Uniquely Australia

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Just a quick update to our uniquely Australian experience.  

We have made arrangements for a 10 day Way Out Back Experience in a 4 wheel drive from Alice Springs to Darwin.  Really excited!  You can check out our itinerary here.  We're going to be the jolly swagmen...hmmm...swagpeople, camping, and letting someone else doing the driving.  We are really getting used to  kicking back.  We leave Brsibane a week from tomorrow.

So after we made our 4x4 travel arrangements, we spent another day in Brisbane walking around and visiting the city museum, the state museum, and the state library, and then taking a nice bike ride. 

My picture of the day was the young man above dishing up a side of Vegemite in a mall cafe.  If you are a New Zealander and enjoy Marmite, you might enjoy Vegemite.  If you are an Aussie, you probably love the stuff.  If you are anybody else, you would probably prefer a pre-colonoscopy cocktail!  Crikey.  This is miserable stuff.

And then, we have been brave enough to go bicycle riding during Magpie nesting season.  Last year, you may recall that our first ride resulted in being attacked by a mad male magpie.

Hey!  Isn't that a part of my ear on the end of your beak?

He nearly knocked me off of my bike and took a good swipe at my ear drawing blood.  After getting the "local" advice, we put cable ties on our helmets.  We were also told that the birds attack from the back when they think you are not looking.  It was suggested that we put some sunglasses on our helmets backwards so the birds couldn't tell if we were "looking" at them.

Is the one on the right, coming or going?

Symmetrically Stylish with Black and Red Cable Ties

I'm Getting Rock N Roll!

What channel are you getting Russ?

Before we did all of this, because we thought it might be an Aussie-American initiation joke, we observed that many Aussies were riding around looking like helmeted porcupines.  So today, we tied on the cable ties and sunglasses and hit the pavement.  We enjoyed our ride.  I did see a shadow of bird flying over my head, but he didn't come near me.  We both still have our ears!  Cheers!

All is Well with the 2 Sail R's  on SV Worrall Wind

A Stroll Through Brisbane

Downtown Brisbane - Old and New

Thursday, October 3, 2012 - Brisbane

Russ and I have  been in Australia now for almost a year.  With the exception of our entrance to Brisbane harbor upon our arrival and a quick trip downtown to get an extension on our visas, we hadn't really explored the city....until today.

So today, we arose early and got on a commuter train into the city, arriving around 9:00 a.m.

Central Train Station

 Russ was equipped with his walking tour map.  Not only did we want to  see the city, but we were on a mission to buy some baby gifts for some of our favorite new families, the Touheys in New Zealand and the Luceros in California.  We knew just exactly what we wanted and where we wanted to go.

The Stuffed Toy Koalas are Too Cute!

Before we got to the shopping Arcade, we were struck with the clarity of the day and the beauty of the city.  We couldn't have chosen a more perfect day. It is the second to the last day of a 2 week school holiday.  The city of Brisbane was not only hopping with the day to day business of a city, but was chocka (full in Aussie talk) of families enjoying the sun and the mildly warm weather.

Our stroll through Brisbane took us to some of the historic Buildings and Monuments,

ANZAC Square

Churches,

Parks,

Jacaranda Trees in Full Bloom

Pointsettias in the Queensland Spring

Groves of Bamboo

Post Office,

River Front Promenade,

Swimming Lagoon and Playground,

Jessica Watson's Pink Lady - Youngest Woman to Solo Circumnavigate

Free Swimming Lagoons in the Middle of Brisbane

Wall to Wall Children

We ended our day with an ice cream at the Queensland Museum, but it was so filled with children and families, we postponed our tour of the museum until a quiet rainy day.  From the weather forecast, that may be as early as next week.

All is well with the 2 Sail R's on SV Worrall Wind.

Great Sandy Straits Back to Scarborough

Friday, September  28, 2012 -  We're back!

We are now safely back in a berth at Scarborough Marina outside of Brisbane, arriving Friday afternoon, and are already planning our land travel here in Australia.  Our trip down the coast from the Whitsundays was much faster than our trip up to the Whitsundays.  It only took us ten days to return and included two, 1 night passages.  Fortunately, we had some northeast winds which facilitated our run back.

After we beat our way in to Sandy Straits, we spent two leisurely days winding our way through this protected waterway. 

We are the little green boat in the middle

Mangroves and Crocs

The timing here is important as at low tide there are places that deep keeled boats can go aground.  We waited until the high tide was almost at its peak as we wove are away through the red and green markers.  Only one of the markers seemed out of place on our CMaps.  We were glad that we went through this area during the day so that we could actually see the markers or we may have run over one or gone aground.  But actually, it was easy and we didn't touch ground anywhere.  We stayed on our line from waypoint to waypoint.

The last night of our passage back was one of the most beautiful in our memories. We left Tin Can Bay during the rosey glow of sunset so that we could go across the shallow sand bar at high tide.   The moon was already high in the sky.  

Moon is Already Up to Greet Us  As We Go Over Wide Bay Bar

Good Bye Pelican Bay  - Didn't Spot One Pelican

Breakwater Sunset Watchers

Everyone had assured us that there wasn't anything to worry about going across the bar, but one still has to wonder when you see breaking waves to the right and to the left.  The bar is only about 20 feet deep and then drops down into the sea.  We weren't sure how the waves might kick up in this area.  Even though I was white knuckled worrying about it,  we didn't have any problems as we glided over Wide Bay Bar into the evening.

Gorgeous Night on the Sea

The moon was almost full and a gentle breeze filled our sails on a smooth sea.  Moon and starlight twinkled off the water, and a south setting current pushed us along. No other boats appeared and there were no threatening clouds.   The only sounds were that of the swishing seas and the creaking of the boat.  If only all of our night passages could be this lovely, and this could possibly be our last.   Sadly around 2:00 a.m. the wind died, and we needed to lower the sails and turn on the motor.  

At dawn we were just passing by Maloolabah.  A northeast wind was beginning to pickup, but we were on the home stretch and motoring the rest of the way.  By the time we reached Scarborough Marina the wind had kicked up to 30 knots.  Fortunately, it was on our tail, and we were literally surfing through the channel into the marina which was a little scary.  The boat zigzags somewhat uncontrollably when surfing.  The markers are not very far apart and the channel is quite narrow. Just as we reached the last set of markers, a little sailboat came from outside the the channel and scooted right in front of us then slowed down.  We nearly surfed on top of him.  Not smart or considerate.  Don't know what he was thinking!  He wasn't thinking actually,  and it put us all in a dangerous situation.  Fortunately, we were able to slow the boat down, and sailor finally had the presence of mind as we were nearly on top of him to scoot over to the side in time for us to glide past him.  Phew!  Another bullet dodged.

 By noon, we were snuggly in our slip. The wind howled through the rigging of the boats in the marina.  We took care of the boat chores, had a glass of wine, ate dinner, and were sound asleep by 7:30.

So our Whitsunday adventure has come to an end.  It's now onward to the next chapter of our Australian adventure.  Russ is already working on plans for a Darwin to  Alice Springs camping expedition, later this month.  There probably won't be another blog until we embark on our next adventure as the 2 Land Travel R's.

Worrall Wind's Future.....Indonesia......or For Sale?

We are still undecided about our long range plans.....sail to Indonesia next season and hope the pirate situation either gets better or our investments do so that we can ship the boat to the Med,  or we list the boat for sale here in Australia.  Unfortunately, I think the later will win out.  The charm of sailing long passages and keeping up the boat is beginning to wear on us.  Sailing can be lovely but it is a slow way for us to see all that we want.  Russ is wanting to expedite our travels, and no-hassle charters in the Med are looking very appealing. 

In the meantime, 

All is Well with the 2 Sail R's on SV Worrall Wind. 

Changing Winds, Days 6 & 7

DAY 6 (Continued)
Monday, September 24, 2012 - Great Sailing Day

After studying our weather information, we left Great Keppel Island on the morning of Day 6, anticipating that we would take advantage of the nice northwest wind that we hoped would blow us south for a few days.  We had a great sail on day 6.  We ran with all of our sails up and filled with 15 - 20 knots of wind and pushing current.

The wind dropped off to less than 10 knots after sunset, and we reluctantly took down the sails and turned on the engine, expecting a shift in the winds from the north to south.  We had a waxing moon and a clearing of clouds right over the boat most of the evening as we headed southward.  The night sky on the horizon of the bow was filled with dark clouds, horizontal and vertical lighting over the land mass ahead.  Needless to say, we weren't excited about moving towards it, but we did.

DAY 7
Tuesday, September 25, 2012 - Winds Shift from North West to South East

I had first watch until 2:00 a.m..  Russ had second watch.  Nothing remarkable transpired through the night, other than the anemometer was spinning around not sure which way to register the wind.  The seas were nearly flat, and lightning ahead calmed down.  By morning, a slight headwind coming from the south, south east and continued to build.

By noon, we were passing by Bundaberg where we could have gone into a marina.  But, we decided to push forward and duck into Great Sandy Strait because the southeast wind forecast for he next couple of days looked brutal on the seas.  We could be stuck in Bundaberg for days until the SE wind and seas settled down.  At least we would be sheltered in Sandy Straits and could still make passage south for a couple of days.

The wind was building, but was only about 10 knots on our nose.  Shortly after 1:00 p.m. the wind increased to 15 knots, then 20.  By 2:00 p.m. we had 30 knots on the nose along with 1.5 meter swells, and 1 meter wind waves.   We had a strong tail current pushing us forward and the winds and waves pushing us back. We were caught between two opposing forces.   The seas were choppy and steep.  Worrall Wind was hobby horsing through them, and the waves washed the decks as she dove into each wave.

I stuffed sponges and towels into our dorads (ventilation from outside to in) that never seem to close completely and when water washes the decks we get salt water splashing through into the lower cabin.

Photos Just Don't Capture the Size of swells and Depths of Troughs

We kept an eye on Hydie, solar panels, and dinghy.  These were the kind of seas we were in off the coast of New Caledonia when Hydie 1 committed suicide last year.  It was only 2:00 and we could expect another 4-5 hours of pitching seas until we reached more sheltered waters.

It was a slow, bumpy slog, our forward speed dropping below 2 knots after a particularly large plow into a wave.  As the sun was setting we reached our first green marker into the strait.  Once the sun sets, here in Australia, there is only about 20 minutes of dusk until it quite dark.  It was only 5:45, and we still had over an hour to go before we would reach an anchorage that we thought would be protected.  Fortunately, the 1.5 meter swells had subsided, and we only had to contend with the wind, wind waves, and the approaching darkness.  Only once before had we anchored in the dark, and that was in San Carlos Bay on Baja Ha Ha when we were in terrible seas and my coffee had spilled into the navigational computer.

At least this time, we had some moonlight and our technology was working.  Great Sandy Strait is like the California Delta.  If we stay in the marked channel, we shouldn't touch bottom.  But if we stray, we could easily go aground.    Our electronic maps and gps were programmed to keep us on track.  We were happy to see that channel markers were lit and with the moonlight we could see vague shadows of the land and islands.  We finally reached our destination by 7:00 p.m.  The wind was dying down, the waves were just a short chop, and we were tuckered out.

We went outside of the pilothouse to the fan tail and prepared to anchor.  We couldn't tell exactly where we were, but had an electronic waypoint and a plan to drop the anchor when we reached the 30 foot level.  All went according to plan, and by 7:15 we were finally at rest after traveling 177 miles in 43 hours.

S   25 23.150
E 153 01.650

Phew!  Another lively day at sea.  With salt on our decks and a well set anchor we retired for the evening.

DAY 8
Wednesday, September 26, 2012 - Happy Birthday Russ!

Sheltered Shore in Great Sandy Straits

We were up by 7:00 a.m., and on the move by 9:00 a.m.  By then we had eaten, dressed, and I had baked Russ's birthday cake.  While doing so, I couldn't help but think of the last couple of birthday cakes - always devils food chocolate with fudge frosting.  Two years ago, I was baking at sea while sailing from Samoa to Tonga.  Last year, we celebrated in New Caledonia with Brian & Claudia, and Danny from SV Regina.

Today we are only motoring about 10 miles down the strait to a waypoint where our friends Brian and Claudia anchored last season when they were here.  So we won't be celebrating Russ's birthday with them, but on the spot where they have been.  We passed by channel markers and and sandy bars as the tide is dropping, and arrived an anchored by 11:30 at low tide in 25 feet of water.  Tomorrow we will go through the shallow areas in the early morning on the rising tide.  But for the rest of the day, we expect to relax.  I promised Russ some braised lamb shanks in wine sauce fore his birthday, and of course there is the chocolate cake to look forward too.

The sky is filling with gray clouds, and it looks like we might get some showers.

All is Well With the 2 Sail R's on SV Worrall Wind