Position: 27 26.72 S 153 05.81 E
At anchor Quarries Reach, Brisbane River
Wind: NE, F3 gentle breeze
Sea: rippled Swell: nil
Weather: sunny, warm
Day’s Run: 20 nm

Having done quite a bit of motoring over the last several days, this morning’s mission was to top up the fuel tanks. To this end we made a relatively early start, weighing anchor immediately after breakfast and motoring two miles to Manly Harbour. I was pleased to see that on our arrival the fuel dock was empty so we were able to proceed directly alongside and less than thirty minutes later had our tanks full and were on our way again.

On clearing the boat harbour we turned to the NE. Having researched our anchorage options a bit more closely over the last few days I had decided to anchor in the Brisbane River this evening, thereby breaking the monotonous motor up the river to the marina into two shorter stints. 

We entered the River at 1025 and an hour and a half later had arrived in Quarries Reach just past the Gateway Bridge which my research indicated was an area where small craft were allowed to anchor. Unsurprisingly, Brisbane being a major city with lots of boats, on our arrival we found the anchorage area pretty crowded. I motored around for a bit, receiving some minor abuse from one bushy-bearded fellow on the back of his motor boat for passing too close to him – he might have been fishing he said. Okay, won’t anchor in the vicinity of him, I thought. I doubled back to where there appeared to be more space and came to anchor in four meters of water.

Unfortunately, it turned out that the river bank slopes off quite steeply  where we had anchored and once Sylph had settled we were in only three meters of water. As the tide ran out it became clear that if we stayed where we were then at low tide we would be high and dry. I waited for a couple of hours to make a better assessment of the tidal range but by 1500 it was clear that we would have to move into deeper water if I did not want to spend a significant part of the night living with the saloon at very inconvenient angle (Sylph generally assumes a pronounced bow down attitude as well as heeling over to one side as she dries out). So, we have moved and hopefully will not have any other more problems during the night.

We now have only six miles to motor to the marina where we will be staying for the weekend. The marina recommends arriving at slack water and they suggest that should be an hour and a half after high or low water at the Brisbane Bar. But from my experience this afternoon the tide appears to turn about half an hour earlier than that so being at anchor in the river tonight will allow me to make a more accurate assessment of when slack water will be tomorrow. By my current calculations we will be aiming to arrive at around 1300, leaving plenty of time to clean up and start preparing for the big family gathering, with the first event kicking off tomorrow evening.

All is well.