Friday 9th June 2017
Only a short sail toady, we pulled up the
anchor at around 7.45am, and headed out in the direction of Hervey Bay, and of
course Bundaberg. It is another very still and misty morning, with fog still
coming off the water as we leave.
The forecast is for 10-15 knots from the
SW, so we hopefully rig the code zero for what could be a great sail to
Bundaberg, and after motor sailing past
the tip of Big Woody Island we were under sail, and enjoyed a few hours of nice
flat water, light breeze (around 8- 10 knots) sailing, moving along at a comfortable
6-7 knots on a beam reach.
Sadly the wind slowly dropped resulting n
the motor being needed to keep a reasonable pace to get to Bundaberg before
dark.
Eventually, the sails came down and we motored
the balance of the trip, arriving at the harbour entrance at around 4 pm. There
are big tidal ranges at the moment and we are arriving only 2 hours after the
low tide, so are not really sure what to expect.
As we approach the leads, we see that our American
co-cruisers from a few days ago, Scintilla, have reappeared on the AIS, and
also appear to be headed for the Bundaberg Port Marina, where we have a berth
booked. They are a few miles ahead of us, so maybe we will finally meet them at
the marina.
Our berth allocation is a bit of a shocker,
we have been here before and we have been given the berth next to the one we
had to plough our way into last visit 2 years ago. It is also on the ocean side
of the marina and very exposed to tide and wind exposure. Nevertheless we got in
comfortably, despite the shallow water alarm on the depth sounder.
Once tied up it was a rush up to the
office, which closes at 4.30pm, to get our access key, after which we settled in to drink
in the cockpit and to take in the serenity.
The view from our cockpit isn't too bad
Wondering what happened to Scintilla, it
was soon apparent that they only came in to get fuel, and have anchored just
off the eastern end of the marina, no doubt saving a few $$. It is possible
they are planning an early escape in the morning.
Scintilla anchored just off the marina
For us, we have some shopping to do, a bit
of laundry, and a bit of a rest before heading further North, maybe on Sunday.
Had a very nice BBQ on board for dinner.
A quiet evening at the marina
No comments:
Post a Comment