Hi all,

 

We have been away from home for 135 days now and are still having a great time.  We have met some wonderful people and have enjoyed the time with them.  We have seen whales, dugongs, rays and other marvellous creatures, as well as some of the most beautiful places in this part of the coast.

 

We left Bundaberg after the wind settled down and sailed toward the magnificent Fraser Island, arriving in time to set anchor and see the resort’s day visitor pavilion where we enjoyed a swim and drink.  After some time visiting the resort area we set out for the ferry landing to pick up our daughter Kim and her boyfriend Byron.  Well, weather rules our lives and, on cue, it blew up just at the wrong time and from the wrong direction.  As we were not prepared to anchor in the area we went into the Susan River to hide from the strong winds, but more importantly the high and sloppy waves generated by wind tide effects.  The tide here was as strong as any we have experienced, so much that the dinghy was up on the plane, something we cannot achieve with the engine.  With such adverse conditions, we left early next morning to go back to the resort.  Kim and Byron rearranged their travel details and booked onto the afternoon ferry.  We had a beaut few days with them, revisiting places we had visited years before and adding a few new favourites to the list.  It is always fun when we have visitors and this was no exception.

 

After they left, the now diminished crew set off for the south of the island.  We had been joined by yacht club friends on “While ya down there” and “Renaissance”.  The trip through the Great Sandy Straits is always somewhat stressful due to the relatively strong tide and the shallows around Sheridan Flats.  While we all managed to get through easily, having the bottom so close to the boats keel is always exciting.

 

We anchored just inside the strait at Inskip Point ready for the next mornings trip out through Wide Bay Bar.  So, anchor up at 06:30 and motored out into the most feared bar on the Queensland (and at times all the eastern) coast.  This time, due to tide and wind, we judged it right and had an easy passage.  The bar is now roughly 2 miles long, one of its less appealing features.  The trip south to Mooloolaba was pretty easy but the wind failed and we had to motor-sail.  For the non sailors, motor sailing entails motoring but with the sails up.  This gives us a bit more speed as the forward motion of the boat generates a little more wind and gives some more speed but with no more fuel consumed.  We got into Mooloolaba well before sunset and were fortunate to tie up next to a boat owned by some people we met on the trip.  George and Jan are a charming and delightful couple who moved up to Queensland from Sydney several years ago and live on the river on one of the canals with the yacht at the bottom of the garden, literally 20 metres from the back door.  We are enjoying their hospitality and watching the weather to work out when we can leave for the next leg.

 

After a delightful time at Mooloolaba with George and Jan, we left for Scarborough just to the north of Deception Bay.  The Moreton Bay Motor Boat Club is located here and is a charming and well set up place, the people are helpful and the marina is located in just the right place for yachts coming in from the north.  It is very shallow and requires careful navigation to miss the shoals.  We arrived safely and had a comfortable night there then left next morning for Moreton Bay with the intention of visiting friends at Raby Bay.  We arrived here in the afternoon and took a marina berth for the next two nights.  This is another small but well set up marina and we had a delightful time with Dee and Joe Cannava from the motor boat Zingara.  The staff at the marina are charming, competent and very generous with their help and advice.

 

After a very sociable time it was, once again, time to move and we motor sailed over to Blakesleys anchorage for lunch and to avoid getting wet with the now heavy rain squalls, then onto Lamb Island for a calm night.  Next day onto Jacobs Well a notorious shallow passage that requires careful arithmetic to calculate the most suitable tide.  Get it wrong and you spend a long time on the sand with the boat leaning over at a precarious angle.  We waited at the anchorage for just the right time and made it with plenty of water under the keel (in this place 0.6 metres is plenty).  We ran out of light and as the Broadwater area is not a place to run around in a deep heavy yacht at night without a lot of good local knowledge we anchored out of the channel for the night.  Next morning gave us a good tide and we motored, again in rain, to the anchorage at Seaworld on the Gold Coast.

We are listening for the weather forecast to work out when we leave for Iluka.

We will be back in NSW next stop!!       What a trip so far.

All the best   Patsy and John

Mike and I are now back in Australia after participating in the 10th Port2Port rally organised by the Bundaberg Cruising Yacht Club.  We have enjoyed a wonderful welcome and a week of celebrations which culminates this evening in the formal dinner and award night.  Yaraandoo II won the best dressed boat award along with White Hawk (we each got a $100 gift voucher from the local chandlery).  We called our entry Our Pacific Odyessy and along with the flags we had "Barnacle bear" in his winter gear keeping watch from the pulpit and photos of our Pacific adventure on display on the sheltered starboard hull .

Hi Everyone,

 

We are heading back towards Sydney but not sure if we will get that far south as it depends on the weather.   Dave is looking forward to spending a few weeks in the Pittwater/Hawkesbury area again. 

 

Currently we are at Garry’s anchorage on Fraser Island.  They are forecasting strong SE winds so we will wait here until the winds turn to the North or as least become lighter.  Then it’s across the Wide Bay Bar and into Mooloolaba. 

 

As most of you know, our stay in Cairns was a lot longer than expected due to Dave having an operation and needing 6 weeks to recover, before being fit enough to sail the boat again.  He seems fine now and has no more doctors’ visits until a follow-up next August.  We had a pleasant two months stay in Yorkeys Knob Marina and visited one of the reefs (Upolu).  We had a fairly uncomfortable night there but it was very beautiful with aqua blue water and golden sand in the lagoon.

 

We left Cairns on 29^th September and we tracked south with a days break here and there until we got to the Whitsundays where we spent time in Nara Inlet, reprovisioning at Airlie Beach.  Then the winds turned to the north so we had no excuse to stay any longer and sailed via Goldsmith Island and Port Clinton to Keppel Bay Marina where we had to stay for a week while some strong SE changes went through.  It would have been ideal to stay at Port Clinton or Island Head Creek for this time but, as luck would have it, the army was conducting “live firing exercises” and had closed all the anchorages in the area.   

 

We have had to do a few overnight sails to get this far, but as there are no whales around at this time of year it’s been fairly easy and trauma free.   We sailed past the spot where we hit the whale in 2007.  Sue was on watch and it was the middle of the night again!  When we left Bundaberg at 4am there were about 20 other boats leaving at the same time.  So we have got back in sync with the rest of the cruising population.

It will probably be the same number of boats leaving Wide Bay to go to Mooloolaba so the anchorage in the river and the marinas will be very busy.

 

Fishing has been pretty good up until now with lots of Spotted Mackerel about.  Only problem is these are big fish, generally over a metre in length and provide meals for quite a few days.  So we had to think up lots of fish recipes to give us some variety – pan fried, curry, fish cakes, stir fried etc.  Had so much fish at one stage that we had throw out some meat which had gone off.   

 

Hope to see Lake Macquarie / Sydney people in December. 

 

Best Wishes

 

Sue & Dave

Gannet II

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Hello All,
The time has come to head back to cooler climes. The temp in the north of Vanuatu was over 30 deg and humidity over 60%, so we are on our way back to Port Stephens.
After leaving the Beachfront Resort in Luganville, we went around to Surundu Bay to get a head start for Gaua Is in the Banks Group. We had heard that Chief Henry from Dolov Village at Lakona Bay was looking for a ride back from Luganville, but the phone contact we had been given was always switched off. Henry contacted us just before we left, so we loaded him and his nephew Christopher and all their gear aboard the night before to get an early start. They had the trolling lines out before long but there was no result. The wind dropped off so the spinnaker came out and was pulling us along well until the bottom decided to part company from the top. We motor sailed the rest of the way, arriving at 7pm. There was much carry-on from the shore, with torches flashing and canoes coming out to welcome all. Luckily the locals can see in the dark, so we could safely anchor and deposit our passengers on shore.
The next week was a mixture of feasting and work. Geoff again put on his plumbers hat to get the water supply to the clinic running again. He had a supply of new taps for each house so the water didn't run to waste all the time, the ball valve in the header tank was repaired, the fittings at the clinic put back and the many breaks in the supply line were repaired. All this took over a week, and involved at least a dozen walks around the circuit to find the next problem after the last one had been fixed. 
Cherylle presented the clinic with new mattresses, pillows, mattress protectors and sheets. There were also bags of goodies for each female in the village, heaps of books and games for the Kindy, more books for the school and various tools for the men. Even a new pair of crocs for William, who was wearing a worn out sandal (right foot) on his left foot and a blown out croc on the other.
The mangoes were ripening and were easily procured by the locals tossing a coconut or stick up the tree at your choice.
On the social side, there were birthday parties, welcome feasts, and farewell feasts, not just for us but the other yachties who happened along. These included Dave & Heather (a dentist,more extractions than fillings), Paul & Frances (optometrist assistants, 100's of pairs of glasses from a Brisbane Lions Club), and Natalie & Lesley (marine biologists checking reef health).
Paul also has a portable recording studio on board, so the local string bands from Dolov and Ontar lined up to get their repertoire put on CD and played on Radio Vanuatu.
We were giving Henry's wife Martha a ride back to Luganville to be with their very pregnant daughter (twins), so on the morning of departure we loaded Martha and 7 baskets of market goods (water melons, mangoes & sweet potato) aboard and headed back. The wind went south so we anchored for the night at Hog Harbour and motored the 35 miles back to Luganville next day in glassy conditions.
When we got back to Luganville we heard that the Gaua volcano was starting to belch gas & ash, and was on level 1 alert. Some of the ash had landed in the source for the Lakona Bay water supply, and there would need to be a good rainfall to cleanse the stream.
We then moved round to Petersen Bay & Oyster Is for some resort activities (fine dining) and then Surundu Bay (free wireless internet on board courtesy of the local ex-pat) and finally back to Luganville to pick up Penny Dawson, who was 3rd crew member for the trip back. It finally rained, so we had to sit in the Beachfront bar drinking Tusker beer to use up the final few Vatu.
This trip we stopped at Huon Is, in the far north of New Caledonia, for 2 days. The island is home to countless boobies, noddies and terns, all nesting on the treeless landscape. There was also evidence of much turtle nesting activity. A couple of good specimens of Nautilus & Cowrie shells presented themselves for collection.
Currently we are at Chesterfield Reef enjoying windless sunny weather. More boobies, noddies, terns & frigate birds nesting, and all very raucous. Still some turtles. Also eels, crayfish & parrotfish swimming in the shallows.
Expect to get into Bunddaberg around 23rd Oct and back to Port Stephens mid-November.
Geoff & Cherylle.

Hello All,
Renaissance and While Ya Down There (WYDT) are in Bundaberg Port marina waiting for the cursed SEasterlies to drop away and move more east to northeast.We have been here since last Fri (16 Oct) waiting for the winds to change.Winds generally 20+knts from SE and bumpy seas.
As we have had mostly 20-25 knts SE we have decided on a bit of R&R and boat work while in Bundy.
Tomorrow sees a predicted change for the better with winds 15knts and moving SE to E, and the next few days similar. So all being well Renaissance and  WYDT are contemplating an early morning departure (4am Wed) from Bundy to make use of the tide for our trip to Fraser Island, Thursday to Inskip Point and then Moolooabah/Brisbane by Fri or Sat. Winds predicted to be E to NE and 10-15knts. For Renaissance we hope to be back in Sydney by the following week( 3 Nov).

Hi Val & Mike

 

Just a short note to let you know that we are underway again and currently anchored at Dunk Island.  I seem to be fully recovered from operation though two months of inactivity mean that I need to build up some muscles. At this stage we plan to come back to Sydney but we’ll see which way the wind blows.  It doesn’t really matter if we don’t make it all the way back to Sydney as we don’t have any firm commitments.  It will be good to catch up with the familiar faces at CCC.

 

Hope all is well with you both and looking forward to getting together on our return.

 

 

Best Wishes

 

David (& Sue)

Gannet II

 

Just an update before we depart Samoa.

We have had a wonderful time here in Samoa on Upolu - though disappointed we do not have enough time to sail to and explore Savaii the larger island.  However, the weather systems are telling us it is time to go.  The wx patterns are growing more intense as the cyclone season approaches.

Our first week in Samoa was full on with activities surrounding the Teuila Festival. At the festival ground we could view all Samoan traditional crafts being worked and displayed.  Carving or course, art done on siapo cloth (made from palm leaves) and tattoos with lots of jewelry and woven items for sale.  We purchased a beautifully carved spear/harpoon carved from iron wood.

Teuila is the red ginger flower which is so stunning and grows in profusion around the island and is the national flower of Samoa, hence the festival name.  We had a series of late nights attending the singing, dancing and fire dancing contests and then we had dinner at Aggie Greys fiafia night and the week celebrations ended with a full on day starting with the Fautasi boat race. These are long boats with 44 rower's, one helmsman and and a drummer.  After 8 miles over the course the two lead boats were neck and neck at the finish line - what excitement!  The singing and dancing here in Samoa is much different from the that of the French Polynesian islands.  The girls dance in their puletasi' the traditional dress and look most elegant as they are covered from neck to toe and their dancing looks almost Geisha like with slow hand movements and gliding foot steps.  While the guys do more Haka like movements and slap themselves in very choreographed movements to the drum beats.

When the boat race was over we watched the street parade with decorated floats for each of the Miss Samoa contestants.  The floats were works of art and were decorated with mostly all natural products shells, platted palm leaves, fresh flowers etc, though one float did have a lot of painted material to form a turtle throne for the contestant.  The police band marched and looked fantastic in their lava lava uniforms.

The parade ended up at the government buildings where the winners of the weeks' competitions were announced.  Then we had a break for lunch and time for some shopping before it was time to go to the evening venue to see the choosing of Miss Samoa.  It was a long evening, which I really enjoyed as we saw and learned lots of traditional features in the girl's presentations.  We both chose the winning contestant early in the evening so were glad when she was crowned.

Once the festival was over we had time to arrange some tourist activities.  We did 2 taxi tours visiting both sides of the island which are quite different (somewhat like Hawaii). One side of Upolu is very volcanic and lush with traditional Samoan villages and food growing areas and the other has beautiful beaches where the tourist resorts are located so we are glad we saw both vistas. On one tour we stopped at a natural spring and swam into a cave and ducked under a pass to surface in a second cave.  All very refreshing and it was strange to be in fresh water surrounded by freshwater fish when we could see and hear the waves lapping on the beach.

We spent a day at the Robert Louis Stevenson museum.  His house has been restored and although there is not many original items remaining, the house is furnished in the style of the era and pieces were chosen to match those in original photographs.  From the house plateau it is about an hours walk up the ridge line to the crest of the hill where he is buried.  The Samoan's loved him so much they fulfilled his dying wish that he be buried on the hill above the house overlooking the harbour.  They spent a whole day cutting a path from the house and then they handed the coffin head over head till they reached the summit where he is interred in a concrete tomb.  Fanny his wife returned to America but when she died her ashes were returned to Samoa so they could be together.  Robert was only 44 when he died and was a prolific author - I think he wrote 44 books in the the 4 years he lived in Samoa.  He was a great activist for Samoa gaining their independence.  Unlike American Samoa, Samoa used to be called Western Samoa and was governed first by Germany then by NZ before they became independent and dropped the name Western so is now called Samoa.

The shopping around town has been wonderful.  Almost everything we needed has been obtained, but we had to search as the shopping district is a hotchpotch of traditional shops and supermarkets, open air produce and flee markets together with internet cafes and street stalls.  So we have done lots of walking but the shopping has been inexpensive compared to French Polynesia.

We have also taken part in a little slice of Samoan history as we were here for the road switch.  The traffic flow has changed from the US right side to the English/Aus left - so now we feel much more at home.  The organisation for this switch has been monumental and despite carnage being predicted the switch has gone smoothly with no accidents reported to date - though there has been a few near misses which the police deal with immediately as they are stationed at every major intersection around the island along with several first aiders.  As I aid the organisation for this road switch has been amazing.

We wrote a letter to the marina authority and got permission to have Hardy (our taxi driver) onboard for an evening (locals are not allowed into the marina).  So we had Panacea, Bert and Agnes from Sweden, Light Heart, Steve and Carolyn from the US and ourselves for a cultural exchange.  It was a lovely evening and we all learnt a lot.  Then Hardy brought his guitar out and sang some Samoan songs for us - what a treat!  Then we went to Sunday service at Hardy's church - we were the only Palangie and we didn't understand a word of the service (all in Samoan) but the singing was divine.

We are carrying out our final chores today and will depart tomorrow on this current weather front.  We plan to sail directly to Vanuatu, but if a storm front cops us we have forwarded our details so we can stop over in Fiji for a few days rest.  We shall leave exploring Fiji for another time.

Now you are up to date so I will get this on the ether. Best wishes from us both - Sue and Mike
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