Hamilton Island

We spent six days at Shaw island with lots of wind and rain so we only got off the boat once on the 26th and went over to have Marian's birthday dinner with Sea Mist. It was a very good evening and Cheryl made a lovely dinner and birthday cake for Marian. On Sunday we upped anchor and sailed over to Hamilton marina which was only 12 miles away. We got tied up and went for a long walk on a trail up into the hills. It was good to get off the boat and move again. We met up with Frank on Tahina and had a pizza dinner with him and then an early night where we were not being buffeted by the winds for a change. On Monday Sea Mist arrived along with Lou Cat and as it was John's birthday and Dave off Lou Cat was on Tuesday so we all went to dinner at the Italian restaurant which was very good. Lots of fun and Frank joined us but his wife Karen who just arrived back from Houston was just too tired. The day was ok with sunshine which we have not seen for weeks so we had to put on our sunglasses for a change. Not complaining at all. Tuesday morning we left with Sea Mist and sailed over to Cid Harbour on Whitsunday island. It was blowing 30 knots outside but where we are anchored it is fine other than the rain. Oh well can't control the weather and we are online!! We will be here another day or so as the winds are forecast to be above 30 knots for the next day or so but it is time we make a move and get going up the coast. There are not many places to stop along the east coast of Australia that afford good anchorages so we will be sailing long days and trying to find short term anchorages for over night as it is a lot more enjoyable to sail during the day especially with lots of reefs around. We hope to be in Darwin sometime between the 5th to the 14th of July.

Shaw island

We stayed in Goldsmith island three nights and it was ok with just some roll and banging. We left on Monday and moved just 12 miles up to Shaw Island where we have found a better anchorage with reasonable calm days and nights. Today is Wednesday and the wind is still blowing and the rain falling in little squalls that keep coming by so have not been doing very much other that reading a couple of books and watching a few movies. So far it has not been worth putting the dinghy in the water. We are planning to go into Hamilton Island marina for two days on Sunday which will be a nice change. After that we will go up to Whitsunday island for a couple of days before moving up the coast towards Cairns. The good news when we do sail is that the wind is right behind us so it makes for comfortable downwind sailing.

MacKay

We arrived at the marina in MacKay after a comfortable sail from Curlew Island. We were delighted to be met at the dock by cruising friends Jim and Pam whom we have not seen since French Polynesia. We managed to get tied up next to Sea Mist and had an impromptu get together. Jim and Pam are living on their boat at the marina. They were offshore for ten years and now have the boat up for sale but not having too much luck as the market worldwide for boats has sunk.

The next morning Marian, Cheryl and Pam all went into town and did not return until evening! It was a good girls day out at the hair dressers and shopping. I managed to get some boat jobs done which somehow took all day. On Thursday it was Cheryl's birthday. We borrowed Jim's car and drove to the mall and did some shopping. That evening on Kilkea we had a birthday dinner with the six of us having a great time that went on well past cruisers midnight. (That is 2100hrs or 9pm) Great food and conversation.

The weather has been very windy and wet while we were in MacKay so we were happy to be tied up in the marina. This morning, Friday, we untied from the dock and went to the fuel dock to top off the tanks. This is not fun as we are a sail boat and don't like burning diesel but it is necessary from time to time. Since we left New Zealand we burnt 203 liters of diesel so not too bad as a lot of that was for the generator to keep all the systems fed with electricity. After filling up we left for Goldsmith island about 36 miles away and are now anchored in calm waters behind the island. At least it calm now so we hope it will stay that way for the night. Lots of rain showers and squalls today so not really great. The forecast is not good for another week but we are hopeful.

moving northward

We stayed in Lady Musgrave for three nights. It was nice to just stop and read a book and chill. The winds in the lagoon were around ten to fifteen knots but the waters were mostly calm. We left early on Thursday morning and sailed ninety two miles up to Great Keppel Island arriving just after dark. This is never much fun anchoring in a strange place with other boats anchored about and hoping they all have their anchor lights on so we can see them. We managed just fine and had an early dinner and straight to bed. By four am the swell in the bay was just about rolling us out of bed so at first light we headed out to Pearl Bay which is supposedto be more protected from the swell and winds. It was fine when we went to bed but by daylight we were rolling all over the place so left there for Middle Percy island and anchored in a beautiful bay that was calm and stayed that way all night long. Finally a good sleep. The coast of Australia that we have been sailing the last five hundred miles is rather uninteresting with few towns and almost no anchorages that have all weather protection. We understand that once we get by MacKay the currents will be with us and we will get out of the swell as we have more protection from the Great Barrier Reef. Middle Percy we stayed an extra day and did a five mile walk up to a care takers house. It was an interesting walk as we were surrounded by thousands of butterflies some of which were iridescent blue and others a black and white with spots. Also saw a wallaby and and few kangaroos hopping around and up at the homestead lots of goats some domestic and some feral. The owner Cate was very welcoming and we had a good talk of the history of the island and its inhabitants over the last two hundred years. Back at the beach there is a very large shed that yachties have been adorning with mementos for the last fifty years. Lots of fun and if there were a bunch of us it would be a great place to have a BBQ on the beach. A beautiful sunset and an early night with plans to stay another day but, you guessed it a four am the boat started to roll around and by seven it was awful. So up anchor and seeing as how it was too rough to get the dinghy back onboard we towed it and headed off to Curlew island about twenty miles away where we are now and it is very comfortable so we hope it will stay this way for the rest of the night.  Tomorrow the plan is to sail up to MacKay and stay for a few days in a marina for a visit with, Jim and Pam, cruisers we met in the San Blas islands a couple of years ago.

Lady Musgrave Island

We motor sailed most of the way up to Lady Musgrave with little wind and a current against us. Our actual mileage was 199.7 nm and we arrived here through the small opening in the atoll with about 4knots of flow against us. Once inside the water was that sapphire gin blue with easily identified coral out croppings that were easy to avoid. We anchored behind Sea Mist who we have not seen since last July in Fiji so it is great fun to be back in company with them. We first met in the Med in 2007 and have been crossing paths and sailing in company with ever since. We will be with them all the way up to Thailand this year. They had us over for happy hour with another Aussi boat crew so it was great to catch up a little. An early night for us as we had done the overnight passage and were tired so in bed by 20.00. This morning it has just been nice to enjoy the warm day and enjoy being back in tropical waters. The sunset and the big full moon rise was fantastic on the sail up and last night was also very bright.

moving north

We had a great visit in Mooloolabe on Friday with Thady and Lisa and had lunch onboard. Thady is very interesting with his knowledge of Africa and his life there flying and farming. That was Friday afternoon. We went for a walk and got back to the boat around sunset 17.30 and were talking to a charter fishing boat tied up beside us on the dock. They were apologizing for any  noise they may make the next morning as they had a charter group leaving at 0400. They were very nice and gave us six spanner crabs as a peace offering. This was great as they were all cooked and ready to eat. We were going to do that right then and there but some more yachties came up the dock to see us and we were invited over for pizza. It ended up with ten plus on their boat and a very enjoyable evening. Three were Canadian!!

On Saturday morning Pete and son Harri picked us up and Harri who has his beginner drivers licence drove us up to Nosa. Beautiful and probably the nicest area we have seen in Australia over the years with a large national park. We walked for an hour out to the heads on a pristine day with hundreds of surfers out on the water and lots of people at the beach. It is a long weekend here. The walk is on the shore line with lots of Eucalyptus trees and we saw a Koala bear sitting at the top of one. Pete told us this was not that usual so we felt privileged. That evening Sharron arrived back from Sydney and four of us went out for a lovely dinner in Mooloolaba.

This morning we were up early and untied the lines at 06.30 and started our trip north to Lady Musgrave island which when charted it was 213 miles away. Not much wind today so we are now motorsailing about ten miles offshore and I still have an internet connection which is a first for us and very strange to be in contact at this level when sailing. We are looking forward to a night passage arriving tomorrow around three in the afternoon. Tonight is an almost full moon so it will be magical sailing outside Fraser Island.

finally away

Tuesday saw us do some final shopping and get the car back and do a little cleaning on Kilkea. So on Wednesday we finally untied the lines and were off down the the river and out into the cleaner waters of Morton Bay. Our sail was short only twenty one miles over to an anchorage behind some ships that were sunk to make a breakwater some years ago. It was good to feel the motion of the boat and know she was alive. The water was clear and the beaches beautiful long white sand with people in swimming. Well we didn't go that far, it is still in Morton Bay, but did enjoy the peace and quiet. Then in came a small yacht from Sweden that Marian recognized from our voyage over from New Zealand. We talked to them on the radio just off the north end of NZ on the VHF. They were headed for Sydney and had just arrived up in the Brisbane area. We were surprised when they came over as they were very young, twenty four and twenty seven, but a delightful couple on a dream voyage of two years sailing around the world. What a wonderful experience and with the ability to do it all over again later in their lives makes us jealous as we are only going to get one kick at the can doing this.

The next morning we were off to Mooloolaba about forty miles north. We sailed and motor sailed and arrived on a rising tide as we had to cross the sand bar that is silting up the entrance to the harbour. It is rather tricky as you have to time the swells that are breaking and manoeuvre in rather shallow waters. We got down to one and a half meters, only 5 feet below the keel, which is never a comfortable feeling for us ocean sailors. We do like deep water far from land!! We now are tied up in a marina again as we are visiting with Marian's cousin today and tomorrow with Pete and Sharron, old sailing friends from the Caribbean. Then on Sunday morning we will leave bright and early to catch the high slack tide and head off one hundred and eighty miles to Lady Musgrove Island and meet up with old friends on Sea Mist. We are looking forward to the sail as the moon will be full and is a so called Super moon. We should be in the lagoon around midday on Monday. We will be offline for a week or so.