A foggy start and nice afternoon sail to Mooloolaba

Saturday 30^th September 2017

Last night was pretty uncomfortable until the strong Northerly died late in the evening, leaving still conditions and the opportunity to get some sleep before wake up time of 4am, to cross the Wide Bay Bar at first light.

When we woke there was some activity on the water, and our colleagues on Moonshadow were already on the move at 4.30am, in the dark. We had our anchor up by 5am, and Dalwhinnie was right behind us. By now the procession to cross the bar had built and we were among the last boats in the queue. Many of those in front of us are well known to us, but there is a complication. The whole area is covered in a soupy sea fog, so visibility is extremely limited. We all have to rely on electronic charts, radar and the best of all AIS.

Fortunately, many of the boats now have AIS and we could see their positions overlaid on the chart. The ones that didn’t we could see on the radar.

A procession of boats crossing the bar ( AIS signals overlaid on the chart)

Once across the bar, in fairly calm conditions, we all changed course to head South. The minimum depth under our keel as we crossed was 2.2 m, and we crossed about 1.5 hours after high tide.

The fog was still very thick and occasionally there was a small patch of clear area where you could quickly assess where everyone was. We were amazed to find a fishing charter, sitting on a mooring near Double Island Point, pretty much on the course that most people would use to head south, that no lights or AIS. Fortunately we picked them up on the radar, and they were right on our course.

Dalwhinnie emerging from the fog, briefly at Double Island Point

This Guy was quite invisible until we got very close. Fortunately the radar picked him up in the fog

As the day developed, we were able to motor sail for a good part of the way, including through the fog. The wind was coming from the west and so was the fog.

Eventually, the sun prevailed over the fog, and we were in bright sunny conditions with a wind change to the South and then SE. We had a great sail on the South Easterly, of around 12 knots (moving along at around 7 knots), for a few hours until just out of Mooloolaba, the wind dropped and we had to motor the last bit.

Sailing at 7.3  knots on autopilot

The dredging of the bar at Mooloolaba is complete, and we entered with 2 m under our keel, in mild conditions. It was much shallower in the river, often on with 1 m under us. The tide was past halfway coming in, so we will need to choose our departure time carefully.

Once the boat was secured, paperwork at the marina office done and the boat hosed down, we had welcome hot showers before going out to dinner with Brian and Amanda at Fish on Parkyn, a nice seafood restaurant within easy walking distance. The Yacht club is closed undergoing renovation.

Amanda is abandoning ship in Mooloolaba, and Brian’s brother is coming up to help him sail the boat home.  We will probably sail in company to Southport and after that they will run straight back to Pittwater.  They have been good company and we have enjoyed moving down the coast with them. Moonshadow is still with us, and may stay with us as far as Iluka. Being Victorians, there whole focus this afternoon has been on the AFL Grand Final.

A lovely Day at Tin Can Bay

Friday 29^th September 2017

After a shocking day in the Great Sandy Straights, we had a very peaceful and still night in Tin Can Inlet.

 Hard to believe after what we went through yesterday. Nevertheless, today the is little wind, and it is hot. After breakfast we took the dinghy into the shore to explore what was there. It was not long after low tide and we allowed a lot of scope for the incoming tide when we hauled our dinghy up the sand.

There are a lot of boats anchored here

Not everyone anchoring here have done their tidal calculations correctly. We counted at least 3 boats on their side at low tide.

The settlement at Tin Can Bay is pretty basic. There is a yacht club, who were having a day for disabled sailors.

The Tin Can bay Yacht Club

Sailors with Disabilities out on the water

Moving the boats around was pretty slick

The Coastguard, of course, has a prominent position, and they are very busy , as they have responsibility for traffic across the Wide Bay Bar, one of the most treacherous on the East Coast. We went in and had a talk to them about the current way points and bar conditions at present, and they were incredibly helpful. People often forget that they are all volunteers.

Coastguard Tin Can Bay

There is a house boat hire company, a seafood co-op, we are a bit surprised to see a substantial fishing fleet in such an inaccessible harbour.

Also, there is a marina, which is pretty well supported, despite the tidal limitations for deep draft vessels getting in and out. There are also a few coffee shops, cafes and a caravan park.

After a couple of hours walking around we had pretty much seen it all, and opted to go to the yacht club for lunch. It is a pretty basic establishment, but the food was good and the Sailability Day they we holding had attracted a lot of supporters.

After lunch we went back to Mica to get ready to head down closer to Wide Bay Harbour in preparation for an early exit in the morning.

It was a bit of a surprise when we reached Pelican Bay, and winds were well above forecast and it was a bit bumpy, but we anchored with a number of other boats also planning to leave tomorrow. After a while, a number of them pulled up anchor to move to somewhere more comfortable, wherever that is !

We will sit out, it is not that uncomfortable and forecast to improve buy late evening. Brian and Amanda braved the elements to come over and join us for sundowners, certainly above and beyond the call of duty, but we had a nice time.

I guess we now just sit and wait to see what the rest of the night is like and be ready to cross the bar tomorrow, if the basic forecast conditions hold. Ironically, the strong NW winds have had little effect on wave activity at the bar.

As we go to bed the BOM forecast says it should be 5-10 knots Northerly at this time, and it is actually 20 knots NW. Doesn't really fill you with confidence !!!

Through Sheridan Flats in 30 knots +

Thursday 28^th September 2017

Despite 15 knots NW winds overnight, our exposed anchorage was surprisingly comfortable. It lulled us into a false sense of security for what was about to come. The BOM had forecast NNW winds 15-20knots, dropping to 10-15 knots but 1pm.

Our plan was to raise anchors at around 2pm, and take the high tide through the shallowest part of the straights, Sheridan Flats, at about an hour before full tide.

It was blowing 25 knots soon after we awoke,  so we already knew the forecast was dodgy. We decided to go early to get through the straights as the wind was building, so anchors were coming up at 1pm. By now it was gusting to 30+knots and the waves at South White Cliffs significant. As we were pulling our anchor, the was a huge gust, which lifted the dinghy off the foredeck and blew it overboard. Now we are in trouble, the anchor is not yet up, the dingy is floating upside down in the water and being blown into water too shallow for us to chase it with the yacht.

I just went for it to get the anchor up and left it hanging as we went for the dinghy. The wind made it difficult to manouvre Mica, but after a couple of tries, we managed to get Mica between the Dinghy and the shore and in the lee of the now 25 knot breeze. We hooked the dinghy with a boat hook, and I roughly managed to tie it across the stern of the boat, elevated so aonly one pontoon was in the water, as we need to get some power on Mica as we were being blown onto a lee shore.

We got it all under control and motored out of our anchorage, whilst I secured the dingy as best I could in the now 30 knot breeze, and we turned and headed for the shallows. The waves by now are well formed and we are surfing along, with the dodger acting as a sail. Very little engine revs were need ed to be doing 7-8 Knots.

We got through the shallow water intact with a minimum of 0.9m underneath the keels, and headed back into some wild water. Winds were now 30-35 knoys, and we saw one gust above 40 knots. In shallow water like the great sandy straights, that equates to big waves and rough conditions. Our original plan was to anchor at Gary’s Anchorage, but when we motored in the entrance, it looked like a washing machine, so we turned around and headed further South, looking for some protection.

After a discussion with Marine Rescue Tin Can Bay, it became clear that there are no great anchorages for a Northerly wind in the Great Sandy Straights. We will file that one for the future. After checking a number of poor options, we motored up Tin Can Bay Inlet and anchored just past the marina entrance. It is a bit rolly, but there is no white water.

We will study tomorrows forecast with great interest, as we plan to cross Wide Bay Bar on Saturday if the conditions are favourable.

Not many photos today, too rough to focus the camera.

Off to the Great Sandy Straights

Wednesday 27^th September 2017

Engines were started at just before 6am, and a flotilla of boats left Bundaberg heading South, in light conditions.  There were 10 of us that left within 30 minutes of each other, all heading South.

We had sails up all of the way, aided by a few revs from the Yanmar and a bit of favourable tidal current. Our original plan was to drop anchor at Big Woody Island and seek shelter from the strong northerlies forecast for tonight. As we approached, it did not look like a great anchorage, and a lot of boats went and had a look and kept going.

We saw a few turtles

After a discussion VMR Great Sandy Straights, we decided to continue on to South White Cliffs , which is a good holding anchorage close to the entrance of the shallow part of the Straights. Whist we might not get a lot of shelter from the wind, it is behind a sand bank that should provide some relief from swell.

All three of us, Dalwhinnie, Moonshadow and ourselves decided to anchor here for the night rather trying to rush through the shallows on a falling tide, especially when it was not a particularly high tide.

Great Sunset an SW Cliffs

No-one is in a huge rush, and we don’t plan to cross Wide Bay Bar until Saturday, so we will go through Sheridan Flats on tomorrow afternoons high tide at around 3 pm.