Queensland Cruising
Great Sandy Straits
After a wonderful month in Italy & Sardinia we headed to the Gold Coast, where Baruch was still located from her time acting as a “site office” for the GC Commonwealth Games project. Our plan was to spend the next 4 weeks cruising north to Hamilton Island where we would leave her and then head back again in late August for Hamilton Island Race Week.
Hannah was still slowly cruising north in her mini van, “Esther” and hadn’t ventured much further up the coast from where we had left her in the Gold Coast a month earlier.
This was super exciting and surprising for us and so with great excitement we sailed towards Maroochydore from the Gold Coast knowing a very welcome, surprise rendezvous with Hannah was waiting for us there.
Hello again Hannah!
A few days of bad weather had us hanging out with Hannah and also my Mum & Dad (aka Poppa and Grandy), who were camping close by also and so lots of cards, champagne and scones with jam and cream were consumed!
Once the weather cleared we once again said a teary goodbye and headed off on a grey gloomy day north towards the “Mad Mile” bar crossing at the entrance to the Great Sandy straits.
An ugly wave pattern made for a pretty uncomfortable trip with Liane and Kalani quite seasick…not good.
Knowing we still had a lot of miles to cover and that ocean sailing isn’t high on Liane’s bucket list - I began to hatch a new plan.
A few hours into our voyage and about three chunders by Liane into the porcelain bowl - I called up Hannah and suggested we could meet her again in a few days at Hervey Bay and from there Kye & I could do some serious miles through the day and night for a few days and meet the girls in Mackay. I didn’t need to sell it to Liane - another catch up with Hannah and the opportunity to do a girls only road trip with Liane, Hannah & Kalani was sounding very cool.
With the idea of purchasing a catamaran still not locked in - a nasty day at sea and a very uncomfortable overnight rocky anchorage at Diamond Point awaiting the top of the tide to cross the bar was about the straw that broke the camels back! If ever I needed a sales pitch to convince us both that a catamaran was a much better option - these last few days were it!
Great Sandy Straits
After a fairly uneventful crossing over the Wide Bay Bar - with the exception of a thick sea mist, which reduced visibility to only one boat length - we crossed at the prescribed time recommended by Coast Guard and enjoyed the instant calm waters on the inside of Fraser Island.
A couple of days were spent cruising further north up towards Hervey Bay. This really is a beautiful part of the coastline and definitely much more pleasant than taking the ocean side of Fraser Island.
After a night at the Urangan Marina we split paths with the girls who were travelling north by road while Kye & I sailed.
Pleasant conditions had us making good speeds of around 10-12 knots with “big red” , our spinnaker flying and so we travelled all day and night (white sails only at night) and then arrived around midday to Pearl Bay - a stunning little bay that would really only be accessible by boat. We were considering just having a short stay here before we pulled anchor headed towards Middle Percy Island but the surrounding beauty lured use to stay the night and leave early the next morning instead.
Pearl Bay
Keen to arrive at our next destination during daylight, we pulled anchor at around 4am and headed towards Middle Percy Island, a previous favourite destination of ours that Kye & I visited on a boys trip a few years back with three other Dads and their young boys.
The last time we visited Middle Percy, the island’s caretakers invited our boys to join them drag netting for garfish and then also allowed them to help gut and skin some goats they had shot that morning - it was real Lord of the Flies stuff and a brilliant couple of nights highlighted by a Humpback Whale and her calf breaching over and over again only 50 metres fro our anchored yacht. The sound of her crashing back into the water reverberated off the land surrounding the horseshoe bay and was truly deafening but just so majestic.
Middle Percy Island
On arrival we enjoyed a hike up to the top of the hill and said hello again to the caretakers who let Kye feed some of their animals and gave us a homemade icy pole made from fruit grown in their yard and in return we brought them some nice wine and other goodies. these guys are located around a 10 hour motorboat from the mainland and the fact they are so generous with passing boats is beautiful given the scarcity of produce available.
Sunset at Middle Percy
Another early morning departure had us heading to Mackay to reunite with the girls which we were both keen to do after being away for a few days. I had been keeping in touch via mobile phone with Liane to just assure her of our progress and safety but after Pearl Bay we lost reception and so I asked the Coast Guard, whom I was able to reach via radio, to call Liane and relay to her that we were all OK. Unfortunately this had the opposite effect as Liane missed their call and was already feeling a bit anxious as she hadn’t heard from us for 24 hours and so it was with her heart in her mouth that she called the Coast Guard back!!
Kye and I also had a Border Control plane fly super low right over our boat and then had them circling back and radioing us to check who we were, where we were going and how many onboard. Good to see our Border Control working well but lucky I don’t have a pacemaker cause you really can’t hear the plane come from behind you until its just about on you and it felt like they were only around 50-100 metres above the water. Im sure the pilots got a kick out of watching me gravy my shorts though!
Team Watson
With the team reunited in Mackay we left Hannah’s van and set sail to Hamilton Island and so elf the surrounding islands for a few days. It was just such a blessing to get all of this extra , unexpected time together with the five of us as we did not think we would be seeing Hannah again until the end of the year.
We enjoyed our time on board eating, drinking, playing cards, reading and the girls converted downstairs into a floating day spa and gave each other facials and manicures.
Baruch Day Spa
View from Passage Peak, Hamilton Island
Once at Hamilton Island we began to really solidify the options we would like to have on our next boat. This is much easier to do when you are on board and able to have your head “in the boat”. I found it much harder when back at work to get my head into this space and to think of all the little details.
We were having problems with our washing machine on board and so the Australian agent who we were talking to about our new purchase offered to come see us for the day and bring a new washing machine …. and of course just happened to have a contract to purchase the new boat in hand….nice move Jason!
And so as we finished a very special two months away in Sardinia and Qld , we signed the dotted line of a new adventure - the next Baruch - and promptly popped a cold bottle of bubbles to celebrate!
Cheers!
