Fraser Island

Tuesday 28 September, Bundaberg to Big Woody Island

Our planned departure from Bundaberg was delayed until 7am due to thick fog. We still had only about 100m visibility as we left. No wind so we were forced to motor. The fog lifted slightly at 9am before getting thicker again around 10am. We were keeping a constant watch on radar and AIS and also raised our radar reflector. We had 2 yachts and a power boat following us about 2 nm astern but only the power boat was visible on the radar. We had a close encounter with a yacht coming from Fraser but luckily he also had AIS which was very reassuring. The fog finally lifted at 11.30 just before we reached the Fairway Beacon.

Still no sign of wind and with an ebb tide we decided to anchor at Big Woody.

Wednesday 29 September, Big Woody Island to Garry's Anchorage

We timed our trip down the Straits to make the most of the tide. A light NW wind so we raised the spinnaker and carried it most of the way helped by one and a half knots of tide the whole way.

We spent 4 nights at Garry's as there was a strong wind warning with winds SE up to 30 knots. The anchorage is very protected however and we sat with no more than 15 knots most of the time. Met some Lagoon owners who were also waiting for the wind and seas to abate so they could cross the bar.

Sunday 3 October, Garry's to Tin Can Bay

With the SE breezes forecast to hang around for another 3 days we head to Tin Can Bay marina to fill up the fuel and have a look around. It has been 15 years since we came here with our trailable yacht for the Bay to Bays and things have not changed a lot. The dolphin feeding is very popular.

Dinner at Snappers restaurant at the marina was fantastic - we would highly recommend it if you are up this way. Met Rhys and Jennifer from Pittwater at the restaurant and we were lamenting the never ending south easterlies. However by the morning there was a revised forecast and we decided to cut short our stay at Tin Can Bay and head to Pelican Bay in preparation for a bar crossing on Tuesday morning. Print this post