Bustling to Bundaberg

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!