As the wind was still well above 20 knots at our planned departure time of 7 am, we agreed to delay for a few hours till it eased, which it did, a bit.
We headed off for Mackay at 9 am with a reef in the main and a stiff following breeze, which was a reasonably comfortable sail and the breeze dropped to around 12 knots by early afternoon.
As we approached Hay Point there were about 50 ships anchored off awaiting access to the coal loader. We had to weave our way through them to get to Mackay Harbour.
One of the ships off Hay Point
At this stage the wind had eased and was right behind us, so we motored for the last few hours.
We entered the harbour at Mackay just after 4 pm and were tied up at our marina berth by 4.30pm. Unfortunately the marina office closes at 4.30pm, so by the time I got up there , they were gone and we had no access keys. This would have to be the most secure marina I have ever been in, without an electronic access key you can't get out, in or access any amenities. Fortunately Rod and Lee arrived a little while later and they found a key left for them in the fire hydrant on the marina leg we were both on.
Mackay Marina
The marina complex is huge and incorporates a hotel, apartments and about half a dozen restaurants along the waterfront. We decided to have dinner at a Thai Restaurant which turned out to be excellent. Whilst we were enjoying our dinner, Dave Lukin, an old CSR colleague walked in the door with some of the distillery team from Sarina. It really is a small World. Rod & I had a good chat to Dave and told him retirement really wasn't all that bad.
No comments:
Post a Comment