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.

Tales from Yamba (2)

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.