Northward bound at last

Friday, 26 July 2013
Having spent the last few weeks reading cruising stories on Skipr.net it was good to finally leave the pontoon today to begin what has become our annual trip north to warmer waters.

Farewell from Mum

We have joined the inaugural RQYS Keppel Cruising Yacht Rally so our first leg was a short trip up to RQ for the farewell cocktail party. Good friends Kel and Lois have joined us for the rally as far as Bundaberg.

There are 14 participants, 11 power boats and 3 sailing boats with Phase2 the only catamaran. Rally organisers have set up a blog site keppelcruisingrally2013.blogspot.com.au which has lots of good photos.

Saturday, 27 July 2013 - Manly to Mooloolaba
We left RQ about 0830 for the 52nm to Mooloolaba in a light south wester. We had the spinnaker up for a couple of hours, sailed with genoa for a few hours and motor sailed in the generally light breezes.

Sunset over the Sunshine Coast

We sailed up past Bribie and anchored in the pond at 1845.

A couple of boats elected to sail through to Double Island Point to await the morning tide. We weren't surprised to later hear they had spent an uncomfortable night in the easterly swell.

Sunday, 28 July 2013 - Mooloolaba to Tin Can Bay
Our decision to stop at Mooloolaba meant a 0400 start to get to the Wide Bay Bar before the top of the tide at 1230. A 20 knot wind that oscillated between E and SE meant we had 1 or 2 reefs in most of the day. The 2m seas were bigger than we normally like when crossing the bar but we were sailing quite comfortably and we had heard on the radio that conditions were ok to cross. Big swells off Double Island Point had us all anxious about the crossing which turned out to be quite uneventful. Berths had been arranged for us all at the Tin Can Bay Marina where we enjoyed a delicious seafood BBQ. Tales of woe from some participants whose boats had not enjoyed the boisterous conditions.

Monday, 29 July 2013 - Tin Can Bay to Kingfisher Bay Resort

Crew get to steer in the rain!

A late start so we cross the shallows on high tide and another great dinner at the resort. We are enjoying the company of lots of new people and rally organisers are doing a great job. Trivia sheets for each leg have us wracking our brains and help to pass the time.








Tuesday, 30 July 2013 - Kingfisher Bay to Bundaberg
Another early start for the 50 nm to Bundy. It was a beautiful day and once the southerly breeze picked up and we cleared the fairway beacon we raised the spinnaker which we carried all the way to Bundaberg.

Rous Explorer passed close by and got some great photos for us. We are anchored in the river by 1500.

The Prince's Block

Friday, 28 June 2013 - RQYS
We were surprised and honoured to be presented the Prince's Block trophy at the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron Cruising awards night. This is presented for a "Cruise of Merit" in the previous year and our trip to the Louisiades got the nod this year. The large wooden block includes a lot of illustrious previous winners including David Beard (first solo non-stop circumnavigation of Australia) and Petrea Heathwood (well known contributor to Cruising Helmsman).

Now we just need a boat big enough for the block!