Phlat Chat

2011-03-04T18:40:00.000+11:00

2010-11-15T14:27:00.003+11:00

Phlat Chat is at Gladstone as we have had to come back to Sydney for a while. The adventures of Phlat Chat and her intrepid crew will continue in 2011!!

2010-11-02T11:23:00.000+11:00

Tuesday 2 November We are now at North Keppel Island – we arrived from Pearl Bay on Sunday after a long slow sail to windward with up to 2 knots of current against us for the run in tide. Not much fun and it took us almost 12 hours to reach North Keppel. Today we are moving to Great Keppel Island for a couple of days before we enter “The Narrows” to go behind Curtis Island and for Gladstone.

2010-10-25T07:44:00.001+11:00

Monday 25 October We spent last night at Goldsmith Island with Silver Gull and Bluglass, both cats, and this morning we upped anchor at 0530 to head for Scawfell Island. It is lovely morning and we have a nice 12 knot breeze and a good reach. Chris is on the helm and doing a great job. Tomorrow all things being equal we will head for Curlew Island.

2010-10-23T15:12:00.000+11:00

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Saturday 23 October We are back in Queensland, yep wound our watches back one hour (and twenty years), ready to start the trip south. We are already missing our grandchildren (and the kids too I suppose!) but we will have a great time going south again this year. The boat was left on a swing mooring at Airlie Beach for four weeks while we were back in Sydney for two weddings, which were both great. It has been an “eventful” start for Phlat Chat’s trip south. First we picked up the tender after having covers made for it and once we got it in the water it wouldn’t start – bloody thing. Fuel pipe was cactus and we had to replace it. Thank god for David and Lyndy from TackZ Evasion who came by and towed us to Phlat Chat. What a mess, and the smell !!! It was covered in shag shit, and covered is not an exaggeration. I hate shags! So much poo that the solar panels were not able to deliver the necessary voltage so we arrived back to flat batteries. Thanks again to David and Lyndy who kindly allowed us to stay on their boat Tuesday night. Wednesday we brought the boat into Abel Point marina where we refuelled her and grabbed a berth to clean, clean, clean. It took ALL day to scrub it clean. The last bits on our hands and knees scrubbing each piece with Jif and a scotchbrite. Sore hands and very tied. Into bed by 2000 and no tea – just too tied. Thursday it rained and rained so a few inside jobs. Friday we went shopping to stock up for the trip south and met with John Hudson for a coffee. John kindly dropped us back at the marina with the shopping. We left the marina at about midday to slug it to Gulnare or Happy Bay. We ended up at Happy Bay with Mal and Cathy from Silver Gull, another Lightwave. Gulnare at low tide is a bit hard. However a confession is needed, we were going to go over to Silver Gull for a drink so Andrew lowed the dinghy to get it ready and 2 minutes later it drifted off the stern of Phlat Chat and headed happily for Shute Harbour on its own – not tied on – what a rooky error! Good old Mal dropped his dinghy in the water and rescued our dinghy. This morning we were up at 0500 and left Happy Bay to head south hoping to get to Goldsmith Island but slamming into 20knots+ isn’t fun so we are only at Shaw Island, but it is a good anchorage and there is lots of company. We dropped anchor at about 1015 and Mal and Cathy came over for morning tea, with Geoff and Ellen from Bluglass, whom we had heard about but not met so that was good. Chris had made muffins, which were a treat. The weather is supposed to moderate tomorrow afternoon so we will probably head to Goldsmith tomorrow arvo.

2010-08-04T13:46:00.000+10:00

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Wednesday 4 August Yesterday we climbed Whitsunday Peak. The sign said a 4 hour steep climb and that you had to be fit! Well six of us tackled it and we made it but boy it was a serious effort – lucky we are so fit (??) It was really worth it. The view was nothing short of spectacular – really worth the aching legs and crook knees today. That night we caught up with CCC members, Kathy and George on Mee Too who came over to Cid Harbour. We had a lovely meal on board Mee Too and thoroughly enjoyed our evening, thanks George and Kathy. Tonight its drinkies with the “Shaggers” (members of that august group, the Shag Islet Yacht Club , where everyone is a Vice Commodore).

2010-08-03T11:24:00.002+10:00

Woops – forgot to say on the way to Cid Harbour yesterday we saw two whales quite close to us – we had to stop our engines to wait for them. Apparently the whales have not read the government’s directive about staying 100m from boats. They really should pay more attention to govt directions!

2010-08-03T11:19:00.000+10:00

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2010-08-03T11:15:00.000+10:00

2010-08-03T11:14:00.002+10:00

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The two days at Whitehaven were beautiful. We walked to Chance Bay one day (7.2km return!) which was great but again the SE winds had blown coral spawn onto the beach – it was bright green and stank (some people were camping there too – it would have been horrid!). Last night we sailed to Cid Harbour to hide from a 25 knot wind which is now blowing and bouncing us around a bit. But at least we have coverage, so I can update the blog.

2010-08-03T11:12:00.000+10:00

2010-08-03T11:09:00.000+10:00

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Tuesday 3 August Beach BBQ was great and the next day, Friday we dinghyed to each of the three beaches at Thomas and walked each one. Pretty lazy day. We also walked to the other side of the island along a track marked out with old thongs. It was along an old creek bed thick with melaleucas. We emerged into a little cove which while pretty stank of rotting coral spores. That night we had drinks on the beach wit the usual crowd, plus the crews of two of the ARC round the world rally boats, one Poms the other Norwegian. Saturday we set off for Whitehaven Beach in think fog, which fortunately cleared by the time we were at the northern end of Shaw Island. We stopped at Maher Island for lunch and explored the “Phantom Cave”.

2010-08-03T11:06:00.002+10:00

Thursday 29 July We left Mackay on Wednesday about 11.00 the halyard having been completed about 0900 that morning. The price was not quite as we expected but the Rigger, Tim was a good chap and unusually for the boat guy he kept us very well informed and came when he said he would – most unusual! It has not been stress tested yet and the invoice for the parts is yet to come so stay tuned for Andrew’s dummy spit. But the sail to Brampton was pleasant and we caught up with some the Mackay mob for drinks on Eureka. The fine crew from: Eureka, Shiraz, Chasseur and us all enjoyed the quiet of the evening, and few drinks to go with it! This morning we awoke to hundreds, literally hundreds or blue and black butterflies flying hither and yon over the water and on the island. A little later Steven, Sharon (Shiraz) and Chris and I walked into the resort at Brampton for a coffee before we headed off to Thomas Island (much more important to us now with our grandson, Thomas). We are now at Thomas Island about to go ashore for a beach BBQ !!

2010-08-03T11:04:00.000+10:00

2010-07-23T15:02:00.001+10:00

Friday 23 July Still in Mackay Marina. Chris is in Sydney getting a grandchild fix and due back tomorrow. We have been doing a few jobs meanwhile. Engines serviced, dunny fixed (what an unpleasant job that was – well I hope it is “was” because if it not I have to do it again and that, I do not want to have to do!!). We are also putting in an extra halyard so we can fly the spinnaker easier. It was all supposed to be finished today, but guess what, parts not available so it is now Monday……at least the chap rang and told us straight away so that is a good thing. From here we will sail north and are two days away from the Whitsundays now. It is howling today so happy to be in the Marina now. It is likely to blow hard for the next few days so happy to wander up the marina to grab a coffee etc. Couple of boats here we know so that’s fun. Shiraz is from SA and we met them in Middle Harbour, the other Eureka I met at Coffs while waiting for the steering cable (yes, Jim spectra would have been a good idea – maybe next time).

2010-07-19T21:37:00.001+10:00

Monday 19 July. Well Digby is OK but rolly and windy but is was an OK anchorage for the night. We were up before 0600 and left for Mackay at about 0625 – it is getting lighter! The forecast was 10 to 15 from the NE but is came in 15+ from the SE which was even better for us. We shot to Mackay in great conditions. We are now in the Marina, a lovely dinner ashore and a few jobs to do. Andrew spent the afternoon working on the dunny which is not being a good lad. It was less than fun. We did have a lovely meal tonight at Latitude 21 the restaurant in the hotel where we met Kevin Rudd last year! Chris returns to Sydney tomorrow for a few days to catch up with kids and friends. Andrew is boat bound to finish jobs……then on the Whitsundays…..

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Saturday 17 July. We are now at Middle Percy Island in a rolly anchorage but a great place. The famous A frame still has our hat from last year. There is stuff here going back 40 years! But I get ahead of myself. We stopped yesterday at Hexham Island. It was a very pretty spot although the beach was at best 200 m long so we had to walk it a few times to feel like we were exercising. We managed to amuse ourselves there for a while. Jim from Gattina sailed in also so we had dinner with Jim on Phlat Chat. Jim is also a CCC member so it was good to catch up. He is solo sailing back to Moreton Bay, against the prevailing wind! We arrived at Percy at about 1115 after a 0600 wake up and underway at 0645. Chris made some sandwiches and we walked up to the Homestead, where the “caretaker” lives. It was a huge walk about 6 kms but some very pretty spots along the way. Old Andy has died but after much fuss his cousin, Kate now has it. We met Kate, an alternative lifestyler with goats, chickens, ducks, peacocks and two big Labradors. It was an interesting session. Tomorrow we plan to sail to Digby Island and then to Mackay.

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Thursday 15 July For those of you interested you can skip Indian Head Creek, it’s a bit of a hole, depths all over the place and muddy water. We arrived here this afternoon having spent last night and this morning in the beautiful Pearl Bay, we should have stayed there but then we’d never have know what a hole Indian Head was so I guess we have learnt something. It is a very safe anchorage and I just caught a nice little shark, make that two sharks and I saw a dugong but still…..We sailed (motored) to Freshwater Bay but that didn’t look too inviting so we kept going to Pearl Bay – good choice ! It is a very pretty place, clean water, nice trees, sandy beaches (one small impediment – see picture!! So no walking). Two other cats were anchored up there one of whom we met last year at Chalkies in the Whitsundays. Fun to catch up with him (on his own at his missus is helping with the arrival of grandchild number TEN). The other couple are new to cats but not cruising. I am sure we will catch up with them again. Pearl was great fun, I’ve never seen so many garfish – they were everywhere and being chased by something a lot bigger. The water surface would boil regularly as they jumped for their lives. There were so many in fact that I caught 4 off the back of the boat with a light and a hand net – good bait I hope. We also caught a flounder which was breakfast today. The walk along the beach was pleasant too with lots of blue and black butterflies flying about, the sun was shining – that’s what we are talking about!

2010-07-14T10:30:00.000+10:00

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2010-07-14T09:47:00.001+10:00

Wednesday 14 July Happy Bastille Day folks! Australia’s tardiest blogger has become inspired to add a note or two. Since we last wrote up the blog we have been touring with Tom and Nancy, been to Great Keppel Island and are now en route to Pearl Bay (north of GKI). So, Sunday we went for a drive to Byfield and enjoyed a few hours in the hinterland with Tom and Nancy. It was a good drive and the Marina lent us a car for a few hours – what a great service. On Monday we vacillated about leaving the Marina for GKI as it was drizzling from time to time and I did not want to get wet! Anyway we decided to leave for GKI about 11 and anchored up at Svendens Beach about 1330 and it fined up to a beautiful, sunny, warm afternoon. We went for a long walk up the now dry creek bed and along the beach. We had drinks on Schools Out, a big catamaran, we had met Brian and Rowena last year (both ex teachers, hence the name) so it was fun to catch up and meet a few other cruisers. On Tuesday we went for a HUGE walk along Leeke’s Beach and also went up the creek at high tide in the dinghy – it was fabulous. Very narrow in places and clear as crystal. Go Back(Tom and Nancy) arrived out mid afternoon. So we went walking and yabbying with them – not very successful but fun. A few drinks on Phlat Chat last night and an early night as up at 0600 this morning to head north. Trolling now but not much luck so far! Hope to get to Peal Bay today but might only make Freshwater Bay – but no worries both look good anchorages.

2010-07-11T08:10:00.001+10:00

Sunday 11 July. We did sail to Rosslyn Bay Marina (Yeppoon) on Saturday. It was a bit blowy with up to 19 knots but certainly not the 30 predicted offshore – they did say it would be quieter inshore and so we steamed into the Marina about midday. Glad we left when we did, Pacific Creek while an excellent anchorage in midge (sandfly) heaven and they will come 100kms to bite Chris. Went shopping yesterday in the marina’s courtesy car – great service thanks guys. It is a nice marina and we had dinner at the marina restaurant last night with Tom and Nancy, with a few quiet ones before at the Capricornia Yacht Club – a little one room building with a bar and a veranda. One bloke in there in bare feet so pretty salubrious really. We ended up with 8 yachties chatting about boats there before tea – all good fun. Today we are going for a drive to see the hinterland for a couple of hours with Tom and Nancy, that should be fun. Maybe tomorrow we will head for Great Keppel Island for a couple of days before heading north again.

2010-07-09T19:43:00.002+10:00

2010-07-09T19:43:00.001+10:00

Friday 9 July What a difference a day makes. Today was bright and sunny with little breeze (so much for the predicted 20 going to 30 knots). We were up at 0615 and underway by about 0640 to cross the Narrows. It is so shallow that parts of it are used as a cattle crossing at low tide as it is dry! We had to get our timing right. It was not a problem but it got pretty shallow once or twice. We had an extra bonus on the way, a family of dolphins saw past – a little one in tow. We are now in Pacific Creek at the entrance to Keppel Bay and Great Keppel Island. It is supposed to be blowing “dogs off chains” today and tomorrow but it has been pretty quiet – lets see what the evening brings. If it is quiet we will sail to Yeppoon to catch up with Tom and Nancy tomorrow. Today we had a lovely day, we walked along Sea Hill beach for, I reckon, about 3 km in the sun and looked for shells. It is such a pretty spot. Met a cruising family and chatted to them. Tonight, mud crab for entrée and pork stir fry for main course - how good. Tomorrow – well we’ll see.

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Thursday 8 July Well we are in the Narrows, at Black Swan Island, it is raining steadily and it is damn cold, and we are 10NM from the Tropic of Capricorn. IT IS NOT RIGHT. We are sitting in the cabin with jumpers, long pants, and a blanket over our knees. This morning in full wet weather gear Andrew went to retrieve the crab pots. Only got one the other was on the wrong side of a mudbank until the next high tide. But it was a good pot, three mud crabs. One was a young lady so she went back in the water but the other two are lunch, fresh mud crab for lunch yum yum. Tomorrow we will get up early to cross the shallowest part of the Narrows at high tide (0700) – if we don’t freeze solid before then! We will then wait in Pacific Creek until the breeze drops.

2010-07-08T10:32:00.000+10:00

Makes for difficult navigation!

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Wednesday 7 July. We are now in Gladstone, having left Bundaberg on Monday morning at 0445 – how early is that. It is a long trip to Pancake Creek and we wanted to arrive there in daylight. It is easier to leave Bundaberg in the dark as it is well lit. The trip to Pancake was good we had a nice following breeze and we cracked 12 knots once. Andrew was chasing boat speed rather than a course so we did sail an extra few miles – but we had a good sail and didn’t have to use the engines much at all – how good. We sneaked past the rocks on the way into Pancake Creek (too close really) and dropped anchor just before 4 pm. Pancake Creek is a lovely spot, and it was a shame we only overnighted there. Tuesday morning we left at the very civilised time of 0845 to cruise to Gladstone. We managed to fly the new spinnaker but naturally the wind dropped to 2-3 knots – no good. We motored into Gladstone and tied up at the Marina about 1400. Off to do some shopping to restock and to get some food for our dinner that night. We caught up with Rob and Jo, it was great to have them on board for dinner with their friend Cheryl. Rob is an old school mate of Andrew’s. Today we plan to head up the narrows for a couple of days, do some crabbing and look to get to Great Keppel on the weekend some time. Hopefully to catch up with Tom and Nancy in their new boat.

2010-07-04T16:54:00.000+10:00

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Sunday 4 July 2010 We are now in Bundaberg at the Port Marina with plans to set off tomorrow at 0500 for Pancake Creek, which is a long trek but the wind and weather look to be favourable. As to how we got here……. Well after arriving at the Gold Coast a week ago now, we left the next morning to sail (motor as there was no wind) to Tangalooma as it is an ideal jumping off point for Mooloolaba. We arrived at Tangalooma and bedded down for the night. It was great until about 0115 when it started to roll, while it was not conducive to good sleep it was harmless. We left for Mooloolaba early and had a good fast trip arriving at about 1430 across the bar into the river. We tied up at the marina and managed to catch up with Libby and Bob, cruising friends from last year. We had dinner at their place and they were so helpful. Thanks Libby and Bob (and Rafffy the dog) you were great! The next day Bob chauffeured us around to do our shopping etc. That morning Mark, our son-in-law joined us for a few days ( a leave pass from Lisa and the two kids – lucky boy). We set off at 2200 that night out of Mooloolaba and overnighted to Wide Bay Bar a very tricky and treacherous bar, the gate to the Great Sandy Straits. We arrived at the bar at exactly the right time to cross (great navigation skills!!) . I am sure because we were so well prepared the bar rewarded us by being as flat as a pancake. Thursday we spent at Garry’s Anchorage and did a spot of fishing with yabbies we caught on the beach. Not too successful. Next day we motor sailed to Big Woody Island (stop sniggering, Mark!) where we overnighted and fished again with great results – see picture. Saturday was a windy day but from the right direction we shot up to Bundaberg averaging over 7 knots and Mark was able to fly home that night to a very grateful Lisa. Today we have been shopping at the farmers market and generally catching up on jobs.

2010-07-04T16:47:00.000+10:00

2010-06-27T15:23:00.000+10:00

Sunday 27 June 2010 You think a week is a long time in politics, well it is ages for cruising. A week in Coffs to fix the steering cable – it arrived on Tuesday and I managed to fit it that day. How good FIG JAM! It even worked like it was meant to. Chris flew up on Wed night – it was good to have her on board. We left Coffs at 0500 Friday to get to Yamba, which meant we had to cross the bar into the Clarence river. We arrived about 1500h and the bar was OK with a few rollers and some white water in places but we made it in with no worries (except the Admiral wasn’t impressed). We invited Rob Howie down to spend the weekend with us to explore the Clarence River. However Rob was railroaded into an overnight trip of 90 NM to the Gold Coast. Chris drove Rob’s car to the Gold Coast and Rob and I did 2 hours on 2 hours off leaving Yamba at 1500 and arriving at the Gold Coast Seaway at 1000 on Sunday. I am sure we will sleep well tonight. Both Chris and I are VERY grateful to Rob for helping us out like that - we are lucky to have such good mates. Thanks also to Steph in whose house Chris was able to stay. Some neat whale action this morning – a big lad doing barrel rolls at sunrise. Tomorrow up at sparrow’s to start the trip to Mooloolaba. PS we will try to start with some pictures soon!

2010-06-18T20:49:00.003+10:00

A fellow I met this evening in Coffs Harbour Yacht Club described cruising as “fixing your boat in exotic locations”. Well, he is mostly right. Yes, Phlat Chat is tied up in Coffs Harbour marina. Thursday 10.30 Andrew at the helm when a loud crack is heard and then a hump. I knew immediately what is was – the damn steering cable had parted, snapped in two. No helm, no steerage nothing, Until we got sorted. Lucky for u sit was in the day time and only 23 NM from Coffs. We were able to rig the emergency tiller which worked well, also the auto pilot worked as it is directly connected to the rudder bar, lucky, It was blowing about 20 knots. We radioed Coffs VMR and let them know we were coming in and arrived about 1600. John was on the emergency tiller and I was calling, “starboard”, “midships”, “port” etc and working the throttles. We tested it all at sea and just as we were coming in a ruddy great whale swam in front of us – great timing. But it was all fine and we made the harbour with no worries. I was pretty nervous about getting into the Marina it is a tight spot at Coffs. Should not have worried with John on the helm and Scott pointing out trawlers coming out we had by the throat. We tied up and sorted the boat, nicely done lads! After a few beers it seemed things were OK. The boys flew home on the 0630 flight. They were a great crew welcome any time – but no damn pistachios next time, god they make a mess. Friday was spent cleaning Phlat Chat and trying to source a new steering cable. It is being made in the Gold Coast and is in transit as I write this blog entry (or I HOPE so!).

2010-06-15T13:30:00.001+10:00

The good ship Phlat Chat is at it again. We have finally left Sydney heading north, after two false starts. Hopefully it will go better this time. Today, Tuesday 15 June is sunny, the sea is quiet and there is little breeze. With the exception of the breeze it is a perfect day. On board we have John Wood and Scott Hart, two blokes getting some sea miles up before a race later in the year. Looks like we should have an enjoyable trip. We are in for a bit of a blow later but it does not look too bad. The plan is to reach the Gold Coast Friday night or Saturday morning, drop the boys off to return to Sydney and pick up Rob Howie to help me sail Phlat Chat to Mooloolaba. From there hopefully another mate, Bob Taylor will help me from Moolooolaba to Tin Can Bay and I will then take her up to Bundaberg, where Chris will join me. From there we will head north together like last year. Anyway that’s the plan what the weather gods do about it remains to be seen. Right now we aren’t even at Pittwater so we have not gone far.

2009-12-12T17:53:00.000+11:00

Thank you to everyone who has been following the Blog it has been fun writing it and putting in the pictures. It was good to know people were reading it and we hope you got some sense of the fun we had this year on the trip. To those of you thinking about doing it, stop thinking about it and get cracking you will not regret it. To those of you who just read it – thanks and we hope you enjoyed it.

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Yes, I have been tardy –as a number of you have so sagely pointed out we can’t still be 25 NM from Sydney or Immigration have caught up with us ! We are home. We came through the Heads about 0945 on Monday 7 December and managed to get the 11.30 Spit Bridge opening to have the boat back on the mooring by about midday. Then the “small” job of unloading – god we have a lot of crap aboard. It took most of the rest of the day to unload and get the boat in some sort of shape to be back in Sydney. We are home – that means shops and more bloody shops – we have spent eternity in Bunnings and Chatswoo trying to get the Xmas shopping done. Back to earth with a thump!! So the upshot of all this is pretty simple really. We have had a ball. The places, the people the boats have all been great fun, exciting and interesting, and yes we would do it again. The big question is when would we do it again? I have to also acknowledge Phlat Chat’s Admiral, Chris she has been wonderful in everything she has done on the trip. We would not have made it past Pittwater without her help. I am hugely indebted to her for this (as well as all the other stuff over the last 34 years!!). Stay tuned for more adventures. Here endith the lesson !!!

2009-12-12T17:49:00.000+11:00

2009-12-07T06:06:00.001+11:00

Well, we are now 25 nm from Sydney Heads. We have travelled through the night with Jim helping us, for which we are most grateful. We are lucky with the wind, while it has now died off to 6 knots we had 15-20 NE all night so it really pushed us long. We hope to be in the heads by lunch time today. The forecast is for NE today but a nasty 30 knot Southerly tomorrow – so we made the right decision to get cracking when we left Laurieton yesterday rather than wait.

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Today is a lovely day, we are in Laurieton a lovely little town just south of Port Macquarie resting after two nights at sea. It is also our 34th wedding anniversary today. We left the Gold Coast after 10 days at the Marina Oceanus, which I would recommend to anyone. It was great, very central and the team running it are delightful, thanks “Rooster” and Chris. Our friend Jim Sinclair, from the CCC flew up to help us do the overnight passages, as did James our son. We left on Thursday evening from the Gold Coast to head south. The first night was a bit of a slog, but we made it (a few of the crew did try to berley up some fish for us but as we had no lines out their sacrifice was wasted). Friday was lovely, a nice 15+ knot Northerly breeze and we got a good distance. The night time was a bit different, the odd storm cell, lightening, 30knots but mostly behind us. We got through the storms unscathed, some others were not so lucky with some gear damage reported and I think one lightening strike. We decided to pull into Laurieton to have a break from night sailing and a southerly was forecast and as we all know, “gentlemen do not go to windward”! Also James has work commitments so we needed to ship home faster than 20knots from the south would allow. So we will have a break and head off to sea again on Monday, and hopefully Monday night and Tuesday will see us home.

2009-12-05T15:35:00.000+11:00

2009-11-29T18:10:00.003+11:00

A quiet day today for us only a few jobs but we are crossing a few things off the list. One of the challenges of marina life especially in a Super Yacht Marina is the passing traffic and today we had to put up with the people in the three photos in this post – and yes it is a challenge but I am coping. Fresh prawns for dinner tonight and then next week we get set to head south to Sydney.

2009-11-28T21:53:00.002+11:00

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I think I got it pretty right we did knock off about 5.30 yesterday but we still seem to have plenty to do. Had a nice meal up in marina area tonight and early to bed as it has been another busy day. We never seem to get to the end of the damn list! Tomorrow is a day of rest !!!! (well one can hope) .

2009-11-28T21:51:00.002+11:00

2009-11-28T21:51:00.001+11:00

First happy 30th to Andrew Howie, our godson, I hope you are a good boy at this party Andrew and behave as your Godfather would behave! We are still on the Gold Coast having had the dinghy attended to by Swift who have been a bit tardy but with Chris on their case and a helpful sales guy, Roy we seem to have made them see sense and the dinghy looks like it is in better shape now. We have also been up to our armpits in boat jobs (why are there sooooo many !?). Wednesday and Thursday we had both bow watertight compartments open so we could check them and tighten and seal screw / bolt holes. What a job, fortunately for me Chris was small enough to fit in while I am just too round to fit in the tight spots so Chris got the rough end of the deal. We think we have sealed it up and today is a layday with only 5 hours of work scheduled instead of the usual 12-13. We purchased some fresh prawns and bugs straight on the trawler yesterday and had them for dinner – yum they were great. The weather is OK now but a big blow is coming so we have decided to wait it out in the Gold Coast. We are both now keen to get home but we must be disciplined and wait until the weather is right. So hopefully we will be home in 10 days or so. Then we have the “pleasure” of unpacking, and getting the boat back into Sydney shape.

2009-11-28T21:49:00.000+11:00

2009-11-22T20:26:00.000+11:00

We are in the Gold Coast. We came from Peel Island via the narrow and shallow channels on a rising tide. We had no trouble with depth but did need to keep our wits about us. I don’t know if the twits who drive the big Stink Boats get their lobotomy free with the boat or they have the operation before but Jesus they’re stupid. One goose came past in a narrow part of the channel about 5 metres away in a big Rivera kicking up about a one metre wave. Shook the crap out of us – the man is an idiot and should have his boat confiscated. We came down the Broadwater to be confronted with every boat under the sun – there were boats everywhere and only every tenth person had a clue. It was mayhem. After the peace we have enjoyed further north we were like the kids from the bush. There is something about the Gold Coast that attracts the flash and the gaudy. These idiots come past 10m away waving and smiling and knock the crap out of you. However we are in a nice marina in the main part of town and it is not too pricy. There are restaurants and shops near by so Mother is happy. We have a few boat jobs and hope to out of here nest week for the run home to Sydney. We had a lovely day today with Rob and Steph and Rob’s Mum and Dad and brother, John and wife Fran. We took Rob’s boat from Southport to Hope Island, and had a picnic lunch on the way. It was great to catch up with nearly all the Howie clan. Rob’s Mum and Dad are in fine form and we had a great day.

2009-11-20T17:01:00.000+11:00

2009-11-20T16:57:00.000+11:00

2009-11-20T16:56:00.000+11:00

We have been busy bees the last few days. Finally the wind has swung to the north, yeah! Since last time we have been holed up at Gary’s Anchorage in a very strong and usually NW which confused everyone. Great lightening show that night but the thunderstorms did not Passover us luckily. After a couple of days at Gary’s and a final dinner with Synergy and Tacks Z Evasion we parted company on Wednesday morning, them to head for Tin Can Bay and “home” and us to Pelican Point to be ready to cross Wide Bay Bar early Thursday morning. Thursday dawned with a light easterly breeze and a pretty quiet bar, yeah! We got up at 0430 and had the anchor up at 0500. Off to the Bar. It was a bit lumpy in the stretch they call “The Mad Mile” but other than that it was a perfect gentleman. We made great time and arrived at Mooloolaba River Entrance about 1430. We were getting low on fuel as we have bloody driven from Mackay, so we fuelled up and dropped the pick in the “Duck Pond”, dinner at a little Thai place on the wharf – all good. Up at 0430 the next morning (this getting up at 0430 better not be habit forming!) to make a dash for Peel Island at the southern end of Moreton Bay. We are now anchored up at Peel and will head toward the Gold Coast tomorrow. Chris caught a good Spanish Mackerel on the way today so more fresh fish – but don’t they make a HUGE mess.

2009-11-20T16:52:00.000+11:00

2009-11-16T08:47:00.001+11:00

Well we left Bundaberg at 0600 (yes a sleep in!) on Sunday to cross Hervey Bay and into the Great Sandy Straits. It was another windless morning, so the engines got another work out. Slowly through the morning a bit of breeze came in but only 4 knots and the sea was glassy – so we had a flat ride. About 11-12 the breeze started to fill in and we were able to sail – yeah!!. We had been trolling for time and we hooked a nice big Spanish Mackerel which was great to fight as we brought it in but 2 metres from the back of the boat it threw the lure and escaped – it was a great fight and we have fish to eat so can’t complain. By 1300 we were sailing along nicely and planned to stop at Big Woody Island for the night but as there was a bit of west in the breeze it was not going to work. We then headed for Kingfisher – too rolly so we kept going to South White Cliffs (Yankee Jacks) That was the best sail of the day! 15-20 knots on a reach and we were doing over 8 knots. Anchored up in here for the night and moving on to Pelican Point to be ready for Wide Bay Bar, which now looks like Wednesday not Tuesday.

2009-11-15T07:33:00.000+11:00

2009-11-15T07:32:00.000+11:00

2009-11-15T07:30:00.000+11:00

2009-11-15T07:29:00.001+11:00

We have escaped Pancake Creek, leaving at 0430 in the morning to make the long, long run to Bundaberg. So, now we are up at 0500 and Sunday typing this blog in the Burnett River (upon which sits Bundaberg) this early start must be catching. The trip to Bundie was another drive……..only had wind in the last 2 hours – the winds have been so contrary this trip. We did have some fun fishing. We caught a very large Mackerel Tuna – took me 30 minutes to land it and my shoulders are stiff this morning. Unfortunately they are lousy eating. A couple of hours later we landed a nice 80cm+ Spanish Mackerel , and they are GOOD eating. So that’s dinner fro a couple of days. Today we drive (again) to Fraser Island (maybe wind later today) where we will spend a few days before positioning ourselves for Wide Bay Bar, the trickiest bar on the coast. We will wait for near perfect conditions for that sucker! We are still travelling in company, but from Bundaberg some people are going there separate ways. It has been a great few weeks with these people and Chris and I are very grateful for their company, advice and easy friendship.

2009-11-11T21:07:00.000+11:00

2009-11-11T21:04:00.000+11:00

2009-11-11T21:02:00.000+11:00

2009-11-11T20:59:00.000+11:00

2009-11-11T20:56:00.002+11:00

2009-11-11T20:56:00.001+11:00

We are still in Pancake Creek. We now think that Monday looks positive to run to Bundaberg. It takes a deal of patience to put up with waiting for the weather window but as there is nothing one can do about it you just have to go with the flow. Tuesday was a red letter day for the crew of Phlat Chat. We went to check our crab pots about midday and lo and behold a giant mud crab was sitting happily on the trap we found washed up and wrecked at Sea Hill. We rebuilt it and it has paid us in spades! The crab was male (you can’t keep females) and was 180 mm across 30mm more than legal size and it weighed 1.25KG – a whopper. The question was what to do now – the damn thing had claws that cold literally take your finger off. We did the smart thing and called for help from the locals. Bob from Kinta knows what’s what and he came to the rescue. We tipped the monster out into a bucket and put a wet towel over him, and a bloody big cover on the bucket. Chris was VERY nervous about getting up through the night in case he got out. He didn’t. Wednesday morning he was dispatched and cooked (thanks to our crab consultant Bob, who directed proceedings and allowed us to borrow the kit we needed. We can him cols for tea – he was magnificent. God, I hope we catch a few more!! Last night we had a progressive dinner on three boats, Synergy, Phalt Chat and Tack Z Evasion. It was great fun – we ate too much and had a ball. 12 people moving from boat to boat eating too well and too often. Today we walked to Aircraft Beach (about 4 kms each way) and had lunch with the “Tin Can Bay Mob”. It is called Aircraft Beach as planes land there. One was there as we arrived and he took Chris for a lift as he taxied up his “runway” – pretty cool. After lunch four of us decided to walk the extra distance to the Lighthouse, another couple of kilometres. There we met Anne and Dennis who kindly invited us in for a cup of tea and a chat. We then walked back to the dinghy and checked our crab pots (nothing!!!). Another busy day at Pancake Creek.

2009-11-09T17:48:00.000+11:00

2009-11-09T17:46:00.000+11:00

Fishing was the order of the day this morning so off we went to fish in the same spot Andrew caught a few good whiting yesterday – guess what no fish, well no keepers anyway. Bob from Kinta got two nice whiting and two good bream. I wondered where he was sneaking off to? While we were fishing it poured with rain and we got soaked, worse still we left our hatches open a tiny bit for ventilation and as this was the strongest rain we had had we got water inside. My side of the bed is wet, wet, wet and some water ended up under our computers, fortunately they seem OK and the galley had a bit of water on its floor too. So we have learnt a lesson, don’t leave the hatches open even a tiny bit if rain is even a remote possibility. We ended up with 12 people aboard Phlat Chat for morning tea, which started at about 1230 and finished about 1415. Chris and I then had lunch about 1500. We ate yesterday’s flathead for lunch, it was beautiful. We have a little whiting left for tea – which will just be a snack as drinkies are on Tack Z Evasion tonight. It is raining non stop now and Chris has rigged up a water catcher and of course it works a treat (I was not that confident) just a little funnel on the coach house roof with a bit of piping. So far we have filled three buckets and the solar shower bag. We’ll have to disconnect it soon as we will run out of buckets. Chris is delighted with this new source of fresh water so she can keep cleaning, her favourite pastime.

2009-11-08T18:54:00.000+11:00

2009-11-08T18:53:00.000+11:00

2009-11-08T18:52:00.000+11:00

Yesterday was an interesting day! We started out fishing off the back of the boat and caught a stingray, followed by a GIANT toadfish (see picture) what an ugly brute with teeth to take finger off and it is reported that these fish have done exactly that! Yuk. We set two crab pots also yesterday and at low tide we went yabbying in the same area. We got a good few yabbies, great bait for whiting. Anyway Chris decided to walk over the sand banks to check one of the pots – it was in a little channel. In she waded to look at it and pulled it up to see if we had a couple of fat mud crabs. No such luck but we did have a metre long grey coloured shark – she shrieked and threw the trap back in the water. So brave Andrew to the rescue. In I went and pulled up the trap – I could not see the shark, until it moved – scared the crap out of me. Undeterred I reached in a pulled it out by the tail. Once I had it suspended from my hand I was wondering what to do next when Chris said, “it’s got a little sucked fish on it”. So I turned it to see and the damn thing started to fold upwards toward my arm – my turn to shriek and drop the bloody thing as fast as I could. Unfortunately it landed in the water and took off. It was AP’s job to re-set the crab pot, hard to do looking all round you at the same time. Will check the pots today and I hope the shark is smart enough to avoid the pot this time. We had drinks of Synergy last night and on the way back one of the ladies fell into the water off the back of her dinghy – her partner managed to help her to get to the side of the dinghy, where she was able to hold on to the gunwale. A couple of us left Synergy in our dinghies realising something was wrong – we did not know what it was until we got there to help. We managed to get her on board but she was in mild shock so I don’t think we will see her for a while. It was a frightening and sobering experience for all the people in the team we are travelling with. It is blowing quite hard here today over 20 knots I reckon and we are getting occasional rain squalls so it is a day to catch up on inside jobs – maybe a walk this afternoon. We didn’t walk, we checked our crab pots instead and caught up with Bob and Julia and Ron and Robyn where Chris was taught how to play Rummy-o ( a game with tiles using numbers). But the crab pots were interesting. In the first fancy one, nothing, but in the little one two muddies and a fish. Unfortunately the muddies were tiny so they went back into the water but the fish was a beauty, a nice big flathead – he must have been 55cm long so he is for breakie tomorrow. A quite night tonight on board with some red meat for tea. We have been eating a lot of fish lately – good for us too.

2009-11-07T11:11:00.001+11:00

2009-11-07T11:09:00.000+11:00

2009-11-07T11:08:00.000+11:00

We arrived at Sea Hill mid morning on Wednesday not too much of a great spot and no wind (that is until 2 hours after we arrived – we should have left later). The next morning, Thursday was “The Narrows” a thin strip of water between Curtis Island and the mainland leading to Gladstone. It is very shallow – so much so that it dries out at low tide and cattle are herded across at low tide on dry ground. We had to wait until the tide was right – easier for us than for the keel boats travelling with us. Cadenza Blue and Synergy had to time it just right as they draw about 2 m. We all got through with Phlat Chat leading the way as we only needed a metre. We got to Gladstone Marina, and did the work start!! The girls hired a king cab ute and went shopping filling the back – the ute even had a flashing yellow light on the roof – very cool. The boys did boat jobs – we fuelled three boats with jerry cans, which took a long time, filled up water , replenished gas for cooking etc. We had Rob Turnbull to dinner and it was great to catch up with Rob. We even saw him the next morning at 0540 when he delivered a package for us. Thanks mate! We left Gladstone at 0555 to go to Pancake Creek before the next big southerly blow comes in - they are not supposed to do this at this time of the year but the weather system have clearly not read the book. Looks like we are here for 5-7 days before a long run to Bundaberg. Today’s trip was not much fun, safe but lumpy- 15 knots from the east and of course on this part of the coast we are heading due East!! Pancake Creek is a great place so it should be fun especially with all the boats we are sailing with who were at Port Clinton too. We also caught up with Bob and Julia again so that was a bonus. “Sundowners” was on a sand island that forms at low tide. We were restricted as to how long we could stay as there was an incoming tide. It was good to have an early night.