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| Departing Mooloolaba at daybreak |
Gloomy weather! Peter and I hurried off to the showers to have a last bask under the hot water and warm up before our departure from the Moreton Bay Trailer Boat Club Marina. Neighbours helped us ease Olivia out of the pen and we were off, heading north to wherever we decided. Would we go to Mooloolaba for the night or continue on to Double Island Point to await the preferable time to cross the Wide Bay Bar into the Great Sandy Strait?
In the end, after a dull cold day motoring, firstly up the western side of Moreton Island and north alongside of the Main Channel, we decided to spend the night in the Mooloolah River anchorage to warm up, have a good sleep and be ready to make an early start for the Wide Bay Bar. It was a good decision as the night sky turned clear, the moon shone brightly and our anchorage quiet and calm. It is always difficult to find a spot to anchor amongst those already there, but we finally settled on a position next to Minyama Island. The only problem with that was that when we pulled the anchor in the morning an extensive stainless structure from the bow of a boat came up from the bottom attached to the anchor. Luckily it broke up as I slowly motored forward while Peter decided what to do. Later Peter radioed the Mooloolaba Coast Guard to inform them of it's position as it could cause problems for other boats in the area.
The Wide Bay Bar
We studied the weather forecasts, tide charts and bar conditions and decided that we needed to arrive at 'The Bar' at about 4.30 pm, just enough time to cross the bar and anchor at Inskip Point before dark. At least two hours after the low tide is considered a sensible time to begin a crossing, but we were there only one hour after low tide. We had motored all day with no wind to speak of and as the swell was low we decided it would be safe to go. It was. Following the latest way points sent to us by Geoff from Blu Glass, we found the shallowest water was 4-5m. This was our 3rd crossing of this notorious bar and I had a good look for the first time. Our original crossing four years ago had me downstairs eyes glued to the chart plotter making sure we adhered perfectly to the best course. On the way south last year we crossed again, but this time in thick fog and again I watched the chart plotter carefully. Looking out this time I decided that we would never go across this bar unless conditions were good. It was not scary, but with waves breaking on either side of us it is obvious that great care needs to be taken. The Mad Mile, was mad! This deep section after the bar is crossed is where water from all directions seems to converge and cause very disturbed water, something like you would find in a washing machine. We anchored behind Inskip Point well before dark and settled in for a quiet night.
Kingfisher Bay, Fraser Island
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| Reception, Kingfisher Bay Resort, day visitors welcome |
Again we studied the tide tables to work out our departure time to reach the shallow area around Boonlye Point as the tide was nearly full. This way you get a run up the Strait with the making tide, it is near full and has enough depth for us as the shallows are crossed and then you follow the outgoing tide on the other side. This worked very well and the shallowest water I saw on the echo sounder was 2.7m, a little concerning I must admit. Olivia's draft is 1.9m.
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| Daybreak at Kingfisher Bay |
We are now anchored at Kingfisher Bay off the resort on the northern side of the jetty. Yesterday the weather was sunny and warm so we went ashore to explore the resort facilities and met up with Amanda and Neville from Bossa Nova. We spent a pleasant couple of hours yarning with them at the Sand Bar on the beginning of the jetty.
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| Ruins at McKenzies Jetty, North White Cliffs, Fraser Island |
Today we walked south, about 3km, to the derelict McKenzie's Jetty at North White Cliffs. It was a pleasant walk along the soft sandy beach and after reaching the jetty we read the tourist board explaining a little of the history of the place. It was used to export timber from the island for many years. We then set off along the bush track back to the resort. The bush is not unlike that in WA, something to do with the sand I suppose. Wild flowers are beginning to come out and the bush looks healthy, as though it has had plenty of rain. Along the way we found a memorial to the Z Force Commandos who had lost their lives in WW2. They had received some of their training on Fraser Island from 1943 - 1945 and were trained to carry out highly secret missions behind the Japanese lines. An interesting snippet of Australian history I did not know about. As we walked the dull grey skies grew darker and it began to sprinkle all the way back, just enough to make us damp. It has continued all afternoon so we have been confined to the boat.
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| Z Force Memorial, Fraser Island |
Tomorrow we will continue on north to the Burnett River where hopefully we will spend the night and continue on to Pancake Creek on Tuesday. It looks like there will be more wind then so we may get a good sail in.
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| McKenzie's Jetty, North White Cliffs |
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