Leaving Brisbane on the 10th November at the 2pm high tide, in order to use the outgoing tide while motoring down the river, it still took us three hours to the harbour. There, we were met by a 30 knot Northerly wind, which under jib alone, had us flying downwind to Peel Island, 18 nm to the South in Moreton Bay.
Kayo, our Japanese friend takes a farewell photo.
Having got stuck on a sandbank between South Stradbroke Island and the mainland for an hour, on our northward journey six years ago, we carefully timed our passage down this waterway. We left Peel Island at 10am the next day, to reach Jacobs Well at 2pm and motor sail the rest of the 27 nm to Paradise Point on the Gold Coast.
Danie, Esme and Annie.
Arriving at Paradise Point, we got hit by massive squalls and a rain storm as we tried three times to anchor in the deluge, finally setting the anchor on the fourth try. Wet and miserable, we took a few calming whiskeys before an early night. It was still drizzling the next morning but cleared long enough to get old friends Danie and Esme Maritz on board for coffee and brownies to celebrate Danie’s 72nd birthday.
The Boat Works. The aerial photo is of the Tangalooma wrecks, where we anchored the week before.
It was a winding trip 6 nm up the Coomera River to anchor outside the Boat Works, where we had a jolly BBQ evening with fellow sailors who had their boats on the hard at this yard. It was a slow recovery the next day.
Excellent BBQ facility.
On Monday morning the 15th, Esprit was lifted out of the water, pressure cleaned and parked in a work bay. Xavier from ProYacht set to work and by 4pm had the hull sanded down. The next morning he masked the hull and spray painted it with two coats of Micron Extra 2.
Esprit being pressure cleaned.
In the meantime Kai had started cutting the dull gelcoat on the topsides and polishing it to a glossy shine. I replaced the anodes on the sail drive, while Xavier applied the Trilux 33 paint around the sail drive and Propspeed to the folding prop.
Kai doing the polishing.
Annie and I started early and finished late each day, scraping out the adhesive sealant around the entire hull/deck joint and cleaning the joint with acetone, in order for Isaac, to caulk the joint anew. While we had him, Annie got him to do the same with the kitchen and bathroom tops.
Xavier’s lady assistant applies anti fouling to the bottom of the keel.
After the flat chat programme and to our surprise, all the work was done in three days – having allowed a week on the hard for this. So, Esprit was lifted back into the water again on the Thursday. We filled the tank with diesel and motored down to Paradise Point for a farewell BBQ on board with the Maritz’s, to say thank you for the loan of a car for 4 days.
In she goes again – as clean as a whistle.
A night was spent anchored off the Spit at the Gold Coast Seaway for a 5 am start the next morning to sail the 70nm to Ballina in New South Wales. We had a good northerly wind and south flowing current with us and as we sailed into NSW at Tweed Heads, a strong gust ripped the seam of the lowest panel in the mainsail from luff to leach – bummer!
Anchored off the Spit at the Gold Coast Seaway.
We reefed the main to above the tear and carried on sailing, realising as we passed Australia’s most easterly point at Cape Byron, we were going too fast to enter the bar at Ballina on a rising tide. We dropped the main and with a reduced jib slowed down to 6 knots to reach the Ballina breakwater at low tide at 4pm.
Tied up at the Ballina public jetty.
Esprit was tied up to the Ballina public jetty at 4:30, where our daughter Michelle was waiting fo us for an emotional reunion after more than two years. We celebrated with a few G&T’s and had a Spanish Mackerel BBQ to welcome Michelle.
Michelle welcoming us.
Mother and daughter reunion.
Michelle’s photo of Darby and Joan.
On the Sunday an old school friend Johann Schroder and his partner Felice joined us for tea. Michelle joined us later after surfing, before driving back to Byron Bay to tie up arrangements for her shared office space and a friend to drive her van back to Sydney.
Dirk, Johann and Felice.
On the Monday Johann picked us up to visit their farm inland at Uki and have dinner with them. This area, from Ballina to Uki in the Tweed River Valley is exceptionally beautiful.
Farm dinner – Johann and Annie.
Some of the historical buildings in Ballina.
The following day we set off with Michelle to motor sail the 45 nm to Yamba on the Clarence River. We had a hairy entry across the bar, surfing in while fishing boats passed us, going out to sea. A lot of rain was predicted for the next week, so we enjoyed Yamba and did some walks around town and looked at properties.
Walking to the Yamba lighthouse.
One of Michelle’s surfing spots – Pipi’s Beach.
Here in Yamba there were reminders of two Australian sailing legends, Kay Cottee and Jesse Martin:
On 5 June 1988, Kay Cottee fulfilled a childhood dream. After covering more than 22,000 nautical miles in 189 days at sea she became the first woman in history to complete a solo, nonstop and unassisted voyage around the world. Kay is now the co-owner of the Yamba marina.
Kay Cottee.
On 31 October 1999, at the age of eighteen, Jesse Martin sailed into the record books in his yacht Lionheart, by becoming the youngest person ever to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world. His 34ft Sparkman and Stephens, Lionheart lies at anchor in Yamba.
Jesse Martin.
Lionheart in Yamba today.
They are however, not alone: In Western Australia, there is Jon Sanders, the first man to circumnavigate Antarctica solo, circling the continent twice in 1981/2.
In 1986 Sanders set out again from Fremantle, and this time completed three solo non-stop circumnavigations aboard his 47ft yacht Parry Endeavour – each time his course covered both hemispheres.
On the 31 January 2021 Sanders completed his eleventh solo world circumnavigation, which makes the 81 year old one of the oldest persons to sail single handed around the world.
Jon Sanders.
Jessica Watson from Mooloolaba in Queensland did a solo world circumnavigation at the age of 16. Departing Sydney on 18 October 2009, she arrived back in Sydney on 15 May 2010, after 210 days.
Jessica Watson.
Annie and I prefer the more relaxed and mundane cruising way around the world, which took almost six years and allowed us to see new parts of the world. Different strokes for different folks!
Our next stop will be Coffs Harbour – until then, cheers.
Route: Fraser Island to Brisbane. Click to enlarge.
On the 28 th October 2021, we filled the water tanks and motored out of Bundaberg Marina, with the promise of a good N-E wind to take us south to the Great Sandy Strait between Fraser Island and the mainland. Fraser Island is the world’s biggest sand island – from Sandy Cape in the North to Wide Bay Bar in the South it is 70nm (130 km) long. After 53 nm of very strong winds, we anchored on the southern leeward side of Big Woody Island in the Strait.
In the lee of Big Woody Island.
Sailing past North White Cliffs in the Great Sandy Strait.
As with the Narrows at Curtis Island, you have to get your tides spot-on to cross at high tide, at the shallows at Boonlye Point halfway down. We set off under sail at 11:00 and crossed the shallowest sandbanks at 13:30, only hitting the sandbanks twice, and using the engine to get us off again. For the rest of the 34 nm Strait, we sailed under jib sail to Pelican Bay inside Wide Bay Bar, where we spent an anxious night bouncing in the strong wind.
The car ferry taking vehicles from Pelican Bay to the island.
At 4:30 the next morning we motored out to cross the Bar at high tide – placid this time, compared to our nerve wracking crossing 6 years ago. Then we got lifted by a huge wave to surf across the bar at 14 knots in a 25 knot S-E – totally out of control and thankfully, not broaching the boat.
Sunrise over the placid White Bay Bar.
It took us 12 hours with a light N-E wind to sail the 66 nm to Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast. We were very happy to anchor in the “Duck Pond” inside Mooloolaba harbour, as a strong five day S-E wind was forecast from the following day – useless to us when sailing south.
Approaching Mooloolaba heads.
The anchorage was packed with other boats sailing south at this time of the year. The strong S-E came through during the night and we dragged our anchor three times during the night, finally getting a good bite clear of the other boats on the third try.
The high rise buildings of Maroochydore and Mooloolaba.
The Sunday was spent keeping an eye on our anchor during the 35 knot gusts, writing a post for our blog, editing photos and sending emails. We also phoned family and the kids as we now had good phone reception – the first time in a while.
This guy using the S-E wind on a foiling board with batman sail on the pond.
Elin Powers and Rick Nothard, who we met on Freedom in the Whitsundays, live on their farm near Kenilworth, about 40 minutes inland from Mooloolaba. They picked us up at 9am on the Tuesday to show us the region. We spent a pleasant day driving into the hills, having coffee and pies in Maleny, visiting Mapleton and viewing the waterfall leading to the Mary River.
Coffees in Maleny.
The waterfall.
View across the Mary River Valley from the waterfall.
There is a very good street artist in Kenilworth.
It can’t be easy to paint so well on corrugated iron sheeting!
We had lunch on their farm with a walk down to the river, before driving back to Mooloolaba where we had a Spanish Mackerel BBQ on Esprit. It was a pleasant day on land.
A view across the farm.
After exploring Mooloolaba a bit more, after four days, we sailed from here in a lighter S-E wind to Tangalooma, on Moreton Island. The next day we navigated the shipping channels and sandbanks in Moreton Bay to enter Brisbane harbour.
Mooloolaba beachfront.
Tangalooma anchorage.
Sailing into Brisbane harbour.
It is 11 nm from the entrance into the Brisbane River to the city and the closer you get, the busier the water traffic. Like Sydney, the city has an excellent ferry service and the City Cats travel at high speeds. There are also many pleasure craft and Jet Skis with tourists on them. We tied up to a new “River Hub” which is a floating jetty for 12 boats, next to the Botanical Gardens, very central and very scenic.
Sailing under the impressive Gateway bridge.
Approaching the old Story bridge.
Esprit tied up to the River Hub.
“Bris Vegas” as the New South Welshmen call this city, has an impressive skyline of modern tower blocks with some remaining old historical buildings tucked in between. The people enjoy their cycling and jogging along the scenic walkways on both sides of the river.
The botanical gardens next to our River Hub.
An old Moreton Bay fig tree.
Modern Skyscrapers.
A well preserved church.
Bris Vegas by night from Esprit.
We explored the city on foot and by bike, visiting the South Bank – easy since the terrain is relatively flat and also along the shore to New Farm.
The city from the South Bank.
Kids having fun on the South Bank.
Illustration of the new bridge under construction to link the South Bank to the city.
We visit GOMA.
Impressive entrance foyer.
Exhibit from the Australian Art section.
During the Covid lockdown in the Caribbean last year, we spent two months in Bequia where we became friends with sailors from around the world. Among them, Gary and Angela Smith from Cape Town who after we left for Panama, sailed to Cuba, Mexico and Guatemala. On the 6th November we got news that they were critically ill with Covid in a hospital in Guatemala – they chose not to be vaccinated. Two days later, Gary passed away, with Angela still critical, but recovering. Vale Gary.
Gary and Dirk.
Annie and Angela.
On a more positive note: There are two other boats tied up with us at this River Hub, both sailed by single handed female sailors – Go girls! Margaret from New Zealand on “Iron Maiden” and Kayo Ozaki on Nausikaa”, originally from Japan, but for the last 30 years from Sydney.
Iron Maiden – a Kiwi steel boat.
Kayo’s sailing career is an inspiration: She was given a two day sailing course voucher for her 40th birthday by a girlfriend. She was hooked, but found it difficult to find a berth on a boat as an oriental single mother. So she sold her house and bought this 34 ft boat, which she has sailed single handed from Sydney to Japan and back.
Kayo on her 34 footer.
At 57 years she is preparing to sail to Darwin, then to Cape Town and then do a circumnavigation – single handedly! An inspiration for women.
Kayo and Nausikaa.
Annie also managed to get good retail therapy at the clothing shops and dragged me to Uni Glo for new shirts and shorts. I was quite happy with Big W, so felt quite out of place. After five days at the 30 minutes time limit River Hub, we will catch the tide down the river to Brisbane harbour on Wednesday arvo the 10th November, to sail down to the Gold Coast. We will haul Esprit out at the Boat Works in Coomera for pressure cleaning, antifouling paint and topside polishing on the 15th and will report on progress down to New South Wales in our next post. Cheers for now.
