Year One
Date: 7/6/2008 12.30
Weather: A southerly expected
Location: Canapia Point 27'38 48S 153'25 17E
Author: Peter

Sorry that we have not been on the air lately but I'm sure you can all understand. We finally got away from Coffs, a week later than planned thanks to a southward bound low sitting just off the coast. It played havoc with the east coast as it went. Plenty of north bound boats sheltered in Coffs as the low passed by, while the seas outside were quite spectacular breaking across the entire entrance to Coffs Harbour and breaking heavily across the northern break wall of the marina sending water high into the air. Someone even told us our anchored boat made it onto the local news on the worst night showing how bad conditions actually got.

While in Coffs we caught up with family and friends and the new addition to the Herbert family. There never seems to be enough time, as Kylie was always in high demand. Dad (Eugene) even caught the train up and spent some time with us, although no where near as exciting as when we are normally on the road. I even managed to get a little work too helping our very poor looking budget increase just a little. Towards the end of our stay the seas finally calmed down a little and I took Alan, Graham and Toni out to sea for some whale watching while Kylie went shopping with Linda and Coryn. After a slow start we came across a group of four? humpback whales that put on a spectacular show of breaching and tail slapping for us. I know a great day was had by all by the size of the grins on everyones face.

We had a slow sail up the coast in variable winds ranging in strength from 3 to 12 knots (at least we did not have to tack). The coast around Coffs was stunning with layers of high peaked mountains, stretching inland, competing for our affections only with south eastern coast of Tasmania for beauty, before it once again flattened off all the way to Byron Bay. Our sail was pretty uneventful, seeing only two whales over the 150nm. We made landfall at Southport on the Gold Coast at around 1 in the morning before anchoring off Sea World (27'57 07S, 153'25 28E) for some much wanted sleep. Allot of yachts were anchored in the area, though some chose not to have any anchor lights on which made it a little difficult manouvering around (stupid, just stupid). Also being surrounded by so many lights bright lights of the Gold Coast after such a long time is just weird. We are now in our third state. Eastern seaboard soon to be covered.

Yesterday saw us motor our way through the channels in the delta at the bottom of Morton Bay. A "street directory" would have been good as there are that many different ways through (for shallower boats) that we got a little confused at times. To begin with we thought we were on a good thing as Alan Lucas, the writer of many cruising guides, had also just picked up anchor next to us and we thought we would follow him through, however a short while later he bumped into a friend and stopped for a chat. After a few hours, some elevated heart rates, some stress and few minor grounding's, we eventually made it through and anchored off Karragarra Island (27'38 10S, 153'25 16E) for lunch (hot dogs).

After lunch we took a leisurely sail to Canapia Point where our guides show a sand blow. Much to our disappointment the sand blow looks nothing like it used to and is almost now completely re vegetated. It is also a long weekend up here in Queensland and today has seen many boats come here to anchor. It is starting to remind us of New years on Sydney Harbour. We have been so spoilt in Tasmania that we are hoping we adjust soon. Talking about adjustments it's great to be back in shorts and a t-shirt again. We have missed the warmth. The water offshore is now up to 22 degrees, a bit warmer than the 6.5 we had in the southern ocean. Can't wait to get further north still.

Finally we are soon to start expecting some visitors. We always wanted to share this experience with family and friends. Dad is flying up to Mackay shortly to join us for a few weeks as we head into the Whitsundays. Also some sailing friends are joining us for Hamilton Island race week, to test out the "cruising boat", so if you have time give us a call or a simple email, and come and join us, we are looking forward to seeing more family and friends.

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