Phase2: 2022 Cruise North - Raby Bay to Fraser Island

Saturday 16 July to Tuesday, 26 July 2022

It is getting colder so it is definitely time to head north. It has been a bad year weather wise with lots of wind and rain and we are looking forward to more sunshine as we venture up the coast.

Our big upgrade this year was new solar panels - 2 x 400 watt (up from 2 x 175w) which we hope will make us less dependent on the generator. This was done by the Sig-Tech team during our June haulout at Boatworks.

Family send off

We headed off on Saturday with all the family there to wave us off. The light winds meant we had to motor most of the way to Mooloolaba. Normally we would wait for better conditions, but with an East Coast low forecast for the next week we decided that we would sit that out inside Fraser Island. At least we would be on our way after a busy last few weeks.

Sunshine and blue skies for the start of the trip

The Mooloolaba bar had been dredged and we had plenty of water on the centre line. We spent Monday anchored in the Pond and did some last minute shopping for forgotten items, fresh bread and prawns.

On Monday we had an early start (0400!!) and 2 sail reached and motored up the coast to cross the Wide Bay Bar just after high tide at 1400 in good conditions. We then motored up the Straits against the tide to finally anchor at Garry's Anchorage just on dark.

Garry's popular spot to sit out the weather

We had a couple of windy days before the rain set in. It poured non stop for over 2 days with zero sun for our new panels. Plenty of wind but to accommodate the new panels we had to remove our wind generator. As soon as the sun reappeared they had the batteries back at 100% however.

Glad to see the sun again

We enjoyed a couple of walks with the crew of Skeddadle, and were pleased not to encounter any dingoes.

After 5 nights at Garry's, we motored up to cross over the shallows at Sheridan Flats about 2 hours before high tide. We had a nice quiet night at Yankee Jack Creek before leaving early the next day to take the tide up to Hawk Nest.

Practice setting the storm jib

Warren caught some fish and I enjoyed a walk up to Coongul Creek. I carried a stick after seeing some big dingo prints in the sand.

Entrance to Coongul Creek

On Monday, we headed into the Great Sandy Straits marina at Urangan. We had not been here before and enjoyed 2 nights - restocking the fresh food and doing laundry etc.

We enjoyed a 30km ride on the Mary to Bay Rail Trail. It is an impressive piece of cycling infrastructure that passes shops, schools and the hospital. Kudos to the Fraser Coast Regional Council.