ALLUSIVE SAILING ADVENTURES

Welcome back to an update on Allusive Sailing Adventures. Last article, together with my wife Julie and sons Will and Oscar, we were in Sydney onboard Allusive waiting out some big breeze and swell before moving further north. This time was spent catching up with friends at the CYC and enjoying some civilization including the Sydney Fish Markets for Julie’s birthday (can’t catch a fish!). Once the swell dropped we sailed out of the heads and pointed the bow north. A tactical decision was made to skip Pittwater to leave some cruising grounds for the summer cyclone season and we sailed overnight in a light northerly to Nelson Bay at Port Stephens. En-route, the crew was told of a possible close encounter with COVID while at Jervis Bay. Defying some logic, advice was given to jump into a taxi bus and get to the testing drive through centre where everyone was tested and required to isolate. Upon negative results and the downgrading of the contact freedom was granted and the crew decided to quickly move further north missing any sightseeing at Port Stephens other than dinner with some sailing friends from the RSAYS. A slow 24 hour sail from Port Stephens to Coffs Harbor saw the crew catch a Mack Tuna which was hoped would see the end of the terrible fishing luck (or lack of skill). Notwithstanding this fish, the waters along the entire east coast were definitely alive with countless sighting of humpback whales but relatively few dolphins which is always a beautiful sight watching breaches, tail and fin slapping. Coffs Harbor was crowded and we were very fortunate to get the last available berth as the anchorage outside was very rolly. A couple of days were spent at Coffs enjoying walks and taking the kids surfing. By this point in time we had developed a really good routine with school work in the morning and exploring or water activities in the afternoon then onto sundowners and dinner. The home schooling routine was something that we were initially concerned about but has turned out quite easy with the kids enjoying the much reduced school time compared to traditional school for the same amount of content. The pattern of sailing throughout the New South Wales coast saw many overnight passages as distances between safe anchorages were in the order of 100-150nm and the winds were quite variable in direction. We found a good rhythm of leaving around lunch time sailing through the night and arriving in the morning. This seemed to be the least taxing on us, was good for the kids as they slept through a large part of the journey and had us arriving in daylight hours with time to explore. There are many other places that provide safe harbor but with a vessel with a 2.4m draft and a healthy respect for bar crossings we skipped many locations that would otherwise have been lovely to explore in a different boat. At the end of the day every yacht is a compromise and a deep draft is our compromise for our tall rig and relatively fast passage speeds. Once a good weather window opened Allusive slipped the lines from Coffs and sailed the 75nm to Iluka where the crew spent the next week testing the pubs and cafes at both Iluka and Yamba, having sundowners with fellow yachties and even being interviewed by Robbie Standaloft’s (SV Iluka) youtube channel. Another overnight sail found us passing through the famed Gold Coast Seaway at sunrise which was an eye opener for all with vessels large and small belting through the seaway at full speed in the midst of surfers paddling from the south side to the north side of the seaway to reach the famed South Straddie surf breaks. We anchored Allusive in Bum’s Bay next to Seaworld and spent the next few weeks surfing, exploring the Broadwater region and hitting the theme parks. Being able to slow down and enjoy the warm weather was probably the marker for the feel of the trip changing from a large delivery to a true holiday. Having just got into the holiday spirit a few issues needed to be addressed with Allusive so a trip to Boatworks was inserted into the adventure and the crew spent three or four long and tiring days on boat work. For anyone who hasn’t seen the Boatworks facility it is a phenomenal place with every possible trade on site, beautiful amenities, a cafe and a number of picturesque barbeque areas. Feeling significantly poorer the boat was dropped back into the water and we motored the way downriver past the multi-million dollar mansions of the Broadwater. In the interest of brevity stops along this stretch

included Tippler’s passage, Caniapa (where Julie became the turtle whisperer seeing their heads pop up everywhere she looked), Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, Peel Island (first sight of coral), snorkeling the Tangalooma wrecks and Cowan Cowan at the tip of Moreton Island. From this point the trade winds came into full effect with constant 15-25 knot south easterlies. On Allusive we then sailed to the famous Double Island Point lagoon. This is a protected lagoon full of catamarans, large sand hills and a perfect right hand point break along the sand bar. This would be heaven to wait for the swell to drop and cross the Wide Bar but Allusive draws too much to enter the lagoon even at high tide. An anchor was cautiously set as close as possible but zero protection was found. After being thrown out of the bed for the fourth time before midnight the dummy was spat and the boat pulled anchor and sailed out to go the long way around Fraser Island. This was a 140nm run taking about 16 hours at a very comfortable 100-135 wind angle arriving at Rooney Point at the northern tip of Fraser Island by dinnertime. This was a fantastic sail littered with whales breaching in the distance and some surfacing near us. One was even so close that we had to swerve to miss it. Rooney Point was lovely and we met up with South Australian buddies Matt and Traci on Vellamo who had also sailed the long way around Fraser Island and we buddy boated down to Kingfisher Resort which allows grotty yachties the use of the swimming pool, restaurant and bar. The hot tub was a highlight for the kids and we couldn’t argue with a burger and chips and icy cold Coronas. Vellamo moved on to Bundaberg but we needed to hang around at Hervey Bay to get our first COVID vaccination. Time was spent catching up with friends in Hervey Bay, boat jobs and seeing some of the sights. A few days and a COVID jab later we hoisted the spinnaker for a gentle run to Bundaberg. The Burnett Heads Marina is a good marina although located a fair way from the town of Bundy itself. The marina has a good chandlery and facilities and a shuttle bus does the run to the Bundaberg distillery and town. We did the tour at the distillery and an extra tour of the Bundaberg soft drink factory for the kids which was a very good tour and was quite interactive. We happened to be at this marina on a Friday for a cruisers’ BBQ put on by the marina for its guests. It was a good night spent talking to other yachties about destinations visiting and ones that were being planned. Burnett Heads is the stepping stone to Lady Elliot and Lady Musgrave Islands which were on the list of dream destinations if the weather cooperated. With the new-found advice from old salts in hand, a good weather window and being jealous of photos from other boats, we left early in the morning headed out to Lady Musgrave. Lady Musgrave is an enclosed coral cay with a passage into the lagoon. There is some conjecture about the forming of the passage with the very straight nature of the passage suggesting it was created by early guano miners. It is deep the entire way. A couple of bommie lookouts and a rising tide made for a relatively simple entry. This was what we had worked hard for; beautiful weather and self-sufficient inside a coral atoll. The call was made for snorkeling and the next three or four days were spent exploring coral bommies, nonchalant reef sharks, abundant fish and turtles and the odd manta ray. Each night we enjoyed sundowners on the beach with friends new and old with information sharing on dive spots, weather reports, fish caught (or not) and just enjoying the picturesque scene. Feeling a bit more adventurous we made the 20nm run to the next coral cay with an entry which is Fitzroy Reef. This is a bit less commercialised than Musgrave and a trickier entry with a dog leg and giant bommie in the middle of the channel. We entered the reef and found a mooring with only one other boat in the reef. Again, snorkeling was the mission of the day as the stay here was going to be short with an approaching weather system providing some potentially lively conditions that suggested leaving early the next morning. Similar to Musgrave, the coral bommies inside the reef were beautiful diving with abundant small colourful fish and turtles. Unfortunately, consistent with Musgrave, there was a very noticeable lack of larger predatory fish indicating that while fishing is allowed in these areas, the top species are certainly lacking (at least that is a good excuse!). An uneventful sail back to Gladstone saw the crew enjoy a marina for a couple of days before venturing out to Great Keppel Island. Stay tuned for the next installment. For live updates on position and adventures check out: @Allusive_sailing_adventures on Instagram and Facebook.

Sam Gaylard

Enjoying a swing at Paradise Point, Gold Coast