Position: 27 57.96 S 153 25.19 E
At anchor of Australia Fair, Southport
Wind: NE F4 moderate breeze
Sea: slight Swell: nil
Weather: sunny, warm
Day’s Run: 50 nm

My cunning plan to take advantage of the ebbing tide yesterday did not work out so well. Indeed, in hindsight I probably have made better time pushing against the flood tide in the morning than using the ebb in the afternoon when a fresh sea breeze had picked up. This slowed our progress considerably, especially when we were motoring down the last reach of the river and out into Moreton Bay. Once clear of the river, however, the sea settled and we made better time, though not getting to anchor off Green Island until after dark.

This morning we had a relatively early start, weighing anchor at 0700. The tides were much better for crossing the shoals this time than they were when we came up the Broadwater from Southport. Nonetheless, as we crossed the shoal patch just to the East of Jacobs Well I reduced speed to a minimum, just in case, but was relieved to see that this time we had a good meter of water under the keel as we crossed over the shoal.

Again the sea breeze has picked up this afternoon. With the favourable tides, I decided to transit the Broadwater in one go this time. I tried to sail for some of it but, with all the narrow channels, in the end it was a very long day of mostly motoring. The BRM has certainly had a good workout since our arrival in Southport eleven days ago.

At 1530 we came to anchor once more adjacent the “Australia Fair” shopping centre, with a view to topping up with victuals tomorrow before heading offshore again to make our return passage to Adelaide. Unfortunately, looking at the weather forecast, we are not going to get a good weather pattern for continuing South for about a week, maybe longer, so I might have to resign myself to the mayhem of the Gold Coast for a bit.

All is well.