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 down to Tasmania and cruise around the island for a month.
The Schady-Muller mob on Warriewood beach.
December, as for most of us, was a busy month. Michelle came back from Fiji and is staying with us until she has lined up her next project. We spent time with the girls on the beach as well as attend various events with our sailing friends.
Stumpy the lizard visits the Sail Cruising Division Xmas lunch.
It was good catching up with old friends from South Africa and local friends over lunches, as well as our neighbours at 153 Garden Street, in Warriewood.
Dec. 2024; Reini, Lynne, Annie and Dirk.
Dec.1983: Reini, Lynne, Annie and Dirk.
To work off all the festive food and drinks, I did a lot of cycling, Annie a lot of gym and together, we did walks and swimming along our local beaches.
Annie doing her laps in the Narrabeen rockpool.
Annie and Michelle enjoying the sail down the coast to Sydney harbour.
The girls asked us to sail down to the harbour for the New Year fireworks and we had the pleasure of meeting a lot of their friends. We ended up spending 10 days on Sydney Harbour (Port Jackson), before sailing back.
The extended family anchored in Rose Bay for the fireworks. Welcome Evan!
Another spectacular show, viewed from Esprit. Also, midnight ringing in Annie’s 70th birthday! (looking good and many more birthdays, my love!)
We celebrated our friend Gavin Birch’s 80th birthday for lunch and music on the Zephyr charter boat, cruising on the Pittwater.
The excellent duo performing on Gavin’s birthday cruise.
Dusk- Zephyr returning to Newport wharf.
Our friends Jim and Gail Petrie arrived at their apartment on New Year’s Day. Over dinners, we caught up with their Cape Town news. We visited Pretty Beach for two nights, did a coastal walk to Maitland Bay and attended a Joe Camilleri and the Black Sorrows concert in Gosford.
Gail, Jim and Annie on the Maitland Bay walk.
Joe Camilleri and the Black Sorrows at full tilt.
Australia Day on the 26th January fell on a Sunday, with a public holiday on the Monday. We started the festivities with champagne and canapes at the RMYC and ended with the SCD members at Bonny Doon beach.
Part of the Australia Day crowd.
Michelle, in the meantime, discovered that some of her frequent flyer points were about to expire. So off she went to Sri Lanka on a two week surfing holiday – evidently, the new Bali for surfers and yoga lovers. Latest news is, she was having a whale of a time.
View of the surf from Michelle’s accommodation.
Annie is getting excited about the prospect of becoming a grandmother on or about the 5th February. I have asked her to hold back until the baby has arrived. We will report back with the deets on gender, weight and name in our next post.
During our stay in Yamba it became clear that the eastern Australian region had moved into a La Nina cycle with rain and southerly winds. The usual El Nino cycle at this time of the year would be dryer with N-W to N-E winds.
The Yamba Farmers market.
All this for $22 at the market.
Over at our neighbours Bill and Sophie, for dinner on their Dufour 45.
The rain and wind direction had us waiting in Yamba for a week, before we set off on the 30th November for Coffs Harbour beating into a 12-14 knot southerly. We were desperate to get out of the flooding and muddy Clarence River, colouring our recently polished hull brown.
Wet, but still smiling.
After a wet 65 nm sail, at 9pm we picked up a courtesy mooring in Coffs Harbour where we stayed for four nights, enjoying the Muttonbird Island and Coffs Creek walks, as well as stocking up on provisions and visiting the coffee shops.
Start of the walk up to the top of the island.
Thousands of Shearwater birds build their burrows on the island and nest here. (click to enlarge)
Halfway up, the view back to Coffs Harbour.
Raised walkways to protect the burrows.
At the Coffs dog beach, the dogs have showers.
The lovely Coffs Creek mangrove boardwalk.
This SUP lady on the creek has a lazy and an energetic dog.
Concrete sculpture next to the fishing harbour.
On the 4th December the wind turned N-W and we set sail enjoying a fast 38 nm sail to Trial Bay, hoisting the asymmetric spinnaker at 8:30 and tearing it during a gust, an hour later – bugger!
Annie hoisting the spinnaker.
Michelle flying the spinnaker.
That was not the end of our dramas though. As we dropped our main and jib to enter the Macleay River in Trial Bay, we realised that the wind which had turned east, was creating breaking waves over the bar against the outflowing river. We had to enter the river though, as a huge black southwester with lightning was approaching us from ahead.
We donned our life jackets, upped the engine revs to 3,000 rpm and gunned it into the narrow channel, once hitting the sand bar and fighting to keep the stern square to the breaking waves. We twice had the boat surfing a breaking wave, managing not to turn her sideways and broach the boat. This was white knuckle stuff, with Michelle and I each on a steering wheel to maintain traction and Annie calling out the course and depth ahead. After what felt like an hour we motored into the river. Bliss!
No sooner had we anchored two miles upstream at 2pm, than the S-E storm hit us, with rain so heavy, you couldn’t see more than 50 m and the flashes of lightning around us – we had just turned all the electronics off. About this time I received an alert from the Bureau of Meteorology, warning us of extreme rainfall, hail and flooding in our area. Yes, thanks!
Unfortunately, there are no photos to support this thrilling account, as there were no free hands to record this. By 4:30pm there was just a light drizzle, allowing Michelle to dinghy ashore and hitchhike into South West Rocks to go and vote in the NSW State elections – thus avoiding a $55 fine for not voting. On reaching Sydney, we will inform the Electoral Commission of our return to the world of elections – ending a 6 year break for us in this regard.
During the next 24 hours the rain beat down relentlessly, with logs, branches and debris floating past us, with a river even muddier than the one we had left behind. Our regular Sunday weather update from MetBob (Bob McDavitt in NZ) stated that the Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed that it was the wettest November on record in Australia. The attached satellite photos from Windy shows that atmospheric rivers have recently been streaming clouds across the North Pacific, from the tropics to western US and Canada, bringing record-breaking rainfall.
Windy satellite photo 20 November 2021.
We consoled ourselves with walks in the rain to monitor the waves coming over the bar and walking the 8.5 km round trip to South West Rocks and back. The Riverside Tavern next to our anchorage served generous meals at good prices. The tavern also offered Michelle good internet and a quiet spot to conduct a meeting with her colleagues in India on Monday afternoon, before we set sail with a northerly on Tuesday the 7th December.
Walking out on the breakwater – they should have this sign out at sea!
Two days later – still breaking waves out there.
Walking through South West Rocks – wildlife on the pavement.
The waves at the bar was substantially less when we departed at 8am and we set sail in a 7 knot easterly. By 2pm the wind turned to a brisk northerly and we poled out the jib to average 7-8 knots SOG downwind.
Poled out jib going downwind.
The plan was to do an overnight sail to Port Stephens, 150 nm to the Southwest, but a big storm with worrying bolts of lightning was bearing down on us, about 15 miles from Forster/Tuncurry at 9pm. We altered course and after the 100 nm passage, we entered the river at the Tuncurry, north side of the river, as the Forster, south side is too shallow.
The narrow navigable channel at the Fish Co-op anchorage on the Tuncurry side was also too shallow, so we went out again and anchored in the middle of the fairway channel in 5 metres of water at 11:30pm. I hardly slept as the rain was bucketing down and the strong out flowing and then in flowing currents tested our anchor and chain. All was still good the next morning.
Next morning, looking across to Tuncurry.
During this passage, I became aware of a knocking sound coming from the rudder. The top and bottom Teflon rudder bearings/bushes have been replaced first in Langkawi, Thailand and later in Preveza, Greece. A scenario that worries me, is losing the rudder, so the following morning I checked the top bearing from inside the lazarette locker and Michelle went into the water with goggles to check the movement at the bottom bearing. The bearings needed replacing again.
Good to have a willing skipper during these conditions.
It was a cold, wet and windy 50 nm sail down to Port Stephens, where we anchored in Shoal Bay at 6:30pm. The duty officer at the Marine Rescue base welcomed us on VHF 16 and informed us that another storm would hit Port Stephens in about 30 minutes. It rained solidly the whole night. We were now really over this sh1t weather, but at 7am the rain stopped and Annie and Michelle could go for a walk, while I cleaned the stove and scrubbed the cockpit floor.
Sailing past Port Stephens lighthouse on Shark Island.
Sailing past Broughton Island just before Port Stephens.
The anchor was lifted at 10am, but there was very little wind, so we ended up motoring the 30 nm to Newcastle, where we tied up at the Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club marina at 4pm. Karen and Evan arrived after work at 6pm for an emotional welcome and sundowners. They treated us to a tagine dinner at their favourite Moroccan restaurant.
Approaching Nobbys lighthouse at Newcastle.
Newcastle skyline.
A tug following us in.
Karen & Michelle at dinner.
We will be in Newcastle for the next month to enjoy Christmas and the New Year with our daughters and their friends. Karen and Evan Quinn recently got engaged, so we look forward to getting to know him and to meet his family.
Evan Quinn and Karen Muller.
Karen also received the news that she passed a masters degree in surgical education from Melbourne University with first class honours and will be graduating in March 2022.
We should be back in Sydney during January, after almost six years away and will keep you posted on our plans for 2022. If Covid restrictions allow, we want to sail back into the Western Pacific to see the islands we have missed due to Covid border closures. We are thinking Sydney to Lord Howe Island, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji and back via New Zealand.
If this is not possible and the French borders are open, we will rent or buy a canal boat and explore the French canals. (Canal boats cost much less than a big 4×4 SUV for the wife’s shopping trips)
Watch this space, have a merry Christmas, a prosperous New Year and a Covid free 2022. It has to be better than 2021!
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.
Map: Digby Island to Bundaberg. (Click on Images to enlarge)
We pulled up the anchor in Basil’s Bay on Keswick Island and motor sailed the 46 nm to Digby Island, where we anchored in the South bay to shelter from the wind. On the way, Annie caught our favourite fish, a Spanish Mackerel 85 cm long, no scales, no bones and firm white flesh.
South Bay on Digby Island in a howling N-E wind.
The next day on the 26 nm sail to White’s Bay on Middle Percy Island, she landed another Spanish Mackerel – this one 105 cm long. (Queensland Government size limit: 75 cm minimum)
A good sized Spanish Mackerel.
No wind was predicted for the next day, but a sailable 16 knot SW, then SE wind with flat seas, got us 51 nm to Island Head Creek on the mainland. Here we made an embarrassing mistake: we didn’t factor in the 3.6 m tidal range (the biggest on the East coast). The result was us rolling out of bed at 1am, when the boat was lying on her side, on the sand at low tide. We never learn!
Keppel Bay Marina – our first marina in a long while.
We made an early start and left the anchorage at 6:30am, to catch the 2-3 knot rising tide flowing south from here. We did a good 59 nm distance to Keppel Bay Marina at Rosslyn Harbour, where we tied up at 5pm. We booked in for two nights as we had to get gas, diesel and water and most importantly, for me to drain the engine oil and sail drive oil the next day. I also replaced the two fuel filters and the oil filter. This was overdue – I did the last service in Panama in January.
The next day we used the marina courtesy car to go into Yeppoon to stock up at Woolies, the bottle shop and to re-direct parcels from Airlie Beach to Southport. We had two nights of severe thunderstorms and lightning strikes while tied up in the marina. Just as well we were fairly secure in the marina, our only relief was that our boat’s mast was not the tallest.
This brought back the lyrics of Gang Gajang’s iconic Australian song “Sounds of Then”: “Out on the patio we’d sit, And the humidity we’d breathe, We’d watch the lightning crack over cane fields, Laugh and think, this is Australia”
Great Keppel Island.
After filling up with water and diesel, we had a pleasant 10 nm sail to Great Keppel Island, where we anchored at Long Beach on the South side. At 2 am an easterly storm swept in from the sea, which with the forecast of hail had us worried. After a bumpy night at anchor due to the wave build up from out at sea, we motor sailed 24 nm to the northern approach to the Narrows, a passage between Curtis Island and the mainland. Curtis Island is used as a grazing area for cattle and halfway down the Narrows is the famous cattle crossing where at low tide, cattle can walk across the dry crossing.
Lighthouse n Curtis Island at the northern entrance to the Narrows.
You have to get your tides absolutely right to cross a distance of about 6 nm of very shallow water to then complete the next 12 nm to Gladstone. After a night anchored in the main channel opposite Badger Creek at the start of the shallow section, we lifted anchor and slowly motored and used the rising tide to take us to Boat Creek, clearing the bottom in some parts by 200 mm and often so close to the banks, you could touch the trees.
The cattle crossing’s island side
And mainland side.
You can touch the mangrove trees.
Following us was a cat called “Lalapanzi” which is Zulu for “Lie down” or “Place to rest” We started talking to Quentin and Barbara Granger on VHF to establish their South African connection and they led us through the congested Port of Gladstone to anchor off Facing Island for the night.
Leading marks close inshore.
I was gobsmacked by the size and activity of this harbour. Coal exports being the fourth largest the world. There is also two new gasworks exporting LNG, a massive power station for the aluminium smelter fed with bauxite, and various agricultural products like sugar, wheat etc.The next morning sailing down the coast, I counted 24 ships at anchor in the roadstead. We had a close encounter with one of the ships who ignored our under sail right of way.
One of the gas works.
One of a number of coal loaders.
One of the ships “Tiger Lily” leaving Gladstone, crossing our bow 140 m away, doing 16 knots.
We had a swift 27 nm sail to Pancake Creek where we picked up a Marine Parks mooring for a two night stay in order to do the walk to the lighthouse the next day. We had Quentin and Barbara for a Spanish Mackerel BBQ as well as Peter and Sharon who dropped in for a drink after delivering one of our cockpit cushions that had blown overboard during the strong winds. The 6 km walk to Bustard Head lighthouse, which had been beautifully restored by a volunteer group, was well graded on sand and easy.
Crossing the creek to get onto the sand track.
The easy gradient 3,2 km sand track.
Brown boy to baby Black boy: “That’s an impressive spear you have”
Arriving at the lighthouse.
The restored buildings.
The lighthouse cemetery.
The gravestones tell the history.
We sailed from Pancake Creek on Sunday 24th October in a fresh N-W wind, heading for the beautiful Lady Musgrave Island, 38 nm offshore. We were looking forward to revisit this lovely island with it’s fringing reef and lagoon. An hour later the wind turned west and we poled out the jib for a downwind run. This proved to be difficult as the contrary swells were throwing us about, so another 30 minutes later, we altered course for Bundaberg, 60 nm S-E.
Bundaberg marina entrance.
After a 12 hour sail and 68 nm distance we anchored outside Port Bundaberg Marina at the mouth of the Burnett River, at 6 pm. The following morning we discovered that our water pump which circulates water from the water tanks to all the taps and showers, had stopped working. We checked into a berth at the marina where there are water taps at each berth.
The filter, pump, pressure tank and stopcocks for the tanks are located in a small space behind the saloon seats which makes it very awkward to get to. I disconnected the pump, stripped it, checked the diaphragm, and cleaned the electrical spade connections. Meanwhile, Annie was at the local chandlery looking for a diaphragm kit, but could only find a new pump at $365. Long story short, after stripping the pump again, fishing dropped nuts and washers from the bilges and much cursing, I managed to get the pump working again.
Bundaberg town.
The Grand Hotel.
The School of Arts.
The next day looked infinitely brighter despite the overcast sky, so we took a bus into Bundaberg town, 20 km inland, to explore this picturesque town and visit Kalki Moon, the gin, vodka and rum distillery near the airport. We did the distillery tour and learned a lot about the processes as well as tasting their products. We departed with a bottle of their 57% Navy gin which was awarded gold at the International competitions in London and Australia.
Kalki Moon Gin distillery.
The tasting area.
Emma our tour guide, with some of their products.
I agree.
Bundaberg, named after the Bunda aboriginal tribe, was settled in 1866 by timber getter John Stuart and his brother. Recognising the rich volcanic soil as being ideal for sugar cane, they started an industry that would become Bundaberg’s major income earner. By 1880, the sugar refinery had a serious problem – what to do with a massive surplus of molasses, a byproduct of the sugar refining process.
Entry to the distillery visitors centre.
Why the Bundy Bear? The marketing manager who designed the first bottle and label was Sam McMahon. McMahon means Son of Bear.
The history.
In a case of trash to treasure, by 1888 they turned the by-product into rum and Australia’s most iconic drink was born. Today, Bundaberg Distilling Company processes 15,000 tonnes of molasses from the neighbouring Bundaberg Millaquin Sugar Mill to make about 10 million litres of rum per year. This we were to learn the next day when we caught the bus into town again, to do the rum distillery tour. We also learned that only 4% of this production is currently exported – the rest is consumed by Australians!
Different editions of 133 years of production.
Entering the distillery.
Australian’s love of rum comes a long way.
The rum tasting worked – Annie bought 6 bottles of rum varieties.
On the way back to the bus stop, we also popped into the Bundaberg Ginger Beer factory, a family concern that has grown exponentially since the 1960’s. The factory now produces a range of 14 soft drinks, popular with Aussies.
Bundaberg Ginger Beer Brewery.
The Barrel visitors centre.
Part of the brewery – the scale is mind boggling.
The bottling line.
We are now done with distillery tours and enjoyed Bundaberg very much. So tomorrow there is a good N-E wind forecast for the 50 odd nm sail down to Fraser Island and the Great Sandy Strait Passage. We will report again later on our trip from there down to Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. Cheers!
After our second sortie out to the islands, we had a productive week starting Monday the 4th October 2021. Matt brought our water maker pump unit back with new seals, new everything, connected it to the reverse osmosis units and ran the system. It was as good as new, producing sweet tasting fresh water. The parts for the stereo unit arrived and I installed it; Annie polished all the stainless steel on the boat (a huge job) and I unblocked a toilet pipe and zapped both toilets with strong acid to dissolve the calcium and lime buildup in the pipes.
Annie, Tanya, Dirk & Peter.
We rewarded ourselves with the two for one pizza specials at Sorrento’s with Peter, Tanya, John and Annie 2 on Wednesday late arvo. Annie did a final load of washing at the laundromat while I polished and Dubbined the steering wheels, before we did a last shop at Woolies and the BWS bottle shop.
Whitsunday map 3 – heading south now.
On Saturday 9 October, after almost six weeks in and out of Airlie Beach, waiting for the northerly winds to kick in, we sailed 13 nm through the Unsafe Passage to South Molle Island and anchored in Bauer Bay. We were met by the derelict resort and overgrown golf course, which fell prey to cyclone Debbie five years ago. In 2005, when we first chartered a yacht in the islands, we enjoyed the Thursday evening seafood buffet with our girls at this resort.
“Unsafe Passage” between North and South Molle Islands.
New wharf and floating pontoon.
Since then we have visited the island and resort four times, to do the scenic walk up to Spionkop. The name is English for Spioenkop (Spy hill) near Ladysmith in South Africa, where the invading British forces, including Australians, fought against the Boere (farmers) in the Anglo-Boer war of 1899 – 1902. Sir Redvers Buller’s 20,000 men and 36 field guns were defeated by Louis Botha’s 8,000 men and 4 field guns. (Wikipedia)
The remains of the resort buildings.
The overgrown golf course.
Start of the walk – I’m getting quite good at posing with Park signs.
The walk was just as beautiful on this our fifth walk, but the resort and golf course was unrecognisable. The contract for the construction of a new wharf and pontoon had been finalised before the cyclone, so it was built anyway and stands there in all its brand new splendour. Of the quaint cottages and lush gardens there is no sign and only the restaurant’s steel structure remain.
On the way up, we walk through thousands of colourful butterflies – I thought the camera may show them – no?
The view south, on the way up.
This very hard blue flint was traded by the Ngaro people as spear and arrow points, with the other islands.
These Black Boy grass trees only grow 2 cm/year and get up to 450 years old.
The bane of sailor’s lives, a pack of Jet Skis roaring into Bauer Bay.
The view towards Hamilton Island.
Bauer Bay – the white dot at the end of the wharf is Esprit. Jet Skis leaving!
Down again, a sad sight – resort bungalows used to be here.
The new wharf on our way back to our dinghy at the end of the wharf.
Spionkop in the background.
Esprit looking pretty in Bauer Bay.
After lunch, we sailed across the passage to Sawmill Bay for a quiet BBQ. The following morning we left early and were able to take advantage of the South flowing rising tide for a fast 15 nm sail past Dent Island to Coconut Bay on the western side of Lindeman Island. Lindeman is the first of the southern group of Whitsunday Islands that extend down to Keswick and St Bees Islands, north-east of Mackay on the mainland.
Coconut Bay – Lindeman Island.
Whitsunday Southern Group. Click on the maps for a better view.
There are numerous walks on Lindeman, so early the next morning we did the walk from the derelict Club Med along the airstrip up to Mt Oldfield. The Club Med looks worse for wear after being hit by cyclone Yasi ten years ago and then by cyclone Debbie five years ago. Stuart the caretaker, told us that the Chinese company that bought the resort, is planning to demolish it and rebuild.
The former Club Med looking worse for wear.
It’s a long walk along the airstrip before going up to Mount Oldfield.
Danger – UFO coming in to land.
Mt Oldfield – looking towards Pentecost Island.
Annie on top of Mt Oldfield.
After lunch, we motor sailed the 5 nm south to Shaw Island and anchored in the lee, in Billbob Bay, named after the two surveyors of Shaw Island.
Billbob Bay – Shaw Island.
Our neighbour in Billbob Bay – different strokes for different folks.
To the south of Shaw Island, is the Sir James Smith group of islands. Most ofthe islands have Smith in their names: Ladysmith, Silversmith, Tinsmith, Blacksmith, etc. Despite the northerly wind forecast for our passage through these islands, we had to motor 10 nm before anchoring in the south of Goldsmith Island. Here we had a nice walk on the sandy beach, a swim and lunch, before the northerly wind kicked in.
Goldsmith Island – Southern Bay.
A close up of the crystal clear water of Southern Bay.
The message from the kids were crystal clear – don’t wear Budgie Smugglers! Why?
We had a quick 12 nm passage to Brampton Island in the afternoon, where we anchored in Dinghy Bay. The next morning we attempted to get on the circular island trail, but it was so overgrown that by the time we got to Oak Bay it was like participating in “Survivor”. We gave up after an hour, “Bundu” bashed back to Dinghy Bay, covered in burrs, nettles and blackjacks. It took a while to get these weeds off our clothes and we got back to the boat to treat all the scratches and sandfly bites with Tiger Balm.
Dinghy Bay – Brampton Island.
An overgrown sign that says: Finding your way – which way now? How appropriate!
Oak Bay – overgrown with rocks.
Ego’s deflated, we set sail at 9:45 and had a good sail down to Keswick Island where we anchored in Basil’s Bay. The northerly wind was now pumping at 18 knots, so rather than go ashore for a walk on the lovely beach and watch the boat drag it’s anchor from ashore, we decided to stay put, do some reading and scratch our sandfly bites.
The passage between Keswick and St Bees Islands.
We were now at the most southerly Whitsunday Islands, so this will be the last post on this region. Tomorrow we have a long 45 nm downwind sail to Digby Island, where we hope to get some shelter in the lee of the island. We will report again from further south along the beautiful Queensland coast. Cheers for now.
