Pastime of Sydney- 2006 Adventures

Hello from Coffs Harbour. We had a fast run down the coast, with excellent assistance from the current. Overall, we sailed 260NM across the ground in 40hrs. We had a lot of ships overtaking us and some the other way so this kept us on our toes. At least 15 ships which is a record for us in such short time.

One whale jumping and plenty of large dolphins.

We had one nasty spell of strong winds- nothing below 30kts for about 9 hours. This kicked up a nasty sea with the occasional large breaking wave (probably because of the current where we were). Vey "wet" making and it meant we became a little sleep deprived.

We made it to the Coffs harbour entrance just as the Southerly arrived- it was quite a few hours ahead of schedule so it was just as well we were also early.

We are anchored in the harbour, there being no room in the marina here. We do not mind because this is one of the "less good: marinas around.

We plan to head for Pittwater on Monday and arrive Wednesday.

Dave & Penny

The wind has eased a little quicker than expected, so we are off to Coffs harbour within the hour (i.e. about 1300). We should be there before noon on Thursday and want to try and beat the next Southerly change.

Dave & Penny

Friends at beautiful Marau Sound at the bottom of Guadalcanal in the Solomon ISlands.

Beautiful Twin Waterfalls in the Banks Islands.

Most dangerous volcano! Only a thin crust separates this freshwater lake from the magma. It was a really tough slog getting to here and we enjoyed swimming in the slightly sulphurous fresh water with puffs of ash coming from the other side.

Friends at Epi who showed us a good view of the nearby volcano (in the background).

Every 10 mins, there would be a huge explosion throwing rocks the size of cars and molten lava 100metres above us (and downwind).

Today, it is six months since we came on board. 5,260NM covered (that's a few hundred kMs short of 10,000kM). We hope to set off for Coffs Harbour Tuesday night and hope to just make it in before the next front comes.

Dave & Penny

We had a pleasant time in Bundaberg. The adverse winds meant plenty of relaxed reading and we did some sightseeing as well. The Bundaberg Port Marina is a great place with a free bus into town and plenty of other facilities. Very enjoyable!

We left early Wednesday the 18th for Fraser Island and the Great Sandy Straits. For our overseas readers, Fraser Island is the largest Sand Island in the world- it's HUGE. We had a great run- current with us the whole way (what a change!) and anchored with plenty of time to fire up the BBQ.

Next morning, we were up early and were able to "ride" the rising tide to the middle of the Great Sandy Straits whereupon we were then able to ride the falling tide from halfway down. Thus, we were able to complete what could have been a ten hour trip in about four and a half hours. We anchored well before lunch right down at the bottom of Fraser Island and made ready for an early departure the next day

Friday, today, we had a fast trip down to Mooloolaba where we will be a few days as another strong Southerly is heading up the NSW Coast. Fortunately we did not head straight from the Great Sandy Straits to Coffs Harbour as we would have been caught about 100NM short. While in Mooloolaba, we hope to fix our autopilot which has been broken for about three months

All the best,

Dave & Penny

We left Rosslyn Bay with high hopes of a great run to Cape Capricorn. We had forecasts from three different sources all saying mild winds and small seas. We had exactly the opposite with winds over 30kts and unpleasant swells and the usual current againbst us

Eventually, things died down somewhat and we finally anchored behind Cape Capricorn. This proved to be a very "Rolly" anchorage and we were up very early next morning to head past Gladstone for a place called Pancake Creek. More strong winds and big seas plus adverse currents! We were not the only people affected with vessels calling up the weather Bureau and asking if they were certain the forcast was right! Anyway, we talked to the Coastguard and a fellow with a huge amount of local knowledge told us of a spot we could safely anchor, North East of Gladstone. We went into this delightful spot and had an enjoyable afternoon and a great night's sleep

Next morning, it was up at 0440 to have enough tide to get out of this good spot. This we did and set off for Pancake Creek. We did have to tack back and forth for ten hours, but conditions were really good. Indeed, by mid afternoon, the conditions were the best they have been for 15 days so we decided to press on to Bundaberg. We had 10 hrs of excellent sailing and the wind died just as we were about to take down the sails. What timing!

We were tied up in a berth here in Bundaberg by 0300. It's a great spot and we can celebrate Penny's birthday in comfort

Next, we'll be off to Fraser Island in a couple of days.

Here we see Penny (on behalf of William) handing over the boxes of educational materials for 24 schools in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands to Beatta Jio. Thanks to Will for the initiative, students of St Leos College Wahroonga for their generosity and to Dr Geoff Painter for getting the boxes to Gizo. By now, most of the schools will have received their boxes.

We have had a pleasant time sitting out the strong winds. Checked out some of the restaurants and yesterday visited Rockhampton.

We visited John and Jennifer Eurell. David and John both worked at the Bureau of Mineral Resources in the 1970s. David left in 1979 to join Prime and John left in 1980 to sail (including around the world). John and Jennifer did just that, returning to Australia in 2002. Jennifer writes for Cruising Helmsman as does Dave and we made contact while they were somewhere in Europe.

So, we had a great afternoon and dinner at the Eurells meeting up after 26 years. They kindly brought us back the 40Km to the boat last night and we slept VERY well.

Tomorrow we set off South again. The first two days could be a little unpleasant as we will yet again be tacking into strongish trade winds and the leftover sea. It should moderate somewhat after that.

We hope to be in Bundaberg or further into the Great Sandy Straight sometime on the weekend. The Sandy Straight is between Fraser Island and the Mainland.

We are feeling the cold somewhat after months in the warm tropics.

All the best,

Dave & Penny

What was forecast to be several days of pleasant Easterly winds changed abruptly with a forecast of a gale warning for where we wanted to be.

So, we hopped up at 0440 on Sunday morning and set sail for an "overnighter" to Rosslyn Bay Marina in Yeppoon. This is near the Keppel Islands. Things went really well with a breezy and fast start.

Unfortunately, the wind died away in the middle of the passage so we had to motor for 14hrs. This is the most motoring we have done since leaving Gizo. Still, it's not a problem as we have used hardly any diesel fuel so far.

This time, we got the better of the current and managed to come out slightly "in front" by the time we arrived in Rosslyn Harbour at around 0600 this morning.

It's hard to imagine that gale force winds are forecast for just a few short hours from now. Indeed, the barometer has not budged at all so perhaps the weather bureau is in cahoots with the Mazrina here to entice all the boats into it? Anyway, we're happy to be here after eight days of sailing every day and we can replenish the bread and fresh fruit which have run out.

Yesterday and today we had fine displays of whales leaping out of the water and wagging their tails above the surface. Our first dolphin (since arriving back in Townsville) visited us this morning.

Every day since we arrived back in Oz has been sunny, blue skies, beautiful sunrises and sunsets. So, we are due to a bit of rain and howling winds. Ah well, someone has to do it........

See you,

Dave & Penny .

Note the armchair for comfortable fishing!

We enjoyed a pleasant few days here at Liapari before departing for Australia

Log reads 4,850NM.

Over the past three days, we have sailed through the Whitsundays to a beautiful, but stark, island South East of Mackay. We have learned that at this time of full moon, we need to get up at 04:45AM and get going quickly so that we can have the strong tidal currents flowing with us most of the time.

Not much to report other than beautiful days, fantastic sunrises and sunsets, giant sea turtles and beautiful scenery. Finally, we have a few days of Easterly winds so we are making the most of them. Perhaps we should just sail overnight to really get some miles in before a strong Southerly change hits on Tuesday.

We'll think about it over a glass or two of chilled white wine and barbecued Mackeral.

Dave & Penny

Log sent on 4/10/06

Upstart was a surprisingly pleasant place. This time we anchored near the headland rather than deep in the bay. It started off being really hard slog from Upstart to Gloucester Island. We had the usual knot of current against us and the wind coming from where we wanted to go.

The day before, we had hooked something big on the fishing line. Indeed, it was too big to drag in and finally bent the hooks and escaped. Perhaps it is just as well! Just past Cape Upstart, we hooked a very good Mackeral, weighing over 10Kg. David filletted it and Penny stowed it away in the 'fridge. The Mackeral will keep us fed for many days.

About 11:30AM, there was a very welcome wind shift which greatly helped our progress. We still had half a knot of current against us and could not make the course, but at least one tack was much more favourable.

It was a very rough passage and when we came to start the engine about an hour out from Gloucester Isla