Seaka goes around Australia, 2015

[Shaun]

Good one

[Phillip]

New Sailblogs posted 2051 hours

June 23

Well Sunday arrived clear and cold without the winds that BOM had predicted so the decision was made to go across to Airlie Beach on Monday. During Sunday I helped Tony of “Outahia” bleed the hydraulics on his steering.

I also discussed with Tony, who has cruised here for some years, the rest of the Queensland coast to the north of the Whitsundays. After much thought I have decided that Bowen is to be my most northern port for this trip. This will mean that I will cruise all of those places I always meant to come back to like Yellow Patch and maybe even Lady Musgrave Island.

So Monday morning dawned with the alarm and rain! I must have rolled over and gone back to sleep as next thing the phone was going and Tony was saying to get myself into gear if I wanted to beat the tide change. That I did, and one hour latter we were off with just the Genoa and the iron sail, to counteract the tide. The wind was astern at around 10 knots with the odd gust or two. Seaka loved it and we averaged around 6 knots, with bursts to 7.5 knots, for the 6 nautical mile crossing to North Molle Island. Beyond the northern end of North Molle Island things were a bit rougher as the tide had changed, to our disadvantage, but we were secure at anchor near the second entrance to the Abel Point Marina just before 1100.

Just after 1300 Tony picked me up and we went shopping for those immediate things I needed, like fresh food. Today I have spent the day cleaning inside and reorganizing again the odd unused items to deeper lockers. I also packed up two shopping bags worth of books I have read to be sold on Wednesday. Late today I installed an extra solar anchor light, garden type, on the solar panel frame. It has been really noticeable how many yachts up here have that extra anchor light at near deck level. Then late this afternoon I have inflated the dinghy in preparation for going into Airlie Beach tomorrow to do washing, sell books and buy the last bit of food I need.

We have another weather event, wind and high seas, occurring from Friday on, so I am going up to Woodwark Bay, about 8 nautical miles away, to shelter once again on Thursday morning. I haven’t been there before and the fishing is said to be OK. The thing about Woodwark Bay is that being so close to Airlie Beach I can duck back to get fresh food etc.

Once this weather event has passed I will be heading for Haslewood Island area.

S20 16.093 E148 42.311

[Phillip]

Well I've been in Woodwark Bay, 6 nm north of Airlie Beach, since last Wednesday sheltering from the high winds
we are experiencing on the Queensland coast at present. We will probably leave here on Thursday, BUT.

I am now doing the initial planning for taking shelter next week to avoid a CYCLONE !!!!!!

Our plan at this stage is to run for Bowen, some 25 nm away during Thursday/Friday if necessary.
There I will take up one of the pile moorings for the duration.

It has been a fine day here but the winds are still around the 20 knot mark.

[Shaun]

Bit unusual isnt it!!
Heard last night though that it wouldn't effect Australia at all.
When do you think you'll be able to start heading Sth?

cheers

[Phillip]

Yep they shouted wolf!

Only got to New Caledonia!

Think I may go to the Shag Islet Cruising club do at the end of August then come south.

Back in Airlie Beach for refuel food and water.

[Phillip]

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Todays Blog.

Well a couple of days after BOM cried "Wolf" over a possible Cyclone it quietly disappeared from their charts. So we don't have to worry about that one!

I was in Airlie Beach for 3 days from last Thursday. During that time I restocked the larder and put 70 litres of water onboard. When I checked the diesel fuel I found that we had only used 10 litres since leaving the MacKay Marina so I only refilled the main tank and did not replace the fuel.

On the Friday, mid-afternoon, I finally made it to a Physio to have my leg check out. I pulled a muscle in my lower left leg on the day before we went over to Woodwark Bay. During my time there I had been resting the leg which turned out to be the best thing for it. I now have a couple of exercises I have to do several times a day to get it back to normal. We have a ways to go yet on getting this leg back to normal.

Today, Sunday 5th July, we sailed across to May's Bay via Unsafe Passage. We left Airlie Beech at 0730 with full Mainsail and Genoa up and enjoyed a 4 to 5 knot passage in smooth water until the Pioneer Rocks off Mandalay Point. At that point I received a phone call from a mate who was ahead of me saying “That he had 20 knots [of wind] in the Whitsunday Passage”. Taking that onboard, I dropped the Mainsail and so we proceeded on under Genoa only. We sailed across the Molle Channel at over 4 knots, past the Daydream Resort and into Unsafe Passage. Once clear of land and out into the Whitsunday Passage the wind picked up and Seaka took off doing 6.5 to 7 knots in the slight seas for the entire crossing. I really enjoyed that sail today.

We are now in May's Bay and tomorrow will sail around the top of Whitsunday Island to Tongue Bay, a distance of 12 nm. From there I am planning to go to Windy Bay on Haslewood Island. I am also keeping an eye on the weather looking for a suitable window to go out 20 nautical miles to Bait Reef which is the closest bit of the outer reef to the Whitsundays.

[Phillip]

July 15
This post has been written over nine days.

On Monday the 6th we were underway at 0730. I had a bit of a fright when lifting the anchor as I found it just off the reef. Lucky we didn’t get any northerly winds overnight as it might have been a bit embarrassing. We sailed up to Hook passage at about 2 knots with bursts to 3 plus. It was a pleasant sail on smooth water without any dramas. At Hook Passage we had to resort to the iron sail to get through as we had the flood tide against us and the wind had died off.

Once clear of the top of Whitsunday Island we found a nice SE breeze which gave us five to six and a half knots. I decided this was too good to pass up, so we sailed the 3.5 nautical miles directly to Border Island and took up a mooring in Cateran Bay. After lunch I decided to get in the water for a snorkel and just as I was about to jump in one of the owners of Reflections came over and asked me to swap moorings as his catamaran was 2 meters too large for his present mooring. “After my dive”, which was excellent, I said and it was so. Once we had completed the exchange I noticed his dinghy drifting off and I jump into my dinghy, rowed over and retrieved it to his yacht. As thanks I was treated to lunch and many yarns. Turns out they know my sailmaker who is also a near neighbour. Small world.

After returning to Seaka I cleaned up my mess, remember I had left in a hurry, and when I next lifted my head their dinghy was away again! This time one of them was swimming after it so I did not have to retrieve it. The down side to all this was that Seaka was now moored further out in the bay and it wasn’t until tea time that I realized we were now rolling quite a bit. It was an awful night, not quite up to West Bay in the Percy Isles, but close enough.

I was awake before sunup in the full moon and by 0730 on Tuesday 7th July we were out of Cateran Bay and on our way to Tongue Bay. We saw some Skipjack Tuna outside the bay and one lonely Queensland dolphin. To get to Tongue Bay we had to use the whole passage between Whitsunday Island and Border Island, putting in seven tacks to do the six mile journey, but of course we took more miles than that to get there.

It’s still a bit rolly here in Tongue Bay, [20 14.519’S: 149 00.975’E] but I’m thinking that most of it is from Motor Boats going past the bay as from time to time it quietens down. Went out fishing and once again got nothing, but on the way back to Seaka thought I saw Naked Spirit, a catamaran from my home port of Camden Haven. I was correct and later they came across for a talk. They are making for MacKay to leave there yacht until later in the year.

On Wednesday I started out for Whitehaven Beach but on reaching Tongue Point decided it was too rough, strong winds from the south east, so opted for another day in Tongue Bay. One good thing was that I got my first txt messages since going through Hook Passage. Back in the bay I anchored three times before I found a place that was “sort of” out of the swell. That afternoon I went ashore to walk over to Hill Inlet. It was very scenic, but no phone signal, and well used with apparently over 300,000 people using the walk and Hill Inlet each year. Back on Seaka I removed the dinghy from the water and secured it to the foredeck.

There was virtually no wind on Thursday morning so I motored off to Haslewood Island. On the way I got a good phone signal for my txt messages. That was really good! During this trip of 6 nautical miles I worked out that against the tide in this area I could maintain 3 knots and without the tide 4 knots. This is good information if I have to do a long passage under motor to get home. The weather pattern in Queensland means that if that is against the SE trade winds the passages will be done at night as the wind dies off to nothing soon after dark each day.

Our route to Haslewood Island took me past Whitehaven Beach and as I turned east ‘Outahia’ radioed that the bay was too rolly and that we should try for Chalkie’s Beach further west. Unfortunately Chalkie’s has a very steep beach which continues underwater, necessitating anchoring in 15 m of water. We both decided to retreat to Whitehaven where that afternoon we walked up the track that goes to Chance Bay. At the top we did get a poor phone signal, significant enough to download our emails. Just before dark I moved along the beach a bit in an effort to get out of the easterly swell.

Moving did not help and Seaka rolled all night while we had intermittent rain. Having not sleep at all that night I motored early next morning for one hour back to Tongue Bay where I crashed for three hours sleep. The next morning we were on our way to Haslewood Island again and this time as I rounded Esk Island I made phone contact with home. At Haslewood I went for a snorkel, water was 24 degrees, warmer in than out. I saw many of those fish that I had come to know in the late 1970s. The weather forecast predicted north-west winds for that night so the decision was made to return to Tongue Bay overnight. About halfway back I hooked and landed a Tuna which back in Tongue Bay I distributed to three other boats feeding almost a dozen people. I got two large meals out it.

On Sunday 12th July we set out again for Haslewood Island. Manage to make a quick call home on the way. I went snorkelling on the southern side of a small island near where we are anchored. There I found better quality coral than elsewhere in the bay. There were six yachts anchored around us and over 45 off Whitehaven Beach.

On Monday I went to a small sandy bay within Windy Bay with Tony who gave me some instruction on how to use a cast net. After a couple of throws I managed to get the idea straight and now only need to do a lot of practicing to get the skill correct. While there we did a bit of fishing but didn’t get anything. In the afternoon I went for a snorkel on the outside of the little island where I saw a lot more fish, some quite large.

On Tuesday Hollywood came to Haslewood Island with the arrival of crews setting up a site for the filming of the new “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie. Well it seems we are going to be “excluded” from this bay during filming so today, Wednesday, we motored to Hamilton Island going through the Fitzgalan Passage and then motor sailing, there was only 2 knots of SE wind, with the current, up to 7 knots in places to Airlie Beach.

So at Airlie Beach I have done a bit of repair work on the inflatable dinghy, only one small puncture to fix now, and dealt with the backlog of emails and txt messages. Shopping, washing, fuel and water tomorrow and then catch up on Friday, markets Saturday and then out of here again, possibly on Sunday.

20 16.013'S: 148 42.350'E

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[Shaun]

Phil, have you been able to spend anymore time on the windvane?

cheers

[Phillip]

No Shaun,

I need a workshop with tools to deal with SS.

Will get it sorted when I return,

At Airlie Beach onto Woodwark Bay tomorrow arriving at Bowen next Monday to greet Woody.

[Phillip]

Latest Blog, more photos can be seen on the blog noted below.

Seaka & Spectral Mist at Bowen Marina.

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Aug 2

Hopefully all the high winds have now departed Queensland. This last week we have been sheltering at Bowen as well as making contact with Woody, who has a Top Hat up here from our home port at the Camden Haven in New South Wales.

It was at 0840 on Friday 24th July that we motored out of Airlie Beach bound for Double Bay West. Without much wind we only raised the Genoa and enjoyed a flat sea the whole way coming to anchor just after noon. I spent the rest of the day cleaning the foredeck of all the mud and rust stains. Unfortunately our anchor chain has had that much use we have worn all of the galvanising off, so this will be an ongoing task.

The sea the next morning was even flatter than Friday, but there was about 3 knots of wind and as we had all day to get to our next anchorage we drifted along at 2-3 knots all day, only having to motor for the last stretch into Little Jonah Bay where we anchored at around 1400 hours.

The next day was only a short run of 4 nautical miles. As there was no wind, again as we motored over to the Gloucester Passage and proceed along it with the ebbing tide going in our direction. All was going well until we had to find the 3rd port marker. I could not locate the thing and as I came up to the 2nd port marker a motor boat came out between it and a cardinal mark [only enough room for him] which forced me onto the west side of it when I realized what he had forced me into. The next few moments were tense as I slowly, in case I went aground, crossed to deeper water. Luckily we had 1m plus, during the manoeuvre under us. It was then that I located the 3rd port marker with a large motor boat anchored right alongside it. It also didn’t help that it was of a smaller shape than all the other markers. Safely out of the Gloucester Passage we rounded Passage Islet, now known as Shag Islet, to anchor off the Cape Gloucester Eco-Resort in 2m of water.

On Monday morning we arose to find ourselves fog bound! Shortly after 0800 it started to lift and behold a large fishing boat appeared out of the fog ahead of us. Gulp! Glad I didn’t just take off to Bowen. At 0900 we could see the Bowen shoreline and we set off with the Genoa getting around 3.5 knots with the southerly wind. As we approached Bowen we lost the wind so motored up the main channel past Stone Island and into the Bowen Marina just before 1600. We got hassled by a large motor boat in the narrow channel into the marina but as it was almost low tide he was dreaming about getting past me.

We managed to get on the public wharf, with another boat already there, and picked up Mark from Outnumbered who gave me a hand to get on the piles. We found that the piles were a long way apart and a phone call to the Harbour Master said ‘No, you’ll be alright’. We finally got enough ropes together to span the distance and I also took the anchor and hooked it onto the forward pile as a springer, worked well too. Later on Saturday the Harbour Master finally came along and apologised saying that he had forgotten that they had removed a pile!

On Tuesday morning it was blowing an ugly 20 knots plus from the SE. I made it into Bowen, a 2 km walk, and apart from getting some food, a new board for the dinghy floor I also got a haircut. I must say thou that his number 3 buzz cut was really a short number 2. Woops, a bit short for the next two weeks!

Nothing happened on Wednesday as it was blowing even harder, but I did go and have an evening meal with Woody, off Spectral Mist [a Top Hat from Camden Haven], at the North Queensland Cruising Club.

On Thursday I tackled the engine alignment problem and while I was unable to get to the bottom of the shaft coupling we did even up somewhat the top of the coupling. We will just have to see how successful we were.

On Friday and Saturday I varnished the new board for the dinghy floor and revarnished the cabin top handrails. The forward and main cabins also got a clean out of the wee bit of mould that had formed in the odd location.

Today I have installed the new board in the dinghy floor. I have retrieved the anchor and singled up all the mooring lines for an easy sailing tomorrow morning. I am hoping to get to the west side of Olden Island. With the present wind we may have to go around the outside of Gloucester Island instead of going through the Gloucester Passage. We will have to wait and see.

20 00.965'S: 148 15.285'E