May 2018 - Jura - Our Journal

So what’s it like to live on a boat?

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

2018 Travels

Date: 27/5/18

Location: Pancake Creek

24 02'.03 S

151 44'.44 E

Weather: Cloudy, windy and very unpleasant

Author: Kylie

Our journal on our blog is written for us, to document our adventures, to remember the good things and sometimes the bad too. But this post is especially for all our non sailing friends.

Sell my house, I LOVE living on our boat!!

Ok, so maybe in another 4 months I might be ready to come back home but seriously I love this lifestyle. When we finished our last adventure we knew that we would do it all again. And even before we started this trip I said to Pete we need to have another plan for our next trip and it can't be 8 years away!

When we started telling people our travel plans I got the strangest responses. Sometimes it was jealousy for being able to leave our regular life for 6 months. Sometimes it was excitement for us, although a few admitted that whilst they were excited for us they would have absolutely no interest in doing something similar. Most of the time it was shock- and they gave me a look that said, why the hell would you want to spend 6 months on a boat?

Their responses surprised me! Why wouldn't you want to have a 6 month break from work? This was my dream. This was what we had been working so hard to achieve. Its why we don't go out and splurge money on lovely dinners each week or even takeaways for that matter.

Why did they give me that "your crazy" look? Well I realised it was because most people had no idea what living on a boat is all about. All they could imagine was 6 months travelling the ocean, sea sickness and such close confines to their husband and children. Well now I could see their point. That really doesn't sound too enticing does it?

I learnt the best way to describe living on a boat is to compare it with a caravan because everyone has a much better understanding of that. When you travel in a caravan you move from one camp ground or caravan park to the next, see the local sights, and relax. Well the boat is our caravan and it is our form of transport. We don't spend all day sitting in the boat and we are not sailing everyday. We sail from one anchorage to the next, we go ashore, we explore, bush-walks & beach walks, we swim, snorkel and we come back to the boat when everyone is tired out & hungry.

With caravan/camper trailer travellers, you have your travellers who go caravan park to caravan park, who need to be plugged into power to run the air-conditioner or ice making fridge and the travellers who prefer the wilderness of national parks and campgrounds. The same goes for boaties. Some are marina hoppers and some prefer secluded anchorages surrounded by natural beauty. We are the wilderness campers, the ones who prefer to have an entire anchorage to themselves. I don't foresee that we will spend a night in a marina the entire trip!

We do however have quite a lot of luxuries aboard our boat that your wilderness campers do not. A few of those things are more necessities in my opinion but everyones opinion is different and there are boats out there that don't have all of my necessities. We have a fridge and one of those Waco fridge/freezers too so we can have frozen meat, cheese and fresh fruit & vegetables aboard, enough for a few weeks away from civilisation.

We have solar panels, a wind generator and a battery bank that allows for us to power most of our modern day appliances, even a small television and DVD player.

One of the more extravagant appliances we have aboard that is a much appreciated luxury is our washing machine! Yep a little caravan washing machine that just managed to fit through the front bathroom door. Washing by hand isn't too bad but not being able to spin out is a real pain so we are very grateful for our little machine. Especially with 4 of us now aboard. If anyone can work out how to fit a dishwasher on too I would forever be in your debt.

There are certain things that we miss about our home life. Friends and family of course, this was the main concern the kids had when preparing for the trip. What I miss most is a decent shower. I'm not a 20 minute shower person or anything but a proper wash of my hair and a regular rinse off would be devine. Not all boats are the same and I know other boats have a much better shower system set up but whats common amoungst all boats is the limited water. Sounds funny when are floating on it but we have to carry all our fresh water. For drinking, dish washing, showers and clothes washing.

We have 2 fresh water tanks aboard that are each 180 litres. That's not much water for 4 people. Have a look at your water account ad see how many litres a day your family uses. And to fill it back up we need to fill 20 litre jerry cans and motor back and forth in the rubber duck between the local boat ramp and the boat. Yep it is painful. If we pull into a marina to get fuel we can also get water but we don't use much fuel on Jura so that's not very common for us.

We have a 2 burner gas stove with oven plus a bbq and with all the spare time we have, we probably eat better on the boat than we do at home!

Shopping is another part of the cruising life that can be hard work. Before we left I spent many hours buying up in bulk a lot of long life food. I figured it was easier to get that on board whilst we had access to a car than to walk it back from the shopping centre to a boat ramp, load it into the rubber duck and motor out to the yacht.

We have 2 very large under seat storage bins that are filled with lots of yummy treats plus canned foods, drinks, flours & rices. I have a beautiful big vegetable garden at home so buying some of these long life foods played with my head! However, I can tell you that is only so much fresh fruit and vegetables you can fit into the boat and eat before they go off, so its just part of our cruising life. We last shopped (actually it was the last time we saw any kind of store) 8 days ago and we expect we wont see a store for another 10 days. We still have some grapes, apples, bananas, corn, potatoes, onions, carrots and capsicum left I think! And all the bread is gone now too, so its on to flat bread wraps and maybe we will make some!

Boats have quite a bit of innovative storage. We make the most of every space. Recently we visited the house of Mia's school friend Evie. We walked down to their new pool area and the last step of the stairs was removable, a storage place for pool toys. Of course I called it a 'boat step' and as it turned out they are boaties, having lived aboard yachts for a decade in the Caribbean.

Under every floor/seat or bed space on the yacht is storage for something...water, fuel & food, we also have an inflatable kayak, snorkelling gear, diving gear, crafts like sewing and drawing and more tools than most men have in their garage these days. We have to be self sufficient to a certain extent.

Off to the beach now. To be continued...

Pancake Creek

Monday, May 28, 2018

Lady Musgrave

Monday, May 28, 2018

2018 Travels

Date: 22/5/18

Location: Lady Musgrave

23 54'.23 S

152 22'.41 E

Weather: Beautiful

Author: Peter

We picked up anchor at 05:00, leaving the Burnett River behind in the dark and made a straight line towards Lady Musgrave. With a following breeze we soon poled out the head sail making great time. The relatively smooth sail had everyone in high spirits as Lady Musgrave Island appeared on the horizon shortly after 11:00. We all sat on deck as we entered the coral lagoon with the kids asking if we were now at the Great Barrier Reef?

Its easy to forget how clear the water can get. The turquoise blue waters within the lagoon are one of my favourite colours. Kylie was keen to show the kids the wonderful things to see and do around Lady Musgrave but our afternoon was to be cut short by some dirty fuel. After lunch I had taken the kids out in the ducky to check out the different coral heads within the lagoon with the viewing glass. Both Joel and Mia were super excited floating over a variety of coral types and plenty of colourful fish. Joel even commented that he was now ready to go snorkelling (he had been becoming rather apprehensive lately). Then when we were almost at the little coral beach the motor cut out. After refilling it thinking I had run out of fuel I restarted it but it would not rev much higher than an idol without cutting out. As I was readying the anchor to stop us blowing further down wind we managed to wave down another boat who towed us back to Jura. The rest of the afternoon was spent draining the motor, pulling apart and cleaning the carbi, and putting it all back together. All good since but my confidence in the 5hp is not as high as it should have been. (The motor was only just serviced before we left, so I can only put it down to some dirty fuel).

The following morning saw Kylie and Mia doing school work and Joel and I doing the laundry. 3 hours later we were all done, so after lunch we went exploring. Walking on the island was very different to the last time we were here (October, 10 years ago). When here last you had to walk carefully trying not to tread on any Black Bobbies (birds) as they were everywhere... up in the tree's, nesting on the ground, the island was seriously overcrowded with them. On this visit only a few of this season hatchlings remained. The rest were all gone. So too was the smell. Also the last time we were here there were turtles both on land and in the water. You could not get away from them. This time we did see a few but no where near the numbers that a present in October. Joel and Mia still loved looking at them through the spy glass as well as more coral and a blue star fish. The rest of the afternoon was spent playing in the sun, and to my shock kylie diving in for a swim. It must be warm if Kylie is diving in because she normally chickens out a waist depth.

As a bonus, we discovered also since our last visit that there are now public moorings in the lagoon. And to me the coral seems to be in better condition than last time near the tourist swim platform.

Harvey Bay

Monday, May 28, 2018

2018 Travels

Date: 20/5/18

Location: Burnett River, Port Bundaberg

24 45'.43 S

152 23'.64 E

Weather: Nice

Author: Peter

After a very peaceful sail up Harvey Bay in a breeze maxing out at 9 knots we are currently anchored on the Burnett River getting ready to sail out to Lady Musgrave. It is a perfect evening, shorts and t shirt warm, with the sun just having set showing us a long golden orange horizon. We have had a few of these lately so I am assuming that there is some back burning happening somewhere as they are just so perfect and are lasting for quite a while. Dinner was a BBQ eaten in the cockpit. I am definitely not missing work.

A bit of fresh food & the big blue school folder... it was a long haul back to the boat for Kylie by herself!

Since leaving Kingfisher Bay, we have re fuelled and watered the boat at Urangan before spending a few nights anchored off Pialba on the southern edge of Harvey Bay. This turned out to be a great spot to re stock the boat as the shops are only a small walk away. We had access not only to the big supermarkets but also to Bunnings, Supercheap Auto (fuses and an o ring), camping stores, Jaycar, and Kmart, Target and Big W. Kylie even found what she described as an awesome, if not a little messy, quilting store. She disappear into the store for a good while, only to discover that she had left her purse with the rest of us.

The foreshore here was super kid friendly with smooth bike tracks, lots of playgrounds and a nice safe beach. The kids enjoyed all of the above facilities including another HIGH playground. The rules in Queensland must be different to NSW because these things are radical. Except for maybe the occasionally freaked out child stuck up top somewhere. I had to rescue one whilst we were at Southbank, and another one had to get rescued after freaking out here. Not one of our children thankfully. Joel and Kylie especially loved the Giant straight slide and could be heard giggling the whole way down.

Smokey's BIG Adventure by Joel

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Magical Mothers Day

Thursday, May 17, 2018

2018 Travels

Date: 16/5/18

Location: North White Cliffs

25 23'.34 S

153 01'.50 E

Weather: Cool, windy but sunny

Author: Kylie

After a cool start to Mothers Day morning the weather turned into the most magic we have experienced so far. We spent the morning taking a walk into Tin Can Bay. We were looking for a cafe however by the time we had reached the town centre the kids were happy to have an icecream down by the park.

We upped anchor at lunch time and motored with the outgoing tide back towards Fraser Island. The sun came out, the wind dropped off and we all sat out on the foredeck watching for dolphins, turtles and sea eagles. Joel was his usual monkey self and I think this photo perfectly captures his confidence on the boat.

We spent the afternoon playing ashore at Elbow Point towards the southern edge of Fraser Island. Peter and the kids made scones for dinner, yum. It was a beautiful anchorage for the evening and when we would get the kids to shush for a few minutes we could hear the birds singing ashore. Unfortunately we were joined after sunset by a "stink boat" which ran his generator all night :(

The kids couldn't get enough of the beach weather and we spent the following morning playing at the waters edge. Mia and Joel are both very excited to learn to drive the rubber duck. Joel does pretty good at steering in the right direction and Mia is the rev head, constantly trying to go faster and always in the wrong direction!!

From there we have now made our way further North. Although at one point we were both questioning if we were going to make it through the aptly named "Sandy Straits". Our charts are all a little old now, although we are unsure if there are even updated ones and I imagine the sands shift around quite frequently.

We cleaned the bottom of the keel a few times as we scraped over the shallow sand banks, trying to navigate the tricky river. At one point we came up rather hard on the sand and spent about an hour stuck hard aground in 1.4 meters of water- our boat needs around 1.7 meters of water to float!!!

We lowered the anchor and the tide was rising so it was just a matter of waiting it out and watching the water slowly fill in over the very nearby sand flats. The boat floated off just after a catamaran had motored past us so we used that boat as a bit of a guide to the deep water line and followed along in her wake. It was a nail biting experience and hopefully one we wont repeat any time soon.

We tucked ourselves up nice and close to the South White Cliffs on the west side of Fraser Island between Ceratodus Creek and Deep Creek. This anchorage was a great position to explore the couple of shipwrecks and camp ground at Ungowa. Joel rolled out of the bed the following morning and the first thing he did was head up on deck to check out the shipwreck, he was so excited. On the high tide we motored the rubber duck up "Deep Creek" to check out the vessel "Palmer" and had a walk ashore.

Here is a little history on the area that I found on another blog (http://nancyjean-alanarose.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/30-th-april-2012-i-have-new-friend-at.html)

The cliffs are mostly made up of dark coffee rock with wind-blown white sand cascading over their edges in many places. The strong currents that hug the Fraser Is shoreline have made erosion faces where you can see that the trees being undermined. Over the years as there is a build up of these fallen trees, they form an entanglement of underwater features in various stages of decay thus undermining of the soft coffee rocks of the cliffs which causes large pieces to fall into the sea, enhancing the features of this coastline.

The kids are still both enjoying painting and hiding rocks and hope that some day someone will find the rocks and put a photo on Instagram #svjurarocks

For many years Ungowa was the jumping-off point for Fraser Island residents and tourists. As recently as the 1970s, before regular barge services, the motor vessel Philanderer made regular runs from Urangan to Ungowa. From there, tourists would be taken by 4WD buses to the island's lakes and to the ocean beach. The jetty at Ungowa still stands but is now condemned. Ungowa was also an important forestry station while the timber industry was still in operation. Next to the jetty, a boatshed and ramp are other reminders of this era. Forestry residences and other buildings are now used by the National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS).

Just south of the Ungowa jetty (where we are anchored), the hulk of the Ceratodus protrudes from the shoreline at the mouth of the Ceratodus creek. During the 1940s the Ceratodus carried fine white sand from Deep Creek and Bun Bun Creek to Maryborough where it was used as an excellent moulding sand in iron casting.

The Ceratodus once was a steel Dredge, (406 tons, Lbd 145 x 30.1 x 12.1 ft) that was built at Paisley, Scotland in 1898.. She saw her final days as a sand bargein the Great Sandy Straits.

Another hulk, the Palmer, can be seen a few hundred metres up Deep Creek. In its heyday, the Palmer was a coastal sugar steamer.

Deep Creek may have lived up to its name a long time ago, but today it is a shallow mangrove-lined estuary that soon becomes a small freshwater creek. This was one of the island's important points for shipping logs to the mainland, and just inside the mouth the timber ramps and pylons remain standing in good condition.

Mia spent a little time doing some school work out in the cockpit and had her weekly call with the distance education teacher too. We have realised that the best time to do school work is whilst we are moving anchorages. So Peter sails the boat to the new destination, and Mia and I try and "knock off" some of her work. It is hard work trying to keep her mind on the job when there is fun to be had elsewhere.

Mias school work has been focused around the past and this week she spoke with her teacher about toys from the past so we made "telephones".

We are now anchored off Kingfisher Bay Resort at North White Cliffs and have been ashore to do a walk however the weather is a little too cool for swimming.

I have forgotten to include a few quotes from the children. Not wanting to forget them and because I think they will give you a little giggle too I'll pop them at the end of this update.

Whilst preparing the boat for departure we spent a lot of time cleaning and when I needed to wash all the plates, cups, cutlery and saucepans I asked the kids to please dry up. Whilst "helping" Joel came out with this one...

J: mum, did you and dad have children because you wanted help?

K: no honey you are a lot more work than help!

K: Joel get undressed ready for a shower

J: but mum I had a shower yesterday and I haven't even been to the beach or anything today

Kids First Offshore Trip

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

2018 Travels

Date: 12/5/18

Location: Tin Can Bay

25 54'.13 S

153 01'.40 E

Weather: Cold but sunny

Author: Peter & Kylie

We spent the past few days preparing the boat to head north. The batteries were tested and subsequently replaced with new ones. The boat was provisioned for a week or so with no supermarket access. We did a massive clean up, storing everything in its proper place for safety reasons- the boat doesn't stay flat! Plus we made use of Andrew & Rosie's washing machine. Thank you again Rosie for all your help.

So late on Thursday afternoon we made our way North to Deception Bay (still in Moreton Bay) and anchored up in the dark. The kids had their first dinner on the move, albeit leftovers.

At 3.30am we pulled up the anchor and began the motor out of the narrow, shallow straits exiting Moreton Bay. We hugged the Bribie Island shore avoiding the shipping channel as long as possible as there was a lot of big boat traffic. Mia woke just before sunrise and unfortunately was feeling a little ill.

The forecast looked good with a strong South-westerly decreasing all day and a relatively flat ocean. We expected to take around 13 hours to reach Wide Bay Bar (the southern edge of Fraser Island). Being a bar entrance we needed to approach on the high tide. The last time we crossed this bar was a rather horrible experience (the boat launching over a wave and dropping 15 feet with a huge crash, 3 times in a row) so we were feeling apprehensive. We hoped the weather conditions were to be far nicer than the past.

And this was just to show you how unlevel the boat was!

Although Mia had a rough start to the trip, as the wind decreased so did the chop and with some drugs and a little distraction she improved as the day went on. Joel took to it like an old hand, running around, swinging, checking ships through the binoculars and showing no fear and enjoying himself thoroughly.

Throughout the day the kids entertained themselves by playing with lego, LOLs, their DS's, a bit of tv time and some snoozing.

The ocean did as was forecast however the wind didn't cooperate dying out around 10am in the morning. This was a great excuse to try out our new code 0/screecher hence forth to be known as "Hedwig"- for those who don't know our spinnaker is called "Big Bird". This was perfect for the less than 10knot breezes if only it was a bit more consistent. We discovered Jura is capable of sailing apparent wind angles. With the gentle breeze from behind and the use of Hedwig, we managed to sail at 7 knots across the bottom feeling 8 knots of apparent wind, feeling the wind at 60 degrees from our bow.

Hedwig saved us from being overtaken by a catamaran that had been ghosting us all day since we pulled up anchor in Deception Bay... We all know that if theres a boat on the horizon, its on!