After
a few days enjoying the delights of Mooloolaba we had to face the fast approaching
end of our five month shakedown cruise through many of Australia’s fantastic
Great Barrier Reef Islands. It was time for the final leg from Mooloolaba via
Moreton Island back to homeport at East Coast Marina in Manly boat harbour.
We
eased out between the breakwaters of Mooloolaba shortly after dawn, rounded
point Cartwright and headed south. We had expected a nice north-easterly but in
the early morning it wasn’t strong enough to fill the canvas so we motor sailed
towards Caloundra.
Sailing past Caloundra |
As
it turned out, the wind never filled in all day and our 80 HP Ford Lehman was
required for duty the whole 35.1 nautical mile trip as we skirted the main
shipping channel into the Port of Brisbane dodging massive container vessels.
You would swear they were out get us but unless they left the channel we were always safe. |
We skirted just outside the main shipping channel with these guys passing close by. |
We
anchored in behind the wrecks just north of Tangalooma Resort on Moreton Island
in time for lunch and a relaxing afternoon, for us anyway. Marc went ashore for
a walk on the beach and set out to climb the sandhills to take in the view. The most strenuous activity we got up to was
trolling a lure behind the dinghy for a few circuits of the wrecks
unsuccessfully trying to catch some dinner.
Mooloolaba to Tangalooma - 35.1 Nautical Miles - 5 Hours 59 Minutes Average Speed 5.9 knots - Max Speed 7.6 knots |
Where we anchored behind the wrecks. |
Later
we did enjoy a typically awesome Tangalooma sunset dutifully accompanied with
some of our fast dwindling wine supplies and another great meal from Karen.
In the distance the cranes of the Port of Brisbane and the Brisbane CBD high rises remind us how near the end we are. |
The sunsets from Moreton Island are legendary. |
Next
day we moved down the shore to the southern side of the resort to get away from
the crowd of day boats all intent on cramming in behind the wrecks. We went
ashore to the resort for a wander around mid morning. We retired to one of the
pools for a long, lazy soak while Marc headed off for a long walk to an area of
the island called “The Desert”. He was quite enjoying the opportunity to get
some exercise and this reasonably long walk through sandy, undulating tracks certainly gave him a workout.
We
returned to the boat mid afternoon and settled back doing a whole lot of nothing
much. Marc appeared on the beach a couple of hours later ready for pickup in
the dinghy. He was very impressed with the walk and found the desert experience in
the middle of a heavily vegetated island quite surreal.
The local dolphins made an appearance for quite a while around the boat around sunset topping off a very enjoyable day. |
The
following day we planned to move further south along the Moreton Island coast
to one of our favourite anchorages at a
spot appropriately named “The Sand Hills”. Here we were going to be joined by
our neighbours from East Coast Marina, Bob and Lyn on their ketch, Whoosh. Over drinks that night, Rob
jokingly said to Marc that as he was enjoying his hiking so much he might like
to walk down the beach to our next stop, after all it was only seven and a half
miles.
To
our surprise, Marc appeared at breakfast next morning with the plan to do just
that. So with a good supply of water, a few muesli bars for sustenance and Brit
resolve he was dropped to the beach and off he headed. Meanwhile we settled
back for another cup of coffee and a read of the online newspapers.
Seven
and a half nautical miles is almost 14 kilometres so we gave Marc two hours
head start before we raised the anchor and slowly cruised along the coast
keeping a lookout for our mad mate ashore. It surprised us how far along he’d
gone by the time we passed him by. We were able to anchor up and settle in well
before he reappeared on the beach waving to be picked up.
Where we anchored at the Sand Hills |
Doing it tough waiting for Marc to arrive along the beach. |
The
anchorage at the Sand Hills shoals very gradually out from the beach making it necessary
to anchor a few hundred metres offshore. The shallows dry at low tide leaving you
with a long walk back to reach even enough depth for a dinghy. As it was
approaching low tide Marc elected to wade out off the beach into thigh deep
water to make it easier for Rob to reach him in the dinghy. It was about now he
remembered what we had told him about the large number of stingrays that
frequent these shoals and was feeling relieved he hadn’t come across wading
through the shallows.
As
Rob approached Marc in the dinghy, it spooked a group of six or eight large rays
boasting spans of over a meter that had been resting in the sand. They all
began fleeing the approaching dinghy – straight towards Marc whose face
immediately took on a look of ‘deep concern’. Recounting later seeing a
swarm of huge Australian marine life charging his way through the clear water,
Marc refused to class his facial expression as near panic.
Whether
it was a logically sensible decision made to keep very still or he was frozen
to the spot we are not sure but it proved to be the right strategy as all the
rays made last second diversions around him and fled on their way . Stingrays
are not aggressive but instinctively strike with their venomous tail if
threatened. Sudden movement can do it.
After
surviving yet another encounter with Australia’s deadly fauna Marc was well
ready for a glass or four of red as told us of his trek along the beach and
some of the sights he come across.
Marc enjoyed his long beach walk |
He was very saddened to find someone's cruising dreams washed up on the beach |
The wreck of an old steamer Marc came across on his walk |
Just another Moreton Island sunset over Brisbane city |
We
spent the next couple of days at the sand hills with Marc going ashore for more
hikes while we did some exploring of the shallows in our kayak getting very up
close and personal with a number of huge rays, turtles and scores of shovelnose sharks.
We explored the shallows in our kayak |
Turtles abound in the area |
We
also fitted in a little fishing, crabbing and a lot of socialising with the
crew of Whoosh including enjoying
sundowners from high on the sand hills one evening.
One last mackerel for the trip |
Quickly dispatched and on the BBQ |
Pelicans were also plentiful |
Marc's skin tone clearly benefited from a few months in the Aussie sun. |
If you didn't know better you could easily believe this was a snow field rather than sand. |
Marc's attempt at sand boarding was an abject failure |
Sundowner drinks with Bob & Lyn from Whoosh atop the sand hills |
The view was spectacular |
Time
was now almost up and finally we waved good bye to Whoosh, upped anchor and enjoyed a very pleasant sail back across
Moreton Bay towards home port. We weren’t quite done yet though as we dropped
anchor at Green Island for one final night out of the marina.
Sand Hills to Green Island - 13.4 Nautical Miles - 3 Hours 13 Minutes Average Speed 4.1 knots - Max Speed 7.2 knots |
The moon waning over us anchored off Green Island |
As
Karen cooked up a superb last supper aboard for the three of us, Marc emerged
from rummaging around under the sole where we store the wine with the sad proclamation,
“Chaps, I’m extremely sorry to report that we are now officially out of red
wine. Your calculations of our requirements was almost perfect. If I hadn’t
spilled so much we would have made it.”
After
a good laugh from us, the good news was the bubbles and white stocks were still
OK but did get knocked around through the evening.
We spent the night literally within sight of the marina. |
At
8.35am on December 22nd Our
Dreamtime slipped quietly into her berth at East Coast Marina in Manly Boat
Harbour officially ending our five month sojourn to the tropics.
Celebratory beers in the marina after the end of our shakedown cruise |
We had planned
it as a shakedown cruise and it had been all of that. The most serious issues
being a transmission failure in Bundaberg that cost us a month in port and more
dollars than we like to think about and the refrigeration stopped working at
Brampton Island on our way home. They are mechanical issues that can happen on
any boat but we are pleased they happened here on our shakedown and not in some
remote part of the Pacific.
We
were super impressed with how well the boat sailed and learned a huge amount
about how to get the best out of her. She proved to be a fantastic live aboard
boat easily accommodating us and our guests, Anthony and Linda in the
Whitsundays and, of course, our crewmate Marc for the whole trip south. We are
delighted with our Whitby 42.
All
that was left was a huge day of cleaning the boat from top to bottom. Our son,
Rod, came to pick us up in the afternoon and we were very happy he has a truck as
the amount of washing alone we unloaded off the boat near filled it. Then it
was off to Ipswich to catch up with family and friends.
Marc
stayed with us a few days longer to experience a typical, relaxed Aussie Christmas with
our daughter, Yasmin, son-in-law, Rob, and our youngest grandies, Lyla and
Harry. Christmas temperatures near 30C and lunch of juicy leg ham carved off
the bone, kilos of fresh prawns accompanied by salads was far removed from anything
he had experienced in jolly old England and a real eye opener for him.
Marc was in the Christmas spirit assisting to build the pirate ship fruit desert to impress the grand kids |
Kids are the excitement of Christmas morning |
G&T ice blocks for Christmas afternoon were a hit in the Aussie summer. |
It
wasn’t until we saw him off at the airport for his flight back to London on
Boxing Day that this leg of our adventures really felt totally over. We have
sailed with Marc in South East Asia, the Mediterranean and now Australia and
each time we have parted at an airport there has been no goodbye, but rather a
“See you later.”
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