Aground! Who's aground? Fun on Fraser Island.

December 8-9, 2015

After six nights holed up in very friendly haven of the Port of Bundaberg Marina while a very strong South Easterly system blew past up the coast we were very keen to get back to sea and continue our journey South. A predicted ten to fifteen knot North Easterly sounded reasonable for our planned 55 nautical mile (83km) trip to Kingfisher Bay on Fraser Island’s western shore.

We were up early and made our way out of Bundaberg’s Burnett River a 6.00am to be met with a sizeable swell still rolling across Hervey Bay from the South East, the exact direction we were heading. The first couple of hours were an absolute slog punching through the waves under motor. We had the mainsail and mizzen up but there was only just enough wind angle to keep the sails filled to stabilise the boat and reduce the rolling as the wind piped in from the ESE rather than the predicted NE.

Fortunately the wind and swell both abated mid morning. While we would have rather been sailing, chugging across flat seas under motor was a pretty good second best and that’s the way we spent most the day. We did spot what we initially thought were the flukes of a whale’s tale in the distance as it dived. Considering all the humpbacks should have been long gone on their way back to Antarctica for the summer we worked out it was more likely a massive dugong which are common in Fraser Island waters.

Tigerlilly approaching Fraser Island.

Lilly doing the photographic duties while Tom kicks back.

 

As we approached the channels through the northernmost shoals of the Great Sandy Straights the wind finally began to fill in a little from the NE and we found ourselves sailing nicely towards our anchorage. There's nothing better than a nice wind combined with sheltered water and no sea state. This was also where we caught and passed our American friends Tom and Lilly on Tigerlilly who had left Bundaberg ahead of us in the pre-dawn. Naturally we now took the opportunity to get some photos of each others boats.

Lilly's pics of Our Dreamtime as we sailed by.



Isn't she pretty?

Thanks Lilly. The photos are much appreciated.

 

We were anchored up in calm water just north of the Kingfisher Bay jetty a little after 3.30pm and soon had the dinghy down to head ashore.  

Tigerlilly at left and Our Dreamtime on right closer to the island.



Port of Bundaberg to Kingfisher Bay - 54.1 Nautical Miles - 9 Hours 35 Minutes
Average Speed 5.6 knots - Highest Speed 8.00 knots



Our anchorage at Kingfisher Bay

The Eco Resort ashore is fairly exclusive but just near the jetty there is a tavern with swimming pool, showers and toilets etc that visiting yachties are welcome to use which we were keen to check out.  A round of G&Ts at the bar went down well that’s for sure. We enjoyed a stunning sunset from the cockpit on Tigerlilly as we caught up with Tom and Lilly before returning to Our Dreamtime for another of Karen’s culinary master pieces for dinner.

Another awesome sunset for the collection

 

Karen excelled herself with this Salmon Salad for dinner

After studying the tide tables and weather forecasts we decided to stay at Kingfisher the following day before making our way down through the narrow and shallowest sections of the Great Sandy Straights to the anchorage at Pelican Bay on the Thursday. The forecast indicated things should be near perfect for an early morning crossing of the treacherous Wide Bay Bar on Friday morning with a moderate northerly expected to spring up later in the morning to blow us down to Mooloolaba.

Marc decided to tackle one of the island’s bush walks, so we dropped him into the beach in the morning and returned aboard where we got a few jobs done around the boat. It was a very still day with glassy water all around. Through the morning we were visited by a number of turtles, a pod of dolphins and a good sized dugong, all of which popped up when we didn’t have a camera handy. Doh!

Late morning Karen made the comment that our boat didn’t seem to be swinging with the outgoing tide the way other boats were. Instead of hanging parallel to the beach, Our Dreamtime was at right angles to the island with her stern to the beach. She asked, ‘We’re not aground are we?’ Rob checked the depth gauge and saw it was showing just over four metres which is more than adequate for our 1.5m draught and said, ‘No way. There’s plenty of water under us.’ A quick look over the stern changed that view. The very back of the boat had drifted over the ledge of sand where the shore shelves dramatically and while we had four metres under us amidships, the stern was indeed sitting on the sand. Ooops!

We started the engine and were able to drive the boat off very easily indicating it was definitely only the very rear of the keel that had been on the sand bank. We sheepishly  re-anchored a little further out from the shore and remembered the famous saying, ‘There are two types of sailors. Those that have run aground at some stage and those that lie.’ We belong in the first category.

We returned ashore to meet Marc in the bar after lunch. On the way we were delighted to discover small swarms of little soldier crabs running around the sand flats at low tide. Both Rob and Karen have vivid memories of chasing legions of the little blue crustaceans across the banks as small children. Soldier crabs used to be found in their tens of thousands at the northern Brisbane suburb of Sandgate where Rob was born and at many other locations around the shores of Moreton Bay. Sadly they are now gone, victims of the decline in water quality caused by the pressures of urban growth we suspect.



Soldier crabs marching across the sand at low tide.

 Marc had enjoyed his walk but had found the going tough along the sandy tracks and was fairly warn out. Karen took advantage of the pool with a long dip to cool off while the boys settled in at a nearby table with Rob posting our latest blog and Marc catching up with the goings on at home in the UK courtesy of his electronic delivery of the London Times on his I-pad.      



The long jetty at Kingfisher Bay

When we returned to the boat we were delighted to see Maltese friends we’d made in Bundaberg had arrived on their yacht, Mahina. Eleandro is a professional skipper who captains a large yacht in the northern sailing season for his living and sails his own boat for pleasure in the off season. After being on the hard at Bundaberg while he made some money on the other side of the world, his yacht  was moored next to us in the marina as he and his father, Papa Joe, got her ready to sail again. Now they were setting off to New Zealand via Brisbane. Eleandro often sails the boat single handed but had talked his Dad into joining him for this leg of his travels. Joe was fit as a fiddle and looked to be in his mid-sixties so we were quite taken back to learn he was actually 77. We certainly hope we’re up to trans Tasman sailing jaunts at his age.

We had a good chat and after comparing plans Eleandro decided to sail with us through the straights and over the Wide bay Bar down to Mooloolaba. Not having been through the area before he liked the idea of having us to follow as we re-traced our track from our northbound passage. If we didn’t hit anything the first time logic says we shouldn’t on the way back either.

It’s always good to re-connect with other yachties we meet as we travel along.  Our five month long shake-down cruise north from Brisbane to the Whitsunday Islands and back was now nearing its end and it was going to nice to have these guys sharing the couple of legs.



Goodnight from Fraser Island

 

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A Bundy good time with nesting turtles, new cruising friends, rum and awesome seafood while the wind whistles.

December 3-7, 2015

We certainly got our timing right by getting into the Port of Bundaberg Marina just before a strong South Easterly weather system moved up the Queensland coast. The wind built through the night and by morning our gauge was bouncing up well up into the 30s as it gusted rarely dropping below 20 knots at any stage. While Our Dreamtime was snug and relatively peaceful on her blow off marina berth inside the river, the view out to sea from Burnett Heads was anything but. It looked ugly. The forecast was indicating we’d have anywhere up to a week of these conditions so we resolved to make the most of our stay to show Marc around Bundaberg.

First up though we performed our customary complete clean up of the boat below decks and freshwater wash down of everything topside we do on the first day whenever we come into a marina. It’s amazing what you discover when you clean your boat. We’ve often found split pins missing out of rigging, chaffed lines, damaged blocks etc during this process but on this particular morning we discovered something a bit scary. Laying on the foredeck against the port toe rail was a stainless steel locknut. Clearly it had come undone from something but what. We’d been sailing in 20 knots the previous day so the thought that something had become unbolted in those conditions was a little unsettling to say the least.  So too was the knowledge that if the nut had bounced a few centimetres further and fallen overboard we wouldn’t even know anything was wrong now.

Just what you don't want to find laying on the deck after a passage.

We began scouring the rigging including peering through binoculars at every bolt on the spreaders and all mast fittings but when this didn’t reveal the source of our wayward lock nut Rob decided a trip up the mast in the bosun’s chair was going to be required.  Just as he was preparing to go aloft, the source of our angst revealed itself at the base of the mast. The nut had come off the boom housing’s  gooseneck fitting. Fortunately the bolt had stayed in place but we hate to think of the result if it had worked its way out while we’d been bouncing around in 20+ knots and three metre seas. It was soon back in place nice and tight and now included on the list of things to be checked regularly.

After much searching we found the offending bolt right in front of our eyes.

With that and our list of other boat chores done, we kicked back to have a relaxing afternoon on the boat catching up on some blogging and the like. On the other hand, Marc decided to do a bit of exploring of the local Burnett Heads area on foot. That's when it finally happened. After all our English mate's paranoia about Australia's wildlife and the possibility of him coming to harm on his trip down under by being eaten by sharks or crocodiles, bitten by venomous snakes, spiders or blue ringed octopus, stung by stonefish, box jellyfish or stingrays, now he was actually threatened by an Aussie species we hadn't warned (or was it teased) him about. We'd forgotten it was nesting season and Marc found himself under persistent aerial attack from a pair of swooping magpies determined to defend their nest from any pedestrian or cyclist who dared cross the field nearby. On his return later in the afternoon he greeted us with, 'Chaps, I was right. Australia is a dangerous place. Even your birds are bastards that want to hurt me.' We're not sure our raucous laughter was the sympathy he was expecting. A magnificent dinner that night in the form of the marina's special $30 seafood platter quickly reminded Marc why it was worth risking life and limb to be in Australia and all was forgiven.

Ocean Pacific Seafood at the Port of Bundaberg do these awesome platters for just $30 for marina clients.

Marc getting photographic evidence to remember another Aussie seafood feast

We then had a very sociable time over our five day stay in Bundaberg enjoying the company of cruisers from places as far afield as Malta, Sweden, the United States and many points along Australia’s East coast.

Marc and Karen about to sample the product at the conclusion of our tour of the famous Bundaberg Rum Distillery.

We also took a very interesting tour of the Bundaberg Rum Distillery, and finally managed to tick off one of Karen’s bucket list boxes by getting to experience sea turtles coming ashore to lay their eggs.

Mon Repos Conservation Park is a national park containing an important turtle rookery located just a few kilometres from the Port of Bundaberg Marina. It hosts the largest concentration of nesting marine turtles on the eastern Australian mainland and supports the most significant nesting population of the endangered loggerhead turtle in the South Pacific Ocean. In far smaller numbers the Flatback and Green turtles and, intermittently, the Leatherback turtle also nest along the Bundaberg coast.

Rob on Mon Repos Beach during our previous visit in August before the turtle breeding season

The Mon Repos Conservation  Park's visitor information centre is excellent.

We had visited the excellent information centre at Mon Repos back in August on our way north but were too early in the year to see turtles nesting. Their breeding season runs from November to March. The adult female turtles come ashore at night to their lay eggs in the sand dunes and about eight weeks later young turtles emerge from the eggs and begin their journey to the sea.

One of the nesting  Loggerhead Turtles we were able to get very close to at Mon Repos Beach

We were permitted to take photos for just a very brief time when the turtles are totally focused on laying their eggs in the nest they have created. At this point virtually nothing will distract them from the task at hand.

We joined one of the turtle encounter tours operated by Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service rangers during the breeding season. Beach access is managed to ensure that the impact of humans on the nesting sea turtles is minimal with only tour participants are allowed on Mon Repos after 6pm to witness this incredible natural journey.

Nesting turtles are easily disturbed by artificial light and movement especially when leaving the water, crossing the beach and digging their nests. Hatching turtles emerging from their nests are also disorientated by lights so people are divided into small groups and escorted everywhere by rangers.  When it was our groups turn, we were guided down to the beach in darkness once a turtle had been spotted making her way up the beach. We were asked to keep close together, move only where and when instructed, make as little noise as possible and not display any light at all, including phone screens.

Through the long night we were rewarded with the opportunity to get very up close and personal with three different loggerhead turtles and witnessed the whole process of dragging themselves across the sand up into the dunes where they dig a deep hole with their rear flippers and lay their clutch of eggs. They then fill the hole back in and make the long, slow trip back to the water. Females nest up to three times in a season. Being so close to these beautiful creatures as they layed their eggs was an incredibly moving experience we will never forget.

Despite getting to back to the boat around 2.00am, we managed to be up early the following day to catch the free shuttle bus the marina provides for a trip into the Farmers Market where we were able to stock with awesome fresh fruit and vegetables straight out of the fields. Held every Sunday morning at Bundaberg’s Shalom College this really is one of the best produce markets we’ve encountered in Australia.

Yet more seafood, this time lunch in the marina with new American friends Tom and Lilly off the ketch Tigerlilly.

The rest of our stay included sundowners hosted  by a Swedish couple on their very nice Swan they’d sailed from Europe that we had met on the markets trip and a yachties get together over more seafood platters in the marina’s cruisers cove. As good a time as we were having, we were still very pleased when the weather began to ease and we could make preparations to continue on our way South. Fraser Island and the Great Sandy Straights were calling.

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Goodbye to the Tropics – Great Keppel Island to Bundaberg

November 29 – December 2, 2015

We spent three nights and two very relaxing days anchored off Great Keppel Island’s Long Beach. Marc spent some time exploring a couple of the island’s walking tracks while we organized ourselves a very full schedule of not a lot. Perfect.

On the second afternoon we did manage to get ourselves over to Seabreeze for a very enjoyable sundowners session with David, Nerida, Rick plus a few other cruisers anchored in the bay. It was also a chance to say ‘See you later’ to the trio as they were leaving the next morning while we had decided to wait an extra day before pushing further south. They had been great cruising companions for the last few days and no doubt our tracks will cross again.

Sundowners on Seabreeze at Great Keppel Island

When we did weigh anchor it was an early start again as we had another long passage ahead of us for a day hop. Our anchorage for the night was going to be in Pancake Creek almost Seventy Nautical Miles away. While the creek mouth is well marked and can be entered at night it’s not something we’d do by choice so leaving before sunrise improved our chances of arriving before sunset.

 

By the time the sun was up so was enough wind to sail.

Initially we needed to motor sail in the still conditions but soon after the sun made an appearance so did around 10 knots of North Easterly breeze filling our sails and providing us with a nice square reach.  

Very happy with 6.1 knots of boat speed in 9.3 knots ow wind.

Before long we were passing Hummocky Island which had been one of our most favorite anchorages on the way north. Check our blog about it here Naked Nirvana - Hummocky Island We would have loved to have been able to stop in the island’s delightful bay again but it faces north and would have been very uncomfortable in the nor-easter.

Hummocky Island was calling to us loudly but the anchorage there is only good in winds from the Southern quadrant.

The next major landmark we left astern was Cape Capricorn and its picturesque lighthouse and, reluctantly, crossed over the Tropic of Capricorn. There were long faces all around as we officially exited the tropics. (For now. We will be back to stay as soon as possible.)

Karen sketching Cape Capricorn as we depart the tropics

Our melancholy mood was blown away very shortly afterwards when we landed a nice spotted mackerel just in time for lunch. Karen quickly converted most of the fish into mackerel steaks but within ten minutes of being caught, the tail section was on the BBQ for lunch. You can’t get much fresher than that.

 

11.30am Marc and Karen show off the nice spotted mackerel that had just been landed

11.40am - Rob has the tail portion of the fish in the BBQ and baking nicely

12.05 - Mackerel lunch is served with a nice spicy salsa Karen whipped up. You can't get fresher than that.

The wind held in the 10-15 knot range all day. The boat loved the conditions and cruised nicely above six knots on our long, single tack all the way from Great Keppel to Clews Point and the mouth of Pancake Creek. The tide was running out colliding with the northerly wind and swell which made the waves stand up sharply as we turned into the wind to drop our main and mizzen. We then had a fairly slow trip into the creek and up to our anchorage motoring against current.

Our anchorage well inside the sandy channels of Pancake Creek

We were securely anchored up well before sunset. It was a good thing to as we just had time for our traditional post passage beers and to BBQ some of our newly acquired mackerel steaks before the sandflies began to make their presence known on deck. We are very thankful the boat is fully screened and we can zip down our clears totally enclosing the cockpit. No bug worries amongst the mangroves for us.

Great Keppel Island to Pancake Creek – 68.2 Nautical Miles – 11 Hours 34 Minutes 
Average Speed 5.9 Knots – Highest Speed 8.2 Knots

The entrance to Pancake Creek is well marked which is a good thing as the channels between the sandbanks are narrow.

 

Pancake Creek sunsets are always spectacular.

The North Easterly winds were predicted to last one more day before being replaced by a strong South Easterly system expected to produce near gale force winds so our stay in Pancake creek was restricted to overnight. By now our early morning departures were wearing thin on some of the crew (ie. Karen and Marc) but Captain Rob knew the trick to getting all hands on deck. The smell of strong coffee brewing in the galley would be wafting through the boat before he made any attempt to rouse anyone.

A single dose of caffiene administered immediately on rising was followed by the promise of a second once the anchor was up and the boat underway. It proved to be the perfect strategy to prevent a mutiny and we had cleared the creek and rounded Clews Point by the time the sun was above the horizon.

Clews Point rounded and on our way to Bustard Head

Bustard Head Lighthouse

We carefully threaded our way between Inner and Middle Rocks beneath the Bustard Head lighthouse and set our course for Burnett Heads Sixty Nautical Miles Distant. This morning the wind was blowing from North North East aft of our beam. We elected to experiment with leaving the mizzen in its bag in the downwind conditions and compliment the full mainsail with our asymmetric spinnaker.  Up she went and we were soon making good speed despite the very modest wind strength.

We love flying this baby.

We did altar course briefly to a square reach giving us the opportunity to directly compare the performance of the spinnaker/mainsail combination compared to the previous day’s genoa/mainsail. Let’s hear it for the asymmetric spinnaker which was a knot faster despite having less wind strength. No wonder we love that sail. That was about the full extent of the trips excitement for most of the day as we ran South East for hour after hour.

The spinnaker was faster in less wind. What more could we ask.

The wind strengthened mid afternoon and began shifting towards the East so we dropped the spinnaker and unfurled the genoa. It kept on swinging and what had been an easy downwind run through most of the day turned into a close hauled beat to windward to clear the shallows off the mouth of the Burnett River. It was clear the coming strong South Easterly system was going to arrive earlier than expected so we were very pleased to tie up nice and secure in a pen at the Port of Bundaberg Marina just inside the mouth of the river. You couldn’t ask for a much nicer spot to sit out some crap weather.

Pancake Creek to Burnett River – 65.1 Nautical Miles – 11 Hours 44 Minutes 
Average Speed 6.1 knots – Highest Speed 8.3 Knots

   

We were nice and snug in Port of Bundaberg Marina before the strong South Easterlies arrived.

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Discovering some limits - Island Head Creek to Great Keppel Island

November 28, 2015

We followed our previous day’s track on the chart plotter downstream in the pre-dawn light to clear the mouth of Island Head Creek before the lowest of the tide. We were surrounded by four other boats including our friends on Seabreeze and Howzat clearly with the same idea in mind. Sticking very close to our track made exiting the creek much less stressful than the entry had been. The theory being,  if we didn’t hit the bottom anywhere we went yesterday we shouldn’t hit it there today either.  We did see some readings in the two metre levels again inside the mouth but successfully cleared Island Head without bouncing off anything. We love a theory that works.

The sun rising as we depart Island Head Creek

Again the seas just outside were quite rough and confused and we were very happy that our Leisurefurl in boom mainsail is so easy to raise from the safety of the cockpit. The mizzen can also be reached from the back of the cockpit so with those both raised we soon had the genoa unfurled and set course for Great Keppel Island 60 nautical miles to the south.

Rick and Howzat disappeared into the distance again in the downwind conditions

The coastline here is all part of the Australian Defence Force’s Shoalwater Bay Exercise Area and as such is completely uninhabited, unless the Army, Navy or Air Force are there blowing the place up again in which case we cruisers are forced to sail by well offshore.  The geology is quite dramatic with many small, rocky islands rising vertically out of the water to quite significant heights.  As soon as the sails had been trimmed and the boat was settled on course, Karen had her sketch pad our recreating a number of the more dramatic looking scenes along the way.

 

 

The modest wind blowing around ten knots from the Nor Nor East through the morning saw us edge away from the coast to maintain a workable sail angle so progress was comparatively slow. We gybed back and forwards a couple of times but eventually settled on a long run further offshore in attempt to keep the boat speed somewhere near respectable. The breeze  was forecast to strengthen later in the day so we were hoping to pick up the pace in the afternoon or we may be arriving at Keppel in the dark.

Well offshore from Cape Manifold we gybed again back towards the coast. The wind was picking up at last but also swinging around for a while before finally settling in the mid to high teens from almost due North.  With our destination now almost due South we poled out the genoa on the opposite side to the main and mizzen and began sailing wing on wing directly downwind consistently making better than seven knots.

Our Dreamtime charging downwind wing on wing approaching North Keppel Island.

With our sails well filled and Our Dreamtime charging along nicely as ever bigger swells rolled under our hull it was far from the perfect time to hear the ratchet on our game rod suddenly start screaming . We had hooked a large fish that was reeling line off at a scary rate while it was impossible to even slow down the boat let alone stop and back it up on the fish the way you would on a game boat.

Rob grabbed the rod and progressively increased the drag until the speed at which the line was disappearing slowed to a trickle. The fish managed another couple of decent runs but each time Rob was able to manage and then finally stop the loss of line. Eventually he was able to start retrieving line but whatever it was, this fish was not going to give up easily and would try to run again. The battle ebbed and flowed for a few minutes before the stern of the boat was picked up by a good sized swell which we surfed down the face of at nine knots or so putting too much strain on the line. Goodbye fish and goodbye favourite lure. Bugger. Fresh fish for dinner at Great Keppel Island would have been nice.

Mid afternoon the wind began to strengthen further and by the time we were approaching North Keppel Island we were seeing regular gusts over 20 knots. These conditions began to test Ben & Gerry. (The nick name for our new B&G Autopilot)  The big swells often swung the stern which presented much more of the mizzen and main to the wind overpowering the genoa. This pushed us off our dead downwind course. The Autopilot was then overwhelmed a number of times as it tried to correct finding  the weather helm too strong to overcome.

Reducing sail or even dropping the mizzen completely would have balanced the boat up more but  that would mean turning around into the wind and seas to reef and or drop. With the shelter of Great Keppel Island in sight just across the waters we decided to leave things as they were but with Rob taking over the helm from Ben & Gerry.

David on Seabreeze got this photo of Our Dreamtime wing on wing
 as we sailed side by side towards Great Keppel Island.

By the time we approached the passage between Middle and Miall Islands about an hour and a half later he was questioning  the wisdom that decision. The wind was now a steady 25 knots and gusting above that quite regularly. The swells were also standing up steeper and higher in the shallower water. This combination made hand steering physically hard work.

As he constantly worked the wheel back and forward countering the best efforts of wind and wave to send us off course, Karen had the camera out snapping photos of our friends David and Nerida having their own fun and games aboard Seabreeze in the spirited conditions. Marc meanwhile was sitting back engrossed in solving the cryptic crossword in that day’s London Times he’d just downloaded when we regained Wifi service after our days in black hole territory since we reached Digby Island. Rob’s comments about it being hard to get good crew seemed to fall on deaf ears all around.

Our friends on Seabreeze hull down between swells near North Keppel Island

Once in the lee of Middle Island, we were able to turn to wind in reasonably flat water and drop all sails with Rob letting out a huge sigh of relief as the helm resumed its normal feather light feel. We were then left with just a short motor around into the well protected bay at Long Beach on the southern side of Great Keppel.

Island Head Creek to Great Keppel Island - 62.7 Nautical Miles – 11 Hours 25 Minutes
Average Speed 5.5 Knots – Highest Speed 9.6 knots

The run from North Keppel Island through to the passage between Middle and Miall Islands was spirited to say the least.

 

Nice and calm in the anchorage off Long Beach on the southern side of Great Keppel Island

This was always intended to be a shakedown cruise to learn our boat and we had definitely discovered some new limits. Our autopilot problems and experience hand steering in the strongish, downwind conditions convinced us that in future we would probably be better off leaving the mizzen sail in the bag when we sailed wing on wing if the wind was likely to get up.

 

Sundowner drinks on Long Beach after our spirited passage.

 

Later that afternoon we hit the beach for sundowner drinks with David, Nerida and Rick where we compared tales of the days passage and told other tall stories. That’s what cruising is about isn’t it.

 

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If you have only recently discovered our blog and would like to read how it all started, or work through our previous adventures, click the link to go back to our first blog entry. Stuff it. Let's just go sailing anyway. 

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