More Jams than the Cottee's factory, Mackay..

Cruising-sailing isn't all deserted tropical beaches, swaying palms and beautiful sunsets.

Unexpected moon rise.

There are always maintenance jobs to keep the yacht "ship shape". The marine environment is harsh and salt crystals eventually abrade many surfaces. Our stay at Mackay marina was a convenient time to attend to the 100 hour engine service, and to replace a slightly worn heat exchanger end cap. We quickly realised that any extra tools, equipment or food was best carried aboard at high tide. The 5 metre tidal range made for slippery and steeply angled ramps.

A good ski slope.(more like Mt Everest)

Mackay turned out to be another great place to catch up with friends, old and new. A previous work mate from 15 years ago, Dennis "Gilligan" now lives in Cairns, and just happened to arrive in Mackay on the same day as we did. He generously took us out to dinner. We look forward to catching up with him and Fiona at Airlie Beach in a week or so. We FINALLY caught up with Bruce and Sue from "Chilli Heat". (We had hoped to sail with them in the Whitsundays by the fourth week of August). Also in port were Jenny and Denis from Ocean Child as well as Hans and Bernise from Brahminy. What this all means is a concentration of incredible musical talent. We had 5 uke's, 2 guitars, various keys of harmonicas and a Dobro Comb. Musical mayhem at various locations.

Bruce and Hans bash it out!

Denis surprises everyone, with Bruce's encouragement.

Sue teasing the locals with aromas.

We ended up having two great nights of music. The first night aboard Sea Trek III, and the next at an impromptu BBQ. The music and the wine flowed freely. I bet the residents of the high rise near the BBQ area were very impressed. It was all a bit sad in the end because everyone was heading on their separate ways. We are not sure when we will catch up again.

Goodbye all.

By the time this blog is posted we will be in the Whitsunday Islands.

 

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The Percy Islands

By Glenn: I didn't really want to go to West Bay, Middle Percy Island. I know it's a tradition for cruising yachts to call in and mount a plaque of their boat at the Percy Island Hilton. (the A-Frame).

Mecca for cruisers.

Everyone says "you really must do it". To me it seemed over-hyped. Call me a cynic. I've had a lifetime of wondering what all the fuss was about when told "you've gotta go and see this movie" or "listen to this band" etc. Jen says I'm revealing more about myself than the story here, but I really thought there were better places to go. Jen's enthusiasm won me over. I knew she was very excited about making an artistic plaque and mounting it at Middle Percy.

Jen's plaque: a beauty!

Detail of the punch-hole and paint technique.

So from Hexham Island I plotted a course to West Bay. As usual it was a beautiful warm sunny day. We spotted whales breaching and a handful of inquisitive dolphins greeted us just as we rounded the point. (always a good sign in my mind). I was dumbfounded when we sailed into West Bay. It was a picture perfect tropical island setting (think Gilligan's Island) with only 4 other yachts anchored in the bay. Mmmmm, it seems my reluctance for coming here had quickly dissipated! It looked great!!!

First impression.

How it all began.

I couldn't get the anchor set and into the dinghy quickly enough. This place demanded some serious exploring at once. We spent ages in the A-Frame looking at the yacht plaques. It seems that world cruisers have been putting them up since the 50 's. Some famous boats have been here.....

John Guzzwell: 1958 SVTrekker. 20'6" circumnavigation in a timber yawl.

We spotted some friends' plaques including Bruce and Sue from Chilli Heat as well as John from Dream Weaver. Jen couldn't resist mounting ours next to Chilli Heat..." Sailing and cooking our way up the East Coast of Australia".

One of the many uses for a bread board.

Pandora's box at the Percy Hilton.

 

The book swap in the old telephone shed.

Around the corner we spent a few days in Whites Bay. The wind had changed direction. Stunning. I had a few swims here.

Colours!!!

For some reason Jen took a great interest in the green rocks that cropped out of the hillside. She said that they just didn't fit in. (See photo above with bright orange earth). I guess they are vulcanic in nature. To prove the point she began collecting stones with great glee. (normally she collects shells).

Green of all kinds and 'almost Jade' and semi-precious?

The stones on the beach ranged from mauve, pink, orange, brown, cream and green. I guess Jen has a point.

"Meat and three veggies".

We explored behind the massive white sand dunes on the Middle Percy Island and eventually the creek bed wound its way into sub tropical forest.

 

A riverbed behind the large white sand dunes.

I can see clearly now....

Musicians in the cruising community seek each other out. They tend to be eccentrics of sorts who creep out from under sails as a surprise. (I'm always crawling out from under the sail). We had a great afternoon session in Whites Bay where the crews from Ocean Child and Bramniny came over for a few songs. Hans played Uke and a mean harp, Denis from Ocean Child had us bemused by his improvisations with the "dobro" comb. Much later he "just happened" to play some great sounds on the guitar.

A wandering minstrel.

I laughed so much that I forgot what song I was playing, anyway here's a sample of the master Dobro Comb player.

He rocks!

Jen loved this sketch from the A frame.

And so after a week without news, Internet or phone reception we are returning to the main land. Tomorrow Mackay, then the Whitsundays! Loving this lifestyle, but I know it's gotta end soon, for a while...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Jen, You're a lunatic, but Glenn, you are the luckiest bloke in Australia.

Rosslyn Bay: Keppel Bay Marina. We are in the tropical waters now and are getting used to the extremes of high and low tides. This ramp was level when we went shopping. That's Glenn at the bottom of the ramp.

The down-hill run in life.

We only meant to stay at Keppel Bay for a day or two. The electrical fire and repairs changed all of that. Strong winds have pinned us here for eight days now! The great thing about our trip is that there really isn't any plan. We can just go with the flow. Luckily for us our prolonged stay (and potential boredom) was eased by the discovery of the Capricorn Cruising Yacht Club. The club house is really an old portable workers shack with verandas, umbrellas and atmosphere galore. While we were there it was abuzz with friends, old and new swapping stories. (As a matter of fact we needed to stay in tonight to have a rest). A big highlight for Glenn was the Friday night special: Steak BBQ and dessert for $10 dollars. (Homemade fruit trifle and two scoops of ice cream). The German beers were a give-a-way at $2.50 each.

What? Sundowners again!!!!!!(another great "selfie" of Glenn)

Sundowners is a yachtie' tradition. Cruising yachties are generally anchored and relaxing by sunset. When in a marina they tend to seek out a common area to exchange "whale tales" and nautical advise. There is always much discussion about the up coming weather. The veranda of the CCYC became our base. The group organised a BBQ and music as a farewell event prior to the predicted weather improvement. (wrong again!). 'Bravado' with Steve and Ines from Melbourne;......'Ocean Child' from Tasmania has been called home by Dennis and Jenny for 6 years now;......catamaran 'Simba' is solo sailed by Ray from Wollongong and heading south;...... 'Windsong' has completed the "Hamilton races week" and is heading south to Melbourne with John and Jimmy wearing their team polos;..... 'Ceol Mor' with Stephanie and Duncan (Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra members) and their neighbour John, all from Kettering in Tasmania; two other catamarans that keep crossing our path are 'Tribal' and 'Plum Loco', and finally ..... 'Roger Ram Jet', a catarmaran built by Stevo and heading south to Mooloolaba with his crew Mal.

Stevo just happens to be Glenn's long lost friend from his Mooloolaba Garage Band days. They were a bit rusty together but their guitars really added atmosphere to the lively gathering.

Musician scraping off the rust.

Overlooking the marina.

What do yachties do in daylight hours while waiting for unfavourable weather to pass? Maintenance of course. Glenn often sprouts that "Cruising is just boat repair in exotic locations " . However by the look of the people we meet it is also a good way to stay fit and flexible....yoga anyone?

The easy style of catamaran repairs.

Our elderly and ambitious marina neighbour.

Rosslyn Bay is well serviced by buses travelling into Yeppoon shopping area. It is all very convenient, economical and well used. Why was Bundaberg so awkward? Lots of cruisers there missed the last bus run at mid afternoon and had to pay a taxi fare of $48 to return. Today we travelled in comfort (ie: someone else navigating the bus) to Emu Park to visit "The Singing Ship". This is a musical sculpture set on a small cliff looking out to sea. Utilising the ever-present sea breezes, it hums when air flows through the pipes and strings. Different speeds create different notes. Glenn was not impressed, partly because he couldn't sing along but also because he had just been swooped by a nesting plover protecting it's eggs. (I warned him).

Coastal harmonics enjoyed by some.

Tomorrow we hope to be out of the marina and sailing to either the Keppel Islands or Pearl Bay. Each yacht crew reads the weather and sails according to their vessels abilities. Staggered departure days will no doubt lead to heated discussions at destinations in other yacht clubs along the east coast of Australia.

Note: It is now very easy to leave comments for us. It is no longer necessary to subscribe to the blog. We like to get your feedback.

Thanks: Jen and Glenn of ST3.

 

 

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What's happening at home

I have to admit this is a shameless plug for my son James and his guitar tuition school. If your in Wollongong and need a guitar teacher, look no further.

On the sailing front, we will leave Mooloolaba either Sunday or Monday. Mooloolaba blog up soon.

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One for Jen

I put this little video together as a tribute to Jen, who has come along for the ride on my crazy sailing dream. If it wasn't for Jen's enthusiasm I would be lost at sea! This clip features a couple of nice sailing days with a little song I did on my uke and glok, all recorded on the iphone.

 

Thanks Jen.

Where we are:

http://skipr.net/where-is/boat-pages/?boatid=1122

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Continuing North Coffs Harbour to Iluka

Coffs Harbour. We ended up spending 5 days at the The International Coffs Harbour Marina. We spent a great deal of that time waiting to have repairs done! Our fridge is small but vital for our provisioning. It had stopped working. Our consistent problems with the autopilot continued to be consistent. (yes its meant to read like that Jen!) Coursemaster Autopilots take note: I'm only halfway through my letter of complaints. (a list of them)

Sea Trek III @ Coffs Harbour Marina.

For those of you familiar with the jetty area in Coffs you will know that its a hive of activity. It has shops, yacht club and eateries. There was no shortage of things to do and places to visit. Jen really enjoyed the walk on the monumental old jetty. I enjoyed a couple of SUP surfs at Jetty Beach. I was able able to launch from the deck of ST3 and paddle out of the marina to the beach. SUPs are amazing for catching little waves that normally would be unridable. I did scare the hell out of the whale watching skipper on the commercial vessel docked next to us when I threw the SUP overboard. It made a the huge splash and had him thinking that one of his customers had fallen in.

It seemed like every sailor we met recommended "Attitude Hamburgers" to us. We were tired after our sail from Trial Bay on Monday and fancied someone else's cooking. We arrived at 6pm anticipating the culinary delights of these boutique burgers. Jen and I scanned the menu with our stomachs grumbling. Jen chose a "Tree Hugger": a vegetarian mushroom delight, while I chose their special "Attitude" Angus Beef. There were about 10 other customers enjoying drinks around the outdoor fire place. Can you imagine my surprise (I was flabbergasted ) when I came to order only to be told by the waitress "sorry, but we have run out of meat and there will be a 40 minute wait for everything else". So we ate elsewhere and it was rather ordinary.

Monumental Old Jetty at Jetty Beach Coffs Harbour.

It was great to catch up with Izzy Foreal while we were in Coffs. Izzy and I played in the "Trashed Out Cats" in the 90's. ( I think?) James and I had recently attended and played at Izzy's "When I'm 64" celebrations at Raleigh. We did that trip by road. Izzy called down to the boat for a cup of tea and a catch up on what we have both been up to since those heady 90's days. When you're in the area make sure you catch one of Izzy's shows. He's very entertaining.

Izzy Foreal on ST3

James and Glenn perform at Izzy Forreal's "When I'm 64" earlier in 2013. I'm blessed to be able to perform with my son on stage on occasions.

Whilst in Coffs we also caught up with fellow cruisers Ines and Steve from SV Bravado. We met them in Port Stephens and have now caught up with them in Camden Haven and Coffs too. They have raced ahead of us now and are in "Bums Bay" on the Gold Coast. Jen snapped a great pic of them coming in to escape the approaching storm front.

Bravado looking for safe anchorage.

The fridge is now fixed, and I know a lot more about 12volt refrigeration. The autopilot is still inconsistent and we are now safely anchored in Iluka Harbour. We left Coffs around 2am on Saturday morning and motor sailed the whole way: about 9.5 hours.(once again timing our arrival to cross the bar). We were greeted by "I'm the skipper" star: John King! John lives here on his beautiful catamaran "Dream Weaver". We have known John since we first started looking for a yacht to sail when we all lived in the Ulladulla area. We both then moored our older yachts at Batemans Bay. John also helped me bring ST3 back from Brisbane on her delivery trip.

Just who is the skipper? Convention at Iluka

We are staying at Iluka until Saturday and we are looking forward to exploring the mighty Clarence river by yacht. We will motor to Maclean this week. We thought that it was too good an opportunity to miss this famous voyage and I don't think we will be back this way for sometime to come.

Where we are:

http://skipr.net/where-is/boat-pages/?boatid=1122

 

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BRING OUT THE TWEEZERS AND MAGNIFYING GLASS.

We are really enjoying Camden Haven and surrounds. The area is very scenic and sleepy the locals are friendly and welcoming, and I reckon its one of those places where you wouldn't have to lock things up. Today friendly local and fellow sailor Phillip from SV Seaka drove us up to the top of Brother mountain lookout. Check the view out!!!!

Camden Haven view.

We had a phone call earlier this morning from Ines and Steve from Bravado, who were sailing to Camden Haven. Imagine our surprise when we spotted them in their yacht lining up the entrance of the sandbar. I rang Steve and yes it was Bravado. Phillip was able to guide them in over the phone from the top of Brother mountain! After Ines and Steve were moored we spent a pleasant couple of hours over coffee and biscuits on ST3.

The tiny white spot outside of the breaking waves is Bravado and Sea Trek III is near Phillip's elbow.

We had a great evening at Greg and Anne's last night. Greg who is a fellow member of the CCRAP Band and also lives in the area. He is the Camden Haven Port Officer for Coastal Cruising Club of Australia (CCCA). They generously picked us up from the Dunbogan Boatshed and drove us to their beautiful acreage property at Bonny Hills. Greg baked a lovely beef and mushroom pie dedicated to Jen.

Jen's Pie. Nice work Greg!

Greg and Anne also have their own bee hive and multiple citrus trees. We felt truly blessed to be able to sample this fresh homegrown produce.

Goldie's Glowing Honey.

Greg is also a crack uke player and he was able to show me a few new tricks and riffs. Its always a pleasure to jam with him.

Again! 1, 2, 3, 4!

Now the sad part of the story...................

Jen's version:

The next chapter is not at all sad.......We returned to ST3 feeling well fed. Suddenly Glenn started experiencing excruciating pain. This was a private pain that was so private that he could not even name it. He could only point, and he was pointing to the jeans/groin. Jen the RN jumped into action. "Drop your trousers now!!!" Glenn reclined on the lounge naked from the waist down. A quick inspection of his nether nether regions and I dashed to my extensive first aid collection that I have been carting around with me unused for years. I returned with local anaesthetic, very sharp and accurate surgical tweezers and our largest magnifying glass. Glenn looked pale as I dove into his pubes for a closer look. The diagnosis was a small tick, eating its way through his delicate flesh. I applied a big dollop the numbing creme. Glenn was nervous and told me that he might faint. There was no time to loose. I began to move towards my target, spotlighting the painful swollen area with a torch and precision tweezers and magnifying glass in hand. Then I began to giggle, and I mean really chuckle. This was ridiculous. What man in the world would want to admit that a woman needed so many implements to locate their most prized possessions? I came up for air and gained my composure. Then I swooped in and removed the tick and a few pubic hairs without a shriek or cry from the patient. Success was mine, and Glenn lives!

Where we are.

http://skipr.net/where-is/boat-pages/?boatid=1122

 

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Port Stephens once your in it won't let you out!

Here we are again still in Port Stephens and looking at the weather. It will be at least another week before we get a chance to leave and that's if the weather plays fair. The time flies when you'r having fun. I guess another week won't hurt. Have a look at Seabreeze's forecast for the next week. It's not the wind but the swell size that is a sailors worry. We wanted to stop at Camden Haven and that requires crossing a bar, dangerous in swells over 2 metres.

Its not all sipping tequila and soaking up the sun. It's bloody cold today and raining to boot. We are going in to the Soldiers Point Marina for a couple of days tomorrow, for a bit of luxury and shopping! ( Shower and laundry). They have a courtesy car that we can drive. We haven't been to the shops for over a week now and are starting to run low on supplies.

Our anchorage this morning.

Perfect weather for ducks. (Jen where is Luvaduck?)

We had a great sail around the Port yesterday in 20knot + winds with nice blue sky. That was fun, putting Sea Trek III through her paces and she seems to revel in the windy conditions.

Yesterday.

I've been playing lots of music and practising both guitar and uke. I find I prefer to play old classics from the 20's and 30's on the uke, such as "Ain't she sweet", "Has anybody seen my girl", "Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" etc: These old tunes and their great chord progressions seem to lend themselves to the uke, and are great fun to play. Plus I annoy Jen by singing them doing my best Al Jolson impersonation. I tend to enjoy playing more contemporary songs on the guitar, although its great playing "Losing My Religion" on the uke, especially the little runs at the start. Imagine Losing my religion a la Al Jolson.

My favourite guitar, both our ukes and some of our percussion. Jen where is my glockenspiel?

It seems my glockenspiel is missing mmmm, I think that Jen may have got a little tired of my hammering on it. Perhaps she threw it overboard somewhere between Sydney and Port Stephens. Anyway thats a quick update for today.

Still working on "Death of the Oldsmobile" but I think it will have some "adult themes" in it, and now I know that sister "bub" is reading my blog to mum I'm a little hesitant to continue!

 

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