Towards the sun
Simanderal
Michael Hughes and Ger White
Thu 14 Apr 2011 23:35
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We're continuing our gradual cruise northwards,
having decided in Coffs to continue up the Australian coast and forego the
passage back out to New Cal and Vanuatu. A return to the Pacific islands would
have been great--but the consequence would have been too little time to
pause and "smell the roses" and a bit of a rush back to Oz and up the
coast--instead we'll make our way slowly and have plenty of time in the
Whitsundays, which we have not yet seen.
So on 9 April we left Coffs early in the morning,
arriving in Southport (Gold Coast) the following day in the early afternoon. A
pretty uneventful passage, though this time we did suffer the adverse current
that generally flows at up to 2 knots down the NSW coast--this together with
generally light winds meant a fair bit of engine work.
Southport Yacht Club was a nice marina to spend a
few days. And lovely weather--good to be back in Queensland!
Then on the 13th we set off for Mooloolaba, leaving
Southport mid-morning. And we had a lovely sail--winds quite light--around 10
knots-- calm seas and little swell-- glorious sunshine during the day and clear
moonlit night overnight. We were in no hurry, and sailed almost all the way
averaging 5 knots--no adverse current--and arriving Mooloolaba shortly after
dawn--all tied up in the marina by 0730.
We'll probably spend a week here--Andrew & Emma
are coming up for the weekend from Brisbane (only an hour away), and there's a
nice beach 3 minutes walk away! And 10 minutes walk into town, which is quite
buzzy in a holiday resort sort of way.
So all is well here.
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