adventures of manatee & her fellow travellers

and so on to Pancake....

2012-01-04T18:56:00.000-08:00

We left Lady Musgrave with the forecast of strong winds and high seas. Passing through the channel in the reef, we were careful to avoid the turtles who seemed to be enjoying the swell.

We had originally planned to head for the Town of 1770 as AK had read a great review of the town in a Hervey Bay local paper. The journalist had boasted that the town held everything you could possibly want.....supermarket, tattooist, liquor store and 'new age shop'. We were eager to visit! Due to the forecast we aimed instead for Pancake Creek which has an all weather bar.

The seas were horribly rolly outside of the now placid reef, so we unfurled our headsail, kept our motor on and gunned it hoping to cross the 34nm in record time.

Once we came within 15nm and in sight of the mainland, the seas calmed and we were able to relax (a little). We were both very tired and having one of our moments of "this is too hard." Of course, our headsail furler again decided to go on strike, so we handfurled the genoa in as much as we could.

We entered the bar of the creek and found we could only scrape through the shallow bits, but decided to get up the creek as far as possible to the "second anchorage." The relief of our anchor setting brought tears of relief/exhaustion. We certainly slept well the first night! The storm didn't appear that night.

Pancake Creek is under the lee of Bustard Head, famously named for the bustard birds shot and eaten by the crew of the Endeavour in 1770. It was recommended to us by Jacki Moore (Slocum Spray Society) as it was her favourite spot in her travels. It became our refuge as we waited out days of very nasty weather.

nasty weather..view from Bustard Head

The next day we were all eager to get off Manatee and stretch our legs, for the furry girls it was the first time on land for days. The strip of beach was gorgeous and at low tide a sand bank that was the size of a football field appeared and became our backyard. Dolphins visited and we kept our eyes open for crocs!

Day 2 saw the wind pick up and of course our headsail flogged and unfurled. The wind increased and it became very nasty on deck as we struggled to fix the problem. We were fighting a losing battle as we didn't have the necessary strength and the halyard was jammed making it impossible to drop the sail. Thoughts of a cottage on a beach were conspicuous!

An inflatable came hurtling across the frothy seas and a couple jumped on deck offering to help- gotta love the generosity of cruisers. Kerry and Lyn had been watching our attempts from "Fayaway" a beautiful Swanson 42. Kerry's muscles couldn't move the furler either, which did make us feel better. We eventually hoisted him up the mast with a knife to cut the halyard, brave man in the wind with the mast swaying. It took the four of us to control the genoa and get it tied down. Hours later they introduced us to cask wine in the comfort of their beautiful saloon...thanks guys!

Lady Musgrave

2011-12-26T15:43:00.000-08:00

We set off early, after repairs, with Lady Musgrave Island in our sights. She is a coral cay with a lagoon that supports an anchorage with a recommendation of about 10 spaces amongst the coral. The reef extends way out south, so we were very careful in our approach.

The lagoon entrance is well marked and quite narrow. AK stood on the wheelhouse roof to look for the coral bits that weren't marked. Some extend above the waterline but there are numerous bits just below the surface.

Lagoon entrance top left

It took a few attempts to get the anchor set, it was lobbed onto patches of sand, carefully avoiding the coral. And then it rained, so we enjoyed our first evening in the wheelhouse, looking longingly at the island!

Clear lagoon water

Next morning it appeared that reef sharks had made our hull their home, these creatures were rapidly dashing around Manatee. Some were up to half a metre in length, so we waited until another yacht expelled it's inhabitants into the lagoon before we were brave enough to go in!

With masks donned the reef sharks morphed into ramora's or sucker fish-known to live in the vicinity of large sharks or turtles- not so reassuring until we saw huge turtles. The ramoras happily adopted Manatee's large bum for our lagoon stay.

We had fluked our visit with turtle mating season so we felt extremely blessed.

A couple checking each other out.....

....nah, flippers too small

It was an amazing scene, turtles mate for hours and they drifted around the lagoon knocking into each other, tenders and boats without breaking apart. We drifted around the lagoon in our inflatable trying to stay out of their way but an enormous pair swept into us, jolting the inflatable and startling us...but not them. The inimitable lovers pushed off with their flippers without any interruption. The marine life was amazing, lots of beautiful fish and we were lucky enough to see a graceful manta ray. Patches of coral were spectacular but it was so disappointing to see the number of people who walked across it without thinking.

Sea creatures

beach near camping ground

We went for long walks on the island which is beautiful, the coral has been pounded into amazing fine sand which supports a pistonia forest. It is possible to camp on the island, all very

basic to keep disturbances low. It's a carry on everything, take everything back with you national park.

Noddies are the prominent birdlife, they nest in the pistonia forest and some come to a sticky end.

node of noddies

sucessful noddie nest

After glorious days of lazing about, swimming, snorkeling, walking and telling the girls "you can get off the boat soon, you wouldn't like the island at all' we had a night of pure hell. Weather checks had not alerted us to this event. A storm set in around 2100hrs that was scary,terrifying, horrifying and a little bit frightening. We encounted 50kt winds and the lagoon became a hot surf spot with breakers crashing over the reef. Thunder was deafening and the lightening was zapping around the anchorage in circles. We practiced extreme yoga, keeping watch while holding all body parts off our steel boat! The yacht anchored closest to us dragged and just missed us. Our anchor chain which had become a little tangled over the days suddenly straightened plummeting us back toward the reef. Needless to say we were up all night with the engine on ready to move.

anchorage on a calm day

The next morning was calm and clear with a "what storm?" feel about it. The lagoon was deserted as BOM (better late than never!) predicted more of the same. We exited the lagoon a little stressed, helming between the turtles into a very rolly sea. Destination Pancake Creek.

one for JK

2011-11-06T19:11:00.000-08:00

Prior to leaving Bundy we traipsed off to the botanic gardens to visit the Hinkler Hall of Aviation.

It was a fair walk and we hoped after about an hour that the gardens weren't off limit to dogs ! Jacki has developed a ploy where she HAS TO stop and smell every bit of grass, every tree, every lamp pole, e v e r y t h i n g when she gets tired, so it was a long trek. I guess old age can be excused.

We were all pleased on arrival to find the gardens gorgeous and welcoming to all creatures and to top it off a fabulous cafe(cafe 1928) which served great coffee and had a tropical view was next to the aviation hall. Of course we all had a treat before AK ventured inside leaving everyone else lolling on the grass in the sun.

The hall celebrated the life of Bert Hinkler (1892-1933) who was born in Bundaberg and flew his first person-carrying glider at Mon Repos Beach (now famous as a turtle hatchery) in the early 1900's aided and abeted by his mum!

Bert left Australia for England as a young man to work with the Sopwith Company before flying in WW1 and later making the first South Atlantic solo flight and in 1928 a solo flight from England to Australia.

Bert built a house in Southhampton (England) and named it Mon Repos. It was destined to be demolished in the 1980's but thankfully a dedicated group of Bundaberg locals and bicentennial money saw the house relocated to its present spot. Mon Repos has been beautifully restored and if one dashes from room to room (as AK did) a cacophony of "Bert recordings" fills the house, with AK's favourite being "Bert" explaining to his partner that his long and frequent baths were not just for pleasure but rather conditioning for his flying!

Mon Repos House

The hall is amazing, the first interactive display being a glider test flight. The visitor is encouraged to lie on their stomach, hand on a joystick, while underneath the bench an aerial display of Mon Repos Beach is displayed. It really does feel like you're flying.

The second interactive display is a joy stick where the visitor can attempt to navigate from the hall to Bundaberg Aerodrome using a copy of Bert's famous mud maps. Yes Jacki, I managed to do it.

There are reproductions of Bert's aircraft...Avro Avian (you can sit in it), Ibis, Puss Moth and Avro Baby along with newsreels of Bert and a recording of the Hinkler Quickstep. Bert was a very popular lad in Australia, especially after landing his first aircraft in the main street of Bundaberg to visit his mum. The CWA developed recipes in his honour and songs were penned.

An original piece of Bert's first glider was sent into space on Challenger in 1986. After it exploded this small piece was found, mounted by NASA and returned to Australia. This takes pride of place in a theatrette.

A fantastic commemoration of an Australian pioneer (and the gardens were fantastic-Jacki & Ruby loved the beautifully manicured lawns but weren't so keen on the gregarious geese. Marg loved the green flowers).

working out Bundaberg

2011-11-01T21:55:00.000-07:00

After being treated to pies for lunch aboard SV Northwind we headed up river to Bundaberg town. The river showed the effects of the floods with markers missing, the river bank eroded and wharfs missing.

We anchored off the Bundy Rum factory and the next morning took the girls and the dinghy into the town jetty for a looksee. Work was still being completed on the marina with barges still ramming piles into the riverbed. The town with its wide streets with nary a hill in sight was perfect for walking and over the week that we were there we all walked lots.

looking down river to the anchorage

As is usual in most towns the supermarkets were situated out of the town centre, so provisioning certainly made us fitter! AK was still trying to get her missing cards replaced so many an hour was spent at "which bank" has very poor customer service! (This was not achieved until Gladstone). In the marina chandlery we met one of the people who towed out, in his words, the perfectly serviceable aircraft that Heron Airlines owned, to make use of them as an artificial reef after the airline could no longer afford to compete with Qantas. Qantas was a dirty word in this town.

After a few days we up anchored and moved away from the rum factory as the quaint smoke billowing from its chimneys was causing Marg's asthma to play up.

One night we spent a few hours checking out every restaurant in town looking for one with a sensibly priced menu. No wonder country towns have difficulty attracting tourists! We ended up sitting in the street sharing a pizza.

So after a week of walking and then walking some more it was time to head down river to the emergency anchorage which would allow us to head northeast to Lady Musgrave Island whenever we were ready.

We filled our tanks with diesel at the Port Marina, paid to fill our water tanks and then found that the marina at Burnett Heads (closer to the river mouth) had fuel 15c per litre cheaper and free water! Oh well, another lesson learnt! AK chatted to a great couple in the marina who had just returned from their second world circumnavigation and were heading back to Adelaide 'now the grandkids were an age that didn't require babysitting!' Their favourite places.....Thailand and Turkey.

We waited out an amazing storm that produced not only strong winds but a spectacular show.

So after another few days waiting for favourable weather and fixing our furler we were anchors away for Lady Musgrave.....until halfway down the channel our alternator bracket came loose. Oh well there's always tomorrow!

Bustling to Bundaberg

2011-11-01T21:00:00.000-07:00

We watched whale antics for the morning and then set sail for Bunderberg a good 6 hrs away if we travelled at 5kts...hmm 2kts under sail. After we both contemplated and then disregarded the idea of an overnighter ( we were enjoying the peacefulness of sailing) on went Ms Perkins to bustle us along on our journey west.

the northern tip of Fraser island

The seas were calm and looked like liquid velvet prompting Marg to take many photos. We were joined by lots of dolphins who would scurry over to Manatee, play in the bow wave and check us all out before departing to do whatever dolphins do. We tried trolling with our reel off the stern but managed to lose lures rather than catch dinner.

liquid velvet

As the afternoon was drawing to a close, the seas picked up and the wind became flukey so we decided to rely on motor only. Well....the damn furler wouldn't furl and we couldn't drop the headsail as the halyard was stuck. Boating is sure filled with highs and lows! After womanhandling the furler we managed to get enough sail in that it wasn't flogging but the drama put us way behind schedule for a daylight entrance to the Burnett River (Bundy). 'No worries' we both said as it's a major shipping port so the entrance will be well marked.

oh where oh where is Bundaberg town?

The entrance was well marked, with Marg commenting that it looked like a runway. Our plan was to anchor between Burnett Heads and Bundaberg Port Marina where there is an emergency anchorage outside of the channel. Marg had the navigators cap on and the plan looked good until she became mesmorised by the 'runway lights' and became disorientated. AK had been reminicing about runways so hadn't bothered to have the anchorage sorted. (Another)Lesson learnt....if there's two of you on board, why not both do the navigating!!

We finally anchored outside of the channel and in the morning found we were anchored off the fuel wharf for Bundaberg Port Marina. The other yacht anchored (we saw its anchor light so presumed we were at the anchorage) copped a mouthful from a marina tenant early next morning for anchoring too close to its berth. Clearly they had come in at night as well. When Northwind's Sue rang with a 'where are ya?' we could only reply 'gee we thought everyone in the area could hear us arguing as we anchored!"

Oh how a gorgeous sailing day can turn into a stressful evening!

not drowning, waving

2011-10-24T21:58:00.000-07:00

Waving a massive flipper

The huddle proved to be a couple of boats (mainly dedicated whale watching boats) following 3 whales. We stood back and turned off our electronic equipment (it interferes with their senses) and it wasn't long before two graceful giants headed toward us. Like, really toward us....just under our bow sprit, hold your breath and hope they are just having a gander! ( Weeks later we heard of the yacht off Fraser Island who was a plaything for these massive animals and was taken for a long ride after one took their anchor rope in its mouth and took off dragging the boat behind it...freaky!)

We spent a couple of hours blissfully watching their antics and attempting to get some decent camera shots before heading over to Platypus Bay for the night.

We anchored in crystal clear water in an anchorage called 'the lagoon'. At high tide you can cross the channel over the beach to an actual lagoon on the island. We opted to stay off the island so that we were not reliant on tide. During the night, Margot was excited to hear dingoes calling.

Early the next morning we put up the sails to check out the whales playing in the distance.

Playing in Platypus Bay

Oh where, oh where are the whales?

2011-10-19T20:02:00.001-07:00

We headed north east into Hervey Bay and toward Moon Point where SV Northwind had sighted whales. It was a rough and choppy ride and Ruby headed downstairs to her safe spot in the sea berth. Not a whale to be seen, although we did make several passes on a grumpy turtle.

Ruby in safe mode

Moon Bank was very uncomfortable so rather than waiting around here we kept east to get some protection from Fraser Island. The channel between the eastern edge of the bank and Fraser is very narrow and passed tantalising close (as far as the girls were concerned) to a pristine beach. We were a bit unsure as to how narrow it was so waited for one of the whale watching tourist boats to pass through.

The very narrow channel

There was some protection in the channel and we could see boats in a huddle further north so presuming whales were about , we set course for the huddle

looking for Mary

2011-10-19T18:23:00.000-07:00

So west to Maryborough.....

It was a pleasant sail over to River Heads where the Mary and Susan Rivers join. Since the floods some markers have not been replaced, so negotiating shallow spots is a bit tricky. We manoeuvred into the Mary River safely and were escorted up river by dolphins for about 1nm. It was about 19nm up river to Maryborough, so we all settled in for some country sightseeing.

Around Beaver Rocks there was an abundance of uncharted orange buoys, some with white poly buoys attached, so we presumed they were crab pots. Nope port markers! A quick u-turn saw us follow the markers in a wide semi-circle to deep water.

River Heads where the barges to Fraser island berth.

The closer we got to Maryborough the more evident was the flood damage. Manatee was anchored off the sailing club and we all attempted to get ashore to stretch our legs. As the jetty had been washed away we needed to tie to shore and managed to step into knee deep mud.

After a stroll around the grassy grounds of the sailing club, Jacki and Pearl were returned to Manatee for a bath while the rest of the pack went for a walk to town.

We were keen to explore the town, as in the late 90's on a flying adventure to an airshow west of Gladstone, we were forced to remain in Maryborough for a few days due to bad weather (boating and aviation have a lot in common!). We both loved the town and had decided it was a possible country retirement area, so would we still feel the same?

There are walking tracks along the river that have been beautifully landscaped and filled with sculptures and the botanic gardens are gorgeous. Maryborough is also the birthplace of PL Travers, the author of Mary Poppins and the town makes the most of this fame with statues of Mary and stories about PL set into brass on buildings like her old home. Buildings around town(Customs House, School of Arts etc) have been beautifully restored and street cafes abound.

While in town AK set to in an attempt to get lost cards replaced and we needed to get an exhaust elbow manufactured(where exhaust gases and water mix to be expelled through the hull. It had been leaking and our epoxy fix hadn't succeeded). Kindly cruisers we met offered to drive us around and gave engineering recommendations.. The town is an old sea port so there were plenty of options. We headed off to Olds Engineering which had an amazing workshop of historical value and after much humming and arring Mr Old sent us off to the house of a mate of his fathers who was a tinkerer. Ron was in his 80's and in the middle of his morning porridge, but after examining our old elbow, instructed us to meet him at Barry White's engineering shop, which just happened to be next to the marina. Between them they made us a new elbow which Barry then offered to help us fit. With a few minor adjustments we had a new elbow. Kind men and a great service.

We met a great group of people in the quaint Maryborough slipway who were doing up a huge ferro yacht which they were hoping to launch by Christmas. The boat was going to be their home for their missionary work in PNG. Unbeknownst to us they had been taking photos of Manatee as she had the wheelhouse of their dreams. Surprisingly their yacht had a very similar layout to Manatee, just on a larger scale to house five adults. The fit out they were completing was beautiful, fantastic joinery and very stylish.

We also met a couple who had just completed building their catamaran and were planning to head for the Philippines. SV Sea Dragon was fantastic, the first junk rigged cat we have seen. Over sundowners we were told stories of the floods which sounded traumatic. The marina had still not been totally repaired and most berths didn't have power and water.

The river was yucky, lots of debris floating around with the odd 44gallon drum floating past us.

On our last day in town we bought our fresh fruit and veg from the markets which were held in the main street, AK filled up on second hand books at the sale in the town hall and managed to talk Marg into a trip to the airport for a look around and a coffee. Marg joked that that was too much spoiling for 1 day.

The airport was sad and deserted, a far departure from the memory of a bustling and vibrant enterprise.....and there was no longer a terminal to buy a coffee.

So we left Maryborough, having found the town delightful, but agreeing that we don't like many rivers.

Heading down river, navigation again proved difficult as the orange buoys had been blown around in the strong winds, some almost on shore. With fingers crossed we managed to get through without grounding and anchored in the Susan River to wait for favourable weather to go whale watching. It was a beautiful anchorage and we were teased by turtles who would swim around the boat.

Sunset over Susan

After a couple of days we headed back out to the Sandy Straits, passing what looked like a pod/group/family of dugongs. How exciting!

Kingfisher

2011-10-15T23:51:00.000-07:00

After a few blissful days at Gary's Anchorage, we meandered north along the western side of Fraser Island. Lots of beautiful anchorages and clear water.

Along the way we encountered Peter and Antoinette (from the Spray Tiramasu) who were rafting their partly built Wharram back to Tin Can Bay after it was damaged in the floods at Maryborough. Gee Sprays can do anything! Tiramasu has done 4000nm in the Sandy Straits, they love it here.

We anchored off Kingfisher Bay Resort early afternoon and spent time wandering around this fab place. Boaties are welcome to use the facilities (swimming pool, hot showers etc) as are day visitors from the mainland, but we were content to stroll and look. It looks good here and is reasonably ecologically friendly although a tad expensive.

The anchorage off Kingfisher Resort

Salubrious Sandy Straits

2011-10-08T23:26:00.000-07:00

We were all excited to take the dinghy across to Inskip Point for a beach walk after our hectic previous day. As we were coming through 'the mad mile' we had a phone call from Tin Can Coast Guard (a woman by this stage) who said 'you're probably at the bad bit by now, just remember it looks worse than it is. When you come in anchor just inside, you can take your tender over later to Inskip, it's a great doggie beach, your little doggies will love it.' What a kind and reassuring service!

Land Ahoy!

Well, we all did love it. It is the point of Rainbow Beach and has a basic camp site in the scrub. We spent all of the next day here and Sue and Roger (SV Northwind) joined us for sundowners. That is one of the things that we love about cruising, you can catch up with other cruisers in different locations. We met Sue and Roger in Southport and spent many an hour having enjoyable chats over sundowners.

SV Northwind

The following day we headed south to Tin Can Bay and just managed to get our anchor set before we had a storm that caused a white out...now that was freaky! We spent an enjoyable few days here (mostly, some of it was spent trying to find banks etc to get cards replaced). There were lots of dolphins around and quite a few sprays.

We got up early one morning to watch the dolphins being fed. This apparently started in the 70's when a fisherman accidentally injured a dolphin and took it upon himself to hand feed it until it recovered (co-incidentally I was just interrupted by a dolphin swimming under Manatee and Ruby running out on deck to hang off the bow sprit and chat to it). The third generation of that original dolphin come in every morning to be hand fed, although it did feel like an obligation of sorts, the female eager to get away as soon as 'the show' was over.

Allegedly injured dolphins (mainly shark attack) come in to be fed and recover as well. They are Indo-Pacific Humpback dolphins which have smallish dorsal fins and are big, these two weighing in at 145kg. Surprisingly they also had big teeth that made more than one toddler cry when they were being 'encouraged' to feed the dolphins. AK heard a local fisherman in the crowd explain that they were superb hunters, being very efficient at rounding up fish into the shallows as a team.

After Tin Can we headed north up the Straits, back over to Fraser Island where our first anchorage was 'Gary's'.

The glassy waters of the Sandy Straits

The anchorage is called 'Gary's' after a Butchela man who lived in this area (a lagoon is also given his name) around 1900 who continued living a traditional lifestyle and welcoming visitors to his camp. It is very popular with cruisers as it is protected with a beach at low tide.

Manatee at Gary's

We decided to have some 'adult time' so left the girls on the boat and went for a walk along the fire trails on Fraser. Four hours later we had not seen any dingoes, although we saw lots of tracks which we followed only to find when we back tracked that dingo prints were on top of our footprints. That picnic lunch sitting on the trail was probably not the smartest thing to do!

Intrepid explorers in the bush

Mooloolabah and more

2011-10-05T00:29:00.000-07:00

We left Moreton Bay on the 31st August with S/SE winds forecast at 10-15kts and a sea/swell combination of 2M. It was a beautiful clear sky with lots of sun. The seas were calm until Caloundra where they picked up...but there were lots of dolphins to accompany us. AK also saw her first shark off the tip of Moreton Island, very exciting.

Manatee averaged 6.5kts with her headsail deployed, she really does motorsail beautifully! The entrance to Mooloolaba was shoaling so the port marker had been moved so that we had to enter the harbour beam on to the swell....interesting. The entrance was also shallower than we expected with not much depth under us in the 2nd hour of the flood tide.

We anchored in the Mooloolah River which was very crowded. We spent a very enjoyable few days here, lots of beach walking and chilling in the sunshine. We were joined by our friends Miki and Steve on SV Boris, a 40' Adams steelie that they totally rebuilt at Monty's over a few years. Their blog is stemik.net.

Unluckily AK lost her purse overboard on the 6th. Damn every card was in it.

We (crew of Boris and Manatee) all decided to leave Mooloolaba on the 7th. To get the right tide to leave the harbour we had to up anchor at 0340....shivers! Our destination was Lady Musgrave Island. Lucky it was dark as we probably would have freaked if we'd seen the size of the swell on the bar....which we had to turn beam on to. It is the first time Manatee has taken water over her sides. Jacki and Ruby did freak and had to be ushered downstairs. Pearl had to be woken to go as well...she's not a morning being either!

The weather forecast was winds s/se 10-15kts with the seas at 1.5m and the swell 2m decreasing. We waited until dawn to put up our sails by which stage it wasn't worth it..the wind was light and variable. We headed into deep water a few nm off shore while Boris hugged the coast looking for stronger winds. The sea/swell coming from the se mostly was 3-4m and hitting us on the beam, which made for a rolly ride.

The fur girls were antsy and irritable the entire way, it hadn't been a good start for them. We started thinking about options, as it was a good 24hr journey outside of Fraser island to our first anchorage. It wasn't shaping up to be a pleasant night!

After getting bar advice from Tin Can Bay we considered going over the Wide Bay bar (between the southern point of Fraser Island and Inskip Point) into the Sandy Straits, not something we were looking forward to due to its reputation. Abeam Wolf Rock we saw a magnificient sight....a humpback mother and calf lolling on the surface, mum waving her massive flipper. That helped us make the decision, if we see dolphins it means we enter an area, they generally escort us, so if we see whales....wow...

We headed up to the bar entrance, we already had the GPS co-ordinates, looking for the light leads. Yachts waiting to leave the area over the bar were reporting substantial breakers with replies from the laconic coast guard "yep that will be why they call it the mad mile". We couldn't find the leads, it was late afternoon by this stage, with the sun behind the leads making it a difficult task. AK never being one to totally trust a GPS, made the call to another yacht we knew was behind us 'Amazing Grace' to enquire of their bar experience. They had done 'it' 6 times so we were happy to follow them across.

Margot was on the helm with AK repeating 'just look straight ahead' with waves breaking either side of our path. At one point a red yacht made straight for us from the opposite direction, we both

said "who's that mad bastard". On closer inspection it was Eric on 'Isabella', hi Eric!

It was a relief to drop our anchor at Pelican Point at 1720.

some pics

2011-09-27T00:50:00.001-07:00

Manatee on Southport public jetty

her new look after her tart up at Monty's

view of the beautiful Glasshouse Mountains

Bye Bye Bribie

2011-08-21T00:45:00.000-07:00

We've been waiting for favourable weather at Pumicestone Passage, Bribie Island and made the most of this great spot.

The Seaside Museum was under construction when we were last anchored in the passage and we were lucky enough to be able to visit it this time. Some fab exhibits, unfortunately only since Mathew Flinders visited! Hopefully this will be rectified with some of the temporary exhibits.

Heaps of information about 'Mr Fairweather', a very talented artist who lived on the island in a grass hut in the 70's and completed amazing paintings. Quite inspirational.

We walked heaps and chilled in the relaxed atmosphere of the island where everyone has time for a gidday and a chat. Came across Jacki & Barry Moore who were on a sail-away with members of the Slocum Spray Society, great to catch up, but unfortunately no sprays stayed.

We upped anchor early in the week to head for Moreton Island only to have our chart plotter lifeless....and then all our electrics dropped out. Bugger!!! Back to Bribie where we spent a few days trouble shooting and rectifying. Nothing major but time consuming. Then the weather took a turn for the worse. We choose to think Manatee was looking out for us as the winds are howling from the south/s-east at 30kts. It would have been nasty at Moreton Island.

As disappointing as it is as we are eager to head north, we have moved to our favourite pond at Newport to seek shelter. We had water over our bow coming across the bay and it was a good sea test. so...still waiting

PS. Must have been' sundowner time'-the last post informed you that we visited the 'Wineglass Mountains', they are,of course, the Glasshouse Mountains!

What on earth have you been doing?

2011-08-10T22:09:00.000-07:00

So you may ask! Not really cruising, hence our blog has not been updated.

Since leaving the Brisbane River (around August 2010) we headed to Southport to take care of some business with our unit prior to heading out of the area and up North. Marg was still recovering from her car accident and still not 100% fit, so we were in no hurry and we all love Southport.

Our stay was longer than we originally intended, but work was plentiful (we both completed certificates to work as AIN's, a booming area of employment with jobs readily available) and the lifestyle was great. The girls loved being surrounded by a beach at Marine Stadium and having the run of an island while anchored off Wavebreak.

Upon arrival at Marine Stadium (known as Bum's Bay) we were hailed by Rachel and Steve from SV Lifeline, neighbours from Brisbane who gave us the rundown on 'remaining legal' in the area. This area of the Broadwater has zones and boats are required to move between zones every 7 days and not return for 60ish days. The 'authorities' turn a blind eye if boats anchor at Bum's Bay for 6 days and then anchor off Wavebreak Island for 24hrs and then return to Bum's. Easily complied with!

Manatee snug at Bum's Bay

The community at Bum's Bay was great, sun downers on the beach on Sunday afternoons and folk looking out for each other. Great company in an idyllic location. Sue and Greg from SV Lupari, neighbours from Brisbane were also there. It was great to be able to call on them when we arrived at the jetty late at night after work to find our outboard stolen. Thanks guys!

The public jetty at Marine Stadium

While we were there we had visits from 'the twins', Victoria and Phil along with Marion and Ipona came up for Vic's birthday, Peter and Michael dropped in and Steph came for the day. It's great to catch up! We also headed south to the Lismore area to celebrate another of Jan's significant birthdays.

Celebrating Jan's birthday in style

We were safely snug in Bum's Bay when the floods hit, luckily our friends still on the river were safe, none remaining on the pile berths, although Michael and Ex lost their mooring. It was amazing to see the community spirit of Queenslanders with a daily shuttle bus leaving Southport for Brisbane filled with clean-up volunteers. Thanks to everyone who rang/text to check on our safety and offer accommodation etc if needed. What great friends we have!

Early in the year we became restless and Manatee needed a tart up so we upped anchor and headed for Monty's which is at Beachmere, North of Brisbane on the Caboolture river. We had a fantastic time heading up to Moreton Bay, this time through Canaipa passage, which runs along South and North Stradbroke Islands. We were on holiday again!

Bushwalking on South Stradbroke Island

Picture perfect South Stradbroke

We spent a few days around South Stradbroke walking, relaxing and enjoying the scenery and........ changing fuel filters (we topped up our fuel at the Gold Coast) after we broke down in the channel to Tipplers on our first night. Not the best place to break down but easily fixed!

Checking out Jumpin Pin - the channel between

North & South Stradbroke

We anchored in some fantastic spots, 'Shifting Sands' on North Stradbroke a favourite, although we probably wouldn't have done so much swimming if we'd known it was a favourite spots for sharks!

'Shifting Sands'-wonder how it got that name!

We had to work the tides travelling through Canaipa, it is very shallow in spots, although we only kissed the bottom a few times! We found another great anchorage off Russell Island where Marg did a bit of fishing and we found a sandy spot of North Stradbroke where we could walk the girls at low tide. No swimming here as the sharks were obvious!

anchored near Russell Island

Once in Moreton Bay we headed for Horseshoe Bay at Peel Island which has crystal clear water and is a turtle breeding ground. The weather report was for light NE winds so we anchored and cracked open a champers on deck. Thinking the other boats were filled with workers, hence pulling up anchor for work the next day, we toasted our good fortune. After dark, a massive storm front moved in unexpectedly from the south, creating a lee shore and a swell that would make a surfer very happy. Not so us. We were smashed and struggled to remain upright on deck. Our dinghy with new outboard broke free after gouging Manatee's sides and all we could do was remain below to keep dry. Needless to say we didn't get much sleep.....we rang the water police to report the footloose dinghy in case she was spotted with crew missing and a search instigated........lucky we weren't ringing for assistance as the call went to message bank! They did ring back a few days later. Speaks volumes for being self-sufficient and checking BOM more than once per day!

At daylight AK jumped in the kayak and found the dinghy high and dry on Peel. Yay!

Sue and Greg on SV Lupari experienced a similar storm about a month later in the same location, their dinghy 'Puff' ended up much further afield. The story of Puff's adventure is on their blog - www.lupari2.com.

After securing the dinghy to Manatee we headed further North where we were joined by some of Ruby the dolphin caller's friends.

The dolphin on the left is eyeballing Ruby

In March we were lifted onto the hard at Mont's where we scraped and sanded and painted the topsides. She looks gorgeous red! We then headed on a road trip south for cousin Denise's significant birthday party where we caught up with Marg's family. On our way back North we stopped to see Aunty Joan before heading back to the hard slog of Manatee's tart up.

With Aunt Beryl at Denise's party

Marg worked for a nursing agency to keep some cash flowing while AK continued working on Manatee. The diesel generator was removed to make working on the Perkins motor easier as neither of us are into extreme yoga. Thanks Tony for showing us how to use a block & tackle to move machinery. The saloon windows were replaced and portvisors placed over the opening portholes in the galley and head to stop water ingress (it doesn't just rain up here it pours). Water damaged lining in the saloon was replaced. Marg sanded and varnished the bow sprit to a beautiful finish. Solar panels were repositioned on the davitts as they were getting damaged due to our low freeboard. Things were varnished and painted. The head was re-done. Boo to Jabsco as we put in our third electric toilet...the first two died just after warranty so we are trying a TMC. Rigging was checked. We had new covers made for the wheelhouse. Rust work was done which was thankfully minor. We now have new solid rails which replace stanchions with rigging wire. Thanks SV Najac for the idea! It is great. The bilge was cleaned and a holding tank installed. We had a new hatch made for the front deck along with a storage box. We re-built the aft cabin hatch. Most of the work we did ourselves. 4 months went very quickly. Yep 4 months and we worked 6 days per week, but we found the longer the projects went on the less energy we had. We still have projects to complete!

On our days off we toured the country side.......the Wineglass Mountains, Woodford, Eumundi markets...there are some beautiful spots up here.

Sadly on May 21st Captain Idgi died, and we all greatly mourned her passing. She was over 18 and lost some of her strength after her fight with the tomcat at Monty's 2 years earlier. She still ruled the roost on Manatee but would not venture far from the boat. She is sadly missed by us all.

Vale Captain Idgi

We are back in the water and awaiting favourable winds for Moreton Island. Stay tuned.

Busy in Brissie

2010-05-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

We've been on Brisbane's pile berths for a few months now and with this city view comes a very active social life. We've met some great people, with most now continuing on their journeys.

Peter and Michael came up from Murwillimbah for Pete's birthday in December and we spent a nice evening on the deck catching up on news, eating, drinking and enjoying the sights and sounds of the city. Pete still managed to get up for a run the next morning!

Mike, Marg and Pete making merry

We spent the evening welcoming in the new year on SV Tunis, a gorgeous huon pine 1940's yacht owned by Christine and Dennis with good food and great friends.

Christine and Dennis enjoying a laugh (now back in Tassie)

Americans Jeanine & Gordon, temporarily back in the US

Fabio from Cairns

We then sat on Manatee's deck with our friend Ex (whose partner was working) and the girls watching the fireworks.

In January Jan and her daughter Stevie visited while in Brissie for an art exhibition. It was also Jan's birthday so another night catching up, eating, drinking and having a fab time.

Then Marion and Epona visited for lunch, in town for Marion's birthday. So an afternoon spent catching up, eating and having a fab time!

In between socialising we have been working and studying and making some alterations to Manatee. We installed two 130 watt solar panels which led to buying a 12v fridge. We had a 240v fridge and a freezer which required the generator to be run which is not the most pleasant way to spend 'down time'. Fans have been a great addition in Brissie's heat which is hot, warm, hot. Mould and keeping it at bay has been an interesting exercise and one which we have not won, yet.

In January we also spent a few days out in Moreton Bay, anchoring around Mud and Green Islands where we cleaned the hull, patch painted some scratches and relaxed and dreamt of deserted Isles further north. An idyllic location and only in Moreton Bay can you find deserted islands with crystal clear water filled with fish and golden sands with not another soul to share it, mostly, well during the week anyway. Jen also made a flying visit and managed to catch a quick swim before heading back to Sydney after a night of catching up, eating, drinking and having a fab time.

From the top: Jen after a dip. Mud Island which is

mostly coral and Green Island ahh paradise

We also had flying visits from Greg, Mardi, Lesley and Marion and Epona who joined us for dinner in Chinatown. It's always fantastic to catch up with friends.

Back to the City

2010-03-15T21:57:00.000-07:00

After our extended time in the Bay,we decided to head up the river to Brisbane to find an anchorage. We left the bay around Cabbage Tree Creek early one morning and travelled to the river entrance with a group of dolphins who appeared to be catching breakfast and frolicking in the early morning sunshine.

It was a little scary entering the Brisbane River channel with it's busy shipping lane and the cranes of the port looking like prehistoric monsters in the distance.

The port of Brisbane

We had hoped for a mooring at Bulimba, alas there is a 36' size limit. Manatee has an overall length of 49'. We wanted to be close to public transport and feel safe in the wild Qld storms, especially if we were both off Manatee.

We headed slowly up river, dodging the many jet cats, working boats and recreational vessels, with the girls on the bow pointing out possible spots with good parks.

Ruby spots a good park

The wash from the traffic can be pretty extreme when mixed with the fast flowing current so we continued on until we reached Brisbane CBD. We checked out the pile berths and although many appeared vacant, they were roped off which indicates "occupancy". A few boats were at anchor between the pile berths and the footbridge that crosses the river. We dropped anchor and couldn't set it....3 times. We gave up on that location and headed across river to Kangaroo Point and dropped anchor twice. It wouldn't set and every time we raised it the silty stinky slimy mud was a good indication why. Despite shouted encouragement from Craig, one of Brissie's gay boaties, we picked up a mooring (Dept Of Transport) and relaxed for the rest of the day, after washing the mud off ourselves and Manatee.

The Brisbane River has a few Qld Transport moorings- 1 at Bulimba and 2 at Kangaroo Point near the Thornton Street ferry stop- they are apparently rated to 20t and are a good short term alternative.

Idgi checks out the nightlife across the river

The next morning we took the dinghy across to the pile berths pontoon to enquire about possible berths, which we continued to do daily for a few weeks! We thought the wash from the ferries would do us in....that was until we moved across the river! Finally a trimaran was leaving and their berth was up for grabs...bugger too small. The next morning we heard voices calling us from a yacht pasing......Millefleurs (Hobart) was moving into the smaller berth for us as their berth would suit us-thanks Peter and Kaye.

Peter and Kaye had sailed Millefleurs (a Hunter 36') out from the US where they had purchased her and were resting before heading to Sydney and putting her on the market. They are a funny couple with great stories, who think importing a yacht is the way to go. Peter is keen to go again.
Millefleurs is advertised on yachthub if you're looking for a cheap Hunter 36 (1985) in great condition.

"This is an OK park" - the Botanic Gardens

Note the fast flowing current

The pile berths from the gardens

So for $60pw the Port Authority offers reasonably safe harbour, laundry, shower and toilet facilities, rubbish removal and a pontoon for dinghy tie ups. The wash from the ferries makes for a rough ride - sometimes the swell is close to 1M, and the double decker ferries are referred to as tsunamis. The berths are not too hard to tie up to, but I recommend slack tide from high to low as some of the rope rings are high on the piles. "Driving" onto the pile, setting the stern rope and then motoring on to set the bow rope has worked for us.

Although the port authority states no berth shall be reserved, it happens frequently. There are many boats that are not seaworthy and are cheap housing for some, even though the authority "cleaned up" in Feb 2009. The Dept of Transport is set to take over the management of the berths in June 2010 so little action is being taken at present. Cruisers are now tieing up to berths that are roped off unless neighbours state someone is away for a few days. The original intention of the piles berths was as a facility for transient boats, so hopefull a time limit will apply when under new management.

There are also some great cruisers on interesting yachts that we have met, who freely pass on their knowledge and it is a great opportunity for book swaps.

In January a nice red steelie "Do It" with Ruth (missing her pets) and Angus aboard made use of a roped off berth. This is their blog http://www.doitcruise.info/.

More to(n) the bay

2009-11-07T18:33:00.000-08:00

We are still enjoying life in Moreton Bay with Bongaree in Pumicestone Passage, Bribie Island remaining our favourite place in this part of the world.

The original white inhabitants in this area were 3 'convicts' on the run from Sydney who washed up on Moreton Island after a storm in 'their' little open boat. Thinking they were still close to Sydney (must have been one hell of a storm!) they swam to Bribie to escape capture. The area years later was known for its 'cussedness'. Blimey.

eerie sunset in Pumicestone

beautiful one day, perfect the next-Skirmish Point

sand cliffs of Moreton Island

The weather up here seems very tropical for so far south- hot, hot, hot with amazing thunderstorms and sudden downpours. We now live with our hatch and boom covers up as do most cruisers in the area. The thick insulation to keep out the cold in Tassie works hard at keeping out the heat, but the deck can get very hot to walk on so we bucket lots of water over her so no one ends up with burnt feet/pads.

The girls love the walks around Moreton Bay, at low tide exploring is fun. It constantly amazes us that more boats aren't grounded during low tide.

mangrove Jack and side kick

great walks at low tide

hollows left by rays

The channels in some areas become very narrow, with markers being in a few inches of water. Exploring Cabbage Creek saw Manatee's bow rise as she swiftly grounded on a bank. They are usually soft mud and I can almost hear the thwaap as the mud releases Manatee. The bank at Cabbage Creek was so sticky, fishermen in a tinny dragged us off.

entering Cabbage Creek

We journeyed up to Mooloolaba to have a look, a beautiful spot but unless you stay in a marina (Lawries being popular, but a long way out of town) your choices are limited. The pile berths are in a perfect location just inside the breakwater but liveaboard cruisers cannot stay. Anchoring is also limited to days. Pity, but I can understand as it is such a beautiful spot.

pile berths

breakwater at Mooloolaba

Pearlie enjoying her trip

We are all well, with Idgi recovering from her adventure, Marg receiving intensive physio for her back and neck injury and AK picking up a bit of work.

It's a hard life being an old salt

Spinning 'round the Bay

2009-09-30T19:03:00.000-07:00

We are continuing to enjoy Moreton Bay and the Broadwater both for boating and exploring. We've visited markets, walked the edges of parts of the bay, watched powerboat races (yuk!) and seen Redcliffe locals re-enact the landing of Europeans in the area. Redcliffe is a suburb and a peninsular which encompasses many suburbs...confusing ain't it.

Redcliffe jetty and beach

The settlement of Redcliffe (yep it's got red cliffs) by the early Europeans, was for the purpose of establishing another penal settlement. The brig Amity set sail for Redcliffe from Sydney in 1824 carrying settlement commandant Lieutenant Miller, explorer John Oxley, a crew and convicts. They landed at Redcliffe on September 13, 1824.

The re-enactment took place on the beach, with lots of canon firing which scared the dogs and hand shaking with Aboriginal's (I don't think so) which scared me, but lots of locals were too busy enjoying the water or watching the power boat races which surprisingly were on the same day. There has been a lot of controversy about power boats on the bay, with dugongs and turtles washing up injured or dead on the shore. During one of our walks (not long after the power boat race) we came across locals waiting with an injured turtle for Australia Zoo staff to attend. The turtle was magnificent-her shell was almost 1M long-and we hope she survived.

power boat under tow

a 'replica' of Amity (shucks it's a steelie!)

A better location was found for the new settlement on the banks of the Brisbane River in 1825, so Redcliffe was deserted by the Europeans until the 1860s when the area was again taken over and declared an agricultural reserve. The land was used for dairying, sugarcane, wheat, cotton, beef, honey, cattle feed, oranges and potatoes.

Oxley had thought Deception Bay (Redcliffe Peninsular forms part of this bay) was a river as it is so shallow. We explored this bay by dinghy and still grounded!

exploring in dinghy June

Redcliffe underwent a significant land boom in the 1880s and was quickly gaining a reputation as a seaside resort - offering a seaside experience similar to many of the holiday destinations in England. A growing number of people were lured to Redcliffe to enjoy its safe, sheltered sandy beaches. The Redcliffe Peninsular is still a popular holiday destination and Moreton Bay Council has established fantastic walkways/bikeways.

Walkway near Cleveland Point

Day bathers travelled to the peninsula by steamer - the most celebrated being the Koopa. The Koopa delivered its first passengers to the Redcliffe Jetty in 1911 and continued to transport tourists to the city until World War II - when it was requisitioned by the Royal Australian Navy.

South of Redcliffe is Woody Point and the pub has bits of Koopa displayed.

View of the bay from the pub at Woody Point (just for Vic)

In this photo the suburb of Brighton is opposite. Prior to steamers working the bay, a couple from the area made a living by rowing people across the bay. Potential customers would flash a mirror at the couple's house and one of them would dutifully row across. Needless to say, Florence lived to around 100!

Jetty at Woody Point

General aviation is booming up here with a number of airports active. It's great sitting on deck watching aerobatics. NSW is behind in this regard, with the bastardisation of Bankstown Airport, the closing of Hoxton Park and the exodus of flight training to Camden. What a shame.

The northern end of Moreton Bay is a breeding ground for dugongs, alas we have not seen one.

the closest we have come to a dugong

During the recent dust storms we stayed put rather than continuing our exploration, others however didn't. Glad we weren't out there.

Spot the yacht...hmm maybe their nav lights don't work

This area of Moreton Bay has lots of sandbanks, and close to shore lots of rocks. Recently a yacht was holed by a rock near the jetty that wasn't (they said) marked on a chart - and they were locals.

Lots of sand banks (brown water)

The swell can reach 3M and the storms are reportedly ferocious - gee that's something to look forward to! A bloke we met tried to encourage his wife into the cruising life by taking her out into the safe enclosed waters of Moreton Bay (in a trailer sailor) only to frighten her with a large swell. Years later he is still trying to convince her!

We've also done trips down south. Bum's Bay (Marine Stadium) at the Gold Coast is chockers this time of year but Jacobs Well (where we waited out storms months ago) is peaceful and very pretty. Miles of waterways, what bliss!

Pretty Jacobs Well

Now that the economy is picking up (thanks Kev) I can hopefully pick up some work. Marg was injured recently (not on Manatee) and is undergoing physio. The girls are all well and still enjoying boat life.

Manatee's past life

2009-09-11T00:45:00.000-07:00

Recently we were sent photos (thanks Geoff) of Manatee when she lived in the Tamar River, Tasmania.

At this time she was owned by the Carter's who built her. The obvious change is the colour, she did look very sleek as a red boat. I wonder if she went faster!

She also has a soft dodger in the photos, Doug the second owner built the solid wheelhouse that we are enjoying. She also is without her Muir anchor winch, thank Doug for adding that necessity! We would both be built like brick shithouses if we had to haul in her anchor by hand!

We've added the dinghy davits and swim platform which has changed the appearance of her stern. With all the netting, birds in the Tamar must be a problem!

leaving Venice

2009-08-28T22:06:00.000-07:00

Yes, Anni we have left Venice! We have had (and continue to have) very limited reception and are experiencing email glitches, so the blog is way behind.

So, a quick catch up......we left the 'pond' for the marina at Scarborough to give ourselves some luxury before we slipped Manatee.

Leaving Venice

We spent a few nights tucked away from the strong winds and enjoying water and power 'on tap'. Idgi made the most of her time, exploring every nook and cranny, while we got some R & R.

Idgi checking everything out

On the morning of our slipping, the rain howled and the winds gave us a very bumpy ride across the bay. AK had to continually wipe down the windows to give Marg some visibility so she had a chance to see the river markers. We managed due to Marg's excellent helming to miss a grounding in a notoriously shallow section of the river. We arrived at the slip-way at the pre-arranged time to find Manatee was a very snug fit in the cradle.

a snug fit

Ruby helping move the cradle

Our expected 3 day anti-fouling extended into weeks as the scope for our work expanded. The yard was very cheap ($150 per week), compared to city prices ($100 per day), so we got as much done as possible.

last anti-foul was 2007-not much growth!

We anti-fouled, then gave Manatee a new colour scheme as well as re-doing the anti-slip on her decks (AK had almost gone a over t during the recent storms in the area). We changed the deck colour from buttermilk (pale yellow) to silver grey (blue/grey) as the latter will be cooler in this hot climate. We have continued to use Jotun products, although we have tried super tropic anti-foul this time rather than sea guardian. We have also tried lanolin spray along the water line and on the rudder as this apparently will stop growth. We again used prop speed as our prop was surprisingly clean and neither of us like scraping the prop in the water.

Change of deck colour

Some areas of Manatee's gunnel's needed some epoxy bog as our (past) novice attempts at berthing caused some magnificent scrapes. Although we had kept the paint up to them, Manatee has a zinc coating over her steel which doesn't allow most paints to stick, causing the dreaded bubble. Marg pulled out all the batteries and tidied up wiring. She also pulled out the fridge and removed some lining to allow better access for hull inspections. AK changed oil in the generator, cleaned the bilge, painted the interior of the wheelhouse and did some rust work. We worked on the dinghy davits and sanded and oiled Manatee's teak. The 3 porthole windows from the wheelhouse into the single cabin were pulled and replaced as they were very scratched and there was some rust evident in the surrounds. We also raised the waterline-oops maybe we are accumulating too much stuff!

the fun of anti-fouling

The girls were welcome and enjoyed the novelty of the yard. Jacki and Ruby revelled in hanging with the yard lads who shared their lunch. They became very independent which equalled naughty! Occasionally one dog would disappear and upon questioning someone would say "Oh yes I saw Pearl heading that way with a piece of pizza" or "Ruby is in the grass, eating a pie". On the morning of our departure, Jacki was seen in a shed with a string of sausages, too busy to leave. Their usual diet is very healthy so they delighted in the change.

They all made friends with Shaun's dog Pep who graciously allowed them to dig up his bones. Pep has been the only dog they have welcomed on to Manatee, even allowing him to nap in their bed.

Idgi surveying her new territory

Idgi became proficient at navigating the ladder, while AK and Marg developed biceps from carrying the dogs up and down.

Jacki can always find a comfy spot to rest

Between the hard work we kept the girls amused with walks along the bay, listened and learnt lots of tricks from steel boat owners and did a full check of Manatee's hull looking for any signs of rust. Overall, Manatee is in excellent condition. Nights were occasionally spent looking at the clear country sky with its splatter of bright stars.

the view through the hatch above the bed

Our re-launching was a day of much celebration! We enlisted some friends to help fend Manatee off the cradle to preserve her pristine paintwork.

Chris helping by supervising Pep

returning the guys to the yard

Shaun ready to fend

It was great meeting these guys, we saw the creation of boat 'legs' which will allow hull work without the need for slipping (the legs attach to the mid way point along the hull and stand the boat up in the shallows/on a sand bank), Chris & Shaun explained how they have pulled the fossil fuel motors from their yachts and have replaced them with electric motors, and we learnt about the joy of sailing in the Torres Strait and how to travel the top end in cyclone season.

Idgi had a minor altercation with a tom in the yard, causing a nasty wound which was starting to heal nicely until she went swimming. We had been out most of the day (with the dogs) and Manatee was rafted up to Tony's barge in the river, which Idgi was enjoying exploring.

Idgi exploring the barge

..and ignoring the signs

We returned at nightfall to find Idgi was missing. We called and searched, alas no sign of Captain Idgi. After a few days AK had given her up for dead, Marg wanted to complete one last trawl of the river which we did in June with Ruby sitting on the bow howling for her cat. A run past the boat yard and we had a lead on Idge. She had been seen and was found living in a shed. Clever cat had made her way back to the yard. She had completed a substantial swim, avoiding the bull sharks and made her way through the mangroves to the yard. We all did a happy dance-the pack was complete again! Unfortunately the wound looked nasty, so a trip to the vet extended to surgery and an overnight stay. Her convalescence was stressful for AK & Marg as she was a determined and stroppy patient (traits that probably kept her alive), who decided that a drain and stitches were not required.

poor Idgi

her summer bonnet

Idge has healed and continues to remind us that she is Captain. The dogs are relieved and itching to get on the move again. Hooray.....here comes the wide expanse of Moreton Bay!

heading back to Moreton Bay

We have plenty of photos to add, alas internet cafes suck!

Hooray, a computer that works!

Manatee visits Australia's own Venice

2009-06-30T18:14:00.000-07:00

We spent a few days been knocked by tide against wind in Deception Bay with constant pitching and rolling. Getting to shore was uncomfortable and wet and, as we had things to do in the area we were hesitant to move to another corner of the bay to seek shelter. So we decided to up anchor and head into the 'duck pond' in the Newport canals, which is a suburb of the Redcliffe Peninsular. The pond is in a cul-de-sac in the estate which appears to be waiting further developement. The very assertive ducks checked us out first thing and the huge crows marked their new territory by crapping all over the deck. The fur family seemed very busy with other things.

On the pond

We had just dropped anchor when Ginny and Cath, sailors from further north stopped by on their planned visit. It's always nice to have a cuppa with women sailors!

During our visits to shore from Deception Bay we decided that we really did need a bigger tender, especially in winter as whoever wasn't driving Ini our wonderful tender got very wet and cold weighing down her bow. We decided on a 'tinnie' to be safer from coral and crocodile teeth when we headed further north. Lots of time spent on ebay and searching papers saw us driving many miles in the search for our new tender. None were right for us...too big, too small, crappy motor, poorly patched holes. So our search continued.

Steph our dear friend from Sydney emailed us to say she had a work conference at the Gold Coast, so we jumped in the car with the girls and drove down for a visit before her conference started. It was great to see her (the first time since we had left Sydney) as we had missed her (and Elle's) holidays in Lake Macquarie and Noosa by a matter of days. Her stories about work in the public sector and Sydney made us feel glad we are no longer in that space, even though we miss our friends.

Steph looking very Sydney and Marg very Gold Coast!

On our way back up the coast we dropped into a marina and got chatting to a guy who took us to meet his boss who had a tinnie for sale. She was the marina manager and her tinnie was a much cared for allycraft with a yamaha motor. Sold! Even though she was bigger than we intended, she has a solid wooden sole which makes her very stable. Her name is June and even Idgi seems impressed.

We have remained in the duck pond for longer than we had intended as we both are laid low with a shocking bout of the flu.

Manatee mooches round Moreton Bay

2009-06-17T22:00:00.000-07:00

On our first evening at anchor a few dolphins came by to check us out, a different 'type', quite small with white edging to their dorsal fins. As usual, everybody on Manatee was excited, especially when the dolphins began leaping and "flippering".

Spot the dolphins....not!

So enjoy the sunset instead

We will probably hang around Moreton Bay until we can get into Monty's (up the Caboolture River) for Manatee's lift and scrub. We are hoping to get a mooring up the Brisbane River after Monty's as apparently anchoring is a bit dicey in the silt and mud of the river. It's probably good timing for us as lots of boaties are heading north for the season, leaving some moorings free. If we manage to get work we need to feel Manatee is secure and not dragging.

After a day and a bit in Deception Bay we up anchored and headed across the bay for a change of scenery and to give the engine a good test under load.

Sailing with the Glasshouse Mountains as a backdrop

We anchored in Pumicestone Passage, Bribie Island, for the night and enjoyed it so much we stayed for 3. It was very tempting to swim in the crystal clear water, but Ruby was the only one who ventured in. We all enjoyed our walks along the beach and the nightly visit by dolphins.

The jetty at Bongaree on Bribie Island

On our last morning as we were tidying up to leave, Marg called out "there is a really large yacht

heading straight at us". It turned out to be Lee Roper who recognised Manatee from Laurieton. Lee had stopped in Laurieton last year on his way to Brisbane delivering his late father's yacht, a spray. He anchored, and came aboard for a cuppa and a catch up.

We then up anchored and headed out. We got as far as the first markers when AK noticed the engine overheating. A quick check showed the sea water pump leaking. One of the ordered parts that didn't turn up was a brass screw so we were given alternate stainless screws - not a successful alternative! So back to our anchorage and hours spent pulling the pump apart. The original screw was utilised and engine tested OK. The good part of the saga was that we spent the evening chatting to Lee, drinking wine and having a great time. Lee has been sailing since he was a toddler so has lots of sailing stories and has designed and built his yacht, a Roper 43. It is the ultimate cruising yacht, beamy like a spray, a retractable keel which means he can beach her and a cockpit and saloon similar to a catamaran, but in a mono. Affinity also has the same perkins model as Manatee, so Lee was eager to discuss problem solving a perkins.

We dinghied back to Manatee just in time to avoid the strong SW that hit the anchorage. It was a rough night which we weren't prepared for, so things went bump all night.

Manatee in the anchorage on a calmer day

We headed out the next morning and anchored in Deception Bay.

Manatees introduction to the Slocum Spray Society

2009-06-14T20:20:00.000-07:00

We headed into Moreton Bay with a planned stop at Manly Harbour. We stayed at the lovely East Coast Marina for a few days to dry everything out and let Idgi stretch her legs. Highly recommended spot.

Manly Harbour. A small harbour with 3 marinas.

We left the dock at Manly, on Tuesday just after lunch, with our plan being to anchor in the northern part of Moreton Bay for an overnighter before heading to Maryborough the following morning.

Moreton Bay is delightful, a wide expanse of water which appears even bigger than Sydney Harbour due to its low mangrove coastline. Instead of Sydney’s 15-25M depths, Moreton Bay is very shallow, we experienced less than 1M in sections. Thankfully, Manatee is a shallow drafted spray.

Negotiating the Brisbane shipping channel was a tense period, so Margot, who was helming, kept the speed slow. We had to wait for a few massive container ships to pass so Manatee could continue her path behind them. We realised not long after the shipping channel, that if we were to make a calm anchorage before night fell, Manatee’s speed would need to be increased. As usual, we carefully monitored temps and pressures. As the light faded, we knew we could not reach Deception Bay before dark, so anchored off Redcliffe. As she turned the anchor power off, AK noticed that the engine temperature was extreme, much higher than the normal operating temperature. After quickly turning off the donk we settled in for an uncomfortable night, with Manatee pitching in the rough conditions. Margot set the alarm for watches throughout the night, but thankfully Manatee’s anchor held firm.

Wednesday morning brought calmer conditions, so a check of the oil and coolant (which we always check before starting the donk) revealed good levels of both. We cranked over Manatee’s usually reliable Perkins 4236 and let her reach operating temperature (about 85C) whilst still at anchor. Damn, the temperature went through the roof. We did a quick check whilst she was running to make sure she hadn’t sprung a hose and that the water pump was operating. AK noticed that the thermostat housing was too hot to touch. Oh no. Not again. We let the donk cool down and then pulled the thermostat housing. Checked the thermostat and it tested as working. Lesson learnt – don’t jump to conclusions too quickly! The next step was to remove the plate for the coolant header tank (the feeder tank which we check runs in to the header tank)…..empty. Damn – looks like the dreaded air bubble.

So….out with the gasket goo and seal the thermostat housing. Let it set and test – leaks. Remove and repeat – leaks. Two days later and on our last bit of gasket goo we thought more about plan B – a tow to a wharf with a mechanic close at hand. Reminiscing on our experiences with mechanics in Sydney, we realised that a tradesperson who understood the Perkins workhorse was required. After a check of the internet (what would Joshua Slocum think of that?) AK called the President of the Slocum Spray Society, Barry Moore for a recommendation. Barry then generously took the matter in hand and arranged the coast guard for a tow and a berth at the Moreton Bay Boat Club.

Our tow to Scarborough Harbour by the Coast Guard

Thursday at dusk saw Manatee embarrassingly towed to the breakdown berth at the club with a visit later to the bistro for dinner with Barry and his wife Jacki. Barry was very pleased as it just so happened the annual spray regatta was on the following weekend! The lovely Jacki very kindly allowed Barry time off from preparing for their upcoming cruise preparations to assist us. Further discussions with Barry around the need to get the thermostat housing machined resulted in the very kind offer of his assistance in sorting out the problem. “They call me McIver”, he said.

Friday at 8am Barry presented himself, so he and AK further investigated the engine problem. Meanwhile Margot took the dogs for a long walk and dinghy ride. Barry suggested pulling a few more bits apart to rule out sea water problems after our recent groundings. Barry said, “my fee is $40” – which is the cost of membership of the association! Barry then drove Margot around the area sourcing parts and talking to machinists. So we joined the association and attended some of the regatta events ( Marg crewed on the beautiful Florrisant), saw some gorgeous sprays and met some lovely people. What an introduction – what a welcome!

We waited for a week for the ordered parts, meanwhile AK hired a cheap car and drove to Maryborough to pick up some urgent mail and then returned to pick up everyone (except Idge who stayed and looked after Manatee) for a trip to pick up our car at Pete at Michael's at Murwillumbah. After an overnighter where the girls got to meet their cousin Topsy (another jack russell) we returned to Manatee.

After putting the engine cooling system back together we left the breakdown berth and headed outside the harbour to anchor in Deception Bay.

Manatee seeks shelter from the storm

2009-05-25T03:16:00.000-07:00

The trip up the broadwater, via Main Channel, to Jacobs Well was beautiful, quite an amazing waterway. They do say there are 2 types of boaties up here....those that have grounded in the broadwater and those that haven't, yet!

Our first was near Tuleen Island. AK was helming, so tried reverse...nothing. Finally the wake from a plastic fantastic (luckily you don't have to wait too long up here for one to pass!) gave enough depth to move Manatee.

The shoals charted near Woogoompah Island show a dredged depth of 2M LWS.....it is currently 1M, but Marg managed to avoid a grounding here. But didn't avoid it at Jacobs Well near the moored boats where we waited for the rising tide to give us depth.

Jacki, tired from assisting

We anchored further down the channel off Kangaroo Island where it was sheltered from the forecast 50kts winds. We spent 2 days with horizontal rain and wind that made it difficult to walk on deck. Idgi put on her grumpy face. Jacki got clingy. Ruby took great delight in sleeping downstairs. Pearl slept through it all. AK and Marg took turns in keeping watch. Our instruments showed only 37kts but it was scary, a real test for our anchor. Although our rode was only 4X depth it held beautifully but it was a strain on the winch when it came time to up anchor, it was buried so deep.

Our view for 2 days

We then headed for Moreton Bay when it was calm enough to continue, but due to dusk and another grounding near the OH wires at Russell Island we anchored between Macleay and Kangaroo Islands for the night. The warning went from gale to strong wind so it was a reasonably pleasant night.

Yahoo, waking up to blue skies

We awoke to blue skies so headed on up to Moreton Bay.

Another dimension? Nah just the Gold Coast!

2009-05-25T01:53:00.000-07:00

We spent a couple of weeks anchored at the Marine Stadium, also known as "Bum's Bay". I now believe every Queenslander must own a jet ski, most appear to like speeding and doing donuts! After the first night anchored off Seaworld (where we could hear the commentary from the tourist aquaduck that launched from a ramp 20m away...."Those boats mostly come from down south, stay here for a few days and then go further north. Look there's one from Tasmania"- does one wave or what?) we moved further down into the bay. Marg went jetstar to Newcastle for Greg's 60th birthday on Saturday and returned on Monday. Happy Birthday Greg!

Manatee in the bay

On Saturday night the winds (SE) came up and the bay got a good rolling swell. Manatee tossed all night and AK was concerned about the anchor dragging so the alarm was set for numerous anchor checks. It was the first time AK felt that if anything went wrong, she could move Manatee on her own - a real breakthrough.

The bay is fairly shallow but clean and it was a pleasant walk to public transport. Probably best avoided on weekends unless one likes rowdy bucks parties (houseboats) and bbq pontoons. Blissful during the week.

Oops a little shallow!

Marg's brother Peter and his partner Michael came up from Murwillumbah for a visit the following weekend and it was great to catch up.

We decided to go further north early the next week after we received a delivery of stern tube oil, from Lismore of all places. It turns out it has the same specifications of gear oil, but we weren't to know. The oil turned up on Monday, so we took Manatee down towards Southport Yacht Club to pick it up. The rain then started and pelted down making visibility zero. We quickly picked up a Dept of Transport mooring near the Nerang River bridge and waited out the rain which didn't clear until the next morning - a sign of things to come!

Idge sitting in the rain checking out the city

On Tuesday the weather was clearly going to get worse with 40kt winds forecast so we headed north into the broadwater and found a safe anchorage at Jacobs Well in a bay surrounded by mangroves.

Goodbye Gold Coast

Moonlit night, calm seas, where else would we want to be

2009-05-12T19:24:00.000-07:00

On Thursday we awoke to good weather so on the flood tide we left Iluka/Yamba bar at 1500hrs - destination the Gold Coast Seaway.

Once we passed over the swelly bar we had a wonderful time with a moonlit night, calm seas and our dolphin friends for company.

Sunset over NSW

We spent our off watch hours mostly asleep in the wheel house where we can stretch out on a mattress. It was a beautiful uneventful night and we averaged around 5 kts for the journey.

Sunrise over the Gold Coast

Ruby napping after crewing all night

The Gold Coast Seaway (bar) was wild - surfers on boards paddling across, a yacht at anchor, barges dredging sand and the inevitable jetski riding the swell. Marg managed to navigate through without colliding with anything- a wonderful feat!

Down the river to Iluka

2009-05-12T18:53:00.000-07:00

On Sunday Marg returned from Murwillumbah so we headed down to Harwood for a 1600hrs bridge opening. After watching the antics of another boat (who appeared determined to pass under the bridge first) for 40 minutes the bridge finally creaked upwards.

We settled on to Harwood public jetty for the night to give Idgi a chance to dig in some dirt and eat grass. The jetty (depth about 3M LWS) is concrete with two wood pilings so it was a disturbed sleep due to fender adjustments. Idgi had a good time until she was visited by a local moggie, when she announced it was time to go!

Manatee goes country

The fishing boats were very active here so we spent a while the next morning drinking coffee and watching them.

Nets out

We set out for Iluka Harbour mid morning and enjoyed the slow cruise down. Coming into Iluka our tender which had been trailing behind broke loose and was brought into the harbour for us by a very kind fisherman.

We anchored in the harbour amongst other cruisers for 3 days waiting for the weather to improve. We took the tender across to Yamba for provisions once but otherwise spent a relaxing time at anchor.

Up the Clarence

2009-05-09T19:08:00.000-07:00

We left Yamba and headed up river, anchoring at Maclean. The trip up was uneventful and the girls enjoyed the scenery. The river was murky all the way from the constant rain.

Standing in the rain to watch the fields go by

We swapped sides of the river at Harwood bridge with Pelargic, a yacht from the northern hemisphere.

Pelargic under Harwood bridge

We got out our spare anchor (bruce) and chain which lived under our anchor locker and found water had not been draining properly from the bottom of the locker. So we made use of the council jetty and cleaned off the chain and repacked it. The bruce now lives on deck. It feels good knowing we have a decent spare anchoring system.

We also had a slight electrical problem at Maclean, with the fuses for the charger melting. After mucking around ourselves we eventually enlisted the help of the local auto-electrician who charges us a whole $12 to fix the problem-gotta love country areas! We had been planning to slip Manatee and do her anti-fouling, but as the Harwood slip was booked out for weeks we decided to slip her up north...Maryborough maybe.

It rained and rained and rained. Marg caught a few catfish. We decided we were sick of the cold (we almost got out our winter woolies) so Marg took the car back down south to Peter and Michael at Murwillumbah while AK prepared Manatee to head back down the river.

Tales from Yamba (2)

2009-04-13T18:41:00.000-07:00

We've made the most of our Yamba stay, sightseeing and going to the beach.

Another day in paradise-Pippi Beach

Yamba across the river from Iluka

Iluka boat harbour-can you spot the sunken yacht?

No luck with work though, locals get the jobs which is fair enough. The girls have been having a great time, with lots of trips to the beach and the breakwater.

The weather has been really bad, can't remember so much rain for a long time. At times the bar is spectacular. A fishing boat got rolled last week and a catamaran got hit on it's stern by a freak wave which flooded into its saloon. The owner spent a week at the marina drying out. The fishing boat was wrecked.

We both celebrated birthdays at Yamba as did Ruby. Pearl is sure it's her birthday as well. We spent the day at Spooky Beach at Angourie, for a picnic, one of the few fine days we have had.

Spooky spooky Beach

Our day tent, gee it gets crowded

We also managed a few dinners at the Pacific Hotel at Yamba, which has amazing views as it's perched on a cliff. Great food too! The scene at dusk is great, as the fishing fleet leave the river, lights on. Highly recommended.

Yamba lighthouse from the Pacific

The beach below the Pacific

Skooter from Skooter Sails at Yamba is making us a boom tent which will double as a water catcher. We don't want to be reliant on marinas for our water any longer. Our stay at Yamba Marina has been a little strange. It's got great infrastructure, is in a beautiful spot and the folk with boats berthed are interesting and friendly. Pity about staff/management. Seems people are a bit of an inconvenience really (except front office staff who really know customer service). Never experienced such rudeness in our lives, an experience felt by all we talked with. After a wild storm we had, cruisers were adjusting ropes of the permanently berthed (vacant) boats so they weren't damaged as it didn't seem to be in the job description of staff. Strange! Recommended? Hell no!

The guy who was moored near us on Sydney Harbour and warned us about the sand banks, appeared one morning knocking on our hull. Mike on his 53' steelie (Bacchanalia) has been at Yamba preparing for his big trip. What a small sea!

Maclean which is about 1/2 inland from Yamba is Australia's "scottish town". The telegraph poles have tartan strips and on the Easter weekend it had it's "highland gathering". The sound of bagpipes could be heard for miles and kilts were the fashion of the day.

The Clarence at Maclean

There has been plenty of wild storms. The Clarence is a murky muddy slush, so Marg has given up on fishing, much to Idgi's disappointment. Canned fish is just not the same.

We've seen lots of films up here, even going to a short film festival which we loved. Yamba has 2 cinemas, one of which is in a converted Bunnings. The owner/staff are film buffs and it's a pleasure going to their cinema. Great fun when it rains on the tin roof. Well worth the experience if you're up this way.

sea critters we have seen

2009-04-01T21:55:00.000-07:00

Marg and AK treated themselves to 'Grants guide to fishes' for their birthdays. It is a fabulous book that was originally written by Ern Grant when he worked for Qld Fisheries. Ern, along with his wife and son spent their time "getting their feet wet" and photographing every form of sea life they came upon. Many editions later, this book is a great resource.

So.... here are some of the amazingly beautiful critters we have seen....

What AK thought were sea snakes, then sea horses, then longtoms were actually dragonfish. Also known as sea moths.

dragonfish

'This amazing little fish grows only to 3". The sandy body is covered with a fine network of dark brown lines. The large wing-like pectoral fins are white margined. It is attracted to ships' lights at night, swimming quite rapidly in the pool of illumination at the surface- and showing how it takes the name of sea moth from its broad expanded pectoral fins."

The flying fish that flew into our wheelhouse had "pectoral fins that have become lengthened to form transparent wings that can become extended...the ventral fins,too,are expanded and lengthened to form a second and shorter pair of wings; and the lower lobe of the tail is broadened into a great paddle. When startled, it makes a low leap that carries it clear of the surface. It extends its wings and makes a rapid side-to-side sculling motion which propels it into a glide."

flying fish

The sound it made was quite extraordinary, Grant likens it to "an outboard motor".

The mahi mahi is also known as a dolphin fish or a dorado. The pic doesn't really do it justice, it was an amazing greenish-blue with gold speckles. AK has read some 'lost at sea' type books, most notably 'survive the savage sea', the story of a family of 5, along with 1 crew member who spent weeks adrift in a life raft and then their dinghy after their yacht was hit by a whale and sunk near Galapados Islands. Also 'adrift', one guy at sea for 76 days in his rapidly disintegrating life raft. Both writers refer to dorados which were the staple diet in both stories. Grant says " mahi mahi will congregate beneath seemingly insignificant pieces of flotsam: small rafts of seaweed, short lengths of rope, even a ladder". Ahh, that explains it, they hang under life rafts too! Steve Callahan, the writer of 'adrift', called the dorados "his doggies" as they hung with him for the entire time and gave him succour, both physically and emotionally.

mahi mahi

Manatee's tales from Yamba (1)

2009-03-28T20:17:00.000-07:00

Idgi was the first off Manatee the next day (after lots of sleeping from us all). She quickly stuck her head down neighbouring boats' hatches to see if anyone was at home.

Idgi looking relaxed at the marina

We all introduced ourselves to the people and dog on the boat opposite. Skeeter their adolescent male dog took a liking to Ruby but unfortunately Ruby (and Idgi) didn't respond to his enthusiastic loving.

The marina has lots of people living on their boats who actually cruise. There are also a couple of houseboats who cruise the mighty Clarence River. There are 2 couples who have stopped here on different boats for births. Ginger-Lily was conceived in Guam by her Australian parents who have done lots of sailing around SE Asia. Erik was born in Grafton and his Norwegian family aim to be in Thailand for Xmas. Lots of other people are waiting here for the right weather to continue North.

We have fallen in love with Yamba..it really is paradise. The town is full of very friendly people and the environment is beautiful. Clean beaches and a beautiful river. Prawns fresh and cheap...perfect!

A friendly local joins us for lunch

Pearl & Marg on Pippi Beach

After 3 days we got ready to leave. Cyclone Hamish was off the Qld coast but far enough North (we thought) to not bother us. Raelene an experienced yachtie had a chat to AK and said "Hmm, going tomorrow, you do know there is a cyclone off the Qld coast?" AK assured her that we had seen the weather and the cyclone was moving further offshore. "Hmm" said Raelene "have you sailed up North when there is a cyclone further up?" "Well no". " I have" said Raelene "and I bent my boat! The seas travel south and its bloody miserable. Brisbane is the pits anyway, why the hell are you going there?"

So we decided to stay a little longer. Then in those seas we were keen to get out in, a tanker lost its containers and managed to run over one, spilling muck into Moreton Bay and the Brisbane River. Glad we waited it out.

Dave (the sailor we met on Laurieton LUSC jetty) who we were catching up with in Brisbane, rang. Don't come to Brisbane he advised. It's the pits! No berths for yachts, the pile berths in the Brisbane River where we were planning on staying are full. Waterways is planning to move on those yachts that have become permanently planted on the berths to give visitors somewhere to stay...sometime. He was anchored in the river and experiencing shocking thunderstorms, wash from the ferries and having an unpleasant time. He decided to go further north.

So we decided to stay in Yamba a little longer!

Coffs to Tweed (let's make that Yamba!)

2009-03-08T01:53:00.000-08:00

Marg's ribs felt a little better, most of the bruising had gone down, so it was time to continue North. Motoring, not sailing. Her ribs weren't that good! We left Coffs marina around 11oo on Monday with a nav plan of 27hrs till the Tweed River. The wind was still from the SE at 10kts and the swell was 1-1.5 from the south. Pretty good conditions. We expected to be abeam Yamba at roughly 2200hrs.

Jacki and Ruby were tethered upstairs in the wheelhouse, Pearl took up her position on the saloon couch and Idge settled in the v-berth. Lots of shoals around the Solitary Islands gave us a rough ride. More than pretty rough...AK was at the helm and had to hang on to avoid falling over. The fridge door sprung open and disgorged its contents. Pearl thought all her dreams had come true...but she couldn't get her balance to fossick. We contemplated heading back to Coffs but after giving ourselves and the sea time, things settled and we continued North.

After a few hours we realised that the water pump was continuously whirring...what the? The hot water tank was heating up and then emptying through the overflow pipe. First time its happened. 700 litres of water (our entire fresh water tank) was discharged into the bilge...yikes. After a brief discussion AK disappeared into the engine room to attempt to remember (always difficult in a stressful situation) how to stop the fresh water engine cooling system diverting to the hot water tank. The brain whirred in unison with the water pump...this valve and that. Done. Better pull the fuse on the pump before it burns itself out. Done. Bloody hell, what else can go wrong!

Night fell, we were joined by many dolphins at dusk, always a reassuring sight. Our nav plan had us travelling at 15nm offshore. Although we have radar, GPS and do our chart work, we remain cautious of the coast at night, as well as fishing nets which are impossible to see in the dark.

We decided as this leg was giving our stress levels a shake up, whoever wasn't on watch would nap in the wheelhouse rather than downstairs. What else could go wrong? Well we could get stuck in the East Coast Current, which we had read wasn't strong on this part of the coast. Guess it's all relative, but I'd call 3-4 kts pretty strong. At times we were doing less than 1kt...but at least we weren't going backwards! And we had company...a tanker was starboard for the entire trip!

Marg trawled this trip and caught a mahi mahi. A flying fish managed to "fly" through the open wheelhouse window...what amazing creatures. Their fins really do look like wings. We found another on the deck at first light.

Just before dawn we decided to call it a hard leg and enter the Clarence River to head for Yamba. Contacted Yamba/Iluka VMR to get a bar report, who were informative. "Gee the sea looks rough, but I guess you'd know that....the bar is calm!" Calm it was, but the river is confusing. Again VMR assisted by giving us directions to Yamba. We also had to stop and get a fisherman to point us in the right direction!

We decided to head for the marina, even though there are great spots for anchoring, as we didn't have any water and we were exhausted. We remembered a bloke who was moored near us in Drummoyne saying to be careful when we navigated the Clarence to Yamba as he had got wedged on a sandbank in the shallow water. Remembering this we both looked at the depth sounder to see that we had 0.1m under our keel. Marg swung the wheel and she managed to avoid the sand. Hallelujah.

The marina allocated us a berth that was reasonably easy to navigate in to. After tying up we fell gratefully into bed. What a trip! 25hrs to Yamba.

Manatee chills at Coffs

2009-03-08T01:20:00.000-08:00

The Coffs marina

We all spent a very pleasant week at Coffs taking our nightly constitutional to Muttonbird Island along the breakwater where the girls were very careful to not step foot above the high water mark as it was national park!

Idge being careful to not step foot on National Park!

AK was in her element as the marina was below the circuit for Coffs Airport. What bliss, sitting on the deck watching aircraft on finals (usually).

under the circuit...bliss! (spot the aircraft)

Marg had a fish off the jetty, caught nothing, but you should have been there to see the ones that got away!

A friendly dolphin at the jetty. Maybe that's why no fish were caught.

We ate our way through some fantastic restaurants, which were about 30 mins walk away from the marina so we didn't feel tooo guilty. If you're up around Coffs, "Watermark" is highly recommended, for fresh food cooked imaginatively. The waitress couldn't help herself in telling us that the restaurant was owned by two women (who were life partners).

The yacht club had a great view and we spent a few pleasant afternoons on the verandah watching the sea.

View from yacht club verandah

On one of our walks we saw a catamaran being pushed from the beach by a group standing in knee deep water. We later found out from the skipper that it is 53' and he dragged while trying to anchor. For quite a while it looked like they were going to be beached ( a crane company turned up, how's that for a small town grape vine!), but the cat was finally turned so that it's outboards could be started. This is the spot that VMR recommends for anchoring, and until recently had Waterways courtesy moorings. Waterways has removed ALL it's courtesy moorings up this way.

The beach minus catamaran.

It was a very pleasant week, the water was warm and the air was clean, and Marg's ribs felt a little better.

Manatee coasts to Coffs

2009-02-28T01:52:00.000-08:00

The weather was kind, seas to 1M, swell 1.5 from SW, wind 10-15 from SW. Dolphins escorted us to the bar.

Manatee sprinted along making fast progress under motor. After settling in and having a coffee or two we decided to hoist sails. OOps are we out of practice or what...we spent a few hours playing and going around in circles before deciding to take them down as the winds were increasing. That's when Marg got hit by the main boom after an accidental gybe. Stoic woman that she is we continued on after ascertaining that there was no internal damage (we hoped). Trial Bay was about the only possible place to get in to the coast, after running through possible scenarios, Marg went downstairs to nap.

Marg emerged near Trail Bay and announced herself fit to continue. Waypoints set on the GPS, course mapped and VMR Trial Bay given our tracking details, we continued merrily to Coffs. Bugger, darkness fell a few NM short of the harbour...if only we hadn't fiddled with the sails!!

OK do we continue on to Brisbane or stand outside the harbour?

Drifting outside the harbour won so we went in circles or just drifted about 15nm offshore. AK kept getting the heebie jeebies as it was her first overnighter and she was stressing about Marg's injury. Marg was stoic.

Dolphins kept visiting, which was very calming, in fact we've never seen so many! One huge school of smallish blackish dolphins put on a show just off our beam, leaping and cavorting through the water. Various groups of large grey dolphins announced their presence by a loud snort before they dived under Manatee and played in her bow wave. We got out our spotlight as the night became very dark (no moon) and we looked out into the vastness of the ocean. We came across a patch of what looked like sea snakes on our first circle, sea dragons on our second circle. We are still unsure of what they were, possibly a long thin fish with a snout...longtoms??

We spent most of the night avoiding thunderstorms, with severe weather lashing the land between Armidale and Coffs. Spectacular but frightening.

Dawn broke, we contacted Coffs VMR who allocated us a berth at the marina...we were in no condition to anchor. Berth number allocated with a port tie up...OK run through how we are going to do this...get the ropes ready. Contacted by VMR, sorry we have to give you a different berth with a starboard tie up...OK change the ropes and fenders to the other side. Enter the marina...oh shit our allocated berth has a very large yacht already in it...quickly find an empty berth before we get into the very narrow confines of the marina. Yep you guessed right....quick, change for a port tie up. With very little sleep AK jogged "nicely" around Manatee without much swearing.

We crashed for a few hours until the marina office opened...when we were allocated a berth with a starboard tie up! Rob the marina manager was great...assisting us to move and giving directions to a medical centre. Marg ended up at the local hospital where she was diagnosed with cracked ribs.

Manatee hails from the land of the gay

2009-02-28T01:30:00.002-08:00

First thing on Thursday morning, AK was heading across LUSC carpark when a young male jumped out of a car and called out (officious deep tone) "I want to have a word with you". AK spun around as he came running over "I'm from Newcastle Customs" said he "We saw your flag and need to investigate". He waved his ID under her nose. "Our flag?" said AK stunned. We were joined by another male from the car. "Yes what country are you from?" asked officious one. AK said incredulously "It's a rainbow flag, what country flies a rainbow flag?" Second male(presumably from customs also, but no ID produced) smirked saying "It looks like red, white and blue from a distance". "Oh but from here" said AK politely (ever mindful of the alleged recent trashing of possessions during a search of a yacht by Bundaberg Customs) "it clearly is a rainbow flag!" Ignoring the fact that there was no reason to "investigate" further, officious one decided a few questions were in order! "Where were we going, where was our last port" etc etc. AK answered "nicely" while chiding herself for not being up to date with customs legislation.

Anyway we finished packing Manatee, visited Gwen and Joan and got an early night for our 6am departure.

Gwen and Joan came to wave of us LUSC wharf and then raced to the bar for a final farewell. We departed Camden Haven bar around 0645, rainbow flag waving a fond farewell to the town of Laurieton.

Manatee sings "we're moving on up" North

2009-02-16T20:01:00.000-08:00

Since our last post, we've had a busy time preparing to move on up North.

Chris (Wright Engineering) the find of the year completed some work on our dinghy davitts-raising and strengthening.

Chris attaching our amended davitts

Phil and Victoria visited and Phil helped raise our mizzen boom (so many rivet choices-monel being our pick) so that we no longer have a possible deck sweep problem.

Phil & Victoria under our newly raised boom

We met a couple of great gals-hi Rosie and Jan- who were holidaying in the area with their little powerboat and dream of a yacht....well Rosie anyway, come on Jan you can do it!

Over the January long weekend the river was very busy with boats of all types and another Spray pulled in for a few days. Liz and Keith on Najac were inspirational, they have taken Najac to Antartica and have been around Cape Horn 5 times...wow!

the busy Camden Haven on Australia day

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence gave us this blessing "Bless AK, Margot, their critters and Manatee. May they all follow their bliss and revel in the freedom of the open seas.” during the blessing of the fleet of the Australian Sailing & Cruising Club over the long weekend. We were there in spirit and Manatee took to the water as a paper mache model.

We've slowly been pulling up our Laurieton roots....

the last dog get together on WashHouse Beach

the early morning get together

the last family barbie at the park and saying goodbye to some of the amazing people who have

befriended us (minus Charles, Linda, Gill & Astrid)

get together of friends

We have been waiting on the LUSC wharf, ready to go as a severe low with accompaning gale warnings hovered over the coast. We have good company on the wharf, with David on his little steelie heading back to Palm Island via Brisbane. We have daily discussions on the weather and Idgi joins him some evenings.

Any day now we will be heading on up!

Manatee celebrates the holiday season

2009-01-22T01:47:00.001-08:00

We started our holiday celebrations by attending a local street party. Charles and Linda live down the river from our berth and invited us to join in with the party. We met a number of very interesting locals. Linda is an admirer of dogs, so Jacki and Ruby also enjoyed the celebrations (and the sausages!). Charles is a co-owner of witch doctor and completed numerous Sydney-Hobart races on her. Their fishing run-about is called sea witch.

AK's father Don arrived from Bateau Bay for Xmas so we enjoyed many lunches with the family. Xmas day was celebrated at Carmel's at Telegraph Point and was extremely pleasant with the contribution of Mark's cookies.

Don, AK, Joan & Gwen ready for lunch

The population of Laurieton seems to have trebled over the last 5 or 6 weeks, with the arrival of children visiting their grandparents making a big impact on the demographic. We are so used to seeing the street full of people with walkers/gophers, it's weird to avoid stumbling over toddlers.

Holiday makers have brought with them a variety of vessels and we have seen everything from jet skis to a yacht with a removable mast. We have never seen one of these masts before but apparantly they are common on the Swan River in Perth.

"lets drop the mast before we attempt this bridge"

a family sized canoe

Marg spent the eve of the new year on Manatee watching the local fireworks and keeping the dogs calm while AK was at Point Plummer State Forest working and enjoying the local fireworks. AK has worked a bit over the holiday season, enjoying the money but not the 12 hr shifts!

Early January saw our friend Jan from Sydney in the area. The girls were very happy to see their Aunt Jan as were we.

Pearl and Aunty Jan at Wauchope

We spent the day at Wauchope with Jan (at her friend Jacki's property) and we enjoyed reminising and re-connecting with gardens and the earth.

Marg, Jacki and Ruby making friends with the locals

Jan visited Manatee on her return to Sydney and we went for a swim at WashHouse Beach and had lunch at SandBar after a cuppa on the boat.

We also had a visit from the terrific twins from Port Stephens who we met at the marina at Nelsons Bay. Phil and Stu have sailed up to Qld many times. One of the great things about this life is re-connecting with interesting people that we meet along the way.

life and times of Laurieton

2009-01-22T01:04:00.000-08:00

No we haven't been consumed by an enormous vortex, we are still mooching along at our berth in Laurieton, and managing to get a few things done!

Like the head.........

AK finally gets the electric toilet plumbed.

.......the floor has been re-built, the rust removed, ply walls varnished and lami-panel replaced, the floor fibreglassed...aagh what a job!

We are also repainting the deck and embarking on a few other enhancements.

Marg had her right hand operated on and is recovering well, everyone else is well and happy, although Pearlie's connection to this life is diminishing.

We are enjoying our time in Laurieton, the sky is clear, the air is fresh and we are peacefully settling in to our new life.

full moon over our berth

we have begun feeding Manatee's resident bream

the smiley face created by venus, moon and ??

photos

2008-11-22T19:13:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the photos Victoria took while she was visiting.....

Marg on Manatee's jetty.

Idgi pleased with her visitors

AK & Marg pleased with their visitors

Vic was also able to download some pics off our ruined camera.....

Manatee & another Tas boat on the public moorings at Nelson Bay...yep that is the beach in the foreground

as the weeks roll by.......

2008-11-22T15:22:00.000-08:00

So what have we been doing since our last update you may well ask........

Marg, AK and Pearl went to Southport (by car) with stuff for the storage area that we had left with Aunt Joan. We also did a re-arrange of Manatee's storage areas with a "do we really need this" question on most things. Stuff, like books that AK isn't ready to part with, also went to the storage area. We took the opportunity to inspect our unit at the same time.

On our way back we stopped at Yamba overnight to check out the town, river and marina for our expected stay there. The town is still relatively laid back, the river is clean with good anchoring spots and the marina is huge. It was bought by Kay Cottee (solo around the world) and Peter Sutton (her husband) a few years ago and they have added a art gallery which was closed when we visited. There is a great little cafe attached and the place feels secure and clean. There is a little chandlery and a good hard stand where Derek had silver cloud out for a soda blast. The local papers talked of a proposed marina at Grafton which appeared to have the support of locals as a way to garnish the tourist dollar.

Jacki and Ruby stayed with Jean and June, sisters who live at RossGlen on an acreage. June is a dog whisperer so the girls came home very content (and better behaved!) Idgi stayed on Manatee to keep things in order. While we were away a southerly blast came through overturning dinghy's and creating havoc. Luckily we had pulled Ini on to the deck before leaving!

a good spot to anchor at Yamba

The following weekend Victoria and Phil visited from Sydney. They stayed at Diamond Head caravan park which is across the river and down a bit from Manatee. Everyone was excited to see them, so we took them to our favourite spots.......

Dunbogan beach...

art by the river.....

the river walk to North Haven (and Sandbanks Cafe!)

We also drove through to the National Park camping area at Diamond Head as Victoria has fond memories of the area and is aways on the lookout for the perfect place for camping. This spot is a little disappointing as it has got very popular so looks like a caravan park at times.

After waving farewell on Sunday we took a day off before embarking on our next project.....

the bathroom (or head).

There has been a small leak as the area didn't appear to be properly sealed. Manatee's previous owner had re-designed the area, making it smaller to give the saloon and galley more room. It is still large enough for us, but the leak gave AK nightmares.

So for the rest of the week out came the toilet, part floor, wall linings, basin etc. It appeared that the leak had caused some rusting of the floor supports...so out came the saloon...table, couch and supports. Luckily the rust didn't extend far.

On Thursday Marg had her appointment with the specialist for her carpel tunnel. He warranted it important enough to operate on the following Monday...aargh! Marg hates hospitals but the pain was unbearable.

We then had a call from Lesley who wanted to visit with a friend...aargh....had to be this weekend...aaaargh. Thinking there was something important happening AK succumbed and spent Friday and Saturday morning putting the saloon back together while Marg assisted best she could and hurried around looking for a cottage to recuperate in for a few days. We realised she wouldn't be able to get off Manatee at low tide. Without a bathroom she would need to get off lots!

Monday came, the operation went well and we moved into a little holiday cottage at

Dunbogan.

the view from the lounge room...a great place to recuperate

Marg tolerated AK's cooking for a few days and spent time sleeping and recovering. The girls went to June's as it was too hard for them to keep quiet at the cottage that allowed no pets! Idgi stayed on Manatee to keep things in order. AK kept working on the bathroom.....sanding and treating the rust, rebuilding the floor, building a pedestal for the new electric toilet, to be upgraded from a manual.

We drove to Coffs Harbour for the day as it is the closest chandlery to pick up the new toilet and the bits and pieces needed to attach it to the holding tank. We also bought a new small sink to replace the largish one we had. We decided to reposition the toilet next to the sink to give more room for the shower and to take advantage of Manatee's sloping sides.

Marg was impressed by the marina at Coffs, the area is quite beautiful and we can't wait to get close to the Solitary Islands.

Idgi wanted to stay at the cottage as the bathroom project was taking longer than expected. We had a spell of wet weather and everything took longer so we extended our time at the cottage.

We have just moved back on to Manatee and what a relief it is to be home. Life on land doesn't seem to suit us anymore. We watched far too much TV! The bathroom, although not yet finished, is going well. The new floor and pedestal has been fibre glassed (what a yucky job that is) part way up the walls to ensure no leaks. The shower plumbing has been reconnected with no leaks..yeah.

Marg is having her other hand operated on 8th Dec so she will be mobile for the large Xmas AK's family is planning.

So even though it has been ages since the last update, there has been lots happening!

southerly arrives at Laurieton

2008-10-14T22:40:00.000-07:00

A southerly was forecast for today (it's actually Wed!) so a few boats made plans to head north (SW 15-20kts with slight seas). So we were up at 0530 this morning to wave Derek and silver cloud off. He has been planning to head north for a few weeks, so we went to the North Haven side of the bar with the girls (Idgi stayed in bed).

silver cloud heading toward bar-note weather on mountain!

just off Pilot Beach

motoring through the very calm bar

Just the otherside of the bar, some dolphins appeared and swam under the boat. A few NM away some whales were breaching. Silver cloud then turned south, after a few "what the's"(it was early!) we realised he had turned into wind to get his main sail up without getting tangled in the lazyjack.

the main going up

first stop Yamba!

We started to make our way back until we saw two more boats coming up the river. We think they are from the coastal cruising club-salty lady & ??.

dolphins surfed the bow wave of the first boat-note the weather on mountain now

they too headed north-possibly Grafton for the sail-a-way

The dolphins then started surfing the breakers of North Haven beach, getting about 10m off the beach. The weather continued to surge east, bringing a blanket of rain, so we returned to Manatee dreaming of the day we too can head north.

socialising and messin' with boats

2008-10-13T03:34:00.000-07:00

We have met a few great cruisers since we have been at Laurieton and we routinely pick their brains for tips. Just like flying, boating is very weather dependant-we were hoping to do a lot of sailing while we were here but the combination of the river entrance, tides and weather keep us, and a lot of other boaties, in the river. It is possible to do some ocean sailing, but overnighters as it is difficult to get out and in on the same day. Owen, an +80 year old who has been sailing single handed (on a Roberts 36- sand piper) for the past few years got sick of waiting for the winds to provide a good northerly passage, so turned and went south after waiting 1 month! For all those people tired and feeling old, we hope Owen can be an inspiration!

Another couple built their boat, Goanna, an Adams, 25 years ago and have been living on and cruising her ever since. They give us plenty of tips, and are very happy to share their experiences.

Derek from Silver Cloud, another steelie, has taught us to coil and throw ropes correctly and has given us many tips, including the art of slipping your own boat. AK, Marg and Derek with other boaties at various times, helped Trudi slip a Hartley(yacht), her ferro-cement home. Another inspiration-Trudi is a +60 year old who bought a neglected boat cheaply and has done some amazing work to turn it into her waterfront home and riverboat.

AK has done sail-making 101 with Mark, altering our mizzen sail by removing a panel which will allow us to move our boom higher, which will give us room for a solar panel rack. We spent the day and night on land at Mark and Marti's with the dogs who had an amazing country adventure-Ruby chased and then got chased by a goat, Jacki found herself grazing next to Sophie's pet duck, Duckell who is as big as Jacki and Pearl saw a really big lizard. Mark, yet again explained to us how electicity works in relation to solar panels.

Mark and the kids

The house that Mark built- note the solar panels, the battery bank (old Telstra batteries) is under the house. Spot the peacock!

Idgi stayed at home guarding Manatee!

time swims by.......

2008-10-13T02:02:00.000-07:00

Looking at our 'ship's log' the other day it was surprising to see how long we have been in Laurieton!

So to all those people who ask "but what do you do on a boat all day?"

Well....besides AK searching for work and Marg visiting doctors (she has found out she has severe carpel tunnel-can't work/can't sail-until it's fixed)....it takes ages every morning to 'tidy' Manatee, living with all the girls is time consuming. It takes us about as much time to clean the boat as it did to clean our house! Floors to be swept, then washed, washing to be done, it goes on and on. Then walking with them. We are all enjoying our walks..AK, Marg, Jacki and Ruby walked a marathon 20kms the other day...we are all getting fitter. Pearl has a promenade at dusk as she is a bit beyond long walks.

Pearl on her promenade-the boats at anchor are members of the coastal cruising club on a sail-a-way

Then there are the hours of gazing....there is always an event happening when you live on a boat....a water bird catches a fish and another comes to steal it with the resultant squawking and squealing; dolphins glide through the water near the boat looking for a feed; hang gliders throw themselves off the mountain, a rainbow of colours floating down onto land; a school of bait fish swim just under the water's surface making the surface shimmer; we find the mouse that Idgi has caught on one of her on shore excursions and has left delicately balanced on a coil of rope on deck; a kookaburra perches itself on our main mast and cacks itself laughing; one of the numerous pelicans lands near Manatee looking for a treat, its pencil-like legs outstretched so its ungainly feet act as brakes, the wind whistles through the rigging, producing unusual music....see what I mean, the hours go by very quickly!

AK near the spot the hang gliders launch from. Spot the hang gliders!

The river is the Camden Haven, we are a few miles upstream.

flapping 'round the fish co-op

2008-09-30T02:22:00.000-07:00

Our first week at the co-op was very tense and challenging. We encountered an environment that is seldom mentioned in boating tomes. For whatever reason (fear, addiction, just run out of puff), there is a group of boaties (and I use that term very loosely!) that lead a life that revolves around alcohol-they sit on or around their boat and drink and drink and drink. Unfortunately a couple with this "lifestyle", who haven't left their co-op berth in 6 years decided that we were going to be their new best friends. We were woken each morning by the sound of this couple drinking, arguing with people and using language that made us cringe-at 7ish right next to our boat-yuk! Whenever we emerged we were given the third degree-what time did you go to bed, what are you doing, yahdah,yahdah,yahdah. We made it clear that their lifestyle was not ours-they continued to pursue. We ignored them hoping they would leave us alone-nah they peristed. He started telling people he now had 3 wives-oh god, wake in fright! We became very disheartened, our home was being invaded and it was not where we wanted to be. We searched the district looking for another berth-damn nothing available. Eventually AK got VERY firm-he had already started calling her bwana (boss woman) as she had directed him to leave us be-and they moved back to drinking near their boat-yah, we reclaimed our space.

Living on a boat in a marina environment is an interesting experience-you are constantly in the public eye and your space becomes very sacred. We are very careful who we invite on board and find that we have to be firm with people-some think it is OK to jump on deck for a chat.

We are in Laurieton as AK has family in the district-Aunt Joan the 84 year old matriarch from Lake Cathie, cousin Mark (and family)the boatie in Roland Plains, Aunt Gwen an 83 year old fisherwoman from Queens Lake and cousin Carmel (and family) an immigrant from Adelaide settling in Telegraph Point. We have been spending as much time as possible with them-bingo with Joan, lunch with Carmel, chats with Gwen and much laughter with Mark, Marti, Paddi and Sophie. Mark and Marti helped us reclaim our space at the co-op and Mark is altering our mizzen sail to allow us to move our boom upwards for more space.

We have been doing more work on Manatee- the carpets in the single and aft cabins have been removed and the floor stained-it's an unfortunate orange at the moment, we're still working on it. We have found a fantastic engineer who has made us a new bracket for an alternator and a new exhaust pipe for our generator- all great quality at an unbelievably cheap price.

We also hoped to pick up some work while we are in town-not much around though-the area is quite depressed, with a number of businesses laying staff off. We have managed to pick up some casual stocktaking, but not enough to make much difference to our bank balance!

Since we have been here we have been lucky enough to have jackik fly overhead our berth (in her piper warrior sewzy -great navigation) on her way back to Sydney from Kempsey. Our friend Les has also had sucessful treatment and is on her way to a new life- fantastic news and cousin Greg is also steadily improving after his medical challenges. Unfortunately we have had to miss a few important birthdays of friends- happy 50th to Tony and Jenny.

We are spending a lot of time at the beach, walking at least 5km a day and we have bought esky lids and have ventured into the surf. We also have a new camera!

An unusually overcast day at Dunbogan Beach

Pearl enjoying her "walk"

Ruby posing for the body shot

the only footprints are our own on Dunbogan

life at Laurieton

2008-09-16T15:28:00.000-07:00

The following Wednesday we moved down the river to our organised pile berth (4 poles that you "park" your boat between) at the Laurieton Fish Co-Op. For $85 weekly you are left alone by the vigilant waterways staff who rigorously police a no liveaboards policy...and rent includes water , power and a finger wharf to the shore.

The trip down to our berth was interesting as the river runs at about 4 knots. Even though we moved between changing tides (you get about 30 mins grace from the current), it was difficult. We have since watched one of the fishing boats (wooden) and the skipper drives the boat in at a very fast speed. As Manatee is a very heavy steelie she takes a while to stop. Marg managed to get Manatee's bow sprit poked into our berth and with the assistance of others throwing ropes AK managed to pull her in.

After a welcoming party from a few of the permanents we took the girls for a walk to explore their new home.

As we are being a little slow (yes we know Jackik) in updating our blog, here are a few other blogs you might find interesting..............

http://cruisingunderpower.fastmail.net/index.html

http://www.sailblogs.com/member/roaringgirl/?xjMsgID=51875

http://www.womenandcruising.com/index.htm

Crowdy Head to Laurieton

2008-09-11T01:57:00.000-07:00

On Friday 29/8 we prepared for a 1000hrs departure.....then we had visitors -a local (elderly male) who had heard us on the radio the night before (how many on board, expected departure time etc)and decided he would visit for a chat and 2 tourists who saw the dogs on board from the beach and also wanted to chat. AK has a new mantra....don't be impatient, this is the country, don't be impatient, this is the country.
We left the harbour about 1150, churned through the alarmingly largish breakers and set for Laurieton. Viewing beautiful and sometimes majestic coastline, it was an uneventful trip. Marg navigated the Camden Haven bar beautifully (the worst we have experienced so far), surfing Manatee through the washing machine of an ebb tide...oops another rule broken. We were met on the river side of the bar by two enormous dolphins who swam on our bow wave and guided us safely through the first few navigation markers. We tied up to the jetty at the RSL, a free berth with free amenities...yippee! Really a great spot, parkland and bike/walking pathways radiate along the river, very quiet with the township 5 mins up the road. We spent 5 days at the jetty (max allowed) while we organised another berth or mooring.

Port Stephens to Crowdy Head

2008-08-28T02:15:00.000-07:00

We spent 2 nights at Nelson Bay on a maritime mooring waiting for the sea to abate. "Imagine" from Hobart was on the other mooring. I have some great pics (but I have stuffed the camera...more later) of the two Tasmanian boats moored together. These 2 moorings aren't popular as they cause a boat to rock and roll and it is a little disconcerting to be soo close to the beach.

On Tuesday we explored the area in Ini the inflatable. Plenty of dolphins about but we realised if we said "look dolphin" they disappeared. We reckon they were "tourist dolphins" who appear for a quick happy snap. We landed Ini on a beautiful secluded beach at Shoal Bay, just under coastal patrol's hut. When we set off again AK got drenched by a wave...as did the camera. We are still trying to get it working after drying it out.

On Wednesday we left Port Stephens heading North for Forster at daybreak. "Imagine" headed South at the same time. Our estimated time at Forster-Tuncurry was 1330. The seas were kind and winds about 10-15knots from the North...yep motoring again!

Once we passed Seal Rock the seas were amazing, a colour that is hard to describe....almost like liquid glass. There was a distinct change in the air, it was warmer and the winds abated. There were whales and plenty of dolphins surfing our bow wave. Manatee, as the current was kind, made very good time so we decided to continue on to Crowdy Head.

The kind currents were somewhat misleading however and sucked us right in! Our calculations unfortunately we based on a good first leg. As the sun set we were still not at Crowdy Head....oops. Looks like AK and Marg have blown their agreement to NOT enter a strange port at night. But we forgive ourselves because with 2 Aries on board rules are made to be stretched.

Crowdy Head is a very small boat harbour on the southern end of the beautiful surfing beach. Really shouldn't be entered with a northern swell. Yep we had a northern swell. On hindsight we would stay at sea, although alls well that ends well (providing the lesson is learnt). We managed to find the very narrow opening and entered the harbour to find the expected empty jetty had a large catamaran berthed alongside! We had booked the jetty with the fish co-op as required and were told the jetty was "all yours". Later we find out - boaties don't book, arrive after the co-op has closed and leave before it has opened....all to avoid the fee!

A stressful 30 minutes followed, we managed to berth without damage to us or the catamaran and spent a very "surgy" night at the jetty. Later we also find out that you can request a berth at the fishing boat jetty which doesn't suffer from surges...oh well!

Many lessons learnt this leg.

Manatee fangs it to Fame Bay

2008-08-19T03:23:00.000-07:00

At the recommendation of Peter and Malcolm we decided to opt for the seclusion of Fame Bay (Port Stephens) to wait for reasonable weather before heading further north. One of the many great things about boating is that you get to experience places inaccessible to most

people. Fame Bay was one such place.....

We had the bay to ourselves for most of the time

Boaties bath...camp site out of the picture

Ruby & Idge share a moment

AK must practice her wildlife shots...spot the dolphins..not

eagles soared overhead

we watched the moon rise

and the sun set (Idge on the main boom)

we explored

and walked (view of Ini from a midden)

and did what we all do best

We were out of (reception) range so we are behind on our calls, emails and blog. We spent 6 nights at Fame Bay and had our first saltwater dunking....brisk and refreshing! We met Mary and her "cabin boy Christian" who were from Sydney and members of the cruising yacht club. Mary gave Marg some great advice regarding seas. On Monday we returned to Nelson Bay to await decent weather to continue our journey north.

Marina Daze

2008-08-18T01:39:00.000-07:00

So....we ordered a patch kit and arranged overnight post. We berthed at D'Albora Marina as we had no way of getting ashore and waited...and waited....and waited. The kit arrived on Thursday. In the meantime Ruby posed for photos for the tourists on the bowsprit as we were berthed next to the whale and dolphin watching boats. The bowsprit was at head height so she will appear in many Korean happy snaps.

Manatee tucked next to the massive tourist boats

We got to know some of the staff, Peter and his dog Malcolm were regular visitors and helped with the repair job when the kit arrived. Most of the deckhands were women and one boat had an all female crew...really nice to see in a still male dominated profession. One of the deckies related stories of whales playing with the boats, apparently they are renowned for it. This area up to Forster is a marine sanctuary so plenty of marine creatures about. Dolphins come into the marina in summer and the boom nets on the back of the tourist boats (you can see one on the big boat nearest to Manatee's bow) are referred to as 'human tea-bag apparatus' due to the plentiful sharks!

Marg and AK took advantage of the marinas 'personal care facilities'-individual bathrooms with unlimited hot water (we really limit our water consumption on Manatee as one should anyway) and a TV room where we could watch some Olympic events.

The rest of the time we took advantage of the pleasant surroundings.

Lots of boats ( heading north from the Sydney Boat Show and heading south from the Hamilton Island Race) pulled into the area seeking refuge as the weather turned nasty so we had a pretty social week. We are both very relaxed, AK has stopped wearing a watch and when asked the time Marg often replies "a quarter past thingy".

Nelson Bay antics

2008-08-07T04:24:00.000-07:00

So....our first night at Nelson Bay....headed to the local wharf and met two live aboard boaties who had been tied to the wharf for ages-despite the 3 day limit. Guess it is winter. The first was very excited to meet us and called out "joe, quick 2 girls with a boat". Joe emerged from his yacht, drink in hand, and the (elderly) lads attempted to entice us to tie Manatee up to the wharf where we could "get to know each other". We bowed out graciously (for us) and took the girls for a lovely walk along the beach where we were moored (only about 50m off!) and enjoyed the sunset.

After having such a lovely evening we decided to continue the bliss and have dinner at "The Wharf" restaurant. We dressed up in our bestest clothes and headed to the marina in our dinghy (inflatable). Thinking it was safer to tie up to the rocks rather than getting locked out of a marina arm we headed off to a remarkably fine dinner. Highly recommend the seafood spaghetti, chowder and the view over the wharf.

We returned to the dinghy to find her wedged under a gangway- perhaps someone had tried to nick her. Unfortunately she suffered a nasty gash...not good for an inflatable. Marg bravely held up her bow so we wouldn't sink as we hurriedly made our way back to Manatee. We left her on the dinghy davitts overnight and sunk gratefully into bed.

Our morning inspection showed a very nasty gash that would need repairing. Now where is that repair kit? We spent hours turning Manatee inside out....no kit. Damn. Reassessing our situation...only 50m to shore, can the girls swim for their walk? Nup. Phoned every possible retailer in the Port Stephens area. Nup no repair kits. Finally sourced one at.....Lake Macquarie....AAGH.

Manatee surfs to Port Stephens

2008-08-05T16:55:00.001-07:00

After checking the weather (seas 1.5-2,wind 15-20, swell 1.5-2) we decided it was all systems go at 0530. The bridge opening was booked for 0700 so at dawn we departed "our" jetty.

Pearl on "our"jetty watching the clothes washing process

The bridge was cleared without any problems or "discussions"

Threading Manatee through the narrow Swansea Bridge

After a quick brekkie east of the bridge we logged us all on with Swansea Coast Guard who

requested that we report to Port Stephens Coast Guard half way along Stockton Bight...so far, so good. Seas were a little choppy at first but we always remain confident in Manatee's seagoing abilities.

Stockton Bight prior to the swell increasing

Toward Stockton Bight the seas became more than choppy, with the swell at times nearing 5metres. It looked like we were perched on top of a two storey building at times. Marg started singing Beach Boys tunes and Jacki started puking. Related....who knows?? We had decided to tether Jacki and Ruby in the wheel house to let them be near us and the breeze rather than downstairs with Pearl and Idge. Our only real concern was the dinghy swinging off the davitts, it showed how unprepared we were to not have Ini the inflatable lashed to the deck. She survived the journey but not her first night at Nelson Bay!

Along the way we heard the coast guard operators talking on a back station which amused us

operator in cultured voice: "did you get the details on Manatee?"

broad Aussie operator: "yeh how many dogs were there?"

Mr culture: "yes, well they are from Tasmania"

Mr Aussie: "yeh I'll get Immigration to clear them in Port, chuckle chuckle"

We are very proud that Manatee hails from Tasmania!

We arrived at Port Stephens heads at 1438 and did a quick survey before mooring on a freebie at Nelson Bay Beach.

Lake Macquarie refuses to let go!

2008-08-02T03:11:00.000-07:00

Unlike most weather predictions, the low showing on the synoptic chart arrived on Friday. Gale force winds, choppy seas...yuk! Even the eagle that hovered over the boat wasn't going far. It was fun watching it glide in the air currents. Two days at Styles Point, tied up to a jetty meant that Marg could get 3 ducks to come to the boat when she called out "quack quack", she does have a way with animals.

At least we got all of our washing done.

All of the girls enjoy being tied up to a jetty, it means they have some independance, being able to take themselves to the "park".

Saturday night, boat preparations complete, we hope to head to Port Stephens early Sunday, fingers crossed!

Manatee curses coast guard

2008-08-02T01:58:00.000-07:00

Weather was just right for our foray to Port Stephens...the boat was ready, engine smooth, decks clear, all preparation complete. We knew it was the only day available in the near future to head north safely. After a very early night on Wednesday, the alarm was set for 5am on Thursday. This meant we would depart with a tide that was coming into the lake, just what a boat requires....you don't want a outgoing tide mixing with waves coming over the bar (from the ocean). As required locally, Marg rang coast guard at 6am (they then contact Swansea Bridge to get it opened) to book a 7am opening. No answer. She kept ringing and finally reached an elderly gentleman who said "oh well, I told the bridge there were no bookings at 5.30am". When reminded that a 1hr only notice was required, he unsuccessfully attempted to contact Swansea Bridge to arrange a opening. No go. Bridge staff weren't answering. Bugger. The tide turned just after 7am, the next incoming tide was after 1300hrs, which meant a arrival at Port Stephens at night... AK and Marg have agreed not to arrive in an unfamiliar port at dark.....and the synoptic chart showed a low over the coast on Friday. Low = bad weather.

There has been considerable controversy regarding the duplication of "volunteer services".....coast guard, coastal patrol etc. AK and Marg have always said "if you're unhappy with the system don't use 'em" .These services take up the slack from the under-funded and under-resourced water police, both don't have Gov't funding and rely on volunteers. If you want to log your journey when on the water, you have these services as an option, unless you have a friend hold your "search and rescue time"- arrival time at next port. We have experienced both the fantastic and the dreadful volunteer. Unfortunately we copped the latter on Thursday morning. More unfortunate was the reality that only coast guard could except a booking for a bridge opening.

So we went sailing on the lake!

Manatee trots to Toronto (Tronto)

2008-08-01T01:42:00.000-07:00

Monday brought ferocious weather. AK & Margot felt a dinghy ride to shore would be hairy so decided to berth at the marina at Lake Macquarie Yacht Club. For the second time in our Lake Macquarie visit another yacht sped in front of us to take the last possible spot! Maybe Manatee doesn't like the marina life. We turned her toward Toronto hoping to find shelter from the wind and waves. Half way across the lake the water became calm so we stopped at the public jetty and filled our water tanks. We then moved to the pool which has cleats around its edges for boats to tie up to (Denise says as the result of a wooden boat show held at Toronto every year).

Manatee tied up at Tronto pool - the Norfolk Pine in the foreground was planted in memory of Marg's brother Warren who died in 1989.

Marg spent her early years at Tronto, learnt to swim in this pool and her father Harry taught local kids to swim in this pool. We spent a few days and nights here and had a great time. Idge went exploring at night (too old and slow to hunt these days but she does like to gaze at the night sky) and came back very frisky in the early hours. Ruby thought our many visitors were coming to see her and would run out and greet everyone who came onto the jetty.

It was a very busy few days.....every retired Tronto man came to visit us and chat, the TV show that features Matt Moran was filming in the park and in a restaurant opposite ( a camera operator stripped off and filmed waist deep in the lake-maybe to make MM look like he walks on water??) and most kids that walked past wanted to see the doggies on the boat. A pelican stopped off in the pool for a day and a duck duo waddled around the waterfront.

Once the weather looked like clearing we hightailed it back to Belmont to use the yacht club facilities to do an engine oil change and give the engine a look over. We hoped to leave the lake and head to Port Stephens on Thursday.

Manatee continues her circumnavigation of the lake

2008-07-27T23:15:00.000-07:00

We stayed two nights at Murray's Beach and managed to have a coffee at the nice cafe. Marg continued to fish and we had yummy baked snapper for dinner.

Marg on Murray's Beach jetty modeling her lovely new red crocs

The rain continued to fall so on Friday we decided to continue heading south exploring the lake.

Jack cruises the lake in her lovely purple coat.................and a pelican comes to say hi

Rathmines had a free maritime mooring (there are a number throughout the lake, rated to 20tonne and pink!) as well as a jetty which boats can tie up to-it has a 2hr limit but during winter most don't worry about this limit with many overnighting. We went for the mooring as we feel safer being that little bit more inaccessible. Saved us fiddling with the anchor which was a bonus.

Manatee on the mooring at Rathmines Look! It's Barry's catamaran at the jetty

Rathmines is a lovely part of the lake, the council has done a fantastic job keeping large parcels of the waterfront accesible to the public. Rathmines was a war time aviation facility and has been kept as open space with miles of walking tracks.

AK and the girls walk up the old runway

The mangroves were filled with ducks and pelicans and finches were frequent visitors. Our possie meant it felt we were the only people around this peaceful spot.

Preparing to bake a huge whiting for dinner we managed to strip our kero stove fitting, so ended up using our deck bar-b-que for the first time.

Saturday was a perfect sunny day so after a relaxing morning strolling through the bush we returned to Belmont to seek the assistance of Bruce in fixing the stove. Bruce is a fix-it type who can repair anything with a bit of wire, a rusty nail and a bobbypin! It gave him the opportunity to try out his brand new drill anyway.

On Sunday AK and Margot went to the movies with Denise to see Mamma Mia. Funny film, worth seeing on a rainy Sunday-the fabulous Meryl Streep singing ABBA songs. She sings in tune...Pierce Brosnan struggles! We finished up at Beryl's for afternoon tea before returning to Manatee(urgently as we realised we had left hatches open and it was raining....bugger!)

Manatee looks around Lake Macquarie

2008-07-23T20:18:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday we awoke to rough weather and were all keen to explore, so we ventured to the other side of the lake in the dinghy to give ourselves and the dogs a run. Green Point has a big grassy slope for the dogs to run up and a pebbly beach and bushy walk for humans to enjoy. AK got very wet on the trip over as she was sitting on the bow to weigh down the front so we didn't tip on the waves. After a thermos of coffee(for Marg & AK) a lots of walking & ball catching (for everyone except Idge), Marg magnanimously suggested that she would sit on the bow for the return trip. The waves broke over the dinghy on the way back and everyone got wet! We finished off the day by shopping, laundry and visiting cousin Greg who is now at home recuperating.

As cousin Denise and Bruce were coming for dinner on Manatee that night we decided to berth alongside the jetty and the yacht club to avoid another soaking and to keep our laundry dry. Idge took advantage of our berth to inspect the other boats

On Wednesday morning Barry from a catamaran we had been admiring came over and introduced himself to apologise for the noise he made tying alongside in the early hours. Jacki, of course, alerted everyone in Belmont that another boat was near us. We toured his beautiful boat which he had built himself over 5 years-demonstrating maths teacher attention to detail.

After our tour we slipped our berth and headed south. Lake Macquarie is reportedly the biggest salt water lake in Australia and has a varied depth range. It doesn't have a big tidal flow, supposedly .2m but our depth sounder showed us mooring in 3m of water which increased to 3.7m in the afternoon. We avoided all the shallow water and sand banks and moored off Murray Beach for lunch. After a walk through the beautiful bushland filled with spectacular blue gums we returned to Manatee for an afternoon of fishing. Vegetarians reading the blog, this would be a good time to shut your eyes. Fish were plentiful, we pulled in about 8, 6 of which we returned to the lake to grow bigger. Marg caught 2 good sized snapper. Dusk was spent listening to cockatoos and kookaburras screeching and laughing.

The weather turned so we decided to stay put....the fact that there is a nice cafe withing walking distance had nothing to do with it!

Thursday dawned to heavy rain. Staying put has given us the opportunity to open our mail which Victoria has sent up and read.

Life aboard at Lake Macquarie

2008-07-21T00:40:00.000-07:00

The lake is at times a giant millpond which the girls love after the hurley burley of the harbour. The dogs have been for dinghy rides across the lake and have settled. Jacki has decided she wants to sleep in the wheel house as she slept under our bedroom window at the house - she takes her job of top dog seriously. She has been unsettled at night, constantly coming in to check on us which meant none of us got uninterrupted sleep. The wheel house works well, as with both hatches open she looks down into our aft cabin from one hatch and into the galley and saloon from the other. Idge seems to enjoy the lake, she gets up early to sit in the sun and follows it around the boat all day.

Marg has been spending lots of time with her family...cousin Greg is in hospital after having major surgery so she has been able to visit him and Aunty Beryl has been enjoying lots of Marg's company. Beryl came to the yacht club for lunch and a look at Manatee from the dock. Cousin Denise and Bruce took us touring the district in Bruce's truck on Saturday, the girls had a ball bouncing around the back seat...they miss car rides!Bruce, Denise, AK & Pearl at Swansea Heads with Moon Islet in the background.

AK has been painting above Manatee's waterline, taking advantage of the calm waters. A steel boat is a bit like the opera house, you start at one end and as soon as you get to the other you start again. We've done rough patch jobs up until now so Manatee's sides have been different shades of blue due to fading. She is looking much better with even colouring. Of course with a project like this underway the calm lake has turned into a heaving mass of water with breakers worth surfing. Dinghy rides have become adventures and today was so rough we haven't got off Manatee. Winds have been 30 knots so we have all bunkered downstairs.

Manatee goes to Lake Macquarie

2008-07-20T23:57:00.000-07:00

After setting the alarm for an early start we left our mooring at 'The Basin' just before 7am. The weather forecast was for wind N/NW at 10-15knots with a 1-2m swell. We had estimated the trip to take 7 hours and were hoping to get extra speed by combining motoring with sailing.

Unusually the forecast was accurate with Manatee travelling directly into the wind which would have required constant tacking to make headway. Nah, motoring looks good!

At the entrance to Broken Bay (Pittwater) we saw a whale about 300m away on the starboard bow. AK was skippering so slowed down to let the whale pass in front of us....the whale slowed down. Manatee was turned to port as it looked like we were on a collision course and the whale disappeared only to surface about 50m from Manatee on the port side after having dived under us. Gave AK a good fright, Marg grabbed the camera to get a photo but the whale obviously didn't want her photo taken. We heard on the radio later that she hung around this spot for a few hours....waiting for another boat to play with????

spot the whale, not.

It was a fairly bumpy trip with Jacki and Ruby getting seasick. We had decided that the girls would travel downstairs for safety but they decided they needed to sit upstairs, to look at the horizon perhaps? After about 4 hours we decided that sitting upstairs was going to save a lot of dog puke. Container ships lined the horizon for the entire journey and we dodged fishing nets some of the way. These are visible because of the tiny floats that keep the nets close to the surface, the chance of fouling your prop seems pretty high if you miss one. We passed one yacht heading south.

We made pretty good time, arriving at Moon Islet off Swansea Heads at 1330. We were a little worried about crossing the bar (our first) and negotiating the narrow bridge opening and shallow channel but the local coastguard were a great help with fantastic advice. Cousin Mark, a seasoned sailor had told us he always gets stuck in the channel and Pete from the chandellery told us some boats have to heel to negotiate the shallow depths....causing a litle worry.

We picked up a courtesy mooring east of the bridge after safely crossing the bar and negotiating the channel entrance. Marg took the girls for a much needed dinghy ride and walk in the sand dunes while AK started cleaning up the boat. After booking a 1500 bridge opening we passed through the narrow looking opening safely thanks to Marg's good skippering and made our way into the lake. The channel is very narrow and shallow, it is a little disconcerting to see the bottom. This is off Pelican, with the runway piano keys very close.

As it was close to dusk we picked up a mooring outside Lake Macquarie Yacht Club, fed the girls and ventured ashore to have a champagne in the club and toast our first big journey.

Manatee peruses Pittwater

2008-07-20T23:44:00.000-07:00

We spent longer than planned at Pittwater due to poor weather and the flu! We found parts of it beautiful but there was certainly a rarefied atmosphere, especially at Newport (perhaps the locals thought we didn't fit the scene in our tracky daks!).

We ventured into the Hawkesbury River and Brisbane Waters for a day and left for Lake Macquarie on Sunday (the 13th) morning.

turning left outside the heads

2008-07-09T02:42:00.000-07:00

On Monday we slipped away from the harbour and turned left. Jacki, Ruby and Pearl donned their life jackets for the start of their big adventure.

Pearl, of course, was down below in comfort!

Marg and AK have agreed (after some anguish), that the woman wearing the "skipper's hat" is in

charge of Manatee. As we are both, some would say, "bossy", this seems a reasonable solution to skippering the boat!

We took turns being "skipper" on our first leg. After 3 hours we reached Pittwater, motoring between 5-6 knots. The current around Mona Vale appeared to be very strong and we had 10 knots of wind on the bow.

We moored the first night off Palm Beach and the dogs (and AK and Marg) enjoyed a walk along the beach.

On Tuesday we started to explore Pittwater and found a dog park near Church Point. On Tuesday night we moored at Newport.

Wednesday AK and Marg woke to flu like conditions so decided to stay put for R&R. Fishing, walking the dogs and sitting in the sun was the agenda.

leaving Sydney

2008-07-09T02:15:00.000-07:00

Since moving on board we have had a hectic time releasing the tentacles of Sydney life. We sold our home, took a car up North and re-directed our mail. We tried to spend as much time with our Sydney friends on board as possible. This is Lesley showing us her hunting skils in Middle Harbour. Les and her partner Rod gave us fishing tips.

Tony and Jacki spent a day on board helping us sort out rigging and Tony climbed the mast to release a halyard. Victoria and Phil have been assisting us along the way as has Jacki K. We have really enjoyed friends visiting and hope our friends will continue to visit us on Manatee whilst we cruise!

the fur family

2008-07-09T01:59:00.000-07:00

Moving on board meant our fur family moved with us. The dogs Jacki, Ruby and Pearl were already accustomed to Manatee as they had done lots of harbour cruising. Ruby loves the bowsprit and gets excited when dolphins swim in our bow wave. Pearl is an old girl and likes to sleep in any comfortable spot.

Idgie the cat (15 years young) caused a little concern prior to moving onto Manatee. Marg and AK were worried that she would not enjoy the change. Idge however, has loved life aboard, so much so, she has led us to believe that she might have been a ship's cat in another life.

The pictures below show Idge exploring a South Australian training ship "one and all" which was berthed at Noakes for refurbishment.

the personal journey

2008-06-24T02:11:00.000-07:00

Over the last 12 months we have sailed/motored Manatee at every opportunity. The day after Manatee arrived in Sydney we ventured out to explore the harbour. AK took the wheel after a few hours. Manatee's wheel house has been designed for comfortable travel - all running rigging/winches are accessible and the canvas sides and back can be raised in warmer weather.

Our friends Steph & Elle with Jackie (in life jacket) were the first on board. The day went well until AK managed to get the dinghy painter wrapped around the outboard propeller when dropping Steph and Elle back to shore from the mooring. Elle was brave enough to not emphasise that she couldn't swim repeatedly!

Late 2007 AK got sick and was unable to continue working full time and Margot was offered a redundancy (both were public servants) so our dream of cruising was brought forward. We sold our house and most of our possessions and in May 2008 moved onto Manatee with our fur family in preparation for turning left outside the heads. We've made a few alterations since living on board, namely removing the carpet in the saloon/galley and taking some previously indespensible items (clothing, books etc) off for storage up North.

Marg preparing dinner in the galley. The galley has a kero stove, fridge, freezer and twin sinks.

the adventure so far...............

2008-06-23T22:24:00.001-07:00

During Easter 2007, we saw Manatee at Beauty Point Tasmania. We knew she was to be our new home.

Manatee is a 40' Roberts Spray with a draft of 1.4. She is a steel ketch with a 80hp perkins engine. She was floated in 1989.

Doug the previous owner (we are the third) had lovingly re-furbished her for cruising.

This is Margot, receiving the keys from Doug in Beauty Point before sailing her to Sydney with crew.

It was Margot's first off-shore sailing adventure and she has a fabulous time....

Just after Bass Strait, calm seas but an ominous looking sky.

Manatee doesn't heel very much as she is very wide across the beam, making cruising comfortable.

In June 2007 Manatee arrived in Sydney to ferocious weather (and a tanker on Nobby's Beach Newcastle)

We have had a hectic 12 months learning Manatee's systems...........

Electrics. We now have an isolated engine start battery (100ah) as we sucessfully flattened our batteries by extensive use of the inverter and anchor winch. That gives us 4 batteries, the other 3 being combined house/anchor winch. We have also invested in a marine charger which automatically replenishes the batteries when we run the genset. We will look at adding a large solar panel(s) or wind generator at a later date.

Engine. We have had an ongoing engine heating problem. The entire engine cooling system was removed-heat exchanger, water pump, exhaust manifold, hoses, thermostat (ah it was the thermostat that had stuck). Thousands (and 2 mechanics) later the problem still existed....damn. Yet another mechanic (thanks Marino at Noakes, we can't recommend them enough) found the simple solution. The header tank (fresh water) had been altered by a previous owner to accomodate the battery bank. He had added another header tank which meant air was being trapped between tanks. When the system was pulled apart air had got trapped. Marino has fixed the problem by adding a valve to bleed the system. AK can now service and do basic repairs to the engine.

What's below? We've had Manatee on the slip/hardstand a few times. We've scraped her back and anti-fouled her and generally got an idea of what's below! Below the sole? We've cleaned the bilge, replaced hosing to hot water system. Our hot water tank heats when on shore power, with the engine or genset running. Very nice!

Sails/rigging. We've replaced some of the running rigging with spectra (especially the halyards as we're big gals. AK has managed to get halfway up the main mast.....)and tightened the standing rigging. We've had all the sails out, but Manatee needs wind of about 10 knots to really make it worth the effort. She really is a motor sailor.