Mooloolaba to Great Sandy Straits

Sunday 26 July 2010

Up at 0330 for a quick shower, a cup of tea and a piece of toast. (It sounds a bit like a line from 'Matthew & Son' as in the Cat Stephens song). We cast off the lines and motored out of Mooloolaba Harbour at 0525 in the bleak rainy darkness to make sure we'd get to Wide Bay Bar on a rising tide before darkness. (Cruising is truly pleasurable at times and then there are the other times).

With wind on our port quarter from the SW at 10-15kts we unfurled the genoa and made 5-6 kts with the engine going. The sea was still a bit lumpy with a 2m swell following causing a bit of a wallow and the sky was somewhat bleak but as the piccies show 'Los Saaremaates' were in good form even if a little chundery.






Later the wind changed around to the SE at 15kts steady and we even managed to turn the engine off for 1 1/2 hours of peace and quiet as we approached Double Island Point. The sea had settled down and we toddled along at 4.5 - 5 kts for a time then the engine went on again once we got below 4kts.

 The sea and sky look so lovely in the photo, probably a bit like the current NSW weather. The dolphins did their thing escorting us for a while and the whales put in an appearance, fortunately not like the one off CapeTown in South Africa.

Wide Bay Bar was an interesting experience following the waypoints given by the Coast Guard it took 20 minutes at 6kts to cross from the first WP until we logged off safely inside Wide Bay Harbour at the third WP. It was lumpy with confused cross seas but fortunately no breaking waves and many locals were coming back in across the bar so conditions must have been good (all things are relative to what one is used to). No pictures of the bar as it was a bit busy checking for way points and keeping the heading.


We cruised on up the channel at 7 kts with the floodtide and anchored inside Inskip Point in 5m of water close to the shoals along with several other cruising boats. It was a pretty location but one would not think so from the photo.

Safe and sound at anchor we had dinner and went to bed at 1900.