26th and 27th May Mooloolaba to Wide Bay Bar 65nm

Billabong departed Mooloolaba Marina at 10.30pm on the night of the 26th May. We had to negotiate the Mooloolah river bar on a run out tide. It has recently silted up and a dredge has been booked for dredging on 2nd June. About 6 yachts had run aground there recently because a few sailors have not looked at the Notice to Mariners web site to get critical updates.

Motor sailed all night past the lights of Noosa and along the coast to Double Island point when the sun came up at 6am. We made the bar crossing at 7.30 am. It was one of the easiest bar crossings I have had. The "mad mile" was benign and no rocking.
The winds were light and variable and the swell was approx 1 meter.

 Isabella following us through the Wide Bay Bar

Some waves were evident  but over all it was a good crossing

Billabong was anchored in Pelican Bay by 8 am and we had a nice breakfast and laid down for a few hours sleep.

Caught 7 whiting which were pan fried and had for dinner.

Tomorrow we head North through the Great Sandy Straits to visit Kingfisher Resort. Maybe a beer and a pizza in the sports bar!!

21st May to 25th May Mooloolaba Marina

7 days in Mooloolaba to recharge my batteries (not the boat) was very welcome. I must be getting older as you don't realise the effort you have to put into get the yacht ready and the 2 nights at sea with lack of sleep really takes it out of you.
Had two very good massages while we were there in Mooloolaba. That helped to ease the tension.

Caught up with old friends from PNG Sandy and Eric and Maureen.

The first transit rendezvous was held at the Mooloolaba Marina. Yachts present were Wiskey Business, Novae, Billabong, Southern Belle and Isabella

Also met Zap the local cat on C marina. Very friendly and is always there seeking a pat. I fed her some offcuts from the tuna caught on the way up and that was consumed with delight. Next day gave Zap some more and so I was Zaps best friend.

Zap the cat was a good friend

RPAYC Coral Coast Rendezvous - Mooloolaba

20th May Dunwich to Mooloolaba 62nm

Billabong weighed anchor at 8am and set sail for Mooloolaba.
A very nice day compared to yesterday. Sun was shining and atmosphere was warm. We had to motor all the way as there was a lack of wind.
We left Morton Bay at around 1pm and once out of the protection of Morton  Island the rather large 2.5 meters easterly swell rolled in and made for quite an uncomfortable trip.
But with the lines out I managed to catch a nice Blue Fin Tuna.

That meant sashimi for pre dinner snack and a good supply of fish to eat. We have a freezer to store the catch which allows us to not waste any.


We arrived into the Mooloolah river across the bar at 5pm.

A hot shower and a cold beer made the end of the trip a very pleasant experience.

Dinner that night - Blue Fin Tuna and Salad

19th May South Port to Dunwich 39nm

After refuelling at Southport Yacht Club we left to motor up the Gold Coast Broadwater into Morton Bay.
The weather was not kind with rain, very heavy at times, for most of the day and into the night.
We past the shallowest spot at Jacobs Well about 3.5 hours ahead of the high tide. In the past we were never able to do this but they recently dredged it to 1.8 meters at LAT so it made the journey easy for us.

We pulled into Dunwich where the Little Ship Club is situated and went ashore for some refreshments and a lovely dinner.

The Little Ship Club

The excitement at the Little Ships Club was the badge draw. The members badge draw is on every Frida night but this had not been won for 12 months and was now at $2500. It had to be drawn until there was a winner. After nearly an hour a very happy winner emerged to collect his $2500. We waited around to see if he would shout the bar as there was only about 20 in the club but that did not happen so we returned in the rain to the yacht. It stopped raining 5 mins after we got back to Billabong!!!

More Dolphins

16th, 17th, 18th May Port Stephens to Southport 342 nm

Billabong departed Nelson Bay Marina at 6am and sailed through the heads at 7am. The wind was 15 to 20 knots from the south west turning more south as the day progressed.

Departing the marina at 6am

Leaving Port Stephens 6.30am

We sailed for the first 18 hours but the wind died at 2 am in the morning and unfortunately we had to start the motor.
It is not uncommon when navigating the East Coast of Australia to motor a fair distance as we try and pick a good weather window which usually contains less wind before another major change come through.

We had many schools of dolphins visit us through out the day but never sighted any whales.

Many playful dolphins

More Dolphins

After 24 hours we were just short of Coffs Harbour. We intended to stay a night there but because we

lost a day waiting for the storm to pass we decided to get the pain over with and do 2 nights at sea and travel through to Southport.

Smokey Cape Light House

Sunset First night at sea

Sleeping after a heavy night of sailing.

A bit tired in the morning

Hot shower off the back but wind was very icy

More Dolphins in the morning

The first night at sea was bitterly cold. The wind was a south westerly off the land and with the chill factor of the wind I reckon it was 5 degrees between 3am and 6am. The sunrise was very welcome and things warmed a little.  We had very little wind all day so proceeded to motor sail up the coast.

At night we picked up some decent wind and was able to sail for 5 hours.

The second night at sea was much warmer as the wind went around to the East and the sea temperature rose to 20 degrees.

Billabong rounded Cape Byron (the most eastern part of Australia) pushing a 1.5 knot current at 1.45am. We had been sailing very nicely but the wind died just after rounding the cape so we had to start the motor again.

About 3 am the wind picked up from the South East and we sailed most of the way to Southport.

Approaching the Gold Coast early morning

Sailing along the Gold Coast we spotted about 5 hot air balloons rising in the hinterland. They were a spectacular sight but the light was too dim to get any decent photos from the distance we were out at sea.

We crossed the South port bar at 8.45am and motored into Bums bay and had a sleep before taking a pen at Southport Yacht Club in the afternoon.

Peter has a cousin on the Gold Coast and we were picked up and entertained very nicely at their house in Robina. We had the most wonderful curry with South African origins.( Called Booti Booti in South Africa.

It was a very pleasant evening but we were keen to get back to the yacht and slumber away in our bunks.

2 days at sea is very tiring. The weather was kind but lack of sleep makes it tough.

Bums Bay

2017 RPAYC Coral Coast Cruise

My Club, the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, is having another Rendezvous Cruise to the Coral Coast. Billabong was a participant in the 2011 and the 2013 cruises and will again be participating in the 2017 Rendezvous cruise along with 17 other yachts from the club. Turnaround destination Dunk Island - not far south of Cairns.

I began preparing the yacht for this cruise back in September 2016 and we are now at the start line with new canvas on the spray dodger, new electronic instruments and navigation equipment and new leather upholstery in the saloon. Food loaded, beer and wine and rum loaded, engine serviced and rig checked we are ready to go.

We are ready to go!!

12th May 2017   Pittwater to Port Stephens  77nautical miles

With crew Peter and Brett on board we set off from Pittwater at 6 am for our first destination of Port Stephens. It was grey overcast weather and not a lot of wind. A few rain squalls on the way and a very confused sea made the first part of the journey very unpleasant. There was not enough wind to sail and we had to motor all the way. 11 Hours!! The seas settled towards the end which made life on board a bit more comfortable.

Leaving Barenjoey Light House at 6.30am

Rounding Point Stephens Light House

Crew Peter

Entering Port Stephens at 4.30pm

It was rather a long day and we deserved a cold beer at Mavericks Bar which we did at 6pm.

15th May 2017    Dalbora Marina Nelson Bay.

Today we had intended to depart for Southport on the Gold Coast QLD which will take 48 hours but there is a rather nasty low pressure cell coming down the coast. A gale warning was issued by the Bureau of Meteorology which has wind 35 to 40 knots. We decided to stay put in Port Stephens for another night and will hopefully depart tomorrow morning.