During the last few days of our stay on the Gold Coast, we had the pleasure of meeting up with Brad and Tari from Ndebt. I had spent time with them in Fiji and it was great to have a few meals with friends. The repairs on the diesel motor were completed on Monday, May 18, and we left the marina that morning and motored down the Coomera River and north through the inland waterway to the south end of Moreton Bay. We anchored on the north side of Karragarra Island for the night.
Motoring down the Coomera River
Motoring from the inland waterway into the southern part of Moreton Bay
The next day we went north and anchored on the north side of Mud Island just to see whether we could get protection from the strong southerly winds that were building. It was a lumpy night but not horrible. Staying there for another three days was unappealing, so we went up the Brisbane River and anchored near where Brad and Tari had anchored Ndebt. We were really glad we did that. It was quite protected from wind and seas. As soon as we got there, Brad and Tari picked us up in their dinghy and we went to a nearby ferry dock where we could catch a ferry up river to downtown Brisbane. We had lunch and walked around a couple of parks. The next day we did the same trip. It was nice just to walk around and do a bit of shopping. The following day, we stayed on the boat and prepared ourselves for a multi-day passage in potentially rough conditions.
On Monday, May 25, we got up early and had the anchor up by 5:15 a.m. We motored back up the Brisbane River and out into Moreton Bay, heading north. The wind was coming from the south, which precluded raising the mainsail so we motor sailed with the jib. The wind came around after a couple of hours and we raised the main, only to have to lower it a couple of hours later. For the next few hours we sailed with just the jib.
Once we got north of the protection from Moreton Island, we started encountering the seas that were rolling in from the southeast. They had been huge during the prior days and were just now becoming acceptable, somewhere between a meter and a half and two meters. As we moved north, the wind came around from the east so we were able to sail with main and jib on a reach. In spite of the current going against us, we made pretty decent time and the going was not that bad.
On Wednesday morning, we finally rounded Fraser Island and started heading west and then north. As soon as we did that, we had a lot more protection from the waves so the seas were more comfortable. We had some good sailing as we plodded along, with some periods of lighter wind and some periods of squalls, with rain and winds between 20 and 25 knots. At one point, on Thursday, the seas got really flat and the wind came up, and we had some hours of magnificent sailing.
Sunset on the water on our fourth night
After nearly five days and four nights on the water, we arrived at Whitehaven Bay on Whitsunday Island in the late morning and anchored in nice calm water. The overcast and rainy skies were gone. We had sunshine, a still boat, and an opportunity to catch up on sleep. (We did shifts of three hours on watch and three hours off watch, so we never got a good sleep.)
Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island
On Saturday, we put the dinghy in the water and went to the beach – a huge expanse of fine white sand. We took a hike over to a lookout and then over to Chance Bay on the other side of the island.
Landing on Whithaven Beach
Looking out toward Chance Bay
Chance Bay
On Sunday, we took the dinghy about four miles up the beach to a shallow inlet. After pulling the dinghy up onto the sand, we walked up a trail to some overlooks that are visited by hundreds of tourists brought on boats each day. We wove our way through the groups to grab our views of the bay.
At the overlook
The dunes below the overlook
On Monday, we got up at 6:00 a.m. and had the anchor up shortly after 7:00 a.m. We motored in very light wind up to Butterfly Bay on Hook Island. When Jeff and Johno and I were there in September, it was really crowded. But on this day we had our pick of mooring balls. The wind was mild, the anchorage was flat and the water was warm enough to snorkel comfortably in wetsuits. There were lots of jellies, but neither of us got stung.
On Tuesday morning, we got up early and made our way west and then south around the top of Hook Island, down the west side, and into Ngara Inlet. We were expecting wind from the northwest, which I’m sure happened, but we were quite protected in the inlet. We had a very pleasant night in a beautiful setting.
On Wednesday morning we left Ngara Inlet at 8:30 a.m. and motored to the Hamilton Island Marina. Once we were in the berth, we took nine jerry cans to the fuel dock and filled them. Then we got showers, had lunch at the Marina Tavern, took a walk and then had dinner later at Romano’s. We even got ice cream at the ice Cream Parlour.
On Thursday morning, we rinsed the boat off with fresh water. Then in the late morning we walked to the airport, where Pat caught a flight to Brisbane and then back to the U.S. I spent the rest of the day doing laundry and defrosting refrigeration units. My next crew, Anne, arrives by plane tomorrow.
Pat’s Departure from Hamilton Island
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