Thumping into the Sunshine Coast
29/06/19 Manly, Qld, Australia
There are 2 pressing issues on the boat at the moment. First being the anchor winch whose circuit breaker shat itself last week due to pouring rain whilst bringing up the anchor. An easily identified problem in the end. Remember when you were a kid and you stuck your tongue on a battery to see what electricity felt like? Well that was happening every time I touched the circuit breaker. No not with my tongue, my finger. On closer inspection you could see the water running from one terminal straight to the other. They are clearly not designed to handle this situation. Knowing there was potentially 170 Amps (fuse rating) of 24v electricity just itching to jump out of the batteries I was not inclined to keep playing with it in the rain. Later when it was dry I pulled out the old voltmeter to check it over and it was clearly not letting anything through anymore. Circuit breakers clearly aren't designed for water passing over and through them. Honestly though, I'm happy I have to change it as it was one of those ones that needed a 30 second rest each time it popped which meant bringing the anchor up took about 5 minutes longer than it should. The second issue onboard the boat is Lara's birthday. Not really an issue per se, more of a "boat life vs normal life" kind of thing. We had to buy Lara a present or two and wanted to make it a surprise as this is what she loves.
Anyway, the day began with me doing some anchor winch work while Vanja dealt with the kids, then when everyone was ready we visited my parents, who are staying in a caravan park a train stop away. They kindly donated their car for the afternoon and babysat while Vanja and I could do some birthday shopping. We finished the day with a nice dinner out at Mum & Dad's before heading back to the boat.
01/07/2019 Manly, Qld, Australia
Lara's birthday! She is 10 today. Unbelievable! We had a nice wakeup this morning with waffles, coffee and opening of presents. We bought Lara a kayak and it was sitting on the deck for the last couple of days. She swears she didn't know it was there, so she was pretty surprised when we showed her. Of course her favourite present was the $13.75 bottle of slime. She went on and on about it and spent the entire day playing with it. Success.
Vanja snuck in a bit of boat washing before we ventured into the city again to have lunch somewhere nice with my parents, Lara's choice. We were running late as usual so we ending up running for 10 minutes to catch the same train with me carrying Jake on my back up the steepest hills. A very good workout.
We spent the afternoon at Southbank Park which is really lovely. There was plenty to do, but we mainly just walked around enjoying the gardens. The kids had a go at one of the playgrounds enjoying a really cool climbing tree nearby. Afterwards we headed back to Manly with the plan to go out for Thai for the birthday dinner, but the weather did not co-operate and we ended up staying in the boat while Mum and Dad trekked back to their caravan. Overall it was a successful birthday for Lara.
02/07/2019, Manly, Qld, Australia
Washed the deck with the pressure washer today. It's a full days work and very tiring. Satisfying too. Though some of our new paintwork came away which is a bit disappointing. I don't think that should happen.
Jake has broken out in some sort of rash and it got bad enough that we took him to see a Dr in the afternoon. They said to give him an antihistamine and monitor it, but if it goes to his neck, throat or head we should come back immediately.
We finally made it to the Thai restaurant and it lived up to the hype. Delicious. Mum and Dad came back to the boat for cake and we said our goodbyes for a couple of weeks as they head home for a few normal life chores.
03/07/2019, Scarborough, Qld, Australia
Today we left Manly and pointed the boat North to Scarborough. The wind was predicted to be 15kts from the SE and that is exactly what we had all the way. It was perfect. We left just before noon after fixing and provisioning. Yes more fixing! Honestly, how much fixing can one boat require?? It is good to have a working anchor winch again though. I even upgraded it to not only pull up the anchor, but we can now let down the anchor from the comfort of the helm. Brilliant.
Leaving today in that 15kt breeze was the hardest part of the journey. After undoing all but one of the lines the boat swung wildly to the wrong side and hit the dock. Thankfully it was cushioned so I don't think there was too much damage. After that debacle we headed out of the channel, put up the sails and barely touched them for the rest of the trip. Just fantastic. When we arrived we set the anchor using the brand spanking new anchor controls which worked a treat. Jake then suggested a cheese platter would be in order, and Vanja kindly obliged.
04/07/2019, Scarborough, Qld, Australia
We went to town this morning to see what Scarborough had to offer. Not too much as it turns out. Well, that sounds a bit harsh. I guess it is a tiny coastal town with the usual amenities, nice park, touristy cafes and lots of elderly. I suppose it is a nice place to retire to when the time comes.
We went for lunch after spending some energy in the park. During lunch we noticed Jake's rash was growing some pretty blotchy spots on his neck and face. We decided to take him to the Dr. again as that is what the previous one recommended. Anyway, despite the number of GPs in town the earliest appointment we could get was in 4-5 weeks. Obviously that wasn't going to work, so off we trekked to the emergency department at the local hospital. Long story short, he is fine. The rash started going away 2hrs into the waiting, so we left.
05/07/2019, Scarborough, Qld, Australia
Miserable weather. Cold, windy and raining. Doesn't get much worse on a supposedly tropical holiday. Looks like we are going to be pinned down here for a few days with wind and waves blocking our path to Mooloolaba. It wouldn't be so bad except our anchorage is rolling like a penguin down a hill. Anyway, today we spent it on the boat doing pretty much nothing while checking the anchor and wind. It hit 36 kts at one point which is our highest recording so far. Pretty impressive how strong the wind can be out here on the water. The boat was swerving all over the place, but our anchor alarm showed us moving perfectly around the anchor in a 60 degree arc. Very reassuring.
06/07/2019, Scarborough, Qld, Australia
Horrible night of wind and waves again. Hopefully this is the last day of this before we can get going again. If not tomorrow then definitely Monday. Oh well, got some boat projects started today. I cut and epoxied the hole for the deck shower after going to the chandlery with Lara to pick up the supplies. Of course I didn't buy enough hose, so the last section is a comedy of hose connections. Anyway it's ready for the final install tomorrow.
I forgot to mention Lara has started her own little massage business onboard the boat. She drew up a menu of treatments and a booking schedule which she arranges herself and takes the money and does the accounts at the end of the day. It's really impressive, though it's costing us a lot of money, as the massages are really good!
07/07/2019 Mooloolaba, Qld, Australia
Despite a forecasted 4m swell in the ocean today we decided to leave for Mooloolaba this morning. The wind was predicted to be 15-20kts from the SW and we had it again all day! The sail through the remainder of Moreton Bay was beautiful with full sails up. Of course we left just in time for a 2kt current against us, which lasted almost the entire way to Mooloolaba. It eased slightly when we ventured back out into the ocean, but then the waves showed up. The forecast was once again spot on. Everyone immediately started feeling seasick, except for yours truly thankfully. Always good to have someone well enough to look after the boat. We all popped tablets that kicked in an hour later. The waves steadily got worse with some even crashing over the side. We weren't in any danger, but I must admit that I was a little scared. We were being lifted so high on some waves it felt as though we were on top of a 5 story building. Kids were fine though it appeared, happily playing Minecraft. Vanja didn't seem to be worried either, so I guess I am just a bit of a wuss.
We didn't give the entrance to Mooloolaba much thought as the cruising guide said it was a good entrance in all but the worst conditions. In hindsight we probably should have, given the conditions. The waves were crashing right over the entrance. It was insane! Thankfully there was a pilot boat leaving when we arrived and the captain must have seen us for the fools we are and radioed us to ask if we knew what we were doing. I said we had no idea and asked him if we could follow him in on his return. We did, and despite launching our boat over a couple of huge breakers we made it in with a cheer from the crowd that was gathered on the break water to watch our demise. 10 mins later we had the anchor down in a beautiful calm palm tree studded river. A cheese platter, sundowner and early dinner did the trick and we all went to bed exhausted.
