Cyclone Season - Zenitude stays in Mackay

When we left the Gold Coast at the end of September our plans were to come back in December and spend cyclone season around there. Somewhere along the way plans changed and we decided to leave Zenitude well tied to the ground in Mackay as we did once before. The thinking was to be closer to Cairns for next season as we won't be able to start our sailing before June.

With that in mind we left Hamilton Island marina with no real hurry. The wind was blowing at about 20 knots and we moved only 10 miles south to Shaw Island where we spent the night in a beautiful and well  protected anchorage. The holding is excellent in about 5 to 8 meters, several boats where already there when we arrived.

Shaw Island

Next day we moved a little bit further south to our usual spot in Brampton, getting ready for the short sail to Mackay Marina the next day. With that our sailing for 2017 was over. 

We spent several weeks preparing Zenitude for cyclone season and soon the day came when she was taken out of the water and deposited in her new dry space. All stuff from the deck was then stored away, main sail wrapped around, bimini and jib removed and stored away, The straps to hold her to the ground were installed. Finally, with our bags packed for a season on land we left her there, hoping she doesn't have to face a cyclone.

We'll be back around June, there will be no blogs until then.

G.