Thursday (5th) was cool – around 15 degrees, and we caught a bus into town from the marina bus stop. On the way in, at a red light, the driver leapt from his seat and hurried down the bus towards us holding out a small package. “Here is our timetable”, he said “I knew you were from out of town because you are not wearing jackets!”. Wandered around town – it is quite large because Gladstone is the second largest industrial city in Qld after Brisbane, voted to save time, and maybe a fine, later, and then back ‘home’ where we had dinner with David and Brenda and a friend of theirs, Brett, who owns 5 optometist practices around Qld and occasionally employs David as a locum when needed. Brett was heading out for a week’s skiing in NZ and then back home for a week before a 5-6 week camping tour through central and northern Australia.

6th  to 8th were lovely fine and sunny days with a cool breeze, we did chores (slowly!) and wandered around the town and marina, bought new oil and fuel filters ready for next engine service, and on Sunday 8th we had BBQ dinner with David and Brenda in the park. We are obviously slowing down a bit!! – although it must be noted that the town is a couple of Km away up a fairly long steep hill.

Monday 9th was sunny but with occasional showers. We had the dinghy motor serviced ready for expected serious usage in the islands later. Went to town for shopping and bought a set of a bathroom scales to use to weigh the anchor, because weight is critical and we had no idea of its weight – turned out to be 15.6 Kg, about 38lb, just the right size for Jess. Messing around on the walkway of the marina attracted the attention of Reece and Nola from “Joe Cool”, a new 43′ Storebro (look it up George!) cruiser made in Sweden (and very nice, too!). Reece introduced us to the use of a “halter” when anchoring – a pair of ropes leading from cleats on the deck on each side of the boat to a hook attached to the anchor chain about 3 metres in front of the boat. We explained that Warwick’s splicing “ability” was questionable, so Reece taught him to splice. Spent the next 2 days manufacturing a tailored harness for Jess. Life continued along this chore-doing, socialising pattern for the next few days during which we caught up with Donald and Kath from “Bliss” and met Vince, Emma and their 2 children Laura and Raymond – yacht “Sorceress”, including one evening when all of those mentioned so far in Gladstone gathered for a BBQ in the park.

Saturday 14th was fine sunny and cool with a light W breeze and we set off for Black Swan Island to stay overnight before tackling “The Narrows” – a challenging little waterway on the way north. It is obviously narrow, but it is also very shallow and with our predilection for brief stretches of land travel in Jess we knew we would have to be extra careful! We didn’t make Black Swan Island – NO! Not because we ran aground, but because we found Graham Creek – a beautiful (of course!!) little creek which offered peaceful protected place to stay. ABC TV at night (The Bill!)

Sunday 15th fine clear sunny morning with no cloud and no wind, about 15 degrees. We timed our run to make the most of tidal help and had a magic trip through The Narrows, without touching the sides or the bottom, though in some places either or both seemed likely. Scenery was low scrub and some cattle areas, very pleasant but not quite breathtaking. We exited into Keppel Bay and found a 1 metre swell which made travel uncomfortable – at least we thought it was until we anchored and spent the night in the lee of Hummocky Island – THEN we learnt what “uncomfortable” meant! The boat pitched and rolled and the seas banged and crashed against the hull all night. Anything not bolted down was dislodged, which wasn’t much on Jess except a couple of light plastic serving trays which fell from the cupboard top in the galley onto the lovely black glass lid on the gas stove, shattering it into a zillion pieces – it was safety glass and you know what car windows do.

We didn’t hang around Hummocky for long, which in hindsight was a pity because it is a pretty little island, but I think we just wanted to go on our way to Great Keppel Island (or GKI as the locals call it). So Monday found us on a beautiful sunny 22 degree morning with a slight breeze and gentle swell cruising between islands through brilliant clear blue water on a 3 hour run to GKI. Had a walk on the lovely white sand on the beach and then a little siesta to make up for last night. A 40′ motor sailor (motor cruiser with mast and small

sail) “Cool Change” (tell the Collins’s) anchored nearby and Kath (Bliss) rang to arrange a meeting on the beach in the morning. TV quite broken, so watched DVD and then a quiet, calm, peaceful night.

Tuesday we met Kath and Donald and walked across the island. The old main resort is now closed (I think the owners are letting it fall apart so they can get approval to build a new mega resort which will destroy the current secluded nature), so we had a snack lunch at a beaut little kiosk, chatted to the owner of a small shop and learnt a lot about the island because she has lived here for 38 years on and off. Then we walked back around the foreshore. Back on Jess we noticed an elderly man rowing a dinghy with an outboard motor past us. In reply to our query he replied that the motor had seized but he didn’t need any help. However, 15 minutes later, he was still rowing and there were no boats nearby, so we launched our dinghy and towed him to shore where he was headed. He turned out to be Bob from “Vitamin Sea” – a 42′

yacht which we had seen many times on this journey.

18th, Fine cloudy 23 degrees, morning tea with Kath and Donald in their boat which was high and dry up a creek (by design, not accident) and then cruised around to the South side of the island for protection from the northerly winds forecast overnight. Thursday morning, heavy fog which didn’t clear until 11, when we found that we were alone in a magnificent sunlit emerald green sea. Had a walk along the beach, rescued 3 starfish, and set off for Rosslyn Bay. Gentle smooth trip to the marina where we caught up with Kath and Donald for dinner and arranged a joint usage of the courtesy car for the morning. (The marina have a car which is available to tenants for two hours without charge). There was a major fishing competition coming up over the weekend so the place was beginning to jump.

Friday and Saturday big, BIG shop in Yeppoon because few shops for next 200 miles. Picked up mail (thanks, Pol), met Merv and Kath from “Cool Change” and caught up with Alan and Jill (“Sienna” we met at Bundaberg). We wandered around fishing comp crowd, watched the weighing – some BIG fish – and generally relaxed, although Warwick did do some maintenance on Jess. Met Errol and Colleen from “Cool Kat”, a large catamaran which they had had stolen from its mooring on the Gold Coast twice in three days!

Thieves did some damage which has only just become apparent and they need to have fixed. Watched the election on ABC at night – what a cliff-hanger!

Sunday 22nd: fine, cloudy, bit of a breeze. Said “Cheerio” to Kath and Donald, refuelled and set off for Port Clinton. Uncomfortable trip due to swell hitting us at wrong angle. Autopilot again (or still) failed so it was “hands-on” all the way. Interested in the quite dense population north of Yeppoon, didn’t realise it was such a large town. Had a great experience steering between Cape Manifold and an unnamed island just offshore. In about 20 metres of water, but with cliffs and rocks each side. Came out the other end like a slingshot! Saw 2 whales quite close, but seas were too lumpy to make a U-turn to have a closer look.

Entered Port Clinton and anchored in a quiet well-protected spot just 1140 Km north of Berowra Waters.

We are now approaching serious Great Barrier Reef country.

Love to all – Karen and Warwick

coffee!) and Helen in the marina office (owner with hubby Wes) – both friendly, helpful people.

Warwick put the first coat of varnish on the bridge wheel.

Monday 26th left Hervey Bay (tentatively!) and headed for Bundaberg, an 8-hr run by our calculations, so left at 7:30 and went in a straight line, mainly out of sight of land. Bit roughish but OK, though basically boring apart from a visit by a pod of dolphins. Reached Port Bundaberg at 3:30. Marina staff very customer oriented, except bus driver – more later.

Next day was day of rest – we seem to need one after each day of travel, then on Wednesday it was dull and overcast with some light rain so we caught the marina courtesy bus to town, shopping, picked up mail (thanks Pol) and booked on a tour of Town of 1770 and Lady Musgrave Island for Saturday. Bundaberg bigger than Maryborough – in fact, quite a large rural centre based on sugar cane until recently but now moving into macadamia nuts in a big way. At marina found a lovely Halvorsen-style  (Tapestry) had moored near us and met Patrick and Mary from Glebe (Sydney suburb for info of O/S people).

Thursday 29th dawned fine clear and sunny. Significant day for us – we took our summer clothes out of vacuum packs and put our winter ones away (sorry, Sydney-siders!!). Then on Friday we went on a tour of the Bundaberg Rum distillery. Tour started unpromisingly- we had booked it through the marina office, but the very unfriendly bus driver had not caught up with that, so drove to town where she expected us to get off. Now, public transport in Bundaberg is close to non- existent, so we pointed out that the office had told us we would be dropped at the distillery. WELL!!

Did she perform! Drove us back there – it was about half way back to the marina – nearly had three prangs on the way, and ungraciously dumped us there. We, of course, were effusive in our thanks! (Hee. Hee. Hee) Interesting, enjoyable tour, bought a bottle of liqueur rum (one of our chosen two free tastings)

Now, getting back to the marina became exciting. Given that the distillery is the major contributor to the economy, buying most of the sugar, and providing huge financial input, and given that there ain’t much else to see, we assumed (bad word!) that a local bus would run there during the day – wrong! We had to walk a couple of K’s to the main road to catch a bus, but our timetable from the marina told us we would have about an hour to wait, and there was very little in this area. Luckily – very – a cab came along and we hailed it to the marina. That cost $35 which becomes significant later. Rested in afternoon ready for Happy Hour at night. Met up with Donald and Kath (“Bliss” from

Mooloolaba) and met John and Cate (“Meridian” – Beneteau yacht) and Allan and Jill “Oasis” yacht).

Very pleasant night.

Saturday – up at 5:30 to be picked up by bus for trip to 1770. Very lucky because the lass in the booking office in town could not see how we could get on the tour from the marina, because it is a long way from the start, but she persisted until she learnt that the driver lived nearby, so arranged with him to pick us up on his way to work – lucky! This bus driver very friendly and knowledgeable guy named Chris Roth who has lived in the area for most of his life – in fact, his family had a lot of land which they farmed until the developers bought most of it. Don’t think he needed the money from driving a bus or driving farm machinery which he also does. Anyway, good 2 hour trip to Town of 1770, This is where Captain Cook made his second landing in Australia after his first in Botany Bay. They have tried to make the most of this historical accident with their tourism. It used to be called 1770 but when 4 digit postcodes were introduced they had to change it to The Town of 1770. There’s not much there except a caravan park and a pub, so we climbed aboard the tourist ferry – a large catamaran which takes about 130 passengers, though there were only 88 on our trip. Chris told the captain Allan that we were boaties interested in travelling the area, so we were immediately invited onto the bridge where we spent the 75 minute trip being educated on the local waterways and the details of journeying to Lady Musgrave Island. This was terrific for us, because it was one reason we had gone tourist rather than take Jess there – we wanted local knowledge. As an aside, it was also cheaper than taking Jess! The day was picture perfect and we enjoyed snorkelling (equipment included in trip cost), viewing the reef through underwater windows in a small boat, having a guided tour around the island, eating morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea.

Snorkelling taught Warwick that if he wants to continue to travel “within easy swimming distance of land” then he best buy a 4WD!. Back to 1770 with another educational lesson from Allan. He is a whale nut so when we saw some breaching he set off for a closer look. Had his crew on lookout duty on various parts of the boat and followed their shouts and pointings as though he was in a dinghy! Back to 1770, a bit late, onto the bus with Chris and back to the marina by around 8:30 – BIG DAY! But not over – met Donald and Kath as we reached the moorings who told us they had hired a car at the marina for $35 for 24 hours – remember our cab fare? They had just lent it to another yachtie who, having come out of hospital with his broken elbow, had his 4 y.o. son swallow a lead sinker, and the hospital had said “bring him now – do not wait until morning”. Isn’t boating fun?

1st August and no rest – up at 5:30 for the trip to Pancake Creek (don’t you just love that name?).

By 6;30 the Coursemaster autopilot had failed, which meant hands on steering for the whole trip, and this was not helped by the fact that we had no charts for this part of our voyage – not because we are slack, but because there aren’t any! Can you believe that? The next chart starts just north of Gladstone. Again, a long straight run out of sight of land for a major part, but through some of the darkest, bluest sea we have ever seen. Entrance to the creek is a little tricky, but very well marked. Said Hi to Patrick and Mary who were anchored there and they came over for drinks later.

Monday and sleep in – after two big days for us. Fine warm sunny morning (what was left of it!) and wonderfully clear water. Lot of noise from the anchor chain, but it was quite safe, so figured it was just moving across some of the small rocks on the bottom. Warwick fitted a “snubber” – bit of rope taking the strain off the chain and stopping it behaving like a cello string, which solved the problem. Wonderful spot, wonderful day – it looked as though all the Queensland tourist brochures use photos from here and just put other places names on them! More power boats than sail, which was a first. Out of range of mobile phones and TV, which sounds idyllic, and was for a while, but we need phones to get weather information, so it lost its novelty. Drinks with Patrick and Mary on Tapestry and an early night.

Tuesday morning, crossed our fingers and left the beautiful Pancake Creek en route to Gladstone.

We are there now, but this is getting far too long, so will continue from here next time.

Love to all,

Karen and Warwick

Tuesday we set sail for Bribie Island at around 7 on a fine overcast morning about 17 degrees with a very light breeze. It had rained overnight, but cleared during the day to become fine and sunny.

Three large cargo ships passed in front of us because we were using one of the designated shipping channels. The water was so glassy smooth that Karen decided to have a shower while we cruised along. You don’t do that in the usual wavy conditions! Reached Bongaree on Bribie at 11:30 and dropped anchor – did this three times then were happy it was done well. Watched TV at night – our new set gives a great picture from 7 TV and 22 Digital TV channels, though it breaks up a bit if Jess swings around. As some of you will know, anchorage at Bribie is very convenient to the shopping centre and caravan park ( laundry facilities ), so we stocked up on essentials – food and liquid refreshments.

Wednesday, and a 5 hour run to Mooloolaba, one of our favourite spots (well, it used to be!). It was a roughish trip, but not too bad. As usual, the day was fine with a cool breeze and around 16 to 20 degrees – quite pleasant (especially when compared to Sydney weather!). Watched SoO (big footy match for those not in the know) and settled in for a bit of a stay. Warwick wanted to have a mechanic look for a possible fuel leak that he suspected existed but couldn’t find. Thought it would be a good idea to have the mechanic do an engine service so Warwick could learn because all services to date had to be done by an approved mechanic for warranty. Also wanted the outboard serviced because it was having little hissy fits with the gears.

Thursday we went to the chandlery as advised by Alan Lucas and asked for referrals to mechanics.

Trevor was very helpful and gave us 2 diesel and one outboard names. Rang the outboard guy a few times over the next couple of days but couldn’t make contact – possible that school holidays had an impact on this. Did reach Ian Coward who promised to come soon. We also learnt that Wayne, our contact from last time who built Jess has moved to Noosa, so made a note to catch up with him sometime. During this time it got quite windy.

Next few days we did some walking, a few odd jobs on Jess, caught a bus to Narooma to have a look and generally fiddle-faddled around. Monday we rang Ian who said he would service the engine on Tuesday. It was a beautiful day so we took the dinghy for a run along one of the creeks to where we could beach it and walk to Whitworths (big boat bits shop). Bought a few things and wandered back to Jess. It was a time of exceptional tides, the local paper carried warnings to waterfront house owners to prepare for water entry.

Tuesday – Ian due to do engine service, but early phone call to say he had had an accident on Monday and badly damaged his foot so may not be able to do job, however he had a couple of high quality backups if necessary. Well, it did become necessary, so we rang Graham Mallett who arranged to come on Wednesday morning. We took the dinghy and went ashore to town to get mail (thanks, Polly) and do a couple of little jobs. Came back to the dinghy one hour later  and  – no Jess! Gone! Really! It is a credit to modern medicine and healthy living that neither of us had a heart attack! We set off to where she had been (I think we were in denial!) and spotted her anchored some 400 metres from where we had left her. Made enquiries and gradually learnt that Jess had dragged her anchor and headed for some rocks but a nearby sailor (Geoff) leapt into his dinghy and got on board and saved her! Meanwhile, Kath and Donald on ‘Bliss’ a brand new 30′

MacGregor yacht rang the Water Police who just happened to be very close and they towed Jess away and re-anchored her. Terry in ‘Evelyn’ told us about Geoff, but he had gone and only comes down on Weds and Fridays. Why Jess wandered away after being in the one place through high winds and big tides over the previous four or five days remains a mystery!

Thursday dawned fine clear and sunny. We got the boat ready for Graham to service, which all went very well. He found a couple of very small fuel leaks, but Warwick decided later that the problem lay with the unused fuel returning to the tank when the engine is running. It all returns to the starboard tank, but fuel is drawn from both tanks. This results in the starboard tank overflowing as fuel is pumped from both tanks, through the engine and back to one tank. So he closed off the port tank, and the fuel is drawn from, and returns to, the same tank. Will watch closely. Had a look at Buoyweather and decided to leave on Friday.

Friday dawned clear (10% cloud) sunny 17deg. We dropped a bag of goodies and a note on Geoff’s boat  (it doesn’t have a name) and left Mooloolaba at about 10. Had a very pleasant run to Wide Bay where we anchored for the night – carefully and by now quite paranoidly! (Now there’s a new word for you!) On the way we had a feast of entertainment from the denizens. A whale stood right up out of the water about a mile away which was quite spectacular, but outclassed by a dolphin who had been swimming along near the bow and suddenly leapt right out of the water towards the stern of Jess and re-entered the water level with the stern! About a 10 metre leap! At night broken TV reception, so watched a DVD. Had a noisy night with the sound of water but the motion was delightfully gentle.

We were making good progress now, left our anchorage at Wide Bay at 9 and headed for the longest bar of the trip – about 2 miles of quite dangerous water. However, we had planned the tide just right and had no problems and a smooth and trouble free run to Garrys Anchorage on Fraser Island. The day had been beautiful with clear very blue sky and bright sunshine. We had a long rest and then on Sunday a short trip to Kingfisher Resort, though we anchored nearby and didn’t avail ourselves of any of the facilities this time. We are now strongly in “let’s get North” mode. And so on Monday 19th we did a 4.5 hour run to the marina at Urangan on Hervey Bay and booked in for a week. No anchoring, so we could relax. Being on a marina does have a number of advantages – wonderful morning coffee,  a huge variety of people all in holiday mood or at least boaties, laid on water and power, shops etc.

Since then we have caught up with friends Karen and Graham and their two delightful children Curtis and Adele, whose company we enjoy a lot and who have gone out of their way to help us overcome the lack of a car. Took them out to dinner at the Wheelhouse Restaurant – disaster! We booked for 6pm so the children would not get too tired, ate at 8:45!! AND they forgot the childrens’

meals. They apologised and gave us the kids’ meals free – BUT kids’ meals are always free if you eat between 5:30 and 6:30!! (There you go, Michelle, had to have a reference to eating!) Apart from that, we have bought charts for the next part of the voyage, but we are both a bit hesitant about setting off again because from here on it is all new territory and some of the stories are quite frightening! But the weather looks as though it will be good soon, so we will have to bite the bullet and move on, probably to Bundaberg on Monday. Had a call from Mick (remember – Wangi and Tuncurry Forster?) who gave us some good advice about where to stop and what to visit. Also emailed Barry Willis who has sent us some more good stuff. Will sit down over the next day or so and sort out our next move.

More later!

Love to all,

Karen and Warwick

Anne would have loved it, which was the goal of her long-term friend Frennie who organised all the arrangements beautifully. While there, we drove past our house (naturally!) and then realised that we had been away for 6 weeks and driven back in 8 hours!! We may never get to Queensland at this rate!

Back to Coffs on Sunday, seeing Warwick’s brother Darrel en route at McDonalds on the freeway because he had been unwell and missed Anne’s ceremony, and then returned car Monday. By now weather forecasts were looking best on Wednesday and Thursday, so we filled with water and cleaned windows, etc. then had an exciting phone call from Berowra Waters Boat Club members Jenny and Gordon McCreadie who are holidaying by car around the Coffs area. Lunch with them and ex river people Deb and Chris Smith. It was a picture perfect day and we had a well placed table in the eatery with views out over the ocean. Good company, good food, good service – hard to beat that! Thanks again, Jen for contacting us. Deb and Chris very thoughtfully gave us sustenance to take on board to prevent scurvy – oranges, limes and a bloody great pumpkin! We are gradually eating our way through them and svurvy is not in evidence, thanks! Wednesday morning was fine and clear but a bit chilly. We realised that we had become very comfortable on land, but gritted our teeth and set off at 7.30. Had a good smooth trip to Iluka with seas so flat that Karen had to stop Warwick from stepping off and walking alongside. Shortly after leaving Coffs, we spotted a large whale not too far away – it was a brief sighting, just a blow then a wave of the tail and he was gone. We stopped the motor and drifted for a while, but he was done, so we moved on.  Bit later we saw a single dolphin, would a pod that small be called an “I-pod”? Biggest waves we saw on this leg came from Jess’ wake. Autopilot worked well, though still haven’t figured how to make it go to a preset point. Anchored in Iluka harbour with little trouble, though we had a bit of a fright with water depth because we had come in at very low tide (not good practice, but that’s the way it went). Off again next morning after refuelling at Iluka – minor damage to aft of Jess due to wind and protuding posts at fuel wharf. Still a bit cool in the mornings but not anywhere near as cold as Sydney! Trip not quite as smooth as yesterday, got ourselves a roll of over 10 degrees each side as we moved along, which is a little uncomfortable for motor cruisers – pretty mild for yachties! Around 3 o’clock we spotted a whale or two fairly close.

Anchored in very calm water in Byron Bay at 5.30. Good quiet night’s sleep after watching TV for a while. New TV is very good and gives clear pictures as long as Jess doesn’t swing around. Friday up early (6.30) for a run to Southport. Were hoping to catch up with Mat there (sorry about the “tt” last time, Mat), learned that he was in Bundaberg by then. At 1107 we crossed the border into Queensland waters and had the usual lumpy unpleasant run to Southport, even though we made a sizable detour to go around the reefs. Anchored at 2.30 and had showers then went ashore to the Seaworld Resort for a couple of expensive drinks. Also had a meal there, served to the low lounge table. All very decadent and pleasant after being on Jess (also helped us to keep scurvy at bay!!). We have noticed that there aren’t as many people around this time. Apart from Port Macquarie, we haven’t met up with many like- minded travellers yet. Perhaps the weather has caused delays to people’s plans and they are in a greater hurry – don’t know. Today in Southport (at Bums’ Bay) is beautiful – warm sun and gentle breeze. Of course it was cool this morning at around 14 degrees (thank you Sydneysiders for your

sympathy!) but warmed up as the cold breeze dropped. Had a bit of fun with the anchor which seemed to drag a bit and we got a bit too friendly with a yacht next door. Had to try a few different spots before Jess decided to behave well. Karen decided to go walking/shopping because it was such a lovely day and she has become quite addicted to long walks. After moving anchorage spots we found ourselves next to a 42′ yacht “Ashymakaihken”registered in – wait for it – Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Invited Ashley and Brenda Russell over for drinks to see whether they knew Ben and Sam, but because they have been travelling since 1972 they have lost touch with their neighbours! Lovely couple who have sailed around the world a couple of times and work every now and then – he does refrigeration/air conditioning, Brenda is a bookkeeper. They have been working in Townsville for a few years and are about to head off to New Caledonia. Their boat name means “Let it happen” in a native American tongue. We learnt a few more things about boating (especially anchors and anchoring) and about travelling the Coral Coast.

Love to all,

Karen and Warwick

Lots of navigation markers, so it was pretty safe, but that didn’t stop us and at the first point of uncertainty we maintained our previous reputation and rested Jess’ keel gently on the sand and weeds!

Tide lifted us off at around 7 o’clock, but we had put an anchor out, it was a lovely quiet pretty spot, so we decided to leave things as they were and stay the the night. Wrong! At the next low tide around 3 am Jess settled down with a distinct lean to port which made sleeping side by side just a titch tricky, so we got up for a while. Everything OK by morning, but lesson learned – never leave her grounded overnight!

Next day beautiful and sunny but a bit cool. Continued on almost to Telegraph Point (yes, the town on the Pacific Highway), saw the road bridge, but needed to turn around and head back to have enough water under us all the way home. Got back to Port at dead low tide, but that’s OK in the harbour. Sunday to the doctor and then back to the Boardwalk for a Tapas lunch – Terrific!! Good food, great view, wonderful staff and, of course, unbeatable company. Oh! And the grog was good, too! Next couple of days just passed time happily, walking, fiddling with the boat and getting ready to leave on Wednesday because our weather website told us that would be a good time. Wednesday morning said our goodbyes to the very helpful and pleasant David at the marina and our other contacts – met Matt who is sailing a 30 foot yacht (Contessa II) to Townsville more or less single handed but with a little help from his friends and off we went. Into our trip Karen spotted a whale! Unfortunately it looked like a sulking adolescent not the Charles we were hoping to see (you know, the prince of whales!). But at least we had seen one. Weather was sunny and clear to start but turned a bit overcast in the afternoon. Somewhere here the Coursemaster autopilot spat the dummy again so we each had to keep hands on the wheel for our hour on. Anchored in Trial Bay overnight – had wonderful reception to watch the big game (unfortunately!) and then on to Coffs Harbour next day. Rang the marina at Coffs and booked a berth, they gave us E14 which offers easy access. Arrived after a pleasant, though teeny bit rough trip at about 2.30 and confirmed our desination as E14. Tied up but found some expensive ropes already there so queried the office, but they said we were OK, so we removed the ropes and stowed them neatly on the jetty and tied Jess securely. Warwick rang his sister when suddenly there were shouts and whistles and much noise and indeed some abuse!

Yes! The boat which has moored in E14 every night for the past 12 months had returned to find it occupied. Not amused. Moved Jess to E18 (still with easy access) and have been here ever since. Got some bad news from home that our  dear friend and ex-neighbour Anne was in palliative care in her nursing home and was fading away. Decided to stay in Coffs until affairs settled for Anne.  Of course, Warwick has one of his favourite nieces in Coffs, so caught up with her on Sunday and had a really pleasant day eating, talking, drinking, listening …etc. Monday we couriered the autopilot to Coursemaster for them to fix then got the expected phone call to say Anne had died and the funeral is on Saturday 26th. We will hire a car and stay at a motel in Faulconbridge on Friday and Saturday nights (for out-of-towners, it is about an 8 hour drive from here). Plan to come back Sunday and maybe move north on Monday or Tuesday which Buoyweather says look OK at the moment (Wednesday).

be great for travel on Thursday, so next day we moved closer to Swansea at Kilaben Bay ready to leave in the morning. The bridge opened at 7 am for us and the bar was good so we logged on with Marine Rescue and headed north to Port Stephens. Sun shining, seas slight auto pilot keeping us straight – easy pleasant cruising to the public moorings at Nelson Bay.

Warwick practiced navigation and brought Jess the last few miles and on to the moorings using calculated bearings.

Arrived at 4.30 pm and went to do some shopping at about 6, had a beaut fish and sweet potato scallop meal. Forecast was for good weather and sea conditions for Friday.

Getting the bars right meant leaving Port Stephens at 8 am to arrive Tuncurry/Forster at about 4 pm. Another good cruising day, but seas were a bit more lively this time and we drove mainly from the salon rather than up on the flybridge. Then the nightmare started! There is a narrow channel from the bar to the moorings at Tuncurry, so when we slipped into neutral to stop at the jetty, the current just moved us rightalong!

Karen got a rope onto the post, but it tangled with a deck rail, Jess didn’t have enough power to fight the current and we ended up with a badly bent deck rail and pointing into and onto a rock wall! One of our best “groundings” yet! A passing motorist saw us and came to help – because he recognized Jess from when he had a boat at Berowra Waters a few years ago!! Rob stayed for a while and when the

tide changed we used the half hour slack time to move Jess onto the jetty. Even so, it was not comfortable – at the end of a 60cm wide jetty with the deck about half a metre below it at high tide and another metre lower at low. Had to wait until Monday to contact guy to fix rail, so looked around Tuncurry on Saturday. Sunday Mick turned up, he and Marion were in the early stages of a caravan trip North and had reached Tuncurry! Also had visits from some locals who spent time chatting.

Monday rang rail guy who said he would ring back, which he did – at 5 pm!! Arranged for him to come

Tuesday morning. End of nightmare – we woke on Tuesday and said “To hell with Tuncurry!” and set sail at 9 for Port Macquarie. Rang rail guy to apologise. Very good trip and happy landing on the fuel wharf at 4.30.

Caught up with manager David who remembered us from last time, bought fuel (Oh dear! Using about 12 litres per hour – 1 litre per kilometre!!) and found that the marina has a good all-round repair facility. Contacted Neil at Sea King Marine next morning (Wed) and Jess was up on slips by 12.30 to have rail repaired and shaft bearings replaced. They had chopped out in just 30 hours due to lousy alignment of new motor. Don’t say a word!! We moved to a motel near town and began a different stage of our cruising trip. Dinner at a club and watched the big footy game (big club, holds over 2000 people – there were 16 of us watching the game!). Weather here has been great, not like Sydney, so we have looked around, went to movies to see Robin Hood, bus trip to Settlement Point (North)and Flynns Beach (South). Have done some shopping (new TV for Jess) and generally behaved like tourists during the day and watching TV movies at night. Jess is due in the water Monday (tomorrow) and we will be VERY glad to get back on board!

MY Jess

At 0926 this morning (Monday 10th May, 2010) engines were started on MV Jess, and we steamed out of Berowra Waters to the dulcet tones of Carol Hughes’ voice calling out “Goodbye, Karen, have a great time!” We went as far as Brooklyn where we stopped to have a quick check of equipment (tighten all water hose clips, tighten up centre bearing seal, change propeller on the dinghy). We also wanted to get onto TPG emails so we could communicate, but this proved not easy. I have some work to do to sort out our emails. Did get onto our weather site and found that tomorrow looks good for a run to Lake Macquarie.

We would like to apologise to all those whom we PROMISED we would have on board before we left. Sorry!

Also like to apologise to all those whom we PROMISED we would visit before we left. Sorry!

Things got hopelessly out of our control in the days and weeks preceding our departure. Some things continued to be out of control – notably our email access! Hope that is sorted now – fingers crossed!

We had a good run to Swansea on Tuesday and into Lake Macquarie on Wednesday morning.

Love to all

Karen and Warwick

March 2010 (This may take a couple of minutes to load)

March 2009   (This may take up to 3 minutes to load)