Mariner Waterproof Drone - Maiden flight at Lady Musgrave

A while back we purchased a waterproof FPV Mariner Drone (now also know as the FPV Splash Drone) from Rise Above in Sydney to capture our adventure on Lucey Blue from above. We love to muck around with our cameras underwater and the idea of capturing our surroundings from a different perspective was attractive.

Our first few flights on land were rather exciting as we had no experience with this type of kit, but Rafi from Rise Above helped us out when we hit trouble.

We decided to conduct our maiden over-water flight at Lady Musgrave. To be safe we did a test run without the GoPro camera attached. The crew of Lucey Blue were pleased that the Mariner Drone took off smoothly (despite a gentle ten knot wind) from our makeshift launch area (the rear solar panel array) and were further amazed when we managed to land on the rear steps at the stern of the boat. A trial run and we had not even got the Mariner Drone wet despite some wind and a moving landing pad (patting ourselves on the back here)!

With a full battery we bravely strapped on the GoPro camera, set the timer to capture images evey 5 seconds and took off to see what would happen.

We had a successful flight, with a planned wet touchdown (we didn't want to crash the GoPro into the deck if it got wobbly on descent). Some neighbouring yachties zoomed over in their dinghy to return it to us, which was great. As a side benefit, it was a nice way to meet new people, as they ended up visiting us in the afternoon for drinks and snacks aboard Lucey Blue too. We still have a lot to learn, about drone flying, but our intitial flight and photos brought big smiles to all aboard...

Brisbane to Bundaberg - Nearly nonstop!

We left Brisbane on the 15th of July and motored down the Brisbane river against the last of the incoming tide.

On the way down we passed another Lagoon 42 TPI - Connect Four, and a range of spectacular properties before we made it to the industrial area of Port Brisbane. The change in scenery along the banks of the river is dramatic and its great to see ships, tug boats, factories and container loading facilities near the mouth of the river. Sydney has lost a lot of this character with most of the city's waterfront now converted to luxury residences.

There was no wind at all when we arrived at Moreton Bay, but ever hopeful we pulled up our new mainsail and set off north via the small boat channel south of Bribe Island. Ryan used the traditional method to pull up the mainsail while Nick used his new electric winch handle - a WinchRite from Sailology- to save energy for more important tasks!

The kids entertained themselves in the cockpit and we were all treated to a spectacular sunset on the way  to Double Island Point. We arrived around midnight in pitch-black (there was no moon and plenty of low cloud that blocked out the stars) and anchored in six metres of water.

We woke early on the 16th to dash across the last eight nautical miles to the first waypoint of the Wide Bay Bar. We wanted to make the crossing while the tide was rising, but also wanted to wait for first light so we had everything working in our favour.

Wide Bar Bar was tranquil with no breaking waves in the shallow channel and we were pulled rapidly into the waters behind Fraser Island. We love to hitch a lift when we can as it's nice to see Lucey Blue traveling at about nine knots over the ground when we are only moving at seven through the water!

We decided to try and ride the tide all the way through the narrow channels behind Fraser Island to Hervey Bay. The conditions were perfect, but we needed to maintain the tidal advantage if we were going to clear the shallows near Boonlye Point. We nearly ran aground there last time and had no desire to get stuck.

We passed a number of yachts along the way and managed to sneak through the worst bits just on high tide. By the time we had cleared the Fairway light on Hervey Bay our boat speed across the ground had hit ten knots. We had been sucked in at one end of Fraser Island and spat out the other end in a day which is a record for us.

The crew of Lucey Blue kept their eyes peeled for sealife on Harvey Bay and Eric spent hours seagazing with Dad on the front trampolines, but the whales alluded us this time.

We arrived off Burrent Heads at dusk and gently pulled into the Bundaberg Port Marina at around 18:00 with the help of another yachtie - Gayle from Electra.

The sail north - Sydney to Brisbane (well almost)...

With Lucey Blue ready to go we waited for a suitable weather wind to sail north to warmer weather.
The first opportunity arrived in early July and we scrabbled to leave Middle Harbour on the 14:30 Spit Bridge opening.

We left the harbour on the evening of the 5th of July and sailed/motorsailed north, hugging the coast to avoid the east Australian current that can flow at a speed of over three knots - not fun if you are traveling in the opposite direction!

Our new sails and feathering propellers proved themselves on the first night with Lucey Blue surging along at 8 to 9 knots in a 14 to 17 knot north westerly wind. By dawn we were located just north of Port Stephens on flat sea with a number of local fishing boats.

The wind died off during the day and swung around to the southwest so we motorsailed most of the next twenty four hours to keep up our boat speed. We enjoyed a visit from a pod of dolphins on the evening of the 6th and arrived off Coffs Harbour at dawn on the 7th of July.

We passed South Solitary Island in perfect conditions with blue skies and 15 to 20 knot southerly winds. Lucey Blue was really enjoying the conditions and her crew was entertained most of the day by humpback whales sunning themselves along the coast and thrashing their tails against the growing southerly swell.

By nightfall on the 7th Lucey Blue was located off Yamba and the weather forecast indicated that a change was due to hit the region overnight. We reduced sail that evening to a triple reefed main and our blade jib as there is nothing worse than having to reduce sail in rough conditions at night. We also decided to take Lucey Blue further offshore to gain extra searoom if required.

The southerly wind picked up steadily and Lucey Blue sailed along at 8 to 9 knots in the growing seas. By midnight we were located off Ballina in two to three metre seas. Unfortunately we also found the east Australian current was running strongly at two knots against the sea which was making the waves rather pointy.

The southerly front hit at around 02:00 on the 8th of July with 35 to 40 knot winds, three metre breaking waves and heavy rain. Lucey Blue was sailing safely, but our boat speed was too high for conservative cruising folk - consistently 10 plus knots - and we were slewing around as we surfed down waves at 15 plus knots.

To reduce the load generated by the sails/sea we reduced sail to just the triple reefed main and unfeathered our MaxProp propellers. The postive impact on the boat's motion and our overall comfort was dramatic. Most of the improvement came from using our now rotating unfeathered propellers as mini sea drouges to provide extra drag at the stern. We had not considered using the propellers in this fashion when we purchased them, but the ability to change from no drag (feathered propellers) to drag (unfeathered propellers) is a fantastic feature.

After a long wet and rather bouncy night we decided to pull into the Gold Coast Seaway and by about 10:00 on the 8th of July we were anchored just behind Seaworld and watching filming of the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie!

We left the next moring and motored through the narrows behind the Stradbroke Islands before reaching Dockside Marina on the Brisbane river at 17:00. The trip through the backwaters was fun, but obviously not everyone makes it through the shallows and overhanging powerlines safely...

The 'Interim Period' - Lucey Blue New Radial Sail Upgrade

Lucey Blue survived the 'Interim Period' incredibly well. However, there was always an endless things to do to keep her shipshape and in good condition.

One of the most important and expensive jobs was replacing our old dacron cross cut main and self tacking jib. Our old sails had helped Lucey Blue sail over 24,000 nautical miles safely since 2005 - a circumnavigation of the Earth via a rather circuitous route from the US to the Caribbean then to Norway and eventually Australia.

Given the distance the sails had traved they were in good condition, but the head of the main had patches of signficant UV damage. The mainsail bag was also looking decidedly green after a particularly wet Sydney winter so we bit the bullet in late 2014 and purchased new sails from a local sailmaker - Scott Sails.

We opted for a full radial cut on both the mainsail and jib beacause this is probably the only time in our lives we will buy new sails. The extra cost was not insignificinat, but Nick had always wanted 'racy sails' even though we never race and tend to sail at whatever is the most confortable speed for the sea condtions. Ben Gemmell - a long time friend of Nick - designed and handmade both sails while emoployed by Scott Sails. He also made new trampolines and a bimini for Lucey Blue as the old ones had seen better days.

Ben's attention detail and Bret Scott's support resulted in amazing end products that should power Lucey Blue to exciting destinations for another decade or prehaps more!

Thanks guys...

The 'Interim Period' - Annual Holidays aboard Lucey Blue

We returned to Lucey Blue at least once each year for an extended family holiday on Sydney Harbour during the 'Interim Period' as we saved up funds and prepared the boat for another adventure.

The kids were always excited to return to the boat and we spent many happy times pottering about on the water, exploring the harbour and enjoying what the big city had to offer. The amount of sealife around Sydney Harbour is amazing - Fairy penguins, seals, dolphins and even the turtles became regular interlopers in our annual holiday.

We also had regular human visitors and enjoyed sharing all that Sydney has to offer with family and friends...

2012/2013:

2013/2014:

2014 / Early 2015: