October 19, 2005

OCTOBER 19 , 2005

September 30 - October 2, 2005

Today we traveled a few hours to Cateran Bay on Border Island so that Paul could do some more snorkeling. He found the coral to be not as colourful as at Blue Pearl Bay. We spent another rolly night at anchor and in the morning all of the boats quickly cleared out. We went back to Nara Inlet as we knew we would have a good night's sleep in this all-weather anchorage.

We've already mentioned the beautiful Sulphur-crested Cockatoos several times in this Journal. At Nara Inlet on Hook Island, a cockatoo comes and visits the boats every morning and late afternoon looking for food.




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October 3 - 5, 2005

We moved around to a couple of different anchorages on these three days - to Beach 25 and Chance Bay on Whitsunday Island.

October 6 - 9, 2005

It was back to Airlie Beach for us to have our "third" repaired alternator installed under warranty. We knew that it would be a rolly time at anchor as the winds were predicted to be out of the north. Our alternative would be to pay for a berth at the marina and we did not want to do this. Everything at Airlie Beach is very expensive. So, we rocked and rolled for two days and nights, again thankful that we are not a monohull because the action would have been much worse. On Friday, an electrician came aboard and installed the repaired alternator and checked out the functioning of the watermaker. The watermaker passed the flow-rate test although there is a slight leak in the system and no one has been able to determine the cause.

On Saturday morning we headed in to the outdoor market for fresh fruit and vegetables and shopping at the book exchange booth, and then took the bus to Cannonvale for the remainder of our shopping. Several hours later we returned to the boat by dinghy amidst rolly seas - we, and the groceries, were covered with salt water by the time we arrived at Bella Via. It was quite a challenge to get the bags from the dinghy to the mothership, especially as both boats were pitching wildly. Finally, the dinghy was empty and hauled up onto the dinghy davits. We decided to leave immediately for a calmer anchorage. We left the bags of groceries in the cockpit to be dealt with in a few hours.

As Paul was on the bow putting the anchor away and Mary was steering the boat out of the anchorage, Mary heard a scraping sound and looked over at her garden pot just in time to see it sliding off of the cockpit shelf where it sits when at anchor. Usually we put it down in a safe place when we are traveling but we forgot in our haste to leave. With great dismay, Mary watched the garden fly off of the shelf and land upside down on the starboard steps and the container continued on into the sea. Gone were the lettuce, basil, and chives that we were so carefully tending. We hadn't even posted a picture yet in this Journal because the garden was just starting to thrive.

After we recovered from the garden drama, we put up the spinnaker and had a marvelous fast run down to Gulnare Inlet on Whitsunday Island. It's quite a treat to be surfing the waves at almost 10 knots. Gulnare Inlet is described as an all-weather anchorage and we had a very comfortable two nights at anchor.

October 10 and 11, 2005

We headed south on Monday morning for Bilbob Bay on Shaw Island. This is an anchorage on the south side of the island as the winds continued to come from the north. At Shaw Island we were fortunate to hook up again with cruisers who we had met in Manly, Brisbane and Mooloolaba - Jack and Norma on Egress II (Canadians from Vancouver) and Steve and Betty on Jams (Americans from Texas). It was a pleasure to spend a few days with these two couples and to meet other friends of Steve and Betty. A few good sessions of sundowners were enjoyed by all.

October 12, 2005

From Shaw Island we headed south to Keswick in another great spinnaker run. The Northerlies are definitely here! This is the closest island to the port of Mackay and we were due to pick up some company at Mackay on the 13th. We decided to stay in a little bay that is not marked as an anchorage in our cruising guide, but proved to be a good choice as we had a very comfortable night. Most people who we have met only stay in official anchorages but we like to get away from people and explore different bays.

October 13, 2005

We started off on our 15 mile journey to Mackay at 9 a.m. Geoff and Daphne, our ham radio friends who we met in Rockhampton, were meeting us at the public jetty at noon and coming aboard for a few days.

Half an hour into our travels we were dismayed to hear the port alternator making a shrieking sound! Unbelievable!!! This was the alternator that had just been repaired and had only run for 10 hours. We immediately shut the port engine down and motor sailed with the starboard engine. That meant that we would have to go into the dock at Mackay on one engine if possible. The wind was so strong from the north and pushing us amidships away from the dock that we turned both engines on for a few minutes for better control. With the port engine shrieking louder than before, we tied up at the dock. Geoff and Daphne came aboard and we left with only the starboard engine running.

On the way to Brampton Island where we planned on spending the night, Paul and Geoff pulled out the sick alternator and once again installed the smaller backup alternator. Thank goodness for backups!

We stayed one whole day at Brampton so that we could relax for a bit and then walk the trail that would take us to a resort for ice cream! An enjoyable walk with an enjoyable treat.

October 15, 2005

We set off for Goldsmith Island in the morning after breakfast and had a wonderful sail. Four fishing lines were out but no action on the lures until just as we were making our final approach to the island. All of a sudden, the line on the down rigger triggered with its characteristic "zinggggg" and everyone jumped into action - Mary turned the boat into the wind to slow us down and Geoff furled the headsail. Paul ran to the rod and started trying to reel in the fish. Daphne stood by and followed Paul's orders, which were happening fast and furious. Paul knew right away that he had a big hit - we pulled out the rod holder belt from storage and put it on Paul to help haul in the fish. After a good long fight of at least 30 minutes, Paul and Geoff, taking turns on the rod, finally landed a 9.5 kilogram Bluefin Tuna. This was our first tuna and were we excited! It was another 30 minutes before the fish was filleted and bagged and put away (all of this happens on the trampolines on the bow). We enjoyed some of the tuna that night and found it to be a delightful taste.

We were quite excited when we caught our first Bluefin Tuna. In the next few minutes after this picture was taken, that nice white "Oliver" T-shirt that Paul is wearing became permanently blood-stained across the entire front of the shirt.

October 16 - 19, 2005

We went back to Mackay to drop off Geoff and Daphne and they said goodbye with a promise to visit us again in three or four weeks when we are closer to Rosslyn Bay.

We decided to stay the night at the marina so that we could spend the evening with Jack and Norma from Egress II who had been at the marina for five days. We also wanted to take care of some business on Monday morning - laundry, call the travel agent in Airlie Beach who is arranging our flights home in January, continue discussions with Seawind and Outback Marine about the failed alternator, and fax a letter to Raymarine Inc. about our intermittently failing navigation electronics.

We left the marina at 1 p.m. and sailed to Keswick Island where we have relaxed for two days as well as completed a few of the never-ending boat projects. This afternoon, it will be haircuts on the aft deck.

Tomorrow, we will leave early in the morning and head for either Curlew Island or Middle Percy Island. The final location will be determined when we are on our way.