December 12, 2005

DECEMBER 12 , 2005

November 16 - December 12, 2005

Due to circumstances beyond their control, our friends from Windsor, Pat and Brad, had to cancel their visit to Bella Via - much to everyone's great disappointment. It is our hope that they will be able to rebook for sometime in 2006.

On November 16, we picked up Geoff and Daphne (our Australian friends from Rockhampton) for a 5-day stay on board. We picked them up at Keppel Bay Marina and went across to Great Keppel Island, where we stayed at anchor. We had a great time and when we dropped them off again on the 23rd, we all promised to stay in touch.

We had a wonderful few days with Geoff and Daphne from Rockhampton. Geoff and Daphne expect to be liveaboards by this time next year. They are currently working on selling their house and are looking for their retirement boat.



                          Click on Pics to enlarge

With the cancellation of Pat and Brad's visit, we then started our trek south to Brisbane. With the northerly winds, we have had some wonderful sailing days. We were quite excited to go back to Yellow Patch (July 31st journal entry) as Paul hoped to catch some more flathead and the lure of that brilliant orange sand was strong. We were amazed at how far off in the distance we could see the sand hills, as we were approaching from the north. Alas, there were no flathead to be caught and we only stayed two nights.

On November 26, we traveled to Pancake Creek for a two night stay. While there, we viewed the best lightning show we have seen since arriving in Australia. We had a great view from the cockpit as the storm circled around us.

Paul was anxious to travel to Lady Musgrave Island and Reef - a place that we did not get to on our way north and which all cruisers talk about as a place not to be missed. So, on November 28, we headed due east for 30 miles in choppy seas and strong winds to arrive at the entrance to the lagoon at slack tide. The entrance is quite narrow and there is a very strong current when tide is falling or rising. We were cautioned to go in at slack tide (change in tide when the water is somewhat still) and made it into the lagoon easily. Paul remained on the bow watching for the coral bommies, which can cause much distress to a boat when hit. We found a clear patch of sand and dropped anchor.

Lady Musgrave Island is described as a "perfect example of a navigable coral lagoon" in our Alan Lucas cruising guide. It is difficult to describe the experience of anchoring at a reef in the middle of the ocean. We were anchored in 25 feet of water and just outside the reef (which is covered at high tide) there was over 100 feet of water. Mary had expected the anchorage to be rolly at high tide but, thankfully, we were very comfortable for the two nights that we stayed there.

Paul snorkeled for several sessions and befriended three young people on a Canadian boat - and they all went snorkeling on the outside of the reef during two of the sessions. Paul was a bit disappointed with the coral, but he still enjoyed the experience.

We quite enjoyed our stay at Lady Musgrave - as we experienced a few significant events:

At about 4 p.m. on the first day, we noticed that a fishing trawler (quite big, with the stabilization arms still down and in the water) had hauled up their anchor and looked like they were leaving the lagoon. The timing of this seemed strange to us and we watched what they were doing. To our amazement, it looked as though they were going to ram one of the other sailboats. They stopped right at the boat and it looked as though they were talking to the people on the boat and then, after a few minutes, the fishing boat backed away and then went straight for the other sailboat at anchor. Definitely weird behaviour. By this time, we realized that the boat would probably be coming at us next, which made us a bit nervous. Sure enough, over the boat came and stopped a few feet away, facing the middle of our boat. The fellow on deck yelled out "do you have any grog to trade for some prawns?" We were stunned and just stood there not knowing what to say. We were interested in the prawns, but we were unsure if we should participate (could this be legal what they were doing?), and the proximity of the boat to us was making us nervous. Paul told them no and off they went to drop anchor again. Five minutes later, Paul said "I'm going over there in the dinghy and see if they will trade some prawns for some red wine". So off he went and came back with three kilograms of huge, cooked and frozen prawns. We have been enjoying them ever since. We also learned later, when we spoke with other yachties, that what they were doing was okay with the authorities.

The next morning we went ashore to walk around the island. We were amazed at the forest on the island. There were hundreds of pisonia trees that have gnarled branches and grow more sideways than straight up. There were thousands of black noddy terns nesting in the branches and not far over our heads. The sounds in the forest were unbelievable. We met up with one of the volunteer caretakers on the island and he reported that the trees were denuded because of a huge storm that had recently come through. Usually, the view of the nesting birds wouldn't be so easy.

A nesting black noddy tern on Lady Musgrave Island.

The most amazing event occurred that evening - one that most people only read about and never experience. Here is Paul's account of the experience -

"High tide coincided with sunset last night, perfect conditions for giant sea turtles to come ashore here at Lady Musgrave Island and lay their eggs. Mary and I were there to see this wonder of nature. It was a pretty special night for us.

The experience started with our preparations aboard Bella Via shortly after a late dinner. Long sleeves and pants, water bottle, a granola bar snack, 3 flashlights, life jackets, rain jackets to deflect the salt spray during the dinghy ride to shore, sandals, anchor, don't forget the camera (only to be used after the eggs are laid) AND lawn chairs. It's just like going to see the fireworks back at home. First comes the dinghy ride to shore. I had already plotted our planned route to shore so that we would miss the coral bommies and land on a narrow patch of beach - in the dark, of course. The planned course wasn't missed by too much and only a little bump was felt as we cautiously approached the shoreline in the dark. After landing the dinghy and setting the anchor in the sand - we do this even though we know the tide is now on it's way out - we must first walk through the Pisonia forest (which looks and feels like a jungle walk) to get to the other side of the island where the expectant mothers are soon to arrive. The eerie sounds of the Pisonia forest could spook even the bravest of souls. Mary kept muttering, "I shouldn't be reading a book about murder in the Bayou!" Immediately upon stepping out onto the beach, on the north side of the island, we could see a large dark object at the waters edge, inching it's way up the beach. We stayed with this 3 foot long turtle, affectionately known as "OURS" from this point on. I said she inched her way up the slope of the beach. This would more accurately be stated as 4 inched her way up. That's about how far she would travel with each pull of her legs, with a good long rest in between each step. It was definitely like watching grass grow. We became a little worried for her when she ran into a large piece of drift wood stuck in the sand, blocking he way. No drama for mother turtle, just climb over it, she did. We were impressed. She crawled 20 feet from the edge of the water to where some bushy Pisonia trees and other brush mark the end of the beach. Into that she went, by about 6 feet, where she stopped and started digging her nest (crater more like it). You should see the sand fly. We couldn't believe our eyes. Although we couldn't see her in the bush, and we dared not follow, in fear of scaring her off, we sure could see her working away, with the sand flying two feet in the air and 4 feet away from her. We could hear a loud hissing. She continued this for some time while we settled in our lawn chairs only six feet away, whispering in awe. While watching "OUR" mother dig away, we realized there was a second turtle not 4 feet to the right of "OURS" who had finished her nest (pit) before we arrived and was in the throes of delivering her eggs. There were, by now, a couple of families with a total of 6 kids all around "OUR" turtle area and we were getting quite worried that these kids with each their own flashlight wouldn't listen to their mother when she said, "Don't flash the light at the turtle." As it went, the kids were pretty good about it all. The second turtle was soon seen moving away from her nest. The eggs had been laid and she would begin the long trek back to the waters edge. This caused a great deal of excitement and commotion amongst the crowd because now flashlights could be used judiciously to get a good look at her. I'm sure this must stress them out, but in the end they seem to survive the notoriety for she did make it back to the water. Not until after her picture had been taken a few times. Having now seen, or mostly seen, the whole process, we didn't hang around for "OUR" mother to finish her work since we knew the tide was falling and our dinghy was getting farther and farther away from the waters edge. Another trek through the dark and eerie Pisonia forest where the Black Noddy Terns, by the millions, are sitting on their eggs or cradling their young. Then a very salty, wet ride into the chop back to Bella Via. It was a truly humbling experience."

On Wednesday, November 30, we said goodbye to Lady Musgrave Island and traveled 55 miles to Bundaberg, where we anchored just one night at the entrance of the Burnett River. We left early the next morning for the Great Sandy Straits and anchored at Big Woody Island. Our intent was to get to Garry's Anchorage and spend a few days until the winds and tide were right to cross the Wide Bay Bar. On the day we went to Garry's Anchorage, we traveled through heavy rain and fog. It was a nerve-racking experience as the electronic charts are not quite accurate for this part of the coast and it was difficult to pick out the next lead with the binoculars. Thankfully we have detailed paper charts for this area. We dropped anchor at Garry's just before noon and stayed for three days. Unfortunately, the sand flies, midgies and mosquitoes were out in full force.

On Monday, December 5, we crossed a very calm Wide Bay Bar and traveled south to Mooloolaba. On the way, we had another amazing experience.

Here is Paul's account of what he called "the day with the dolphins" - "Today, Monday, December 5th, started early for us. We were up at five and off the hook (that means we had the anchor up) by 5:30. We had a tide schedule to meet, for today we were re-crossing the infamous "Wide Bay Bar". We wanted to be sure that we got it right this time. As it turned out, it was almost completely calm going across today. A non-event.

After crossing the bar, we are out and into the open ocean. Conditions were absolutely perfect for a sail south. Previously calm conditions left no swell to contend with and today's 15 knot northerlies gave us a wonderful spinnaker ride for 8 hours at 7 to 8 knots. What fun!

During the day, I had caught sight of the occasional dolphin, but only a brief glimpse in each case. It wasn't until mid afternoon that a school (if they are called by that name) of a dozen dolphins swam and played along side "Bella Via". There were no spectacular leaps (these aren't the trained dolphins) but watching them weave in and out from under our two hulls was truly magical.

The best was how well a little baby dolphin, a quarter the size of its mother, swam in perfect synchronization with it's mother, even when they broke the surface and dove down again. So sleek, so graceful, so fluid, such harmony in their motion.

My dilemma upon first sighting these wonderful creatures was, do I go for the camera or do I simply watch and enjoy. At first, I chose the latter, but when they showed signs of hanging around, I dove for the camera.

It is hard for me to say how long it was that we got to enjoy this spectacle. It could have been less than 2 minutes or more than 10. At moments like this in ones life, time is of little importance. This simple event has been enjoyed and shared by blue water sailors for centuries. Today was our opportunity to enjoy this timeless experience."

Mother dolphin and baby swimming under the boat and out between the bows. What a magical experience!

We only anchored one night in the Mooloolah River and left the next morning for Scarborough. By now, we were getting anxious about finding a marina berth where we can leave Bella Via while we fly home to Windsor in January for a visit. Paul had contacted all of the marinas in Brisbane and surrounding area and most were already booked. We had thought that we would be able to tie up at the pile berths again in the Brisbane River for Christmas week, however, we learned that the pile berths are all full. So, after deliberating awhile, we decided to get a marina berth in Scarborough (a suburb of Brisbane) for two months. We got a very reasonable monthly rate and here we are, tied up to a dock.

Living in a marina is not our preference, however, it does have advantages. We are tied up a few boats away from our friends Steve and Betty on Jams, and they have a car - they have been chauffering us to the stores and we have been enjoying their company. As well, our friends Bob and Julia from Kinta, came from their home in Wynnum for an overnight stay on board Bella Via and we had a very nice reunion. Bob and Julia drove Paul all around Brisbane the next day while he tried to have our laptop repaired.

One big advantage of staying in this marina will be described next in another of Paul's personal accounts -

"This marina is a hot bed for Brisbane's dragon boat racing teams, both cancer survivor teams and competitive "sports teams", as they are called here in Australia. The sports teams are simply men and women who race dragon boats just for fun and exercise.

As most of you already know, Mary and I were members of A Breast or Knot, one of Windsor's dragon boat teams, and we have really missed that involvement this year. Today was Saturday and a variety of these teams were out in their boats. They have two dragon boats here in the marina. After watching what we thought were the breast cancer survivors, we went to the boat ramp to introduce ourselves and possibly get invited to their next practice, only to discover that the breast cancer team was still ashore warming up for their hour on the boat. They immediately invited Mary to join them when she introduced herself to a member of the team. All I had to do was mention that I had been sterns-man, they call it "sweep" here, on Mary's team and I also was invited to be aboard this morning. It was wonderful. We spent an hour on the boat paddling and participated in this new team's very first team meeting. Mary was warmly welcomed and she was able to make a significant contribution to the teams organizational planning. I did well enough "sweeping" (remember that means steering the boat) in the morning, that I got invited to "sweep" for their competitive team later in the afternoon. In the end, I spent 3 hours aboard one dragon boat or another today.

One team or another is here practicing five days a week and we have been invited to participate in all that there is. I can't believe that we could be so lucky to be asked to join so much so readily. We love it, doing something together that we both enjoy and meeting many wonderful new people at the same time. In fact, JAMS, one of the boats that we have been cruising with, is with us here at the marina. We have discovered that Betty, aboard JAMS, is a three year survivor and Mary has invited her to join in next weeks team practice. Betty is excited about this first opportunity to paddle on a breast cancer survivor team.

The team that I swept for this evening is preparing to attend the world championships in Toronto next summer. What a thrill it was for me to be aboard a boat with some very experienced and powerful paddlers. Their coach is highly skilled and a very effective communicator. I learned so much from this coach in the short time that I was aboard. I wish that I could share this with our team back home.

The day came to a rather humbling end when in the last minute of my three hours of sweeping. I missed a stroke with my big, long oar and fell overboard. Being so embarrassed, I instantly scurried back aboard hoping no one would notice. As if that's really possible? NOT! I was immediately faced with a barrage of good natured chiding from the paddlers, informing me that, "he who falls off boat must provide beer after practice". Despite my ignoble end, I have been invited back by the team coach to sweep at all of their practices for the month that we are here in Brisbane and we have a dinner invitation by the team coach for next Friday night. What a wonderful way to meet new people!"

So here we stay at Newport Waterways Marina for the next month until we fly home. Mary has decorated the inside of the boat for Christmas and it looks like a winter wonderland.

A winter wonderland aboard Bella Via.