Tuesday 21st to Wednesday 29th September 2021 – Gladstone Marina

Tuesday

On our trip up the Queensland coast, we had avoided Gladstone because we’d heard that your boat ends up covered with coal dust and you have to put up with the constant sound of the conveyer belt cranes loading coal ships. The negatives aside, the reports we were hearing from other yachties was that it was well worth the visit. We were sceptical but were blown away with the friendly staff, the cheap berthing fees and the fantastic parklands bordering the marina.

My brother Matt had friends (Reece & Carol) that lived in Gladstone. Reece got in contact and asked whether Mark and Peter (SV Music Maker) were interested in going out on a tug to bring a ship into port. Reece works as chief engineer on the tugs. There was never any doubt that both Mark and Peter were keen to take up the offer.

Wednesday

Reece has a runabout and offered to take us snorkelling at The Oakes on Facing Island. With wetsuits, fins, masks & snorkels in a laundry bag we set off at 0830. When we arrived at The Oakes, we soon realised it was a bit choppy for a snorkel so Reece suggested we keep going to Yellow Patch on Curtis Island which was 30 minutes further north. We had not considered anchoring at Yellow Patch as it’s too shallow for our 1.8 metre draft.

The sand hill is spectacular! The colour of the dune, as the name suggests, is a golden yellow while the sand flats opposite are white.

The return trip was a bit lumpy and brought back memories of our days at Ocean Rescue/Coast Guard going out in the Tyrrell and PinkyB smashing into seas, jarring every bone in your body! (I refuse to say it hurt more…maybe because I am a couple of years older? 😉)

Reece also had another local secret that Georgie was very pleased to learn, the location of a very good ice-cream shop. We absolutely had to drop in and see how it ranked!

Thursday

My brother Matt was coming up to Gladstone to stay with Reece and Carol before they all travelled up to Townsville for the weekend to watch the rugby live at the Townsville stadium. We arranged to meet up for dinner, which gave us a great chance to catch up.

Friday-Monday

We had a number of boat jobs that needed completing, such as the engine oil change etc.
I was walking past Peter & Sal’s neighbours’ boat (opposite our berth in the marina) when I smelt a sweet slightly sickly smell, I straight away thought that they must have been burning incense, I did not think much of their choice of incense but thought nothing more of it. It was not until we caught up with Peter & Sal later that day that they mentioned that their neighbours were very happy and relaxed that afternoon, so it turns out that the smell was not incense.

It was good to be in the marina with the strong winds and rain, where we could have a good night sleep and not be concerned about dragging anchor or bullets of wind.

Tuesday

It was a stressful morning for a couple of berth holders in the neighbouring arm of the marina. A large motor-boat was preparing to reverse into his berth in strong winds. Unfortunately he got his port and starboard bow thruster buttons mixed up and ran into a 44 foot catamaran, chipping one of the hulls. It can happen to anyone and is a boaties worst nightmare!

Wednesday

Well… it is official, Sal did the measurement this morning and Georgie at age 11 is now the same height as me! Al you were right with your prediction 😊.

We completed the last few jobs in the marina prior to our planned departure tomorrow morning, such as topping up the water, washing the boat down to get rid of the coal dust, provisioning and the last of the rubbish to the bin.

It was time to move on, next destination would be Pancake Creek.