From Gold Coast to Mackay - A fast trip

On Saturday I will take a plane and travel from Sydney to Mackay, the flight takes approximately two and a half hours. Last Thursday Oscar and his crew left the Gold Coast City Marina and set sail towards Mackay. They arrived at dawn on Monday morning after four days and four nights sailing non stop.

Happily sailing along

This was indeed a fast trip when compared to our trip last year when we did almost the same route lazily sailing up the coast. We left the end of May and arrived in Mackay in mid July, spending a bit over a month and a half to get from the Gold Coast to Mackay. Along the way we stopped in many wonderful places but this year our choice was to make a 'fast' trip and get to warmer latitudes on the other side of the Tropic of Capricorn early in the season.

Mackay is at the southern end of the Whitsundays. Zenitude is now well positioned for the start of our sailing. We can and we'll probably go up to Magnetic Island stopping in places we haven't stopped before. There are many choices. From Magnetic Island we'll keep going north hoping this year we can cover lots of places all the way up to Lizard Island. When the weather collaborates, we want to make trips to the outer reef.  It is good to be back to our cruising life.

The Great Barrier Reef - Mackay to Lizard Island

G.

Back on the Water – Plans for 2015

This week Zenitude was gently deposited back on the water by the Gold Coast City Marina (GCCM) shipyard crew. This time she is not shinny and she is full of dust, waxing and cleaning will be done next week after engines work is finished. We are replacing the engines batteries that lasted 5 good years and installing heat monitors for the engines, a gadget that has taken us too long to finally get so that we can monitor engine temperature and take action well before the alarm goes off. With the impeller issues we had last year this was on the list of ‘have to have’.

Oscar is targeting Wed/Thu to depart. With hired crew he is hoping to be in Mackay in 4 to 5 days and then wait for me, while I finish my working duties in Sydney at the end of April. This year we plan to reach Magnetic Island, some way or another but hopefully slowly and without overnight trips, before the end of May. We have planned a month long land trip (Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam) during June. Zenitude will stay in Nelly Bay marina.

We’ll be back on the water in July. Our intention this year is go slowly north up to Lizard Island. We do want to spend time there to visit the outer reef as many times as weather allows. Hopefully then, the northerlies will come sometime in October letting us sail back south without too much ‘wind on the nose’ type of trip. Destination on the trip back will depend on many things and it is too far in advance at the moment to plan and get it right.

These are the plans, which of course may change, more than once, after all it’s good to go where the wind takes you.  

G.

The end of 2014 - Zenitude out of the water

Hamilton Marina

November was a busy month for us in Sydney while Zenitude remained at the docks in Hamilton marina, waiting for Oscar and crew to take her to cyclone safe latitudes.

Marina residents

Somewhere in the Whitsundays

But before the crew arrival we enjoyed a bit more of Whitsundays sailing with Anne and John visiting from the US. We first met them in the Caribbean when they were cruising in their boat Livin’ the Dream. Together we survived the experience of spending a cyclone season in troubled Venezuela back in 2008 and we’ve been in touch ever since. They had promised they would fly to Australia for a month long holiday and it was great to have them for a little while with us.

On the 26 of November Oscar and crew, our son Gonzalo and our friend Phil, started the trip south with a little hope of good northerlies, which seemed to be always 2 days away as the forecast kept changing. The trip was mostly ok but there was a lot of frustration as there was no good weather to stop neither at North West Island nor at Lady Musgrave as they were hoping to do. After 10 days of mainly motor sailing they arrived in Hervey Bay. The crew had run out of time and could not keep going, so Zenitude stayed in Urangan Marina for the month of December.  

We did the final leg, Hervey Bay to Coomera in the Gold Coast during the week after Christmas. It was a good trip, with just one stop at the anchorage in Kingfisher Bay Resort for the first night and then down the Sandy Straight, across Wide Bay Bar (more scary than ever, even in very calm weather), continuing all the way in an overnight to the Gold Coast Seaway where we entered early afternoon to be ‘welcomed’ by hundreds of people in the water making all kind of silly things like falling just ahead of our catamaran from their water skis.  

We made it safely to the Gold Coast City marina just a day ahead of the New Year with little time to organize anything fancy for New Year’s Eve. We welcomed 2015 in a quiet starry night with a special dinner and the very cold bottle of champagne.

A week later the friendly staff of GCC Marina took care of Zenitude and hauled her out of the water where she is now resting and getting ready for next season once summer and cyclone season are over.

Targeting April to be back in the water

G.

Back in the Whitsundays

After spending a couple of days in Hamilton and about a week in Airlie to provision we were ready to leave marina life behind, so when the weather improved we happily left the docks for a week around the islands.

Previous time in the Whitsundays we missed Whitehaven Beach. This time we wanted to make sure we wouldn't miss it so we headed there after spending a night in Stonehaven.

Such an amazing beach we were glad we made it this time. You can anchor almost anywhere alongside the beach but the most protected area is towards the south end. The problem is this part of the beach is totally crowded with day visitors, including the little seaplanes that bring couples for a romantic time at the beach. Our strategy worked out well by spending daytime at anchor in the isolated places and going back to the good anchorage for the night. We found that by evening this place is usually quiet, except for the camping area that seems to have visitors most of the time. 

Outstanding

A romantic setting at the beach

Zeni and the clear waters of Whitehaven

A view from the inlet at the end of the beach

We had about 8 days before my flight to Sydney to go back to work and we spent these last days going to places we missed when we came up. The wind was mainly from the NNE this time so we visited anchorages that are not available in the predominant SE winds. The weather was lovely, the places a lot less crowded this time of the year and we sailed to more remote places visiting White Bay in Haslewood island, Plantation Bay in Lindeman Island and the highlight of the week, Thomas Island.

And then the week was over and we headed back to spend the last night at Turtle Bay before going to Hamilton marina. Zenitude will stay here for a month, while we wait for our dear American friends John and Anne from Livin’ the Dream that will be visiting Australia and join us for some more of Whitsundays sailing towards the end of November. 

G.

Going South – Time to start heading back

Palm Isles is as far north as we go this season. Visiting Cairns, Lizard and the reef around there will have to wait for next season as it’s time to start heading south.

We leave Orpheus heading back to Magnetic Island, just for a good night of sleep. Very early next morning we left towards the South. Forecast was just for a couple of days ENE before the return of the south easterlies so we decided we could stop at Cape Bowling Green for one night. What a beautiful quiet and peaceful anchorage, with right weather of course. It’s a very wide bay with a long beach and several fishing motor boats around being quite close to Townsville. No other cruisers tonight. Oscar decided to try fishing and soon enough he caught a wonderful fish. It was big enough for several dinners.

Cape Bowling Green

Next day we left for an overnight towards Gloucester Passage, with the idea to get a mooring at the ECO resort and wait there for the next window to keep going south, but after a quiet overnight crossing we arrived at the ECO resort to find the moorings untenable in northerly swell. We went around and anchored in Breakfast Bay which was calm and protected however the forecast was not good for the area and we left soon after catching up on some sleep. It must have been a good decision as it was an exodus of cruising boats; I think we were one of the last to leave. Early that afternoon we arrived at Hamilton Marina where we decided to stay for a couple of days to fix the lazy jack, provision and hide from southerly change and strong winds.

So now, here we are, back in the Whitsundays. 

G.

Orpheus Island – Giant clams and a full moon eclipse

We’ve been recommended not to miss this place and we were not disappointed, it is an outstanding bay, with a nice little beach that you can’t reach at low tide as there is a large fringing reef all along the coast. The beach has a little camping area and a track to climb and check out the views on the other side of the island.

On the next high tide we hoped on the dinghy and went to visit this nice little beach. To our surprise we found the warnings not only about stingers (no surprise) but crocs too! There are mangroves on one side of the island and that might appeal to these salty creatures. Neither of them was on sight. 

Be aware stingers and crocs

A camping area

Not far, on the next bay is where James Cook University Research Station is. It’s just a dinghy ride away and we decided to go and check it out.

The manager from the station gave us a great welcome and a tour of their station which provides facilities to the university students to work on their research projects. They provide accommodation as well. We also met a girl currently working on a project to find out more about a decease affecting some of the reef. All quite interesting.

They told us to come back next day at low tide. With the full moon spring tides, the low tide is indeed VERY low and you can walk around the reef to see the giant clams out of the water, spitting water when you touch them.  So we did as we were told and came back next day. Apart from the amazing clams we saw lots of rays and small sharks quietly swimming in very shallow waters, as we stood very still for a while letting them approach quite close to us. We were not able to do much about the ‘click’ noise of the camera that scared them away in a big rush.

The very low tides and the reef

Giant Clam

Giant Clams are closed when out of the water

Small clam opened, under water

Many clams all together

A small ray

It'll grow bigger

That night was a full moon night and a full moon eclipse as well. 

The night was incredible calm and clear as we witnessed the full moon eclipse just on top of the island hills. 

As the eclipse completes, the moon turns red, just a magical evening.

Moon eclipse starts

A perfect red moon

G.

A trip to the Rib Reef - The Slashers

From the many reefs in the Slashers we were recommended to go to Rib Reef as it has a lagoon with good sandy patches quite safe to spend the night in settled weather. 

The reef is beautiful, the lagoon easy to enter and anchor. As we approached we could see there were already other boats in there. We used waypoint: 18.28.531S 146.51.874E to enter the lagoon and going carefully around coral patches found a sandy area to anchor in about 4 meters depth at: 18.28.828S 146.52.099E

It was a perfect day for the reef and soon we were snorkeling with many fish around and some small black tip sharks, as usual patrolling the reef. There were also turtles around. 

We found a drawback to this reef the next morning when a couple of professional fishermen boats where at anchor and cleaning the night’s catch fish. The problem was that now there were plenty of very excited sharks in the lagoon in a feeding frenzy, we decided we would skip the morning snorkel tour.

We would have like to visit some other reefs in the Slashers but the weather was not promising a good quiet night so we decided to head towards Great Palm Islands instead and check out Orpheus Island where you can stay either at anchor or on one of the visiting moorings available in Little Pioneer Bay. 

At anchor in Rib Reef

Plenty of fish coming to check us out

Looking for lobster?

Pretty star fish

Waters are clear and the reef is quite pretty

G.