Today was the day for our lift out to get the ball valve fitted. Due to the tides we had to be lifted out at 6:30am

Some great views of the marina from the top of the crane lift

Then the fun started, the old broken ball valve was removed and were ready to install the new one. But wait, then the drama starts
Step 1 - remove old valve, all good
Step 2 - prepare new valve
New valve provided by Bavaria is 1 1/2" and old valve is 2"
Already have hole in side of boat and paying by the hour to have the boat on the hardstand
Step 3 - Anxious wait for an hour until the chandlery opens at 8am
Step 4 - Go to shop and find out they have one (and only one in stock)
Step 5 - Give thanks to the sailing gods and hand over money
Step 6 - Replace valve
Step 7 - Lower boat back into water and anxiously check that no water pouring in.

Good news now all fixed.
Suspected reason for failure is electrolysis issue back at RPAYC

 

 

 

 

 

Celebrated successful return to water by visiting the Bundaberg Soft Drink Factory with friends from Alfreds Cruising to get supplies to mix with previously purchased products from Bundaberg Distillery.
Good value at $12 for the tour which includes sampling all 18 varieties of Bundaberg brewed soft drink and 6 bottles to take home.

After a peaceful night in Bundaberg time to head back to the marina. After just touching on the way upstream left it a bit longer after high tide to make sure we did not touch.

On the wall of one of the buildings in town as the high water mark from the 2013 floods, really makes you appreciate how high the water got (picture to come)

Tuesday night was the start of our official rendezvous so we set up our welcome sign

And of course more ABS, finally some palm trees so you know we are in the tropics

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