a lovely time on the beach catching up with Chris and Sharon and enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the glorious beach.

This morning, Saturday, although the sun is out the wind has strengthened so the wind generator might actually earn his keep today! So I’m blogging while Richard continues keeping busy on boat jobs – he’s cleaned the shower bilge; done some sewing; filtered some 2-stroke petrol that had water in it; checked how much water we had left in the tank; and is now relaxing in the cockpit reading. Think we’ll probably stay on board today as Chris and Sharon are coming by for sundowners later.

Next stop? Well, obviously we haven’t really checked out Great Keppel Island yet, instead we have just enjoyed being back on the hook in such gorgeous surroundings. So we’ll definitely spend some more time on this beautiful beach and, when the wind switches back to its normal SE direction, we’ll go back round the corner and check out the facilities there too. There is also good snorkelling so we might even get brave and get back in the water LOL. Sadly the bush walks are beyond me and my dodgy hip. At some point we’ll pop into the nearby marina at Yeppoon for fresh provisions before we continue heading north.

Hope you are all keeping fit and healthy. Every week we seem to get more and more sad news from home with people passing and our hearts go out to all those affected families as they go through this difficult time. Please take care of each other and sending lots of love and hugs your way and here is an Australian cutie to make you smile.

Bye for now, Jan

Monday (7 June) having finished the blog, we chilled out and just waited for emails to come in with the quote for the work plus an acknowledgement from our insurance company of receipt of the documentation. We then had a quiet evening on board catching up with Netflix.

Tuesday we headed out in the Marina’s courtesy bus and got dropped off at Bobby’s car hire and picked up our car for the day. We proceeded into the town centre and stopped first at Coles and Liquorland to do a provisioning run before returning to Morphie where we stowed everything away.

Then we went out again to the large central shopping mall. Bundaberg centre is around 30 minutes drive from here through farm land which is quite flat and it is harvest time for the sugar and sweet potatoes if the activity in the fields is anything to go by.

The town centre seemed a bit depressed with lots of closing down sales and boarded up shops so I guess the lack of international students, backpackers and tourists has hit this area quite hard. We picked up a few things and I managed to get my hair cut before we headed back to the marina via the scenic route, including Burnett Heads, which hadn’t changed much since our last visit in October 2019.

Back at the marina we were relieved to hear that the insurance company had received all our documentation and were covering all the damages (minus our excess of course). The quote from the stainless fabricator came in under our excess so that’s down to us but at least our insurance company are going to deal directly with the third party claims so we don’t have to get involved, which was great news! So despite the nightmare of getting the documentation to them in the first place they have been very responsive.

Wednesday we were up early and headed out and did our customary run to Bunnings before returning the car. Was a wet, windy and stormy sort of day. Check out this sky.

We were lucky when we returned our hire car as another couple were picking up a car and were returning straight to the marina so we got a lift back. Back at the marina we headed over to the workshop to find that a lot of our work had been done and they had even fabricated replacement connectors to match the undamaged side as these original (US-manufactured ones) are not available in Australia. Very happy with the work so far….

We then took ourselves off to sit at the benches near the office (which is where the best marina internet is to be found) but it was so cold we gave up pretty quickly and returned to Morphie admiring the cormorant who had made himself at home on top of our neighbour’s mast. Guess it is a good vantage point to spot those pesky fish! We then had a movie night tucked up down below with blankets as the temperature continues to plummet.

Thursday we got busy on some other minor jobs while we waited to hear from the engineering shop. So I took the rugs off the boat and scrubbed them clean, then dried and hoovered them on the dock. Richard re-bedded the screws on the hoyt boom; fixed the zip on the canvas that had been damaged; got a top up of diesel; and soldered the new cockpit light wires that had been snapped in the collision so got them working again. Woo hoo!

I continued on a bit of a clean up and washed all the floors down below. We then left Morphie and checked in on the engineering company – they were coming by later to polish out (as best they could) the damaged arch rail and the rest will be ready for installation on Friday. So we confirmed with the office that we will now be leaving here on Saturday if all goes well.

We tried to download some more Netflix content but, again, got driven back to the boat by the cold so gave it up as a bad job. We were both hungry so got some fish and chips again to bring back as they are just so delicious they just can’t be ignored.

Later on, as promised, Trevor came by and worked hard on polishing out the damage on the 2-inch arch rail. The only way to “fix” this rail would be to remove the whole structure; remove all the wiring that goes inside it to our solar panels, AIS, GPS, satellite communications etc; and then to get the damaged piece cut, a new piece welded in, and the whole structure reinstalled. This would probably mean living on the hard for a couple of months and would still not be perfect so we had decided that Morphie will live instead with a ‘battle wound’. Anyway, here is the ‘before’ picture followed by the ‘after’ pictures – we were amazed at how good Trevor got it to look actually.

We then had another quiet night on board and checked out the latest on the weather to see that snow had fallen heavily in some parts of New South Wales. Some of the locals had never actually seen snow before so this was quite an exciting event for them LOL. Because it was so cold we added some more blankets to our bed before we had an early night.

This morning, Friday, and Richard went over to the engineering shop to collect our steel which was now finished and to pay the bill. He then came back and we worked hard to put it all together and, yay, we are all fixed and ready to go back out there! It had been a stressful week but we were very pleased with the work that had been done and the speed in which they fitted us in. So kudos to Trevor and his team at All Quality Engineering – thank you so much! Here are some before and after shots.

After we had done the initial install of the steel I headed into Burnett Heads to have a facial as a bit of a treat. Richard stayed behind and got on with reinstalling the canvas, the cockpit lights and then moved onto engine checks; a water top up. He also did the final bits of laundry. So here is a final picture of the cockpit ready to go once more.

We had a few more jobs to do today which we have just finished – we have planned our passage for tomorrow; we have taken the outboard off the dinghy and onto the rail. So once this blog is published we are ready to go

Tonight we are going into Burnett Heads for a celebratory dinner at the Lighthouse Hotel Tavern and then we’ll be having an early night in preparation for our departure tomorrow. Hoping to see some big red kangaroos too on the walk….fingers crossed.

Wow, what a week! So very glad to be putting this behind us and we are both looking forward to more adventures in new destinations in the weeks to come. When we leave tomorrow we’ll be off line while we visit Lady Elliott Island (followed by Lady Musgrave Island) so don’t be worried as we will not be able to get a signal out there, although we will have our satellite communications of course to check weather etc.

If you want to find out where we are check out our live tracker on the ‘Where are we now’ page of this blog. After that the itinerary is a bit flexible at this stage, as so much depends upon the weather conditions. We are very excited to be heading out to island anchorages and even hope to go snorkelling, although I think we might need to wear our wetsuits LOL. Take care everybody and we will be in touch as soon as we get back online. Hopefully the restrictions will continue to ease and you’ll be able to get back to some sort of normality. Sending lots of love and hugs

Jan

Sunday morning (30 May) the wind eased and was more favourable for us to move on. So we picked up anchor and headed out of Tin Can Bay. We weren’t going very far, just 19 miles to Garry’s anchorage at the bottom of Fraser Island. The next stretch has to navigated at or near high tide because of the shallows through the Sheridan Flats so we were going to stage ourselves in preparation for going through this tricky area the following morning. So decision made we upped anchor and had a lovely downwind sail in light airs under genoa alone. Was really lovely and we thoroughly enjoyed it despite the real chill in the air.

We had our anchor down by 1.50 pm and we took particular care to watch the swinging circles of the other boats as everyone moves through almost 360 degrees in this narrow, shallow and tidal anchorage. Happy that all was well we headed down below and warmed up the saloon by cooking dinner and put all the companion way boards in to retain the heat overnight.

Monday morning our intention was to head out about 10.15 to ensure we were at Sheridan Flats one hour before high tide. As we left the anchorage we were being followed by a catamaran who was obviously heading the same way and, in fact, he kept behind us all the way. We sailed under genoa in flat seas and light airs until we reached Sheridan Flats then motored slowly and carefully through before hoisting the genoa again for the remainder of the trip to Kingfisher Resort, Fraser Island. We got our anchor down in 6m of beautiful sand at 3.15pm having sailed 21 miles and settled down to watch the sunset. Just a beautiful place and quite serene in the anchorage apart from when the barge comes and goes each day bringing day trippers and guests to the resort.

Tuesday morning we went ashore and walked the boardwalk up to the resort keeping an eye out for dingos. Yes there are wild ones here on Fraser Island….

We then gathered information on how to explore the island. We had been considering hiring a small 4WD but we thought that $400 a day was a bit rich, especially when we could do the 4WD Bus Tour (including lunch) for not much more in total. So decision made we booked the full-day tour for Wednesday. We asked at the hotel reception whether there were any restrictions on our use of the facilities and they said that we had complete access for no charge – definitely a very cruiser-friendly place. Here’s dink on the beautiful beach.

The rest of the day we spent by one of the pools, relaxing in the jacuzzi, had some lunch and then made our way back down to the beach and to the rustic (but oh so powerful) showers at the Sand Bar before walking onto the large jetty for sundowners at the Sunset bar. We enjoyed a couple of cold ones before returning to Morphie for dinner just as it was getting dark.

Wednesday we were up really early and by 7am we were dragging dink all the way up the beach to lock him to a fallen log as we were going to be out all day so wanted to make sure he stayed safe above the high water mark.

We then walked the planked boardwalk to the resort, picked up pool towels, and headed to the ‘Village store’ where we picked up some breakfast and coffee whilst we waited for the bus. The tour bus driver/guide turned up on time at 7.50 am and we climbed on board this brand new vehicle which has been specifically designed for the terrain here on Fraser Island. We were lucky that this tour was only about 30% full so it felt quite personal.

As we drove out of the resort we quickly ended up on sand roads which were fun / interesting / scary all at the same time with the first part being called the ‘rollercoaster’ as we headed across the island to the west coast. Fraser Island’s traditional name is K’gari and is the land of the Butchulla people. It is 76 miles long and 14 miles wide and is considered to be the largest sand island in the world at 710 square miles. It became a World Heritage listed site in 1992 as it is pretty unique with rainforests, woodland, mangrove forests, peat swamps, sand dunes and coastal heaths. The sand has been accumulating here for approximately 750k years on volcanic bedrock and the island has some unique geographic features such as fresh water barrage dune lakes which are formed by sandblows damming a natural watercourse and, in terms of quality, this region has the freshest naturally running water in the world. There are all types of critters living here and the majority of them are very dangerous such as great white sharks, salt water crocodiles, wild dingos, brown snakes and huge monitor lizards. And that’s without the spiders LOL. They call this the most dangerous island in Australia!

As we drove across the island towards the west coast we saw evidence of the huge forest fires that had wreaked havoc when the whole island had had to be evacuated for two weeks and despite lots of manpower and machinery the fire was only put out eventually by heavy rainfull. But there were signs of some new shoots of growth admist the blackened tree stumps although the guide thought it would probably take a decade to fully recover. As we drove along we stopped for our first glimpses of a sandblow which is where strong onshore winds erode and transport sand inland. Weak points in the shoreline dunes develop into ‘blow outs’ where sand is blown inland from the coast spreading grain by grain engulfing vegetation in its path. The power of nature is just so awe inspiring at times…..

We arrived on 70 mile beach and it was completely amazing with huge breakers coming into shore. This beach is navigable by 4WD vehicles and there were plenty of ‘wild campers’ around as we drove along.

Then we suddenly came across a small aircraft sitting on the sand – this is one of only two places in the world where you can take off and land on the beach (the other being on Barra, Scotland).

Jerrod (our tour guide and driver) was happy for us to take some time out to do the scenic 15 minute flight and to pick us further down the beach afterwards so we quickly put our hands up and climbed on for the most amazing trip with Rafe, the English pilot. Wow what a fantastic thing to do. We were just blown away by this trip. Photos don’t do it justice but it gives you an idea of what a special place Fraser Island is.

Landing back on the beach, while some more of our fellow tourists climbed on for their plane ride, we went off to check out Wadi creek and, as we took a detour from the beach to avoid some large rock outcrops, we spotted a wild dingo sunning himself on a slope. Wow, just wow!

Arriving at Wadi Creek we did have a paddle in the cold water and enjoyed watching the families floating down in the current in their inflatables (including bizarrely a cactus) towards the beach….and then walked the boardwalk back to do it all again.

At this point the plane landed again and with our full complement back on board we continued on the beach drive to the wreck of the SS Maheno which had an interesting history of being a 122m luxury liner on its launch in 1905 plying its trade between New Zealand and Australia (at an impressive 18 knots) before being pressed into hospital duties in 1915 playing a major role by picking up Anzac troups from Gallipoli and transporting them to Malta. Eventually it was decommissioned in 1935 and was being towed along the coast of Queensland when a major storm came up and, as the ship had no means of independent propulsion at the time, it was wrecked on the beach when the tow rope snapped. What a sad end to a mighty ship….

After visiting the wreck we continued driving on the beach and then stopped off at some coloured sand mounds before finally arriving at the Eurong resort where we had a pre-organised lunch. Afterwards we had a quick coffee and bun at the bakery for our desert before rejoining the bus and our fellow tourists. Then another quick trip along 70 mile beach before we started travelling back inland. Oh yes and no swimming is recommended on this side of the island with its strong currents, rip tides and vast numbers of sharks and there have been shark attacks in the area resulting in fatalities.

After lunch we started travelling back inland and the next stop was to the majestic freshwater Lake Mackenzie (which we had glimpsed from the plane) where we braved the elements and had a bob in the water. Was very refreshing and very different because this lake water is so pure there is virtually no buoyancy offered by the water.

Moving on we headed into the rainforest and did a walk around the boardwalk through the forest which was eerily quiet. There was a small creek running through but even this water was silent. Was really interesting and we were pleased to note that the Queen was involved in recognising the conservation of this ancient land. Back at the bus we were treated to tea and cakes before climbing onto the bus for the final time and returning to the resort.

Back at Kingfisher we walked back down to the beach and had sundowners before we returned to Morphie having had such a special day. Pretty shattered we had an early night.

Thursday we enjoyed the resort again spending time at the pool and in the jacuzzi. We stayed a bit longer than planned and, when we got back to the beach, we found that dink was actually floating on his anchor as the tide had come in, so Richard was brave and went for a paddle not realising that he would have to swim the last bit trying not to think about sharks, although to be honest, they are not present in huge numbers on the sandy straights side of the island and it is considered safe to swim here. He then clambered in and drove dink back to the beach to collect me. My hero! Suffice to say once we were back on board safely we didn’t venture out again, instead having a quiet night in enjoying, once again, a beautiful night sky.

Friday morning we were up at 4am and left the anchorage in light airs. We motored for a little while in the dark just to get through a couple of skinny passages and sand/mud banks until eventually we were on our rhumb line to go all the way to Bundaberg Port Marina.

The sea was calm and the wind was fickle with spells of light airs of 8-9 knots and other times we were seeing 23 knots. Was a pretty cloudy and chilly day. But we were on a beam reach and we both thoroughly enjoyed our sail. It felt really good to be out there remembering our first time through this area with the wild fires raging around us in November 2019

We had been allocated a berth (Grey 2) in the marina and so, as we turned head to wind into the leading channel into the river, we furled the main and the genoa and motored in. At this point the wind died too which was helpful although we were getting a lift from the incoming tide. We phoned the marina to ask for assistance on the dock to be told there wasn’t anyone available but, luckily, Sharon and Chris (SV Watusi) were still in the marina so we phoned them and they agreed to be our line handlers. Phew!

We turned to port into the fairway between the Grey and Purple docks with the wind (at around 10 knots) on our starboard beam and the tide on our port beam so Richard reduced speed and kept us to the port side of the channel to ensure we could make the turn into our slip which was virtually at the end without being pushed over too far towards it as there was little turning room beyond our allocated berth.

Then it all went pear shaped! A strong gust of wind came out of nowhere and we were pushed sideways towards Purple dock. In Australia most marinas ensure that boats fit perfectly well within their pens so if this happens (which is not an uncommon occurrence in a river marina with strong tides) you come to rest on the pilings and avoid damaging other boats. Well, Bundaberg are not actually doing this and, of course, at the moment the wind blew us sideways towards the dock it was alongside a huge 21m Galeon which was overhanging his 18m berth by quite a way. We took a picture later – check out how far this guy sticks out into the fairway.

Richard was powerless to do anything and the next thing we know we are heading towards this boat’s bow and his huge stainless steel anchor. There was no chance of avoiding the impact as it happened so quickly and so unexpectedly and, before we knew it, we were pinned. The stainless steel bimini frame took the brunt of the anchor coming into our cockpit and so it snapped and bent in places. Our canvas looked like it had been ripped as it was hanging down and our new cockpit lights were broken. Our bow was resting on the front of another motor boat and the owner was holding us off with a broom but we were pinned for a while.

Eventually there was a lull in the wind and Richard was able to physically extricate us and we finally went into our berth without any difficulty. Sharon and Chris had watched the whole thing and were as shocked as we were by what had just happened. They saw that we were going along just fine until we literally went sideways as the wind caught us. It was clearly sickening to watch and hear the noise as our bimini steel was ripped apart on the port side by this monster anchor. After that ordeal we were so grateful they were there to help us!

By the time we were safely secured, the captain of the large motor yacht had come over to give us his details and we said that we would be over once we had checked into the marina office. We then went over to the two boats involved to take photos of the damage and share our insurance and contact details. The motor yacht’s anchor roller was bent out of shape and a few gel coat marks but, thankfully, they were still able to deploy the anchor. So that was a big relief.

The other motor yacht had a small scratch at the top of his bow (along with numerous earlier ones) and the guy was very relaxed about it, so we don’t expect a claim from him.

After exchanging contact details we headed out to see some trades and found one guy who was happy to come along on Monday to give us a quote for the repairs. Looks like we’ll be staying in Bundaberg a little longer than we had planned….sigh….. Here is a picture of poor Morphie and her bimini frame damage. We both feel so sad. But, as Richard said, we got off lightly really as we could easily have lost our shrouds and mast if we had been pinned in a slightly different position. And, of course, a few feet back and it would have been our solar panels and our electronics at risk too. We think that there is a possibility that the damage to the two-inch arch stainless steel arm may not be repairable but it has not affected the strength of the structure so we’ll have a good go at polishing it out and see what it looks like then.

And if you want a reminder of what it is supposed to look like from the cockpit, here is a picture of the starboard side of the frame.

After all that excitement – and still feeling quite shocked by it all – we headed to the Cruisers Cove for the Friday night BBQ and enjoyed spending time with Sharon and Chris. Back on board for the night but neither of us slept much….

Saturday morning and we started the day off properly by having a great breakfast in the marina cafe.

Returning to Morphie we started the insurance claim process. We filled in the interactive online claim form and then started producing all the documents (including embedded pictures and sketches) to go along with it in response to their questions. Eventually five documents had been created and saved. They just needed to be sent to the right people. So we started emailing and got ‘undeliverable’ messages from the claims team at our insurance company. Hmmm…..not good! So I did a bit more research and found an SOS email address that could be used out of hours – well it was the middle of the night in the UK – so tried that instead. The first email went through with an attachment but, after that, all the other documents were rejected as too large by our internet provider. So we started cutting them up and saving them into smaller chunks and even compressed the files, but again they refused to send.

So by now we were losing patience but didn’t resort to extreme measures…although certainly felt like it a few times….

We decided, eventually, to get round the email sizing issue by uploading the documents to the cloud – which took hours with our slow internet speed. We then gave appropriate read-only access to the SOS email and sent the link to them. Feeling very relieved until this bounced back too! So I decided to send an email to our main contact at the company – the guy who had sold us the policy – asking him to pass it on to the appropriate team. Well, he did, and finally I got an email from the claims guy who said that a new IT system had meant that the original (published) emails were no longer working. Thanks for that, seriously?!?! Oh yes and his system wouldn’t accept my microsoft cloud provider either so could we please send them via WeTransfer instead. Great, yes we’ll do that, but of course by now it was late and we had just had enough. We were invited out to dinner with Sharon, Chris and their friends but decided not to go as we would definitely not have been good company. We both felt a bit sick actually with the stress of it all. So we just called it a day and went to bed.

Sunday morning and we couldn’t sleep worried about these documents needing to get into the right hands asap. So got up around 6am and started uploading the files again to their preferred system. This wasn’t a quick job either but finally I managed to get them to upload completely. Then I was provided with a link to access them so sent this through to the insurance company. So hopefully that is done for now.

Afterwards we did a few other online chores before heading to the laundry. We sat outside in the sun chatting to some day trippers who had come to the marina for fish and chips while we waited for the laundry to finish. Finally, all done, we headed back to Morphie but had to make a detour via the fish and chip shop as we had watched everyone munching for the last few hours and we were hungry LOL. They were absolutely delicious!

Richard then tidied up the boat, did a few jobs like filling up the water tank and washed the salt off Morphie while I started blogging. As the internet was so slow uploading photos eventually I gave up and put it off for another day. Oh yes and there is a cold snap coming and some areas of Queensland even had frost overnight – shocking or what LOL?!?

This morning, Monday, and Richard has started to dismantle the damaged steel pieces and has found that the joining bracket which have been torn apart (which are from the US) are probably not available in Australia. But the guy we have found is confident he can help us (on the basis of seeing some photos we sent him over the weekend) and he has just visited us and can fabricate new ones so that’s good news. The quote will be coming later tonight and we can then take this forward. There is not a great variety of trades here in Bundaberg so we hope that the insurance company will accept this on the basis of one quote only.

Anyway that’s our news. Oh yes, something to ponder. There is a sailing superstition about heading out to sea on a Friday and, yes, we did break this rule and sail to Bundaberg on a Friday. So guess we’ll be more superstitious in future! Don’t know how long we will be here for but it will take as long as it takes. Probably just as well we are not on a schedule right now….

Bye for now folks. Sending lots of love and hugs to you all.

Jan

Sunday afternoon (22 May) we headed into the Surf Club to listen to the live music. It was very busy and loud with not much notice being taken of the two musicians set up in a corner (who were average at best). So a tad disappointing but it was nice to be out and about again. During the afternoon the lifeguards (which rely on charitable donations here in Australia) did a raffle – so I entered – and won the first prize out of a $50 gift voucher to be spent in the Club. Woo hoo!

We decided that we really didn’t want to spend it there and then as we were about ready to head back to Morphie, so checked the expiry date (12 months) and decided that we’ll just have to return to Mooloolaba on our way back south to have dinner on them then! On our way back to the marina we sat for a little while watching these really interesting cloud formations.

Monday morning around 7am and Richard headed out to find Alex the marina’s recommended guy to have a look at our outboard. He was just opening up and came down the dock straight away. With a few pulls and a bit of a spray he was confident that it was a carburettor problem and took it away with him for a ‘sonic’ clean. It was a relief that we were able to get someone to look at it so quickly with a promise of being fixed by the end of the day.

In the meantime we were getting ready to leave Mooloolaba so we used the dinghy to go round and wash the salt and river grime off Morphie’s hull. Then we filled up the tanks with water. I then headed into Mooloolaba and managed to get some cash out; some last minute fresh provisions; topped up our GoCards (for bus journeys in Queensland) and put on the lottery. Richard in the meantime headed to the fisherman’s wharf and purchased some diesel and unleaded petrol. He decanted the diesel straight from the cans into the fuel tank and we were now half full, so enough to keep us going for a while. Later in the afternoon Alex was back, the carb was reinstalled, and everything worked! OMG what a relief. Apparently the problem relates to ethanol in the petrol which our two stroke was not designed to deal with. So lesson learnt that we need to check the ethanol content when purchasing unleaded petrol in future. We also found out that the valve in the outboard petrol can was leaking slightly so rain water had gotten into the fuel. A bit of gaffer tape fixed that problem LOL.

We then had a quiet night in as we intended to be heading out first thing in the morning. Tuesday morning we were up early and slipped away at 6am to go out at slack high tide across the bar into the river watching the trawlers returning as we passed them in the river.

The weather report had included a swell warning about coastal bars but the height forecast was manageable so we decided to go knowing that we could always abort and turn around in the river if they were worse than forecast on the day. As we approached the bar there were swells breaking across the entrance and it was pretty feisty conditions but Richard pushed on. He gunned the engine and drove us through managing to avoid the swells pretty well. We weren’t the only people out there as a number of catamarans followed us out and all thankfully made it through safely although it certainly wasn’t pretty!

Our destination was Double Island Point where we planned to stage until the conditions allowed us to cross the Wide Bay Bar to get inside Fraser Island. Well the conditions on this passage were miserable with lumpy big seas and we sailed downwind under genoa alone.

We certainly got a lift from the swells with our speed surfing up to 9 knots at times. At one point there was a huge crash and the sound of glass breaking – we both just looked at each other – and Richard headed out onto the deck to see what had broken. Well, it turns out, that our radar reflector had broken away from the shrouds and had fallen and smashed onto the coach roof. Thankfully there was no damage to the gelcoat and it wasn’t anything more sinister!

As we came around the headland into the bay we were joined by the biggest wave we had ever seen – it was at least 20 feet high and the white surf was blowing off the top as it built and built towards the beach. We had never seen anything quite like this before and the picture certainly doesn’t do it justice!

Luckily we were able to stay out of its way and got a good anchor set in sand at around 3pm having travelled 52.5 miles. The anchorage wasn’t absolutely calm as it surged a bit but we felt pretty secure. Once we were settled we contacted the Coast Guard to let them know of our safe arrival and spoke to them about the possibility of crossing the Wide Bay Bar on Wednesday morning. They said it was very unlikely as the swells were refusing to lay down and were actually increasing with the conditions being much worse than the forecasts so they recommended that we contact them again in the morning for an update. As this is a dynamic sand bar they did, however, send us through the waypoints for the crossing (which actually weren’t that much different from when we crossed the bar outbound late 2019). So we put these into the plotter ready to go whenever that may be.

We had a quiet night on board, having been treated to a beautiful moon before heading to bed really early after the excitement of the day.

Wednesday morning and we awoke to see the sunrise.

We checked the wave buoy at the Wide Bay Bar online and found that the surf was still too high for a crossing in our opinion. So we phoned the Coast Guard at 6am and they confirmed that conditions were definitely iffy so we would wait another day. Oh well, never mind, chance to turn over and go back to sleep LOL. We lazed around all day just reading and chilling.

During the day we picked up the news that our friends on SV Begonia – Kyle and Maryanne – had had serious difficulties at the Tweed Heads bar. The YouTube video footage we saw later was absolutely hellish and we are just so very grateful that they were able to get back to safety unharmed despite some damage to their boat. Very sobering viewing and we just wish that arm chair sailors would hold off on their online criticism whilst this couple recover from this dramatic event and before the whole story is known. These guys are very experienced sailors and the initial report suggests that they lost power due to being propped by some rope in the water which resulted in them losing both power and steerage putting them at the mercy of the waves. Despite this they managed to navigate their vessel to the entrance of the river where they dropped their anchor and were then helped by the authorities.

In the evening we sat on the coach roof (suitably togged up in hoodies and joggers) to watch the lunar eclipse. It was a bit disappointing as the bright red moon wasn’t bright red at all but kind of deep cherry. But the night sky was amazing and we even saw two shooting stars so made a couple of wishes. Fantastic sight and so glad we sat up to watch it. Retiring to bed we were disappointed that the surf was up again so the anchorage wasn’t as comfortable as before.

Thursday morning, once again, we checked the conditions and there was a mass exodus of boats heading to the bar so we contacted Chris on the boat behind us (SV Watusi) and confirmed that we were going to head over there to take a look and would make a judgement once we had spoken to the Coast Guard and had eyeballed the situation. Chris and Sharon had been at Double Island Point for six days waiting for a window and had never crossed before so we were more than happy to lead the way for them. So we picked up anchor – as the moon set and the sun rose – and headed the 10 miles to the first waypoint having confirmed with the Coast Guard that it was doable. It was just a beautiful start to the day.

We were overtaken by a few catamarans at this point and reached our first waypoint. The waves were breaking around us as we headed to the next waypoint and we realised that, actually, the next waypoint was in the boiling surf and so Richard cut the corner to avoid this and Chris followed our routing.

By now we were surfing down and along waves towards our next waypoint and this catamaran (SV Asif) came alongside and sat way too close. We were not impressed, all we needed was for a wave to pick either of us up in the wrong direction and we could potentially have collided. But we were at full speed and didn’t want to back off in these conditions. He was the ‘overtaking’ boat so should have kept clear. I took a photo of him just to make sure I had his boat details and he had the gall to wave back as though we were the best of friends. You just can’t fix stupid….

Here’s a copy of our plotter – the outbound track follows the Coast Guard waypoints but the new inbound track definitely cuts the corner. Thankfully we managed to see no less than 11 feet below our keel.

We finally made it to the river mouth and I spoke to Sharon on Watusi on the phone. We were heading to Tin Can Bay which we know is a nice anchorage and they followed us in. We were settled by 9.45 am having covered almost 21 miles. We celebrated our safe arrival by having sausage sandwiches for breakfast – naughty but nice! We then tidied up, cleaned the salt off Morphie, relaxed a bit and then made ourselves presentable for sundowners. Chris and Sharon joined us later that afternoon for a few celebratory drinks and we had a lovely evening together.

Friday morning we had a leisurely start and waved goodbye to Chris and Sharon as they headed out as they need to get to Bundaberg to fix a few issues with their boat.

There is some inclement weather due over the weekend so we have decided to stay put for a few days and will move on after this has passed. The forecast is for 4-5 metre swells offshore again so don’t think there will be any boats crossing the bar towards us anytime soon. We want to spend some time in Kingfisher Resort (which is yacht friendly apparently) and really would like to explore Fraser Island so we are just waiting for a few nice settled days before we head up through the Sandy Straits to get there.

Later on we went ashore for petrol. We headed to the Tin Can Bay Marina and the outboard was spluttering away and then died although thankfully we made it to the dock first. We filled up our cans with petrol and then moved dink away from the main part of the fuel dock so Richard could start pulling it apart and checking it out again. You can only imagine the language….sigh…. Whilst we were debating what to do (especially as it was a very long row back to Morphie) this guy working on a neighbouring boat came over to see us. He explained that he had previously owned an outboard repair shop and recognised that this was a fuel issue from the way it was responding. We explained what had happened in Mooloolaba and he knew straight away that Alex probably hadn’t reset the engine properly after reinstalling the cleaned carburettor. So this guy talked Richard through changing the air mixture and how to reset the idle as well and, would you believe it, the outboard started and just purred!!! Thankfully we have learnt a few things too. Talk about lucky that this guy was around and he gave his time freely and without charge. We were very very grateful.

Feeling much more confident that we could get back to Morphie, we left dink tied to the dock and walked to the IGA supermarket for some provisions. We then stopped for coffee and a scone in the local bistro Mother Cluckers which had some interesting art work dotted around. Was really lovely.

We then walked back to the marina to pick up dink and headed back out down Snappers Creek – with a very happy dinghy captain – towards the anchorage checking out the prawn fishing fleet along the way. Do you think one of these might be owned by a Londoner?!?

When we got to the river we found that the tide had gone out quite a long way which we hadn’t anticipated due to the delay in sorting out the outboard so we had to go very gingerly along to stop the outboard from hitting the sandy / mud bottom. We made it back and it was clear that Morphie was enjoying herself being back at anchor once again.

Back on board we stowed our goodies and had a lazy afternoon. As the sun wasn’t particularly strong and the wind was light we had to run our generator to top up the batteries in the evening before staying down below for dinner and another new Netflix series.

This morning, Saturday, and we had planned to go ashore (having checked the tide times LOL) but the wind had picked up and is howling through the anchorage which would mean a very wet dinghy ride back in the chop. Although the sun is out the wind has chilled the temperature right down so it only feels like 14 degrees C right now so we are wrapped up warm down below and I don’t think we’ll venture anywhere today after all.

Still watching the news from home and, again, it looks like there might be some doubt over the lifting of restrictions in June. So much uncertainty about organising events and we hope that this is all sorted out sooner rather than later especially in time for my friend Carolyn’s significant birthday celebrations! Missing you all and, this week, am sending an Australian kiss to make you smile. Take care of each other.

Bye for now, Jan

Sunday afternoon (16th May) we headed to The Galley and met up with Sandra and Nigel. After a delicious lunch we headed back to Morphie for a few more drinks and lots of laughs onboard. In fact we were having so much fun we forgot to take photos LOL. We said our farewells and promised to be in touch when we return to this neck of the woods later in the year.

Monday morning we went to the office to report the missing courtesy car key. They have a spare but it is not going to be inexpensive as this was an electronic key that opens / locks / alarms the car. Oh well, nothing we can do, as we really couldn’t find it and had turned the boat inside out looking. We settled our final Boatworks marina bill (or at least until they charge us for the replacement key) and headed into The Galley for breakfast bumping into Ernest on the way. We invited him to join us for breakfast and we enjoyed catching up with him – it certainly made a change from sitting around on broken chairs in the boatyard LOL. Very naughtily he paid for our breakfast despite our arguments and just wouldn’t take no for an answer. So thank you again, Ernest, much appreciated and see you out on the water some day soon.

Around 11am we slipped away from The Boatworks and headed down the river. The conditions were pretty calm and, when we arrived at Tipplers, we decided that we could continue up towards The Huts anchorage inside Canaipa Passage. Was a lovely day out on the water and we enjoyed watching the birds resting on the sand banks which uncover at low tide; the ‘jellyfish’ clouds; the wallaby on the beach; and wondered what the story was behind the latest sunken boat. We couldn’t go any further than this anchorage because of the shallow spots and the falling tide so we enjoyed a lovely serene evening on anchor with no other boats around us.

Tuesday morning we had to wait for the tide before we could leave so around 10am we picked up anchor and started up the river system. It was pretty skinny in places (often with less than 2 feet below the keel) but we made it through OK although we did have to do some sharp manoeuvring to avoid a complete idiot in a motorboat in the narrow channel. He was going at least 10-12 knots and clearly didn’t know that you are supposed to pass port to port in a channel. Basic stuff! In fact, with the shallow water to one side and him bearing down on us so fast, we actually had to turn to port to get out of his way and stay safe. If we had gone to starboard he definitely would have t-boned us and we would probably have run aground. We shouted and swore at him but he just carried on regardless. Was a bit of a dodgy moment!

Trying to get our hearts back to their normal pace we continued slowly through and out of Canaipa Passage into Moreton Bay. At this point we were on a downwind run so we got the genoa out and sailed all the way to The Sandhills anchorage on Moreton Island including executing a few jibes. Was a really good run and we both enjoyed it.

As the anchorage was relatively empty we decided to chuck out a lot of chain (as we had some rusty spots) and was glad we had done so when the wind picked up which meant the wind generator earnt his keep topping up the batteries. We enjoyed a great sunset and retired down below. Annoyingly the wind then switched due south which meant that we had very little protection from the fetch so we had a bit of a disturbed night as we nodded up and down.

Wednesday morning we were up early and had weighed anchor by 6.40 am. It was cloudy and raining with limited visibility but the wind was about 15 knots sustained with higher gusts and we enjoyed sailing just outside but parallel with the shipping channels through the top of Moreton Bay and into the ocean. It was freezing though! We were not far offshore but the sea state became quite swelly and as we were running downwind it was a bit wet and feisty with us reaching speeds up to 8 knots surfing down the waves at the northern entrance of Bribie Island. Although not at any risk both of us felt uncomfortable with the constant side to side movement. There was quite a lot of big ship movement out there too which, luckily, were nowhere near when we had to cross the shipping channels although I did change course at one point for a big tug boat.

Eventually we rounded the headland to go into Mooloolaba. This is a river entrance between two walls and can offer some shallow and challenging conditions. So we headed into the bay and got our fenders and lines ready (having already made a reservation in the marina whilst underway) and started our entrance lining up with the leading lights and made it through at slack high tide (and avoiding the dredger that was working in the entrance). So we were very pleased to have completed this 45 mile trip and be tied to our slip by 2pm,

Yes another marina…. The proposed next leg after Mooloolaba involves going through the Wide Bay Bar which needs settled conditions as it can be very tricky and we need to sit out the current strong winds and swells for a while. We really enjoyed our land trip here so decided this was as good a spot as any to wait it out….

Having checked into the marina we had showers and headed over to Pier 33 for a couple of beers to celebrate our arrival.

Then back on board for dinner and a Netflix evening. Oh yes and I spotted that our tracker had not followed us on our passage which really annoyed me. I had not changed any settings from the previous day when it had worked perfectly well, so ‘pinged’ our GPS coordinates so that, although it just shows a straight line from ‘a’ to ‘b’ at least it actually is showing our current location. I think I have fixed this now so fingers crossed for the next passage – looks like another problem caused by an update to the app.

Thursday morning it was a lovely calm day and we had a late start. Richard fixed the bow wash down pump as it had come adrift the previous morning. We then headed to the fresh seafood markets to purchase some fresh fish – this is stocked from the trawlers which come into port directly behind the market. They had a great selection so we stocked up with about eight meals worth.

We returned to Morphie and put the fish in the freezer before then walking into Mooloolaba via the waterfront and the Wharf. We spotted the bus stop and decided to head to the nearest shopping mall to get the rest of the things that still remained on the shopping list. We got off the bus at Kawana and managed to get everything on our list and even avoided the very busy food court LOL.

On the way back to Morphie we had a couple of drinks in the pub on the Wharf before having a quiet night on board.

Friday morning we had another leisurely start. It remained sunny (despite the forecast for rain) but the wind had picked up and we were creaking on the dock. The conditions were currently looking favourable for a Wide Bay Bar crossing on Thursday so fingers crossed. In the meantime we are going to enjoy being based in a different location. We then did a few jobs like the laundry; fixing Richard’s flip flops; fixing my Gill jacket; and eventually we were lured out of the boat to the fish market again for a takeaway of fish and chips and the battered red band snapper was absolutely delicious. We then had a quiet night on board.

Saturday morning we were going on a fuel run – there is no fuel dock here in Mooloolaba – but there is a floating one for small boats up one of the canals. So we got some cans off the rail and left the dock and as we meandered up the river the outboard conked out.

We couldn’t believe it. It is only months since we had had this serviced and repaired along with a large bill – so really not happy! We rowed back (thankfully wind assisted) and tied up to the back of Morphie. Richard spent most of the day trying to work it out. He changed the spark plugs; changed the fuel lines and connectors; cleaned the carburettor; and even changed the fuel. But it just won’t work. So after a very wasteful day we gave up and returned dink to the davits and we’ll see if we can find a mechanic on Monday. Damn….

We then walked back into town and joined the Surf Club as members. We enjoyed sitting outside (wrapped up warm) watching the sun going down. We were surprised that there were people in the sea as it was freezing cold! Eventually we were driven back indoors by the cold and had some dinner before returning back to Morphie.

Today, Sunday, and I’m blogging while Richard is reading. We had a list of jobs to do today but, of course, it’s raining and thunderstorms are forecast for later. There is live music at the Surf Club this afternoon so we might go and spend a few hours there enjoying the entertainment.

Still keeping a watchful eye on you all at home and hope that you are enjoying the easing of the restrictions. Nothing new to report here about international borders so we remain uncertain about what is going to happen next – but we have decided to park it until we return from this trip north, looking for some fun in the sun, before we have to run back south for cyclone season. Today you can have a virtual hug from me….

Bye for now, Jan

Friday afternoon (7th May) Richard had his telephone consultation with the hospital consultant. They confirmed that not much had changed and, although there remained some damage to his heart muscle, he was doing well and was able to tolerate the drug regime. And, the best news of all, was that they don’t want to see him again for another year! Woo hoo, we can go sailing, finally….

Later in the evening we headed to the works yard and was treated to a beautiful red sky en route. We had sundowners with Ernest and other tired cruisers taking time out from working on their boats. Was a nice social evening.

Saturday morning, I headed out to get the car cleaned while Richard stayed behind and the new genoa tracks were installed. So another job off the list.

We then drove off at noon (in two cars) heading towards Manly pick up Steve and Jo. The roads were absolutely rammed and we crawled in traffic much of the way north. When we got there, sadly, Jo was feeling poorly after having her first Covid jab so we headed out to lunch with Steve at the Moreton Bay Trailer Boat Club. This place has a great Fijian Indian chef so we couldn’t not have the curry of the day LOL.

We dropped off Steve and Jo’s car and thanked them again for their kindness in lending it to us. We are both sailing north in the coming weeks so we hope to catch up with them in a few anchorages along the way. Having said our sad farewells we then returned to the Boatworks in the courtesy car we had borrowed for the weekend.

Sunday morning and I was up and out early to do some shopping while Richard stayed behind to give the boat a good tidy up down below. We then got ourselves ready to receive guests – Andrew and Lynne from SV Mischief – who are on the dock behind us. We had a fun evening and it felt really good to have a social weekend again after all the hard work of the last couple of weeks.

Monday morning and boat jobs started again. I used a compound to ‘cut’ the gelcoat on the topsides and used the polishing machine to get the best finish. Phew was pretty hard work in the heat of the day. Richard stayed below and washed down the gelcoat with water and vinegar to stop any mould from forming. He then moved on to oiling all the teak cabinetry and finished off with the hoovering.

Afterwards we got ourselves cleaned up and while Richard was off having a shower I relaxed on one of the sofas only to get splattered in bird poop through the open cabin hatch. How the hell this damn bird sitting on top of the mast could get it through the hole without hitting the boom is beyond me LOL. So my idea of relaxing went out of the window as I had to clean it all up before Richard got back. After that was done I headed up top and the bird was back – I could have sworn he was laughing at me – so I shook the rigging to get him to leave and he did, but only after sending another large deposit onto the deck. So more cleaning to do……sigh….

Later on we headed over to see how Ernest was getting on with his jobs and he had now antifouled his boat Crossbones and she was looking very smart with her new name decal too.

Tuesday it was time to wax and polish the topsides so we both worked together doing that. Afterwards Richard started to put the boat back together – lots of little jobs like putting the boards back on the rail in readiness for the fuel cans to be reinstalled; running the lines back to the cockpit; putting the blocks onto the new genoa track etc. I kept busy washing down the two dodgers and the ‘infill’ sunbrella canvas from our bimini on the dock. Once they were scrubbed and dried I started to re-waterproof them but ran out of products half way through. Never mind, we managed to get a last-minute courtesy car overnight, so headed out to buy some more and also did some provisioning while we were out. Oh yes and during the day we chased down to the gelcoat man yet again as he still hadn’t finished the job on the stern, although, thankfully it is watertight. Not impressed at all! Back on board we had an early night.

Wednesday morning and I was a bit sad because it had been three years since I had lost Mum. Really can’t believe that she has been gone for so long and I still miss her so much everyday. I carry a photo of her in my purse so I had a little chat and sent her a kiss. Love you Mum.

We then spent a few hours in the cruisers’ lounge downloading some more Netflix content making the most of the time whilst the laundry is going around in the tub. All done we returned to Morphie and Richard got on with more jobs like reinstalling the lifebuoy on the rail and ‘burped’ the dripless stuffing gland which means letting water run through it to avoid any air locks. This is a simple job but, of course, not in an easy location being buried in the bilges beneath the aft cabin berth so the ‘garage’ had to be emptied to give access to the locker.

Finally getting to the end of our lists so we had sundowners again with Ernest and other cruisers in the works yard and was treated to a huge thunderstorm so we all ended up sheltering in an old shipping container LOL. Thankfully the storm circled us rather than a direct hit on the river so we didn’t get any hailstones this time. All very dramatic though…

Thursday we concentrated on the sofa cushions and took them all into the cockpit where we cleaned them (with a new product we had found), then finished off with some leather wax and then buffed them. They certainly look a whole lot better for getting some care and attention. And that was it for the day.

Friday we started on the cockpit and cut, waxed and polished the gelcoat. The gelcoat man had still not turned up and Richard went out to see the guys to complain – well that didn’t work, so we decided to accept defeat. The damage isn’t bad, it is sealed, and we will need to get other gelcoat things done anyway at the next haul out. The driver of the boat that hit us – a salesman for one of the local powerboat companies – has been great throughout all this and was as fed up as us about it. As some compensation he gave us some company rash shirts…. The stupidity of the guy though was that he was working on another boat on the same dock. He very quickly did a runner when he realised we were still around and, if he had done the job well, we would probably have used him for more work in the future so talk about shooting himself in the foot. Marine “tradies” in Australia often have a poor reputation and this is the first personal example we have had. Most people have been great! Oh well, never mind.

At 4pm we picked up the courtesy car and headed out to Tim’s house to see how he was doing after his recent spinal surgery. He was walking surprisingly well and we shared a nice bottle of wine while we caught up. Oh yes and the kookaburra was waiting to be fed outside on the deck so I had another close encounter. They are just so beautiful and, despite their huge beaks, they are very gentle too.

We picked up a takeaway on the way home and had a quiet night in.

Saturday morning and we were up early and headed to the doctors. As we are now leaving the area we wanted to get prescriptions for our medication and also to find out how we go about this down the road. He is happy for us to do phone consultations and can send us future prescriptions via email so we are good to go!

We popped into the chemist to get a month’s supply and then did a huge supermarket provisioning run. We got back to the boat and I started unpacking the first trolley load while Richard returned to the car for the rest….well, he came back and we put everything away. Then I asked him for the car keys. And, guess what, he couldn’t find them!!! So we retraced his steps and even ended up diving in the big bins to check they had not been thrown out with the packaging rubbish. Nope…can’t find them…and, of course, because this is a courtesy car they actually had the registration printed on the tag so this makes the car vulnerable to being stolen. But we had to ‘park’ the angst as we had Tim and Naoko coming over to see the boat in the afternoon. So we prepared some food and invited them on board. We were a bit concerned about Tim climbing on and off but he managed it well and we gave him the helm seat to sit on for more stability. We had a lovely afternoon in the cockpit, in the sun enjoying being on the water with friends….

After they had left we went through all the food cupboards and did some more searching but, alas, no keys. Damn! But at least the security gates are locked at 6pm so we know the car is safe overnight. Richard has been to the security guys; the works guys; and the Galley to see if they have been handed in but no. Really don’t know where they could be….

This morning, Sunday, and I’m blogging while Richard has stripped the bed and is doing more laundry. We were both relieved to see the car still in the car park this morning. We are definitely leaving on Monday and heading north so very excited about the possibility of going sailing again, although of course the immediate forecast isn’t perfect but we are not on a schedule so who cares…. I had wanted to pop out this morning to get some last minute things – particularly some fresh fish from the trawlers and a propane refill – but having a locked car with no keys has stopped that although we have loads of food on board so definitely won’t starve LOL.

This afternoon we have a reservation in The Galley as Sandra and Nigel are coming over for lunch so we can see them again before we depart. So looking forward to another social event. Morphie is looking absolutely beautiful and it is definitely worth all the hard work, especially when we have been receiving compliments all week from the tradies working on neighbouring boats. Feel like very proud parents right now!

Well, things at home seem to have changed a bit with the highly infectious Indian Covid variant being introduced. Really don’t know why the Government didn’t ‘red list’ India sooner to avoid the inevitable transmission with returning travellers but guess we all have a PhD in hindsight in these situations. Hopefully it can be contained and more lockdowns can be avoided. Here in Australia things changed again with the announcement in the Budget that the international borders would definitely not reopen this year and maybe not until mid 2022. Although they are going to be letting boats in directly from New Zealand as part of the Tasman travel bubble this is not allowable the other way. So will we get home this year? Not sure is the honest answer…

Anyway, on a more cheery note, as you can have hugs at home again now, here is an Australian hug to make you smile.

Bye for now, Jan