Nice and Warm on the Gold Coast

Wednesday 31^st May 2017

Another day in paradise. It is bright and sunny and a comfortable 23 C. All the feedback we are getting from Sydney is how cold it is.

It is tidy up day on the boat, first we get the dinghy off the foredeck, roll it up, and store it back down below, as we will not need it again until the Great Sandy Straights. Then a good hose down to get all of the salt off the boat, and the anchor chain.

Whilst Carole is hosing down, I head off to the diesel pump with our jerry cans to top up our reserve fuel supply. Everything here is very accessible and it is nice to spend a few days relaxing here.

We have most of the comforts of home on board

When everything is done, we have a shower and walk to Tedder Ave to the local grocery store to get a few supplies for lunch and dinner. It is an easy walk and it really is a good little shopping precinct for basics, and there are some very good restaurants.

Back at the boat we have lunch and after lunch decide to go for walk around past Mirage Resort to the Fisherman’s Co-op where you can buy fresh seafood straight off the trawlers.

We bought 1 kilo of headless king prawns for $30, off the trawler Vicki Wayne. It was a generous kilo and the prawns were very fresh.

Vicki Wayne at the Gold Coast Fisherman's Co-op

Nice Fresh Prawns

On the walk back to the marina, we walked through the Marina Mirage shopping centre and decided to come back another day to have a look as we wanted the get the prawns home and into the fridge.

The rest of the afternoon was spent resting, and having a bit of a walk around the marina and looking at some of the amazing boats that are based here.

Warm and tranquil afternoon here, not sure what all the fuss about cold weather down South is

On either side of us we have 2 yachts undertaking major electrical work. On one side is the guy who imported his boat from Greece and is getting the electrics up to our standards, and on the other side is a yacht that arrived this morning and is upgrading his solar panels to 680 W. Like all projects the solar one has turned out to be a bit more of a challenge than expected, so they may be here an extra day.

Nice dinner on board tonight watching NSW finally teaching the Cane Toads a lesson.

A Bright Sunny Day in Southport

Tuesday 30^th 2017

We woke to the sound of Jet skis and the wake of whale watching boats etc rushing out of Seaworld. Admittedly we were not up till around 8 am, but it is one of the disadvantages of anchoring where we did.

We marvelled at how we managed to get the anchor down it a spot that was relatively harmless in very little visibility, just before midnight.

Not too stressed, we had a nice cooked breakfast and took our time to move over to our berth at Southport Yacht Club. Conveniently, one of the gas bottles just tan out cooking breakfast, so we can leave Southport with a second full bottle. The anchor came up pretty clean and it is only about a 15 minute motor to the marina.

Fortunately, we have been given a great berth, very easy to get into and equally easy to get out of when we finally depart. The marina here is in the river and there are often strong currents running through the marina, making some of the berths quite challenging in any tidal movement.

Once all tied up, I went up to do the paperwork and based on the forecast, we have booked in for 5 nights.

The boat in the berth next to us is a newly arrived import from Greece. The new owner bought if from a charter operator over there and is now trying to get it ready for cruising in Australia. We saw new sails arrive today and tomorrow is apparently when the electrician will arrive which could be more serious. The boat looks like it did a bit of work in its charter career.

The morning is filled with the normal chores after having been at anchor for several days. I topped up the diesel from our spare jerry cans, filled the water tank and took the gas bottle off for refill, whilst Carole attacked the laundry ( a fair task in itself). I reprogrammed the charging systems for the batteries as we had an unexpected dropout when sailing yesterday, hopefully the changes will sort that out.

We tidied up the boat, putting the sails away and all covers in place and eventually set out for lunch at around 2.15pm, in the direction of the Southport Surf Lifesaving Club.

On our walk to the club we noticed a catamaran not moored traditionally, just off the SYC marina

We have always been told catamarans are ideally suited to shallow water???

We had a lovely lunch with one of the best views on the coast.

After a bit of a relax onboard this afternoon, we decided to go to the yacht Club for dinner, as we hadn’t taken anything out of the freezer to cook. We will get into a better routine when we are not so tired.

It is very still here and 23 C at 9.30pm. We keep hearing about the big cold spell coming, but it is a bit hard to believe given the conditions here.

Looking towards Seaworld from the SYC Dining room

A Long Trip from Iluka to Southport

Monday 29^th May 2017

It is going to be a long day, but this is the best weather window we will get for  the next week, so it is all on deck to weigh anchor just before 8am. High tide this morning is at 11.05 am, so we will cross over the bar at the entrance to the Clarence at around 8.30am just past half way through the incoming tide.

This is also about the earliest we can leave to ensure we have enough water under us to get out of Iluka Bay. We have had a great 3 days in Iluka but are happy to be on the move again.

The westerly is already building strength and we have everything up, having a reach to Byron Bay in around 10 to 15 knots. As it gets up around 12 knots we are moving along at around 7 knots (8 through the water), unfortunately the east coast current is still against us.

Yamba / Iluka behind us

In typically westerly form, the wind is gusty and comes and goes, but we have a good sail to Cape Byron, with a few whales sighted just to the South of the cape, and a large pod of dolphins joined us for quite a while.

 Carole dolphin watching

Here come some more up behind us

As we rounded Cape Byron , at around 4pm the wind dropped and turned North. We were thinking about anchoring at Byron over night as one option, but the easterly swell (although modest) was rolling straight into the bay.

Cape Byron behind us

Soon the motor had to be turned on and the seas became glassy. We took the sails down whilst we were still in daylight and motored the rest of the way.

The breeze flicked allover the place but never got back above 10knots. The still persistent east coast current, now running at 1 -1.5 knots slowed us down considerably.

 Sunset as we pass Mt Warning

Getting from Point Danger to the Seaway seemed to take forever. However, it was a good opportunity to have dinner, a chicken curry that we had pre prepared for dining when under sail.

We were through the seaway safely by 11.30pm (the VMR station there closes at 9 pm, so we had to log off with Southport).  We had to dodge a few tinnies in the seaway fishing with full navigation lights on but hardly moving (probably drifting). They seem to have little understanding that deep keep boats need to use the centre of the channel.

A gentle motor down towards the Southport Yacht Club till we reached the anchorage off Seaworld (affectionately known as Bum’s Bay), which was where we dropped anchor and had a nightcap and a good nights sleep.

We will go to Southport Yacht Club tomorrow where we have a berth booked for the next few days until the expected Southerly system passes. We are also waiting for good timing for the Mooloolaba bar, which has silted up badly on the eastern side, so going in in the dark is not an option.

An Entertaining Day on The Clarence River

Sunday 28^th May 2017

Our last day in Iluka is overcast and there is a thick fog when we look out over the water early this morning. Naturally it is very still and a little rain is possible.

Today’s plan is already formulated, as we have booked on the Sunday Live Music Cruise run by the ferry company. It originates in Yamba and will collect us at 11.45 am, and the cruise continues up to the Harwood Bridge and back.

The ferry is absolutely laden with passengers when it pulled into Iluka and there are about 10 of us joining the cruise here. Initially it looked like it was going to be pretty cosy on board. To our great surprise, about half of the passengers got off at Iluka carrying bags of vegetables, plants and all sorts of things. We then learned that there was a market on in Yamba this morning, and all of these Iluka based people had caught the early ferry over to get the bargains.

Once on board, the crowd was of a comfortable size, maybe 50 people. The bar is already open and seeming to have a reasonable amount of business, and the crowd are true grey nomads. We are feeling a bit young, but it looks like it could be a bit of fun.

The live band, a duo, with much electronic back up assistance, appeared and announced that they played music from the 60’s till present, and it was not too long before they had everyone clapping and enjoying some great 60’s and 70’s music.

The ship's dog is dressed for the occasion

It is still overcast, so most people are inside enjoying the music and keeping the bar and food service staff busy.

After a few beers, the grey nomads livened up, and many were up dancing enjoying music we all grew up with.

The cruise turned around at Harwood bridge and went quite close to the Harwood Sugar Mill (which doesn’t look much different to when I had a job interview there in 1969).

Harwood Bridge

Harwood Mill

Nice House (and boat) on Palmers Island !

It started to rain, but no-one cared as the band kept the place hopping all the way home.

Our little adventure turned out to be a lot of fun, and where else would you get half a days entertainment and a cruise for $20 a head.

It was then back to Mica visa the IGA supermarket to get ready for our planned departure tomorrow.

It is raining tonight, so let's hope the forecast for a nice sunny sail tomorrow holds up !