Last report we were anchored up in Tin Can Bay and enjoyed a few days there waiting for the wind to shift back into the north so that we could continue our journey south to Manly.

 

During our stop we did the ‘must do thing’ for Tin Can Bay which is to go to the morning feeding of the estuarine dolphins that come in every day for a meal. 

Apparently these dolphins are unique to Australia and this region.  It is a great thing to do and an always amazed at how many people front up to feed these dolphins including many overseas tourists.

 

 

 

 

 

On the 30th October we headed up to Pelican Bay at Inskip Point for an early morning crossing of the Wide Bay Bar on the 31st. 

 

 

We weren’t alone and by the afternoon there must have been at least 15 other boats in the anchorage. 

It was up early on the 31st and by 5:00H we joined the convoy of boats heading out through the bar.  The conditions were great for the crossing with a light to moderate NE wind blowing and little swell but it always is an uncomfortable bit of water to get through.  Once we were on our way we had a comfortable motor sail down to Mooloolaba and were all tied up by 15:30H. 

 

Whiskers followed us down and had their spinnaker up for the last part of the passage and did manage to catch us just before the entrance to the Mooloolah River.

 

 

We had a couple of nights in Mooloolaba, which is one of our favourite stops.  We caught up with our friends Mal and Tamara who have recently moved to Caloundra while their new 15mt cruising yacht is being built.  We also had a lovely swim in the warm surf on the Mooloolabah beach.  We look forward to spending a bit more time there on our way north in 2019.

 

It was another early start for the final leg of our season which was the 57NM passage down to Manly Harbour.  We had a lovely sail for most of the trip although found it much different to our ocean passages and were continually having to change sail configurations to deal with the changing breeze and convoluted trip through the ship channel that leads to the Brisbane River.

 

We had Sally tied up in her summer home at East Coast Marina by 15:00H and were pleased to see that Oscar and Graciela on Zenitude are parked just on the next finger.

 

We have spent the last few days packing the boat up and have a few more jobs to get done before we fly back home on Monday the 12th November. 

The boat is in a nice berth which is very protected so sure she will be very happy. 

We are planning to drive up just over Xmas and spend a few weeks on the boat to enjoy some time in Brisbane and hopefully get in some kite boarding. 

We checked out the local kite boarding location on Sunday and got to enjoy a couple of hours kiting which was very exciting as we haven’t been out for a few months so were both a bit rusty but had a great time and hoping to get out again before we fly home.

 

Have attached the voyage details for this season but in summary:

 

Will be starting a new blog for our 2019 season – will provide link shortly.