Monday 10th – Friday 14th May 2021 – Bribie Island to Bundaberg

Monday

It was good to get out of the marina and we all appreciated the natural beauty of Bribie Island even though it was only an overnight stay. We lifted anchor at daybreak and set out for the 12 hour voyage to Double Bay Point. With 5-10 knots from the east, we motor sailed and averaged 6.5 knots on a 1 ½ metre swell. Although the sun was shining, and it was a lovely 25 degrees there were very few other vessels on the water.

Off the coast of Mooloolaba there were a few large cargo ships waiting for their turn to pick up pilots and voyage up the approach channel to the Brisbane River. At one stage Mark got a bit nervous as a cargo ship had just arrived and had slowed and turned away from us, as we got closer it turned back towards shore and was coming directly for us with only 1 nautical mile between us, Mark had picked up the mic of the VHF and was ready to make a call just as the ship altered its course further and steamed past us in the opposite direction with about 500 metres to spare.

At 1700 hours we dropped the anchor at Double Island Point, just in time to enjoy the sun setting over the tall sand cliffs that bordered the southern side of the bay.

Tuesday

The bad weather that had been forecast for Wednesday had now changed to Tuesday afternoon so at 0600 we pulled up anchor and pointed Escapade towards the Wide Bay Bar between Tin Can Bay and Fraser Island. There were 7 other yachts and motorboats that had the same idea as we all headed across the bay. Partway across the bay a thick fog rolled through and reduced visibility to 50 metres.

Using the chart plotter and the waypoints supplied by the Wide Bay Coast Guard we thankfully crossed the bar safely with waves breaking either side. Mark made the comment that with anything more than 2.5m waves the conditions on the bar could be very nasty. As we motored up the channel the fog got worse with visibility decreeing to less than 20 metres. Mark was a little uneasy with the lack of visibility, so we headed for the closest anchorage and would resume our voyage up the channel in the morning with the next high tide.

Wednesday

High tide was due at 0700 so Georgie pulled up the anchor and we motored to Garry’s anchorage about 1 ½ hours further up the channel. There were thunderstorms forecast for the area and the humidity was high all day.

Located on the beach were signs explaining the history behind Garry’s anchorage. The bay was named after an indigenous gentleman that used to camp in the area with his family. Garry was an excellent tracker and had assisted in the capture of Ned Kelly. We were surprised to see warning signs for dingo’s and crocodiles. Georgie was feeling nervous when we went for a walk along a 4wd track, so she carried a stick, just in case we came across a dingo.

During the evening we had an impressive display of lightning to the south. Thankfully, it was nowhere near us.

Thursday

Just before high tide at 0730 we picked up anchor and carefully motored along the shallowest sections of The Great Sandy Strait towards Kingfisher Bay. We passed an historic shipwreck which looked like an old steamer on the shore.

There were a lot of turtles in Kingfisher Bay and we found that on the SUP and in dinghy we could watch them going about their business unaware that we were nearby. It was unfortunate that there were thousands of midges. We had to make sure that we had sprayed with Bushman’s to save us being bitten to the extent that we looked like we had chickenpox.

While anchored in the bay we were joined by a catamaran named “Shenanigans” which was from Metung and the owners from Swifts Creek. It turns out that I work with their daughter-in-law. The owners were on their way to the Whitsundays for the winter, small world!

Fraser Island is the largest natural sand island in the world which is ironic, because when the tide is out you are left with silty mud flats.

The temperature increased in the afternoon and I really wanted to go for a dip in the water. With the thought of crocodiles in the back of my mind I quickly jumped in the water and pretty much jumped straight out into the dinghy which was tied alongside Escapade. Not satisfied with the quick dip we took the dinghy ashore and swam in the shallower water where we could see the bottom.

Friday

We picked up anchor at 0800 and set out for Bundaberg which would be an 8 hour trip. The seas were less than 1 metre with a south easterly wind of 10 knots. We made good time averaging 7-7.5 knots motor sailing, arriving at Burnett Heads at 1530 hours. We dropped anchor just inside the harbour adjacent to the boat ramp.