Manatee mooches round Moreton Bay

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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.