SUNDOWNER Y86 east coast Australia

[rob.lovelace]

Gold Coast to Brisbane
went through the broad water up passed Russell Is and saw Dianne (thanks for the soup) then a nice sail across Morton bay and up the Brisbane river. I stayed on the pile berths next to the botanical gardens, great facilities for just $10 a day. today we headed off north again and tonight I'm in the anchorage from hell. I dropped the pick a bit close to some moored boats and have wind against tide sending me all over the place to close and to rough to get sleep and I'm to lazy to move anchor. I'm at Bongaree on Bribie island, it only gets half an anchor in Lucas and I know why now.

[rob.lovelace]

BRISBANE to MOOLOOLABAH
well Bribie to mooloolabah really, as that was the staging area fr this run.
after motoring out to south point on Bribie it was a run up the coast with a 20kt SE breeze. you can sail very close to the beach along the island and it was a good run with the wind about. 5d off the stern. after I got out of the channel and around coloundra headland I was hoping the seas would calm down but unfortunaly no luck. the wind came around to directly astern and I had to pole out to stop the flap, no main, and a horrid rolly ride up to mooloolabah which I hand steered. the bar at mooloolabah is great with just a little beam on swell on the way in. Heading ff to double island point in the morn in the same conditions so it looks like a hard days work ahead.

[jjvvss]

WIDE BAY BAR
Hi Rob,
When I crossed it in early May it was 0900. The tide was coming in and was just past mid-tide. The wind was gusting to 30k from the east and the swell was up to 3m from the ESE/SE. We (two of us) checked latest waypoints with Tin Can Bay MR and made sure we were dead accurate. We kept our main with one reef and No. 3 up. We had the motor on and in gear as back up. We sailed in from waypoint 1 toward waypoint 2 which is the shallowest section. Crossed no problem, at one point surfing down a face at 12.4kt which was fine. PETASUS sat up and handled it very well. Waypoint 2 to 3 is less turbulent as there is 20m of water under you. Waypoint 3 to 4 is flat. We then sailed into Garrys anchorage which took about two hours to get to. Beautiful. Mind the mozzies though. Intense for about an hour at sunset.
Enjoy,
J.
PS Let me know when you get to Townsville. I am working with Townsville Yacht and Boat Brokerage www(dot)tsvboats(dot)com in Breakwater Marina

[Peter57]

How are the Sandy Straits??? You were in and out of Mooloolaba so quick that I missed you completely as I had planned to come down and say g'day. Hope all goes well with your trip up north and if in Tin Can Bay you may run into Shaun on Nightingale (Northerner 28). I have been there a couple of times but missed catching up each time. Cheers and Good Sailing, Peter

[Phillip]

Hey Peter,

That's Bill on NIGHTINGALE! Shaun and BLUE MOON are still down here in the Camden Haven.

[rob.lovelace]

MOOLOOLABAH to TIN CAN BAH
rain rain what is it with this state, I came up here to get away from cold.
There has been a constant southerly blowing and at about 20kts it blew me up to wide bay 52nm in abut ten hours on a pled out headsail. I had to wait the night out behind Double Is Pt. Very rolly roadstead anchorage but the conditions were a lot better tucked behind the point than out in the soup. Went through wide bay bar in the morning and when I got over there the wind dropped and it belted down rain. Couldn't see any leads and came in on the GPS co ords from the state gov chart. (confirmed with TCB rescue) very interesting bar crossing. It was great coming in with the surf breaking along side. Tin can bay has NO ANCHORING ALLOWED In the harbour. Luke found a couple of unattended mooring so we poached them for the night. supplies are a fair walk from shore and first impressions are not good. Very shallow and not much room. I loved Mooloolabah it's. changed heaps since I worked up here years ago.

[Phillip]

Rob,

Sounds very much like when I did it in 2011.

You are now in CROCODILE country, so no swimming unless you are feeling lucky!

[Phillip]

Rob,
Just noticed in Skipr that there are new bar conditions to YellowPatch.
Suggest you start asking yachts going south for the new way points if you want to go in.

[rob.lovelace]

SANDY STRAITS -FRASER ISLAND- BURNETT RIVER
been a bit slack with the updates, sorry to anyone who's been following.
the sandy straits were great, smooth water, shallow but sandy mud bottom in most parts. I stayed at Pelican Bay, Gary's Anchorage, South White Cliffs, Kingfisher Resort, Big Woody Island, and Lagoon Anchorage where I failed to get in the lagoon and ran aground (again) so after I got clear the next day I feed out the anchor warp until I was sitting just clear of the sand and jumped in and give her a bum wipe. Left the next morning at 2am for the run across Hervey Bay to Bundaberg Port in the Burnett river. The trip across was in 20kt southerly with a beam on sea. It was either the clean bottom
or all the whale snot in the water because She averaged 6kts and topped 8kts made great time. Double reefed main, and adjusted the furler to suit the wind changes. I'll be staying here for a few days and stock up on stores before waiting on a weather pattern to get me to lady musgrave.

[rob.lovelace]

Burnet Heads to Lady Musgrave Is / Fitzroy Reef / Cape Capricorn / Hummocky Island / Great Kepple

off the grid for a while guys, Lady Musgrave was great, I was a tax worried about the entrance but it was easy peazy. great snorkeling with manta rays and turtles. and plenty of fish to spear. Then on to Fitzroy reef which has no island and is weird at high tide when you are surrounded by water in the middle of nowhere. The entrance here is deep but flows fast and I had the yammy screaming going in. best to wait for slack here. I sat out a blow here quite safely with winds around 35kts all night and 30kts for most of the next morning. It was magic sailing through the Curtis Group on the way back to the mainland for a rolly night at cape Capricorn, I didn't bother going into yellow patch and moved on to Hummocky island for another sleepless night. Today I'm at Great Kepple and it's very nice walking and swimming after being on board for so long. Stores are getting low and I'll have to go across to Yeppoon in a couple of days. I love my little boat, she's doing a great job.