Mooloolabah and more

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

Manatee on Southport public jetty

her new look after her tart up at Monty's

view of the beautiful Glasshouse Mountains

Bye Bye Bribie

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?

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

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

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

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