Heading for Home

Date: 2nd May 2025

Location: Gladstone Marina, Queensland

On our way home!

Well, this is pretty weird. Leaving Scarborough to travel up the east coast of Australia actually felt for the first time that we set sail for home.

Yes, we've finally left the comfort zone that was Scarborough. What a great marina and especial thanks to Richard, Teri and the yard team. 12 miles motoring into the wind across Moreton Bay to Bribie Island for the first night out. And what a night. Thunder, lightning, 45 knots and a boat almost dragging into us in the rain and darkness. Man, it's great to be back on the water!

First night out. 55k thunderstorm. White dot is us!

Since New Zealand it's been a bit of everything. We hired a car with Meraki to get groceries for the trip to Indonesia and beyond, to transport 5 litre containers of engine oil, to collect our new sail bag and to use as a general run around. As we got off the bus to collect the car it absolutely threw it down. My red jacket isn't waterproof after all I found.

Anyway the aft toilet is fixed (bigger circuit breaker), the engine is serviced (including a full tear down of the primary fuel filter), the workshop has been reorganised (new hooks for ropes), Port seat repaired, mast climbed and rigging checked, new house batteries installed and hull cleaned by a couple of divers.

Meanwhile Gill has been stocking up. The big grocery prize she won at Christmas has been completely used up and we had the usual "not more food, where are you going to put it all" gripe from me. OK, it does all seem to have gone somewhere in the boat. She's also been making covers and bags for various items now I have finally fixed the sewing machine. Thank you Mr YouTube.

So plenty to keep us busy but not crazy busy. That gave us a some time to see a bit more of south Queensland before departing northwards. We decided we must organise 'things to do' in advance otherwise we would just stay at the marina doing more jobs.

First up was a visit to Brisbane, on the 50 cents anywhere by train in Queensland, a first for Kevin and Shawna. There was a big exhibition about the sinking of the Titanic. 'Immersive' was the word they used for it I think though that sounds a bit dodgy for the story of a sinking ship. It was a good way to spend a couple of rainy hours though before a trip down the Brisbane River and lunch at the excellent Felons brewery.

On the City Cat. A wet day in Brisbane.

My outing was altogether more risky. On my birthday back in New Zealand and after sharing a rare bottle of wine with Gill I was lying in the cold tent with Gill asleep next to me. As I scrolled through Facebook I saw an ad for a show by Bob Geldof in Brisbane the following month. I followed a link, "only a few seats left, book now". I clicked and booked four of the few remaining seats. I went to sleep happy. Next morning I realised what I had done. The classic scam. Don't click on a Facebook link and don't purchase in the heat of the moment especially if there's only a few tickets left. Gulp. What have I done. The money had left my account but no confirmation email. Ah well, it's done now. Hopefully it's all above board. I'll make it a surprise for them. A few weeks later I start getting confirmation emails so it's looking good. We drove in to Brisbane, had a fantastic vegan Mexican meal  and made our way to the venue. No billboards, nothing. And then a tiny sign and we were in. It was then I came clean and told them this story. As it turned out it was a great night. Bob came on and talked solidly for three and a half hours about his childhood, his marriage and of course Live Aid. A few songs too. He's pretty coarse, in fact his show was titled "Life, What the Fuck" but we all had a great night out.

Next it was back to Noosa. Rose and Ian wanted a night off dog sitting to visit their son in Brisbane so we arranged to drive up to theirs to look after Hunter and Luna. Kevin was still fitting his new folding prop so they came up the following day by train. I got to drive Ian's Tesla which was a bit disconcerting as it kept wanting to drive itself but we climbed Mount Ninderry again and started planning the next stage of our journey. Rose and Ian came back, we went to the beach and for a Thai meal in the evening. Next day on the way back to Scarborough we stopped off in the Glasshouse Mountains and another great view over Moreton Bay. Thanks R&I for another lovely break.

Last chance to catch the impressive Glasshouse Mountains.

Shawna. At Rose and Ian's with Hunter and Luna.

It was only a couple of weeks later that we got this picture from Rose. See if you can spot the slippery visitor on the deck. Pythons though are pretty common in their area and its said that if you have a python in your attic you won't have any mice or rats. Hmm.

Two weeks later at Rose's. Spot the vertical python!

And then it was time for goodbyes including a memorable evening at Frank and Nikki's house with Bob and Bev who we'd met in the Pacific. Nikki's story off stripping off on Frank's boat on their first date was well received and not only by Frank.

Before that big thunderstorm on our first night out we had a beautiful sunset to remind us all of what we had been missing. It's always a wrench (or is it a spanner [N American/European in joke]) to leave the marina but once you're out there again you wonder why you left it so long.

Tranquillity before the thunderstorm.

Yeah. Finally out of the marina.

So the first target was Wide Bay Bar at the bottom of Fraser Island. That's the Fraser Island that biosecurity sent us outside on our arrival here eighteen months ago because of our termite issue. This time we wanted to go inside as Meraki had done on their way down. Now, Wide Bay Bar has a reputation as one of the trickiest bar crossings on the east coast. You need to hit it on a rising to full tide with wind less than 15 knots and a swell of less than 1.5m. To get there was a long overnight sail and with shallow water around the tides were key. Unfortunately high water that week was early in the morning and in the evening so for several days it was leave at around 4.00am which meant waking at 3.30am and setting off in the dark, getting to the bar just as it was getting light. We made a first stop at Double Island Bay and settled down in the calm to await the next morning and our crossing of the bar.

Fraser Island. Wide Bay Bar entrance at the bottom.

By 6.30 we were at the bar with just enough light to see what was happening. The swell was OK but as we turned to line ourselves up for the entrance a squall came through and it blew over 20 knots for the next 40 minutes as we negotiated the bar. It was lively to say the least. Breaking waves on both sides of us with a not entirely obvious way through. The local Coastguard had provided us with waypoints to steer to and we pretty much stuck to them following Meraki in ably steered by Shawna. By 8am we were through and into the calm waters behind the bar. The next day would require another high water three hours after our start so we anchored in the shallows surrounded by shoals with pelicans sitting on them. Phew. Good to have that behind us.

The notorious Wide Bay Bar on a grim dawn......

....but it could have been much worse. Another sailor's view of Wide Bay Bar!

The next target was the famous Kingfisher resort where we hoped to finally get a bit of rest and relaxation. But to get there we had another tricky, early morning passage up through the shallows behind Fraser Island. We motored and sailed happily through most of the route. But when we got to the crux where the water was only just deep enough for us even at high water I made an error. We wiggled our way through and more by luck than judgement we avoided hitting the sand bank - though a shallowing 40cm under the keel was a wee bit stressful. 

Every number is a change of direction. Need to concentrate.

Kingfisher Resort is pretty up market but if you walk boldly in they are happy to turn a blind eye to cruisers. And indeed there we met the Swedish sailors we had spent time with at Christmas in Sydney. But more to the point we also met up with Paul and Sue from Meridian Passage, Australian sailors from down near Melbourne that had spent the summer with us up in Scarborough. After a loud reunion with them we decided to hire a 4x4 the following day and explore the island. 

We were anchored off the resort in swirling, reversing tidal currents which kept throwing us close to one of the Swedish boats entailing several re-anchoring attempts. Additionally we returned from our visit to the resort to find the tide had come right in stranding the dinghies well offshore. Kevin and Paul gamely swam out on rescue missions before we all met up on Mehalah for sundowners. Swimming in muddy water at dusk where shark attacks are not unknown? Maybe not the best decision!

Fraser Island is most famous for two things. The drive along its Pacific Coast beach and dingoes. We wanted to see both. And we did. What a day. Great fun to be driving off road again. Three drivers each with a driver's licence from a different continent.

The wild Pacific Coast of Fraser Island.

The team. We never stopped laughing.

Shipwreck.

Shady lunch stop.

Shawna and Sue drifting downstream in the sunshine.

And at the end of the day - a dingo. Lean, fit and mean. You do have to be a bit careful of them. Don't walk alone, watch out for children, if camping only camp in a fenced camp site if you have anyone under 14 with you.

At last. A dingo.

It was brilliant day which worked well for all of us. Sue and Paul wouldn't have done it without us and we really enjoyed their company and they helped to keep costs down. A memorable day all round. [As it happens it seems both of our daughters separately made the same trip many years ago during their respective gap years].

The wind turned north westerly pushing us onto land so we opted for another early start and a push towards Gladstone where we could shelter from even stronger winds and await our respective visitors. Meraki have friends flying out from Canada and Ian (of Ian and Rose) will be joining us. But first we have to get to Gladstone. We had a great sail to our interim destination of Bundaberg. It was here eighteen months ago that we first landed in Australia and realised we had sailed halfway round the world. The only fly in the ointment was an odd swishing sound that seemed to be coming from the lagged exhaust pipe in the engine compartment. Ignore it, perhaps it will go away. That evening we discussed N America, and particularly Canadian, politics as it is general election time there at present (stop press: liberals win another term with Bank of England Mark Carney leading them).

Next day, yet another early morning had us making the 65 mile passage to Pancake Creek. Nice sailing again to start but when the engine went on again it was obvious the exhaust had a problem. Much swishing, hot exhaust, CO in the saloon. Not good. And to make things worse there were bush fires all around us. Indeed at one stage it looked as though there was one actually in the night's anchorage. Anyway we finally limped into the gorgeous Pancake Creek and spent a very quiet night. I bound some additional exhaust lagging around the worst area and hoped for the best next day.

Approaching Pancake Creek. Hopefully that fire is far away?

Only 30 miles to go to Gladstone and we motored and motor sailed just about all the way. Gill was very tense but all was well as we made our way to the marina passing numerous big ship docks on the way. Smaller boats like ours have a special approach channel keeping us away from the coal, aluminium and LPG shipping plying up and down the water. Of course just as we made the last turn into the marina a tourist boat came out causing us to throttle back and keep well to the inside of the bend.

Gladstone is a busy and rich port. The marina is paid for by Gladstone Docks with grassy surrounds, modern facilities and even classical music piped in to the toilet block! We are safely tied up now and just awaiting the arrival of Ian in a few hours. The exhaust has been stripped of its lagging and indeed the pipework was in two pieces. Amazingly within 10 minutes of arriving some Americans had called on Kevin and Shawna having seen their large (VERY large) Canadian flag flying as we approached. They of course knew the best welder in the marina and once we had removed the exhaust it is now with him to make the repair. We will need some new lagging so Gill and I spent the morning walking the 30 minutes to Napa to collect their last roll only to find they didn't have one after all. Grrr. Still Mufflers across the road had one roll which is now on board Mehalah awaiting the repaired exhaust.

So now we wait and are dependent on the weather. The wind is ramping up and the forecast not good. Not ideal for guests who would like to get out to the Whitsundays. We shall see.

Oh dear. One broken exhaust. Spot the crack on the join.

Industrial Gladstone.

We're getting near to the tropics again.