Wednesday 2 October 2019
Tuesday 16 July 2019
Going North - From Gold Cost to Townsville
Zenitude was back on the water and ready to start our migration North looking for warmer temperatures by the end of May.
We left Gold Coast City Marina and after a quiet night in Little Sand Hills arrived to Mooloolaba the following day. I had plans to fly to Melbourne and then Sydney while our good friend Eduardo joined Oscar to keep sailing north. The idea was for them to get to Mackay where I would fly back with my cousin. She was visiting from Argentina to stay a couple of weeks with us.
The tricky part of the trip was to time correctly the crossing of Wide Bay Bar with calm weather, right tide and day light. With that in mind they left Mooloolaba at first light. Conditions were good when they arrived at the bar entrance and crossed without incidents behind 2 other sailboats one hour before sunset. They just made it to Pelican Bay with the last light to anchor for the night.
They left the following morning with favorable current and tide on the Great Sandy Strait and kept going overnight with the idea to get as far as possible ahead of strong winds. When they were close to Great Keppel islands the wind and seas were already uncomfortable and Oscar decided to enter Rosslyn Bay Marina in Yeppoon. The weather was not showing any improvement for the following days and Eduardo had to go back to his work commitments.
This is not a bad area to get stuck and we adjusted our plans. After my cousin Ana arrived in Sydney we flew to Rockhampton where Oscar was waiting for us to board Zenitude.
In the 2 weeks we had to get to Townsville we stopped in many nice places for our guest to enjoy. We were really lucky with the weather as we travel thru the Percy Islands and the Whitsundays. There was even time to spend a couple of days in Magnetic Island and do some of the walking tracks with magnificent views. A couple of days before her departure date we arrived at Breakwater Marina in Townsville.
We plan to stay around this area for quite a while as we prepare to receive our next friend in September.
G.
We left Gold Coast City Marina and after a quiet night in Little Sand Hills arrived to Mooloolaba the following day. I had plans to fly to Melbourne and then Sydney while our good friend Eduardo joined Oscar to keep sailing north. The idea was for them to get to Mackay where I would fly back with my cousin. She was visiting from Argentina to stay a couple of weeks with us.
The tricky part of the trip was to time correctly the crossing of Wide Bay Bar with calm weather, right tide and day light. With that in mind they left Mooloolaba at first light. Conditions were good when they arrived at the bar entrance and crossed without incidents behind 2 other sailboats one hour before sunset. They just made it to Pelican Bay with the last light to anchor for the night.
They left the following morning with favorable current and tide on the Great Sandy Strait and kept going overnight with the idea to get as far as possible ahead of strong winds. When they were close to Great Keppel islands the wind and seas were already uncomfortable and Oscar decided to enter Rosslyn Bay Marina in Yeppoon. The weather was not showing any improvement for the following days and Eduardo had to go back to his work commitments.
This is not a bad area to get stuck and we adjusted our plans. After my cousin Ana arrived in Sydney we flew to Rockhampton where Oscar was waiting for us to board Zenitude.
 |
| With Ana Maria in Zenitude |
In the 2 weeks we had to get to Townsville we stopped in many nice places for our guest to enjoy. We were really lucky with the weather as we travel thru the Percy Islands and the Whitsundays. There was even time to spend a couple of days in Magnetic Island and do some of the walking tracks with magnificent views. A couple of days before her departure date we arrived at Breakwater Marina in Townsville.
We plan to stay around this area for quite a while as we prepare to receive our next friend in September.
G.
Friday 8 March 2019
Summer in Brisbane and Gold Coast
We stayed at East Coast Marina in Manly for most of November and part of December. Manly is not far from Brisbane. We enjoyed the marina life for a while and Manly was surprisingly fun with all the Summer activities, the local markets and many of our cruising friends around, away from cyclone areas.
By mid December we traveled to Sydney and Melbourne for the Christmas holidays. Soon the New Year came and the first week of January we left the marina to spend some time around Moreton Bay before heading to the Gold Coast.
The weather was nice and we decided to explore Moreton Island. Just a couple of days in Tangalooma Wrecks were enough to convince us to look for a quieter place. We tried to go to the dolphin feeding attraction in the beach across the resort but incredibly you can only see the dolphins if you book a tour with them. This is a public beach, but apparently they can block you from accessing it while the dolphins come for their afternoon snack. We've seen wild dolphins feeding in Tin Can Bay and decided to skip it this time.
Not far south from Tangalooma we discovered Little and Big Sand Hills. What a beautiful place with amazing sand dunes and water so clear that you can hardly believe this place exists inside Moreton Bay.
After spending 2 fantastic weeks we headed to the Gold Coast. We stopped at Dunwich (Deanabilla Bay) which we found has a good anchorage and a little town, where is possible to buy fuel and food. Expensive in the island but well provisioned. The anchorage gets a bit of swell from the ferries, but it seems well protected from easterly winds.
Arriving at the Gold Coast we headed to the anchorage at the Marine Stadium. We've heard a lot about this anchorage but had never been there so we decided to try it while the weather was good. It is a nice area but the tourist helicopters drive you crazy during the afternoons. After a couple of days we decided it was time to finally reach our destination at the Gold Coast City Marina and take care of regular maintenance jobs.
Early in March Zenitude went out of the water and into the storage area in Boatworks as we got ready for our upcoming overseas trip.
G.
By mid December we traveled to Sydney and Melbourne for the Christmas holidays. Soon the New Year came and the first week of January we left the marina to spend some time around Moreton Bay before heading to the Gold Coast.
The weather was nice and we decided to explore Moreton Island. Just a couple of days in Tangalooma Wrecks were enough to convince us to look for a quieter place. We tried to go to the dolphin feeding attraction in the beach across the resort but incredibly you can only see the dolphins if you book a tour with them. This is a public beach, but apparently they can block you from accessing it while the dolphins come for their afternoon snack. We've seen wild dolphins feeding in Tin Can Bay and decided to skip it this time.
 |
| Tangalooma Wrecks, crowded during Summer |
Not far south from Tangalooma we discovered Little and Big Sand Hills. What a beautiful place with amazing sand dunes and water so clear that you can hardly believe this place exists inside Moreton Bay.
 |
| Big Sand Hills |
 |
| Little Sand Hills |
 |
| Hundreds of starfish can be seen at low tide |
Arriving at the Gold Coast we headed to the anchorage at the Marine Stadium. We've heard a lot about this anchorage but had never been there so we decided to try it while the weather was good. It is a nice area but the tourist helicopters drive you crazy during the afternoons. After a couple of days we decided it was time to finally reach our destination at the Gold Coast City Marina and take care of regular maintenance jobs.
Early in March Zenitude went out of the water and into the storage area in Boatworks as we got ready for our upcoming overseas trip.
G.
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