Slow boat to Cleveland

Lady Musgrave Island to Raby Bay
Monday, 6th to Saturday, 18th November, 2017
With a south easterly expected on Tuesday, we left Lady Musgrave for the shelter of the Sandy Straits. A 0540 start was not early enough, as we were second last to leave the lagoon.

The race is on to leave the lagoon

We set a course for the Fairway Buoy in a NE wind that went through N to NW as the day progressed. We were able to set the spinnaker at 1030 and sailed all day in wind from 10 to 20 knots. After dropping the spinnaker at sunset, we sailed down the straits under genoa with 2 knots of tidal assistance. We anchored at Bookar Island at 2200 after 103nm.

On Tuesday, we headed to Garry's Anchorage to meet up with Joule and Casablanca. Tuesday night a number of storms rolled through the area, blowing out the wind gauge at Double Island Point when it went above 60 knots. They also caused a lot of damage in the Bundaberg region, including a Downunder Rally boat that was holed and sunk at the marina.

A hike with Helen and Lester

We spent 4 nights at Garry's waiting for the SE winds to ease before heading to Tin Can Bay for a change of scenery. We spent a quiet night at Smoogers Point, before being squeezed into the marina on the work dock for 2 nights. The marina was full of boats waiting like us for some wind other than SE. We enjoyed fresh prawns from the co-op and rode the bikes out to Cooloola Cove one day to the supermarket.

Eventually the wind and seas eased and we moved to Pelican Point to be ready for an early high tide crossing of the bar. 25 boats including 7 Seawinds crossed on Wednesday morning with an easterly breeze the best we could expect for a while. Lester (Joule) surprised Warren by singing Happy Birthday to him at 0430 as they motored past. Our 0500 start made us second last to leave (thanks Casablanca).

Follow the leader

The crossing was uneventful and after clearing the bar we pulled out the genoa and after a couple of tacks to clear Double Island Point, we headed for Mooloolaba. The breeze stayed in the east most of the day, and squalls made for an interesting day's sail. We enjoyed catching up with friends in Mooloolaba, more fresh seafood and a body surf every morning.

Joule looking good against Mount Coolum

Unfortunately our planned week at Mooloolaba was cut to 3 nights as Saturday was the last day with a northerly for the final leg to Raby Bay. This turned out to be our worst day of the trip. It was cold, wet and windy. Lots of squalls before the wind eased and we had to motor the last few miles home.

So another trip has come to an end and we start to think about what 2018 might have in store for us. Print this post