We emailed our Christmas greetings mid December and received many in reply - good news from all around the world! Another year over and an exciting 2025 ahead of us! This year we plan to visit the USA and Cuba in July and August. At the end of the year we plan to sail...

Before leaving Cairns, we filled up with diesel for the boat and petrol for the outboard. By running the engine at 1,800 rpm instead of 2,000 rpm since the previous top-up, the fuel use has reduced to 1.75l/h. We sailed out of Cairns in a brisk S-E wind to arrive at...

After a string of connecting flights from Cambodia, via Singapore to Brisbane, we landed in Proserpine. It was good to see the crystal clear blue sea, flying in over Shute harbour and the lush cane fields surrounding Proserpine – it was good to be back home again!...

From the air, flying into Phnom Penh in Cambodia, the Mekong river outline was barely visible as the river had broken its banks and flooded the countryside as far as the eye could see. We arrived 10 days after the deluge of 10 – 12th October, the worst floods in 25...

The instructions of Gijs, Annie’s second cousin, were good and after landing at Schiphol airport we caught the train to Bussum, 20 minutes East of Amsterdam, where Gijs & Florence Lamsvelt live. They visited us in Sydney two years ago, just before Gijs retired as...

With the Tour de France behind us, we explored Bordeaux the next day, before collecting a rental car for the following week. Bordeaux was deservedly voted the best city in Europe in 2015. We enjoyed walking through the city and visiting its landmarks. The Toyota Yaris...

Gretel dropped us off at our hotel in Bordeaux.  We then walked through the old city, along the river to orientate ourselves. On the way back, we stopped for a beer at a pub to discover that the owner was a rugby tragic. Couldn’t wait to tell us that Adam...

The TGV train from Paris to Angouleme near Cognac took two hours, reaching speeds of up to 320km/h. Daan Prins, an old friend from University days, met us at the station and drove us to his place in La Maurie on the Charente river, about 15 minutes from Cognac. Daan...

Our last evening in London with Michelle was at the Dalston Eastern Curve Garden, a community urban garden on an old railway site, to listen to some live music and eat pizzas. It was an opportunity to hear about Michelle’s work at her NGO, as a specialist in abused...

The Friday night get together with Annie’s old school friends left us feeling a bit ordinary on Saturday morning. The girls were somewhere in Hackney after their catch up with friends, so we decided to take the train out to Greenwich for a relaxing day out. We...

Since my last visit to London in 1975, the city has changed remarkably in demographics. English is occasionally heard on the streets and the multi-cultural mix is quite vibrant. img_3417 Hip hop artist at work. We were quite knackered on returning from our road trip,...

Driving North from Kent, we had to travel through the Dartford tunnel on the very busy M25 freeway to Cambridge. This was the only congested section of road we encountered - due to many trucks joining the road, enroute from the continent. We arrived at our B&B in...

  All 469 seats on the British Airways Airbus A380 were occupied on the flight from Singapore to Heathrow. Despite the full house, the service on this flight, even in cattle class, was excellent. The unflappable crew were friendly and retained their sense of...

And now, from sailing to travel. This blog is called the Schady-Muller sailing and travel blog. So, after three and a half months of sailing on Esprit, it was time to take a break and travel on land. We left Esprit tied on fore and aft pole moorings at Bowen marina in...

The 7th Shag Islet Cruising Yacht Club Rendezvous took place at Montes Reef resort and Cape Gloucester Resort from the 24th to the 28th August. “Four days and three nights of riotous fun and frivolity in aid of prostate cancer awareness and research”...

Karen arrived at Hamilton island airport on Monday the 15th August, after running the City to Surf on Sunday. She spent 5 days with us for R&R before her upcoming interviews for orthopaedic placement and her surgical primary exams. The weather didn't fully...

Ja well, no fine! The water temperature in the Whitsundays is between 24 - 25 deg C at this time of the year. Ideal for snorkeling, with a rashie to keep warm. We have had Frank, Penny, Gale and Vic with us for 12 days, to explore as much as we could. We started off...

Joe Schady and Mary Griffiths visited us at the end of July. We managed to show them some of the islands in the Whitsunday group during the five days they were onboard. IMG_2218 Snorkeling at Manta Ray bay Frank and Penny Tonetti arrived the day before Joe and Mary...

We sailed to Magnetic Island off Townsville two weeks ago, about a 130 nautical miles Northwest of Airlie Beach. For anyone looking for a quieter boating experience, the region North of the Whitsundays have much to commend it. As reported in an earlier post, Magnetic...

After our red faces at Joe's beach, we called in at Abell Point marina to fill up with diesel and collect our new storm sail that arrived by Fedex from Hong Kong. We also stocked up with vittles and wine while in town. Our route took us Northwest to the passage...

A quick recap: After leaving Mackay, we motored to Brampton island about 21 nm due North, due to no wind. A lazy afternoon doing some stand up paddle boarding and then during the night, the wind swung and we had rocky night, prompting us to leave at 7:30. There was...

Two lovely days at the Rosslyn Bay Marina recharged our batteries (boat and ours). This is the boat harbour for Yeppoon on the Queensland central coast. Friendly staff and cool music greeting you as you walk off the marina. Also, a courtesy car to use to do your...

Wow! It's been about a week since we last posted a report. Problem was, we have been more than 60 nm offshore and hence, no mobile, and therefore no internet or VHF reception (which is quite liberating!) OK kids, no reason to call in Marine Rescue (called Coast Guard...

After a bumpy night in Pancake Creek with a howling South-wester threatening to drag our anchor, we motored out into the bay at 7:15 and had the sails up at 7:30am. After a muesli breakfast on the go, "Slocum" Schady said "this light Southwesterly is ideal for the...

It's been awhile since our last post, but we have been too far offshore for phone and internet service. Leaving Urangan after the outboard was serviced, we motor-sailed to Port Bundaberg due to a lack of wind. After filling up with diesel, we left early the next...

After a good night's rest behind Ida island, we waited for the incoming tide at 12:30 and set sail up the Strait in this section where it is wide enough, to sail up to Garry's Anchorage. With just the jib up and a 3 knot incoming tide we sailed all the way up to...

Since our last post from Mooloolaba, we ended up waiting there for 4 days for a 30-35 knot S-E offshore to subside. We were getting bored, so we bought our first newspaper in a month and that was so depressing, we turned on the TV for the first time since we left...

We will stay in Mooloolaba for four nights. Since arriving on Saturday to a beautiful sunset, a 30-35 knot S - E wind has been raging offshore, so we have sat it out in the relatively safe Mooloolaba harbour. The howling wind at night has had us constantly checking...

Today marks four weeks underway and it has been a week since we last posted on this blog. The week has been rather busy, but now that we have arrived in Mooloolaba, we are catching up with everything - emails, laundry, shopping etc. Last Monday was spent sorting out...

Well, the storm lasted for well on 30 hours - torrential rain and wild winds. After midnight last night, the wind abated and we woke up to a sunny day this morning - the wind have shifted 180 degrees to the West. The water in the marina is a muddy brown from the run...

Our last post from Byron Bay showed a photo of huge Cumulus clouds rolling in from the East. This was a precursor to an East Coast low developing right here. When the wind turned East, we realised that it was time to get to Tweed Heads or the Gold Coast Seaway to get...

Time moves on! Since the Clarence river, we have had an excellent sail to Ballina where we have spent 3 nights. Karen visited us on Sunday evening on the boat on her way back from Brisbane where she attended a course. Mike Wiley also joined us for a drink after racing...

We are now in Ballina, but first a report on the time we enjoyed on the Clarence River. If you look at the Clarence river on Google Maps, you will see that it is quite a river navigable all the way up to Grafton. We entered the river at Iluka and Yamba and after...

We decided to stay in Coffs Harbour for two nights as I had to fit a replacement water level sensor to our number 1 water tank. The instrument showed half a tank (150l), but the tank was empty. Before departure in Sydney the agents replaced the number 2 tank sensor as...

The distance from Port Macquarie to Coffs Harbour is about 68 nautical miles, so in a fair wind we can easily manage 6.8 knots which equates to a sailing time of about 10 hours. We therefore departed Port Macquarie at 7 am on flat seas with a predicted 15 - 20 knot...

A friend mentioned the above when we set out. Well, leaving Port Stephens last Thursday and hitting 11 knots flying past Broughton Island in a fresh South westerly, brought this saying to mind. We hope to have more exciting sails like this 45nm leg to Tuncurry and...

We are currently in Nelson Bay, Port Stephens having motored here on Monday from Lake Macquarie. The predicted Westerly didn't materialise so we had to resort to the 54 hp. Yanmar to take us the 41 nm over 6 hours. We were in the company of another 44 footer, "Now and...