A Leisurely Trip to The Great Sandy Straights

Tuesday 6^th June 2017

Time to move on, we were up at 6am and cast off at the marina at 6.30am. We have our routine pretty well organized now!

There is very little wind, but the attraction of some breeze from the WSW allowing at least some sailing, a promise of flat seas, and an attractive timing for the tide at Wide Bay Bar made the decision to go today easy.

Once outside the river bar, and clear of the shallow water, we hoisted the mainsail and set out for Wide Bay. 

Lovely sunrise and flat water, the day has started well !

Farewell to Mooloolaba, still a great stopover

There was only about 6 knots of breeze, but the angle was OK so we rolled out the headsail and motor sailed on low revs. Soon the breeze picked up to around 10 knots and we had an hour or so of sailing moving along at 6 knots, before the dreaded East Coast current started chewing into our progress. Whilst we were making good speed through the water, it didn’t translate to enough over the ground to get us to Wide Bay in time for the tide, so the motor had to make up the difference.

Mount Coolum

Finally, just before Double Island Point, we pulled in all of the sail as the sails were all over the place as the wind dropped and motored the rest of the way.

Now in Wide Bay looking back at Double Island Point. Last trip we anchored in near those cliffs and the boat rolled all night

Since leaving Mooloolaba we have been shadowed by an American Yacht “Scintilla”, who burnt a bit of diesel to catch us (as they left Mooloolaba later than us, and pretty much followed us all of the way through Wide bay Bar.) If you didn’t know the area, it was a pretty smart thing to do.

Approaching the way points to cross the bar , we were contacted by Coastguard Tin Can Bay to know if there was a yacht sailing on our port side ahead of us. We could clearly see them, and the Coastguard was concerned about the course they were on, but could not make radio contact. We contacted the yacht for them and ascertained that the Coastguards concerns were valid, they did not have the current waypoints and may have come to grief if they remained on the course they were on. After our call, they contacted the Coastguard and obviously got the right co-ordinates.

The bar crossing was very smooth, partly because the sea state was benign, but also because the new waypoints provide a path with a significantly improved depth under the keel.

Once through the bar and the long run down the “mad mile”, we had a slight delay getting to our anchorage, as the car ferry decided to run across the entrance as we arrived.

The American boat seemed to follow us into Pelican Bay, and is also anchored here overnight.

"Scintilla" anchored nearby

A classic Sandy Straights Sunset.

We will wind our way up through the straights tomorrow to put ourselves in position to get through the Sheridans Flats on the early high tide on Thursday.

Its a cool 24 C inside Mica tonight, I understand it may be a bit cooler in Sydney!!