Wind 10 – 15 knts W

The wind had come round to the west nicely overnight and we contemplated leaving but as the dinghy cradles weren’t ready we decided to stay.

John fibre glassed the end parts of the cradle that he had cut off a few days ago while Jenny baked scones.  It was his first attempt at fibre glassing and after lots of colourful language he was happy with the result.

We set up the screecher in preparation for tomorrow in the event the winds are lighter than forecast.

Morgan and Jenny walked to Coles to get a few supplies . It is a 15 minute walk  either along the treed boulevard or via streets and the river.  Morgan got told off for not being on the lead by a council lady.

Corned beef with buttered cabbage, chat potatoes and mustard sauce for dinner, very tasty. Compliments to the chef (thats me).

Wind NE 15 – 20 knts     Sunny

Bacon and eggs for beaky then we walked up the top to go our separate directions. John to the bus stop to catch a bus to Bunnings in Maroochydore and Jenny and Morgan along the boardwalk to Coles. It was a long walk past multitudes of cafes filled with breakfast patrons all enjoying Sunday morning. The walk back seemed to take forever carrying groceries.

Ian and Gail Bath are coming for lunch as they live up at Sunshine Beach near Noosa. They used to own the Jingellic Pub then the Stroud pub where Jenny was teaching north of Newcastle.

John was pleased with his purchase of $35 for an angle grinder but is yet to see how it performs.

Lunch was a tasty affair of chicken, prawns and salad with crusty bread while we sat round and caught up on 10 years of news. Haven’t seen Ian and Gail since we sailed north in 2005.

By the time they left the day was pretty much over, John read the paper and Jenny and Morgan walked along the spit to the breakwater. We weren’t very hungry so John made us prawn toasties for dinner.

Enjoyed a lazy morning. John cooked bacon sandwiches for breakfast then we strolled up to the boulevard for a walk with Morgan. Lovely day, very little wind from the NE. Its supposed to be northerlies for the next few days so we’ll spend time here until a southerly arrives.

Heaps of people exercising, dog walking and kids playing. Stopped at a cafe for coffee but ended up having French toast with maple syrup and bacon. Felt very bloated after as the toast was about an inch thick.

Mooloolaba is a very pleasant place, the temperature is about 23 in the day dropping to 21 in the early evening. Makes for very pleasant happy hour sitting on the front of the boat. People seem to be taking in the great outdoors and enjoying the mild winter climate.

Back to Ovive where we spent the afternoon remodelling  the cradles that support the dinghy on the back deck. Since we bought our new dinghy the cradles have not fitted snugly and the dinghy tends to rock . John cut and shaped the back cradle and added close cell foam to the front one. He needs a grinder though and there is not one onboard so tomorrow he will purchase one.

Walked the 100 metres to the yacht club for dinner, very tasty and very reasonably priced. Jenny had seafood chowder for $17 and John Fettucini marinara $18. Two blokes playing guitar entertained us for the evening , they were fantastic,  the lead guitarist played Santana and Mark Knoffler  brilliantly. It was our latest night for a long time especially as when we got back to the boat we watched the end of a Russell Crowe movie.

Wind N -NE  5 – 10 knts Sunny  30nm

John checked the motors and found the starboard alternator belt quite loose so we retightened it and cleaned up the dust then pulled anchor. We motored the short distance to the free pontoon as Fiona and Richard wanted to come and visit. It was difficult to tie up due to the current rushing past and the eddies flowing out of a nearby drain. The pontoon was covered in weed and rubbish that was constantly washed up by boats roaring past.

After Fiona and Richard left we pulled the lines in and headed out of the passage.

Moreton Bay was glassy with a half metre swell, turtles, fisherman and dolphins were easy to sight.

There was just enough wind to hoist the main so we motor sailed up close to the eastern shore of Bribie. Halfway up we crossed the main shipping channel for large ships going in and out of the port of Brisbane. A couple of tankers steamed past quite close doing about 18 knots.

The wind was 9 knts from the NE so it was tack or pull down the sail and motor. We did the latter as we wanted to get to Mooloolaba before dark. We arrived at the Mooloolaba bar at 3:30, motored up the river to the marina and tied up on E finger next to another cat.

After checking in to the office we strolled  a short distance to the yacht club where John had a well earned beer and me a mineral water.( too early for a Kaluha). Back to the marina where a band was playing on the lawn, and the yachties were having a BBQ and beers. A very social marina. The band was quite good but we were tired so we retired to O’vive for a Mulligan stew . (venison version of Irish). At the moment our freezer on board is full of venison.

Up early as we couldn’t decide where we were going, either try to get to Mooloolaba or stop somewhere not so far. Bacon and beans for breaky then the anchor was pulled. The weather was calm and the bay was flat so we enjoyed an uneventful passage across Moreton Bay. Pulled the main as we started with 7 knts but it died to 5 so we motored past the bottom end of Peel Island towards the Brisbane River. It was the flattest I have ever seen Moreton Bay. John slept a lot as he was still feeling unwell , though not as bad as yesterday. Jenny crocheted at the helm seat ( it was that calm)! We decided we had no hope of getting anywhere fast so we would continue up past the Brisbane River to the bottom of Bribie Island.

We skirted the western edge of the bay up past Raby Bay, Redcliff and Scarborough to the entrance of Pumicestone Passage. John dragged his lure across Moreton Bay but didn’t even get a touch. Plenty of fisherman on the isolated reefs and plenty of crab pots out, the skipper needed to keep a sharp watch for them, we didn’t want them tangled in our props.

Dropped anchor just north of the boat ramp on the inside of Bribie near Bongaree and rang an old school friend of Jenny’s Fiona who moved here from Sydney some years ago. The anchorage is great, well sheltered, deep and a good bottom. There is also a pontoon for a 2 hour visit which we didn’t know about till later which looks excellent.

Went ashore in the dinghy and tied it to a post on the sand, Morgs was happy to have shore leave and charged up and down the beach. Fiona picked us up in her car and we visited their house at Woorim on the eastern side of the island. Very nice Queenslander they built a few years ago. John and I were worried about the dinghy as the fuel tank, life jackets etc weren’t padlocked up we were hoping no one would steal anything.

Fiona and Richard showed us their local beach and we strolled along it with Morgan racing around us in circles and picking up every stick she could find. Lovely beach plus dogs are allowed on it, always a plus.

As we were concerned about the dinghy we drove back to Bongaree for fish and chips on the jetty so we could keep an eye on the dinghy. Great little fish and chip shop , lots of fresh fish to choose from. John and I had Sweetlip and John Dory, chips were well cooked too. Back to Ovive and bed.

Wind SE  5 – 10 knts

John’s turn to be unwell, I must have passed it on.

Beautiful calm morning off the tip of South Stradbroke, tide was going down so I waited until the tide was quite low and took Morgan ashore. It was our inaugural solo trip in the dinghy with the new motor, very successful except I couldn’t tilt the motor until I remembered it had to be in forward gear. John was still laid up so it was just Morgs and I. We played ball on the pristine sandy beach then hurried back to O’vive for an important teleconference call with Lukas and the investors at 11:00. John wasn’t feeling well but hung in there as it was of great consequence .

Two hours later we had finished and with the captain on the improvement (physically) we pulled anchor and headed up Canaipa Passage. Once again we had no wind and motored up the channel over some very shallow spots. The channel is bordered by high sand cliffs on the eastern side and mangroves on the western until you get to Russell Island  which is more open and dotted with houses and anchored boats.

At the northern tip of Russel we passed under the powerlines connecting to Straddie, they are listed in the book as 20m in height, our mast is 21.52. I was very nervous but it appears the 20m is the middle of the span and we went under the eastern side about 40 mts off the bank where there is much more height. In the end we cleared them easy in 2.3 m of water although it was still worrying as the tide was almost high.

Dropped anchor about 1km north of the powerlines amidst two other boats as John still wasn’t well. It took several tries for the anchor to set as it kept turning round onto its back. Eventually it bit, the swivel may need some lubrication or it had something jammed in it.

Dinner wasn’t much as John didn’t feel like any, just pork medallion, chat potato, dutch carrots and cabbage. Off to sleep with a very calm night.

Jenny feeling slightly better so we prepared to leave, washed the boat, washed clothes, tidied up and John got a new feral for the bottom of the boom where the traveller is attached.

Deb and Wayne’s daughter Kate called in as she was dropping Jacko off at work ( he was pulling down the scaffold used for the expo) and had a cup of tea. Only 3 more days until she is due to have her baby.

Left the marina at 12:30 after fueling up and motored north where we anchored just south of Jumpinpin bar at about 3:00 in 3 m of water. A couple of other boats also anchored off the beach.

Read the paper and updated the blog while once again Morgan was fascinated by the kangaroos on the shore, she sat on the deck watching them for hours. John and Morgan fished for a while but only caught small whiting and snapper on bacon rind as we forgot to buy bait.

Oh well salt and pepper salmon for dinner with chat potatoes and steamed vegies instead. Early to bed

Stayed in the marina as Jenny wasn’t well. John did a few chores and read the paper.

Breaky at the Boatworks cafe very tasty except, Jenny had a belly ache, Sandra and Doug got news that a water main had burst at their shop in Maclean and, the arcade in Maclean burnt down destroying Kevy and Hoggys lifestyle shop. ( they sell lifestyle comforts and home aids)Not good news at all.

We drove over to Runaway bay Marina to the marine auctions and watched a Perry 43 and a Grainger 38 go very cheaply. They were being sold by the public trust as they had been confiscated by the police for running drugs.

Back to GCCM and a quick look at the expo with Sandra and Doug. Friz and Tracey left before breakfast and Deb and Wayne left after the auction.

Doug was interested in the electric bikes but the wheel s were too small. Sandra and Doug headed back to Maclean and Jenny went to bed early as her belly was playing up. A diarrhoea bug leading to a very wakeful night.

Jenny, Sandra , Doug and Morgan went for an early morning walk up to the Boatworks ( another marina and hardstand) before breaky and came across one of the pirate boats currently being used in the latest Pirates of The Caribbean movie. It was hauled out for some work and also to be stored when it wasn’t being used,it was very authentic looking.

We also came across John chatting to Andrew Laycock from Khancoban, Andrew was on his way to Darwin and called in for a look at the show and came across John strolling along. (small world)                      Pirate photos courtesy of Sandra Jenkins

Back to the boat and Deb and Wayne had arrived so we headed up to the marina cafe for breaky in a sunny sheltered spot overlooking the water. After breaky we caught the marine rescue boat to Sanctuary Cove as they had a courtesy boat service happening for a $10 fee. Happy to donate my money to marine rescue.

The boat show was smaller than usual as some of the exhibitors were split between the two sites of expo at GCCM and SC.

Still a good day was had by all, Friz and Tracey ordered all of their electrics for their boat that they are refurbishing, Deb and Wayne bought polish for theirs and I bought books, polish and a gizmo(Seabung) for changing the seacocks whilst in the water.

Back to O’vive where we sat  down to takeaway Indian from Randhawas at Hope Island which was delivered for  $6.95. How cheap was the delivery and when talking to the driver he uses his own car and gets $3 of the 7. Nick Jenkins came to tea and everyone agreed it was excellent Indian. It was a little too hot for me though.

There was quite a bit of frivolity after dinner but everyone except Friz and Wayne had turned in by 10:30, they stayed up for a bullshit session and more rum.