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.

Return to Pittwater

After almost exactly three months away, we arrived back on X-Pat on 30^th November ready to finally bring her home to Pittwater, NSW. During our time away we spent six weeks in the UK and sold our house in Pymble! 

After a day of preparations and getting our heads back into sailing mode, we were ready to depart, but the weather had other ideas. With strong winds forecasted for the Monday we decided to stay put and wait for things to calm down.

After arriving back in Australia from Vanuatu we decided that is was high time for Debi to skipper the boat. So on Tuesday (3^rd December) with Debi on the helm, we reversed out of our berth at Newport Marina at around 0900. Our first port of call was Scarborough marina to fill up with diesel and then out across Moreton Bay to Cape Moreton. The winds were light and on the nose, so we chose to just motor this part of the trip.  We hoisted our sails once clear of the channels and sand banks of Moreton Bay and off we went.

The weather was reasonably kind with variable winds but mostly behind the beam. Debi had researched the location of the southerly going East Australian Current (EAC), which we found fairly quickly, despite our water temperature sensor failing, and so we made good progress down the coast. As we passed the Gold Coast and into NSW the smoke haze from the huge bushfires became more and more evident. Even when we were 30 nm offshore the haze was still present. By the time we got to Port Stephens we realized that the visibility was reduced to less than 3 nm in places. Light-houses would have been little use had we been using traditional methods of navigation.

On the final night of the trip we were visited by a Brown Booby, who seemed intent on perching on the boat and proceeding to crap all over it. We are not sure what he had been eating but the result wasn’t good. 

The Brown Booby - such a messy bird

The forecasted winds of 15 knots from behind failed to materialize on our final afternoon and so we had a frustratingly slow last 40 nm. We had been looking forward to the sight of Barrenjoey Lighthouse at the entrance to Pittwater, but had to wait a long time as the smoke haze worsened. It was then that we realized that the boat was not only covered in Brown Booby crap but also in a fine layer of ash.

White boats and bushfire ash are not very compatible

We only just got into Pittwater before dark and so decided to pick up a mooring at the Basin rather than trying to get all the way to The Quays marina, which would have meant arriving in the dark.  Once tied up it was time to crack open the champagne and get a solid nights sleep. We covered 494 nm in 3.5 days.

Arriving in Pittwater to bushfire skies

Our skipper all tied up on the mooring at the Basin

It's that time again

This morning we headed across to the Quays marina and our old mooring (No. 27). We left here on 31^st July 2016 (see blog entry https://xpatcruises.blogspot.com/2016/07/and-we-off-sort-of.html) and it was a strange but nice feeling to be back on familiar territory. 

Getting tied up back at our old mooring at The Quays

We spent a few hours cleaning up the boat and in particular the deck, before calling up the tender to come and collect us. The end of quite a series of adventures. 

To be continued ….

Homeward Bound

After a lovely four weeks in Vanuatu, we finally left on 26^th August. We cleared customs and immigration which involved a fair bit of messing about and scurrying between different offices around town, which was a little annoying. Once cleared we headed back to the boat, deflated the dinghy and, at about midday, we set off.

Our first night went well. Although neither of us had much sleep, the weather was kind and we had 15-20 knot winds on the beam so made good progress at around 7 knots. We had a couple of Chinese fishing vessels to keep us company in the middle of the night which we are pretty sure that we saw on the way to Vanuatu as well. They seem to get everywhere.

The idyllic weather continued into the second day giving us a gentle but fast trip. We covered a total of 313nm in the first two days, which was great progress. This took us to just to the north of New Caledonia, where we had to start picking our way through the reefs in the area. We passed through what is known as “the Grand Passage” in the company of the cruise ship “Pacific Aria”. They were also heading to Brisbane, but travelling at about three times our speed.

Flying along at 7 knots in ideal conditions

The miles just disappearing behind us

By the fourth day out we intercepted the trough, which was forecasted, and passed through some heavy rain and choppy seas. Initially this was tolerable as the wind stayed consistent and we were making good progress. However, overnight, it turned a bit wild, with a wind shift to the south, gusts to 30 knots and very heavy rain. It got so grim at one stage that we had a Sooty Tern sheltering on the deck. A beautifully delicate looking bird, but obviously tougher than it looks.

Having passed through the trough and cleared all the rain we were looking forward to getting back to some sailing in the forecasted 15-20 knots. Unfortunately, the only thing that was right about the forecast was that the wind would be a southerly! For about eight hours overnight we had consistent southerly winds over 30 knots, gusting 37 knots. We had a heavily reefed main and no headsail and were going nowhere fast. Having been sailing for five days in pretty much a straight line to Brisbane we should have known it wouldn’t last.

The strong winds and big seas brought us another visitor, this time a Red Footed Booby. It somehow managed to balance on the polished stainless steel rail next to the cockpit and stayed there all night. Remember it was blowing over the 30 knots, with the boat pitching and rolling and this thing has webbed feet!  It was totally unfazed by us coming into the cockpit – obviously needed the rest.

An impressive balancing act from the Red Footed Booby

As we approached Fraser Island the wind eased but was changeable in direction and our wobbly track reflects these changes as we continued to try to progress south. We had lots of traffic to avoid as we approached within 30 miles of the coast with cargo ships and tankers heading up and down the coast. We finally spotted land, Fraser Island, at 0730 on the 2^nd September. With the wind still preventing us heading south we decided to take the easy option and furl the sails and put the engine on. We had the EAC (East Australia Current) to help us progress.

Lots of traffic to avoid as we approached the Australian coast

The final night at sea was slow going and, as we approached Moreton Bay, the weather deteriorated again, so we waited for daylight before negotiating the channels. Then it was a slog across the bay and five miles up the river through the commercial shipping port to get to the marina where we had to clear customs.

Motoring through the commercial port in Brisbane

After exactly eight days at sea and 1134 nm, we tied up at the fuel dock, which doubled as the quarantine dock, at Rivergate Marina at midday on 3^rd September. 

Tied up at Rivergate Marina awaiting customs clearance

On arrival we asked the dockhand how to contact customs to let them know we had arrived. His answer was interesting. He said “Oh don’t worry they know you are here. They have been following you on AIS and there are surveillance cameras throughout the port!” Sure enough, within the hour they showed up. Welcome back to modern society.

Despite all the rumours to the contrary, the customs and quarantine people were a delight to deal with. They were very friendly and courteous and very efficient. The quarantine process was very thorough, examining not just for banned foods etc. but also for insects and infestations. He pulled the boat apart but thankfully didn’t find anything nasty.

The whole process was over by 1630 after which we left the marina and headed back through the port and once more out into Moreton Bay towards Newport Marina, our final destination. By the time we got there at 2000hrs the tide was too low to get into the marina and so we anchored outside, in what felt like the middle of the bay, waiting for the tide. The champagne came out and disappeared fairly quickly and we had a very sound sleep.

The champagne just seemed to evaporate

All clean and tied up in Newport Marina for a few months

After getting tied up in the marina yesterday we had a busy day cleaning the boat and getting everything neat and tidy. We had a nice meal out last night at the Moreton Bay Boat Club and today we are locking up X-Pat and departing for home. We will be back in November.

Wala, Luganville and World War II

Our last week feels like it’s been a bit of a lazy one, but we do seem to have done all we wanted to do.

After a nice long stay at Ambrym Island, our target was to get to Luganville on Espiritu Santo Island where we can check out to head back to Australia. The Ambrym to Luganville trip is a bit long for a day sail and so we decided to break the journey by calling in at Wala Island for a couple of nights.

Wala is just off the north-east corner of the island of Malakula and there is a nice sheltered anchorage on the western side. We had only been anchored a few minutes when a local man name Yannick arrived in his dug out canoe with outrigger, to welcome us to the island and invite us ashore for a tour. We were a little anxious as we had spent all of our cash on Ambrym and also exchanged most of our spare things there, so we had little to offer in exchange for a tour. It didn’t seem to matter.

Yannick explains to Debi how the stones represents their ancestors

Sustainable Housing on Wala Island

Cocoa growing on Wala Island

The next day we went ashore and had a nice tour of the small island that has an amazing 300 inhabitants. The kids all go to school across the water on Malakula but were on holiday when we visited and so were enjoying the beach and jumping off the jetty. There were kids everywhere and none of them seemed bothered by the lack of television or smartphones. It was also interesting to see all of the different things that they grow on the island, from the usual papaya, bananas and grapefruit to different sorts of nuts and even cocoa.

The kids here eat plenty of fruit (note the machete for peeling grapefruit)

Happy people

Yannick's well on the beach. It's about 5m deep and has surprisingly fresh water.

Yannick's wife, weaving mats

Yannick introduced us to a gentleman who did carvings from volcanic stone, but we explained we had no money. However, the opportunity for an exchange soon arose when he explained that his wife was suffering from a bad back. So we exchanged some paracetamol and pain relief patches for a nice carving.  We also managed to scrounge together a load of food and other stores that we shouldn’t need to give to Yannick as a thank you for the tour.  He asked to come back to the boat with us to see what it was like on board.  It seemed a fair exchange.  After all, he had shown us his house.

The man with his carving. 

With a following wind and just the headsail up we left on Tuesday for our final inter-island sail to Luganville and we have been anchored outside of the Beachfront resort since then.

Luganville was an important base for the Americans during World War II and indeed, at one point after the bombing of Pearl Harbour, the remainder of the Pacific fleet were stationed here. The remains of their presence are everywhere.

Work is currently underway to raise funds to build a major museum to tell the story of WWII at Luganville. We visited the project office, which also has a mini museum, which is very well done.

This reclaimed land and concrete slabs remain from WWII

There were hundreds of these buildings here during the war. A few still remain.

A few of the relics in the WWII mini museum

Pat couldn't resist buying a machete for the new garden

On Thursday we did “the tourist thing” and did a half-day kayak trip up a river to one of a number blue holes on the island. Santo is quite a mountainous island and in places along the coast natural springs have eroded out pools that are filled with crystal clear blue water. After a bit of confusion over our pick up and a fairly long drive across the island, we had a nice trip, kayaking through the rainforest and stopping at the blue hole before heading back down to the coast again. We went ashore in the evening for a meal at the resort and a jug of sangria. We then made the mistake of having a second jug of sangria. It was an exciting ride back in the dinghy that evening and a subdued morning the next day.

Who's meant to be steering this thing?

A huge banyan tree at the blue lagoon

The clear waters of the blue lagoon

At the end of the war, the Americans were left with huge mounds of equipment and troops on Santo. They donated all the buildings, roads and infrastructure to the islanders, but with ships in short supply after the war, they couldn’t repatriate everything and so attempted to sell the equipment (vehicles, tanks etc) to the French at what they felt was a bargain price. The French knew that the Americans couldn’t take it back and so basically held out to get the equipment for free.

The Americans were not impressed and so, instead, they dumped the millions of dollars worth of equipment into the sea at a place now known as Million Dollar Point so that the French wouldn’t get it. They literally bulldozed the equipment into the sea and then at the end drove the bulldozers in as well. What a waste. However it has provided a valuable tourist attraction and we headed off with our snorkels and masks to take a look. It’s fascinating to try to work out what everything is and to see how the coral and the sand and sea have gradually consumed it all.

Illegal dumping ground?

Once a bulldozer, now a reef

Some not so careful parking

The tyres seem to have lasted particularly well.

The coral is really getting a hold here

The beach here is strewn with bits of rusting metal

We have spent the last couple of days preparing for the trip home. We have bought a few provisions to top up supplies for the trip, filled up the fuel and water and have been watching the weather forecasts about six times a day. It is all looking good for a departure tomorrow (Monday) bound for Brisbane. The journey should take us 7-8 days.

It’s been great trip but we are both looking forward to getting home and seeing family and friends and our new house!