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 '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...

Sail repairs and Harken Battcar maintenance……

Lucey Blue has sailed a long way in her time and while the last set of sails were new in 2005-2006 it was clear we needed to do some routine maintenance. A good friend of mine Ben Gemmell dropped by to help remove the mainsail and blade jib.



The full battened main is enormous and it took forever to extract it from the reefing lines, lazy jacks and Harken batten cars etc, however, I have known Ben since school and capsized/broken more 12 foot skiffs than I care to remember, so the job was fun.



With the main out of the way I took the time to inspect the rest of the sail-related hardware. The Harken Battcar system is really well made, but after 19 years of use and many tens of thousands of sea miles later the aluminium toggles that connect the fibreglass battens to the Battcars needed to be replaced. The guys at Harken Australia were really helpful and managed to obtain the correct spares for the Battcars within a week– at $25 Australian per toggle the repair bill was much smaller than I had expected.


After a few repairs at Ben’s sail loft and with refurbished Harken Battcars it was time to reinstall our working sails. Everyone helped out and after much fiddling around pushing the 18+ foot battens back into their batten pockets, the job was done!!!



To celebrate another job complete Sam gave the saloon cabin a festive feel with her new tea-lights and we sat down to a well-earned dinner.

Time warp and new year's eve fireworks on Sydney Harbour

Wow where does time go when you are having fun??????

Work on Lucey Blue has continued interspersed with a few weekends away and a range of other developments including a new member of the crew who is due on the scene in late January.


Our next crewmember currently affectionately know as “thumper” has certainly made moving about the boat more interesting… amazing where you can get stuck when 38 weeks pregnant…

Nick is working on a range of short blog updates to cover completion of the smart regulator upgrade, maintenance of the spectra watermaker, installation of our new vacuflush toilet and holding tank, the acquisition of a sustainable solar system to help meet our electrical requirements and a minor renovation of the bathrooms and saloon seating…plus a thousand and one other jobs including upgrading our sail wardrobe. He has been busy and the boat has looked like a bomb site over the last few months...


But Ryan has enjoyed stomping around the boat helping dad and it has not all been work – at least that what we have been telling ourselves …


We even made it to the new year's eve fireworks on Sydney Harbour under a fantastic spinnaker we purchased on eBay. Nick really likes red and yellow – it harks back to his 12 foot skiff sailing days – and when we saw the near brand new 1.5 oz “flames spinnaker” made by Hasse & Company, Port Townsend Sails we were hooked...





The spinnaker trip down the harbour was great fun, the kids loved the ride. Before long we were anchored out of the crowds ready for the fireworks. When we come back from our sojourn later this year we plan on braving the “excitement” of Farm Cove right next to the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge to really be part of the action. But Nick was not keen on potentially delivering a baby while dodging other boats in such close confines - slack I say!!!!

Anyway the view from our “2010” anchorage in Rose Bay was not too bad and it was a good place for a swim….





The fireworks were as spectacular as ever and after a great night out we headed back to Middle Harbour to continue work on Lucey Blue…….

Broken Anchor Winch and Setting the Sails...

As I mentioned in my last post, we have been spending most weekends in Sydney aboard Lucey Blue. As Lucey Blue is located approximately 320 km from our front door...this is no mean feat, and we are putting lots of clicks on the car driving back and forth (not to mention the numerous games of I-spy and pit-stops at McDonalds [the novelty there is REALLY wearing off!]).

Last weekend, the ANZAC Day long weekend, we were hoping to get some of the 'to do' things from our list done. Sadly, it wasn't to be. I was washing up in the sink on the Friday, and discovered a new explosive quality to our water. It would run some, then gurgle some, then explode from the tap in every direction possible...it seemed to have a preference for squirting directly in my face (nice). Nick changed over the tanks, but the explosive quality persisted. Eventually he discovered a hole in one of the pipes, and that job was fixed. We also picked up a new 6V Trojan battery to replace the dead one, spent a motza at Whitworths on two plastic bags worth of boat 'stuff', and picked up the bimini (it was forecast to rain on Sunday and we'd had enough of that bimini-less fun).

The next day we decided to head out into the Harbour and maybe have a swim (well, the kids and Nick decided to have a swim...with top temps of around 22 degrees celcius (and the water considerably colder than that)...I decided to read my book ;-). We passed HMAS Stuart, just returning from the Middle East, and then wandered on over to Quarantine Beach and anchored.

Nick dragged out his new spare dinghy, a recent eBay purchase, and took it for a spin:


Apart from the slow leak in one of the panels (which he knew about before purchase) it worked well. Apparently it is a 'disposable' dinghy and is for leaving in dodgy places where you are not sure if your dinghy is still going to be there when you get back...HHHHMMMMmmmmmmm. Makes me wonder about this cruising business!



After the spin and a quick swim we decided to have lunch ashore at the Engine Room cafe (which is next door to the Boilerhouse Restaurant at the QStation). We chose a table where we could keep an eye on Lucey Blue (the wind was coming up, and some other yachts were having trouble anchoring in the small bay):


Ryan loved his meal...but then Ryan loves most food - including lemons (notice that he is eating the lemon in PREFERENCE to the big fat chips on his plate...and yes, he ate the salad after the lemon!):


Nick liked this sign...


Unfortunately we didn't see any Little Penguins this weekend, but we have seen them near Fairlight, and I even saw two in Quakers Hat Bay a couple of weeks ago...very cool...but too quick to photograph.

Anyhoo...after lunch we went back to Lucey Blue and Nick went to lay down more anchor chain (as I wanted to spend the night there, and the wind was picking up a fair bit). This was when we discovered a recently aquired 'feature' of the anchor winch. It would go up, but not down. Now, as far as bad timing and things that could go wrong..having the anchor chain down, and then having the winch only work going up...is a GOOD thing. It meant we couldn't stay the night at Quarantine, but at least we could bring in the chain that was out and motor safely back to our mooring...which is what we did.

The next day Nick set to work investigating this new issue. After some contortionist moves on his part:


...then some gnashing of teeth when the bolts would not undo:


...he finally discovered the trouble:


...zee wires are KAPUT-ski (this photo is taken upside down, through a small hole in the side of the box that the winch sits on, above the chain).

So, now we know what the problem is...it'll take another weekend to fix it! COOL....not. Like I said first up...that to-do list is getting longer, not shorter...and this is one of those 'essential' items methinks ;-).

On Monday...sans anchor, we decided to leave the mooring again, and go out the heads for a little sail..with the jib only. It was a lovely day, but there was a surprisingly large swell of about 3 m...which made for some interesting motion (I get seasick and by the time we got back in the heads I was starting to feel just a tad queasy [I have used Scopalomine Patches successfully in the past....but would only use them for longer term sails...as I can usually last a couple of hours without actually feeding the fish]).

While we were out there, Nick demonstrated some of the finer points of setting sails for me:







Nick has a fair bit of sailing experience. He raced 12 ft skiffs on Sydney Harbour when he was younger. He also sailed with his parents for three years in the Pacific during the 80s in a 32 ft Eureka Catamaran. More recently he has sailed in a Roberts Spray (a 45ft steel hulled, cutter-rigged ketch) to Antarctica and South America (this is where I put the Scop patches to good use). I am not sure where he has used these particular sail setting techniques before...but he looked like he was having fun hanging there.



Ciao,
Sam.