Departure from Bundaberg Port Marina was at 6 pm. Koonya, Mica and another couple we met, on their yacht "Back Friday" (Beneteau First 41), all motored out of the harbour in anticipation of a good days sail.
The wind was SE at around 14 knots. We opted to just sail on a full mainsail, Back Friday tried a big overlapping headsail (which they had difficulty keeping full), and Koonya tried the works. Soon we were all under way moving along nicely at 6-7 knots.
Just out of Bundaberg it is comfortable sailing
Later on the wind picked up
The wind built during the day, getting to around 23 knots, the seas were confused with surprisingly big waves, breaking on the tops, and the wind direction moved around but was always from some southerly angle. We had a brief run with a main and headsail up to get us back out to sea, to get a better angle to run with the breeze.
A reach out to sea to improve our downwind angle (new headsail makes a big difference)
Koonya displayed excellent skills gybing up the coast, covering a lot of ground at immpressive speeds, but never managed to get past us. Koonya was really moving at one stage, when I checked her speed on the AIS, but we managed to hold a relatively straight path to our destination. Judicious use of the boom brake helped, allowing us to sail dead square or even a little to the lee. The Beneteau resorted to using the engine.
Koonya powering along
It was a lumpy but good days sail, however it makes for a tiring day as the auto pilot doesn't like these conditions much.
Comfortably anchored in the outer anchorage at Pancake Creek the wind is still blowing at around 15 knots, and we had a wonderful sunset.
Koonya at anchor with Janet in the boom bag, rumoured to be having a Gin and Tonic and catching up on a few phone calls. It would have been a great spot to see the sunset.
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