Decided to follow on from the tradition of our local estuary cruises on Pittwater and "go up the creek", more specifically up the Burnett River to Bundaberg. Unlike going up the creek you need to calculate the tides carefully as there are some shallow spots on the way.

Low tide was at 8:32 in the morning so we left after 10:00am so we were on an imcoming tide up the river. Some of the spots were only 1.0m at low tide so we needed at least 1.2 m of tide to get us through. We carefully followed the channel markers and luckily only touched once on the way up.
Will leave it a bit later tomorrow so there is a bit more water

Anchored in the town reach (where the Marina was until it was washed away in the 2013 floods) to have a relaxing time up the creek.

 

 

 

Sunday morning caught the free bus to the local markets at the Shalom Catholic School. The marina runs a free shuttle bus and you can buy your fresh fruit and vegies.

Note the IGA at Burnett Heads also runs a free shuttle bus to and from the Marina if you want to do some grocery shopping and save yourself a 2.6km walk (each way)

 

 

In the afternoon went for a walk to Burnett Heads via the river bank. It is a nice easy flat walk and even bumped into some fellow cruisers (the Cormacks).

 

Opportunity to post ABS (cruising joke)

 

 

Today was spent in Bundaberg, no words simply pictures. Just saying Galadriel is now well provisioned.

The weather forecast for the weekend wad not looking good and Fridays forecast was for 15-20 knot South to South East winds and only showers so we decided to head for Bundaberg.

Here are some photos of the Urangan Marina before we left.

We had a great sail all the way to Bundaberg, the winds were blowing steadily from the south so we set the big headsail (the furling reacher) and were sailing along at more than 8 knots

When the wind got too strong we reduced to the main only.

We arrived in Bundaberg just after 3pm and settled into the Marina. One thing that is clear, the marinas berths we have encountered in Queensland so far certainly are wider and easier to get in than the ones at the RPAYC.

Friday nights Bundaberg Port Marina hosts a BBQ for the guests so we joined a group of cruisers for a veal schnitzel BBQ, a few drinks and some interesting stories. We certainly felt like real newbies, with others in the group including
- a Canadian couple who had sailed from Vancouver to Australia via Mexico and the Pacific
- a French couple who had spent 11 years sailing from France across the Atlantic, around Cape Horn, across the Pacific. And were heading north to continue their circumnavigation

Todays adventure was attempting to get Galadriel lifted out to fix a broken ball valve. On the way up to the Gold Coast we discovered that the ball valve on the sea cock for one of the toilets had broken. Luckily the valve was not leaking AND was broken in the open position. This means an empty holding tank - great news.

Luckily Bavaria on the Gold Coast had a replacement valve, so only challenge is to replace the broken valve. A couple of people suggested simply putting a wooden bung in the outlet and tasking off the broken valve. However the thought of having a two inch hole in your boat only sealed by a wooden plug does not seam like sensible idea.

So, a lift out was booked for this morning at 8am. I was expected to drive the boat myself onto the slings. Quite scary with the strong southerly winds. Luckily we got it in without any dramas. Then the fun started, we discovered the crane lift was too small for Galadriel as the foresail was going to hit the crane. So lift out was abandoned.

Then I had to get the boat back out, once again with the strong winds.

Successfully returned Galadriel to the pen. Not a recommended manoeuvre in windy conditions.

With the boat safely returned, off to Hervey Bay shopping centre to buy some winter clothes as it has been the coldest winter in Queensland for a long time

Today was a shore day. We took the opportunity to catch the bus into Maryborough to explore some of the highlights.

The new War Memorial in Queens Park (opened in 2018) is very impressive as are the way that a lot of old buildings in the centre of town have been preserved or restored to the original condition.

No photos to post as they were all taken by the professional photographer (Sonia).

And for those of you who are not aware, the author of Mary Poppins stories (P L Travers) was born in Maryborough so there is a statue of her in town and all of the pedestrian crossing lights use Mary Poppins as the red and green signal instead of the standard man.

Tonight off to the Boat Club Marina to watch the State of Origin in the cinema on the big screen.

Woke up in the morning at Garry's Anchorage on Fraser Island. As the forecast was not looking good for the next few days we decided to head for the marina at Urangan.

The weather was perfect for sailing, consistent westerlies at 15 knots so we were able so sail all the way up the Great Sandy Straight. It gets shallow in the middle so you have to go through at high tide. Luckily high tide was a very acceptable 10 am so an 8:30 departure allowed us to pass through the shallow parts easily.


Morning at Garry's Anchorage with Seas the Moment

 



Sailing up the Great Sandy Straight at 8-9 knots

The free Marine Traffic app only tracks you when you are within VHF range so our full track from Mooloolaba to Urangan is not shown, we did not take a short cut across Fraser Island

And if you are tempted to take a shortcut across some of the shallower parts, you might want to check your depths as it gets very shallow as the photo taken from the breakwall at Urangan shows

Dinner on Tuesday night was at the Italian Restaurant at the Great Sandy Straights Marina with the Cormacks. A great feed, strongly recommended. Fresh garlic prawns and scollops from Hervey Bay - does not get much better