The morning started at 4 am with a local tinnie driver doing a donut around Roo Bin Esque. Luckily I wanted to watch a meteorite shower so I was happy to be awake. Sadly the clouds had other ideas and for once the stars and meteorites were hidden from sight. Dawn broke with a sigh Continue reading
Tag: Roo-Bin-Esque
Today’s score card
Zeus the salty old sea dog was awarded a perfect 10 for his entry into the dingy. His dismount is a little more problematic. Capt G received an ‘A’ for effort with his casting ability. Sadly not even hitting the fish on the head with the lure resulted in a fish dinner… I received a Continue reading
Success!
For the first two weeks of our adventure the winds blew 20 to 30 kts and we had no need of our light air sail. For the last few days we’ve been drifting with winds below 10 kts, but we didn’t have all the gear to hoist our gennaker and had no idea how it Continue reading
Catch ups.
I hate to compress any of this wonderful journey but writing a blog a night was barely keeping my head above water – and no that doesn’t mean the bilge pumps have stopped working! The three days without internet occurred at a time when I most wanted to shout to the world, ‘Look, isn’t this Continue reading
Now where was I?
Since Telstra so rudely interrupted us I’ve lost track of time 🙂 Easy to do when you have no contact with the outside world – and no offence, but it was a lovely three days of sailing, writing and talking. Shoalwater Bay is a remote section of coast that is owned by the Department of Continue reading
Great! It’s Keppel
Anyone else remember the best advertising campaign for an Australian resort island – Get Wrecked on Great Keppel? Sadly the resort is no longer operating, a salutory reminder that Australian tourism is not the driving force it used to be. 24 years ago, with my brand new private pilot licence, I landed on Great Keppel Continue reading
Navigating the narrow places
Looks can be deceiving. Beneath the calm waters of The Narrows lurk hidden rocks, shoals and bankings ready to snare the unwary. The channel runs up the western side of Curtis Island to the north of Gladstone and through to Port Alma near Rockhampton. With a strong wind warning outside it was our only option Continue reading
A day of learning.
I’ll be brief 🙂 1: A 12 metre long catamaran that’s 7.24 metres wide will be a handful in 25 kts of crosswind when trying to moor on a berth. 2. The refueller at Gladstone is a gentleman above reproach and should be paid a great deal more money. 3. An old bloke called Pete, Continue reading
Things that go bump in the night…
Today started at 1 am when our low depth alarm sounded. By 2 am our anchor chain had decided to wrap itself around us in a loop and then snapped the rivets on the prodder on the front of the boat which left it dangling on its stays. At 4.30 am we were drinking cups Continue reading
Town of 1770
When Captain James Cook sailed his ship The Endeavour into a narrow creek in May, 1770, he had no marker buoys to guide him, no maps to give him depth and no motor to keep him out of trouble. He would have had a man up a crows nest and another with a lead and Continue reading