Still on the Gold Coast

After a lot of debate we decided a few weeks ago that we would give up with trying to get the autopilot fixed here on the Gold Coast and just enjoy ourselves. In order to get rid of the frustrations of our notorious outboard, we bought a new electric one (epropulsion) and it has been an absolute delight to use. It’s lightweight and so can be loaded and off the dinghy easily and it’s completely reliable. No oil, fuel or fumes to worry about and it starts every time.

So we have cruised around visiting South Stradbroke in a few different anchorages and also Macleay and Peel Islands. We also had a few days in the marina at Manly and headed into Brisbane to meet Gillian and visit the Banksy exhibition.

Over the last two days we have picked our way back south through the shallows and the islands to Southport. The plan is now to use a weather window tomorrow to head back south to Coffs Harbour, using Harry the Hydrovane to steer.

The Gold Coast

We have been fairly slack at updating the blog over the last week. We sailed up to the Gold Coast last Monday (3rd July) using our Hydrovane (Harry) to help us steer. That all went reasonably well although course changes are a little more involved than using our normal autopilot.

Since arriving on Tuesday (4th) we have been up the Coomera river to visit the Jefa autopilot specialists. They took the drive out and bench tested it, concluding it was working fine. We then increasingly suspected the Raymarine Actuator Control Unit (ACU), so we ordered a new bigger unit, picked it up in Southport and installed it. A cool $3,500 later and the problem still persists.

Raymarine have run diagnostics on the boats systems and concluded that the issue is with the drive. We are now in the world of trying to convince Jefa that there really is something wrong with the drive. 

In between diagnostics we have at least been ashore on South Stradbroke Island which is beautiful and it is warmer here than at home.

Still Coffs Harbour

Well it has been a very disappointing and frustrating week. We sailed out of Coffs last Wednesday (21st) bound for Noumea. We had a really good sail for most of the day and were just getting ready for our first night at sea when the autopilot stopped. We re-engaged but it kept dropping out. We had the same issue about a year ago and we really did think that it was sorted.

After a bit of debate we reluctantly decided to turn back for Coffs Harbour to try and get it sorted out. That took us 16 hours of hand steering to get back. It soon became apparent that there was no one in Coffs Harbour who could sort the problem out. The last week has been spent making phone calls to various "experts" up and down the coast and crawling around the boat with the multi-meter measuring voltages and resistances.

We are now fairly convinced that the problem lies in the drive but by no means certain. The plan is to try to head up to the Gold Coast and try to get it looked at there. However, on top of everything we have now discovered a diesel leak in the engine and so are delayed in departing until we sort that out. We have pretty much abandoned hopes of sailing to Noumea.

At least Coffs Harbour is a nice place to be stuck in, with plenty of facilities nearby and some nice neighbours on adjacent boats.

Coffs Harbour

We safely arrived into Coffs Harbour Marina early yesterday morning. We had to slow ourselves down quite considerably so as not to arrive before first light. It turned out to be a good decision as it took us four attempts to get into our berth even in the daylight, due to the wind and the skipper being a bit rusty with docking.

X-Pat berthed at Coffs Harbour Marina

Since we arrived we have been cleaning up and getting all of our diesel tanks full ready for the next leg of our trip. We also enjoyed an evening out yesterday at the King Tide Brewery. We can recommend most of the beers!

The Brewery - every port should have one!

This morning we visited the Sunday market, which was just a short walk from the marina and enjoyed a BLT and cheesecake cones for breakfast, followed by doughnuts. It's a tough life cruising.

Winter Cruising

The weather has got cold again here in Sydney and so it’s time to head north. 

Today we brought X-Pat into the dock at the Quays Marina and loaded on enough provisions to keep us going for months. We have now left and are on a mooring at the Basin. Tomorrow we plan to run through our safety checks and test out our new dinghy.

X-Pat at the dock fully loaded and ready to depart

The weather forecast is currently looking good for us departing Pittwater on Thursday (15th) for Coffs Harbour and then onward to New Caledonia next week. We will try to keep you up to date with all our adventures!

A change of plan

Well, that first trip didn't really go according to plan but we have at least progressed.

We left Deception Bay as planned on 27th July on the back of a southerly. Things were a bit more boisterous than we had hoped for so we set off with one reef in the main and no headsail. It was quite gusty which always makes sail choice difficult. As we headed up the coast of Queensland the wind got up to force 6 so we put a second reef in and carried on. 

Dressed for the Tropical Capricorn Coast!

All went well, and we were making good time until, just as the sun was setting and we were preparing for our first night at sea, Bob decided to disengage! He re-engaged again immediately but dropped out again on two further occasions in the next hour.  We really didn't relish the idea of spending our first night hand steering up the coast of Fraser Island so Debi quickly got out the cruising guide and looked at our options and decided that Noosa was a good anchorage for the night. This is an open anchorage off the beach, but is nicely sheltered from the southerly. By the time we approached the headland it was dark and we were completely reliant on our satellite navigation. There are no navigation lights heading into Noosa. Despite some nervousness, anchoring was straightforward and we were settled by 7pm and glad to have the bonus of a full nights sleep.

Keeping an eye on the shipping

We set off north again at 9am the next day with significantly lighter winds and so had to motor sail for a part of the way up the coast. Bob behaved perfectly and our first overnight sail went well, however, the wind dropped off completely so we had to motor which meant it was very slow and there was a lot of shipping and fishing boats about so we had to remain alert.  The swell was quite bad and it was a bit bumpy, particularly as we rounded the northern end of Fraser Island and Break Sea Spit.  Because of our overnight stop, we decided to change our plans and not head straight for the Keppel Island Group but explore some of the reefs near Bundaberg first.

Sunset on our approach to Burnett Heads

With the weather forecast looking a bit windy over the weekend we decided to shelter in the Burnett River at Burnett Heads, near Bundaberg while it blows over. After we rounded the cape, the wind picked up again and we had a great sail from Break Sea Spit into Burnett Heads, averaging 7 knots in a force 4 SE wind. Unfortunately we arrived about an hour after sunset but the entrance is well lit and we managed to anchor outside of the marina and just outside of the shipping channel. 

Today we have had a good rest and are going to shelter here again tomorrow before heading out to the islands on Monday if conditions allow.

Anchored in the Burnett River to shelter for the weekend.

It’s been a while

A lot has changed since the last entry on the blog.  When we arrived back in Pittwater two and a half years ago, the bushfires were raging around Sydney and Covid-19 was a young little virus just getting established somewhere in China!  During most of the 2020/21 lockdowns, X-Pat was on our home mooring at the Quays Marina in Pittwater. We did the occasional trip around Pittwater and Broken Bay when permitted, but didn’t venture very far. 

A rare trip around Broken Bay during lockdown

In May 2021, as winter was setting in, we decided we should head north for warmer latitudes and try to spend more time sailing. We booked a long term berth at Newport Marina in Moreton Bay and decided to base ourselves there. We set off from Pittwater on 31st May 2021, on our first passage for nearly two years.  All went well initially, motor sailing in light southerly winds, but in the middle of the first night, Bob, our autopilot started to play up, randomly disengaging, which is quite disconcerting.  By the early morning of the first night we had to abandon Bob and resort to hand steering.  We’d forgotten how tiring this can be and had to switch to 2 hour alternating watches. There was a temptation to turn around but conditions were light and so we just soldiered on hand steering all the way, and arrived at the Gold Coast Seaway mid morning on 3rd June 2021.  We had a good night's sleep and the next day motored up through the islands, finally arriving at Newport Marina in the afternoon of 4th June.

From June to August of 2021 we used X-Pat as a refuge from the lockdowns in Sydney. We had left home with the intention of being away for 3 days in NSW, and as the lockdown at home loomed, we escaped to X-Pat and rural Queensland. We ended up being away for 3 months!

Our Covid refuge in Newport Marina

During occasional trips round Moreton Bay our problems with the autohelm continued, so in January 22 we booked X-Pat into Boatworks for her annual service.  In addition to the sorting out the autohelm, work also included resolving water in the rudder, replacing the acrylic in all the windows, servicing the engine and saildrive and doing some cosmetic fixes to the timber below decks. Unfortunately the work on the autohelm still didn’t resolve the issue and we ended up removing the autohelm drive unit and leaving it at Boatworks for further analysis and returning to Newport Marina.

Dropping the rudder at Boatworks

A further six months of chasing things up and waiting on parts and false hopes finally came to an end last week when the unit was fitted back onboard. We arrived back on board on Friday 22nd July and the autohelm appears to be working.  However, during testing, the Raymarine Seatalk network failed completely, leading to deep depression onboard.  No electronics people were available to help but after a deep dive into the manuals and YouTube videos, we managed to resolve the issue which was traced to a faulty component behind the cockpit instruments.

Lifting the lid to resolve wiring issues on the Seatalk network

So we are back up and running. We left the marina this morning and are anchored in Deception Bay. There is a strong wind warning for tonight, but once that passes we will be on our way north with a target of the Keppel Islands. The tracker should be back up and running so, if you choose, you can once again follow our travels online.