Dolphins underwater

I've been having a bit of fun with my late GoPro camera, attached (not quite tightly enough) to a boat-hook, filming dolphins as they play around the bow. Have a look as some of these still frame grabs.

The GoPro is still filming Davy Jones locker as I write. :(

Passage making

As I mentioned, we have been held up by southerlies, living a very relaxing life in Yamba. Now the weather window has opened up, and the other side of the cruising life appears. Passage-making.

The major current down the east coast is the EAC (East Australian Current). It changes, but satellite image of water temperature shows where it is (the orange bit), and how far out we must go to ride it.

Its always exciting preparing for a passage. Trying to work out the weather, tides, bars, and risks.

Yamba river the night before.

This shot of the chart-plotter shows us in the middle, with wind and current vectors, and four huge vessels bearing down on us. We have to dodge out of their way.

A Japanese container ship.

 

 

A Noddy tern hitching a ride.

NSW cruise

March is a time of unreliable weather. NSW is a place where lots of the entrances have bars. It is dangerous to cross a bar when the swell is large, and the tide is running against the wind. This means that one has to try to arrive at a bar in the last three hours of a rising tide, when the current is flowing in. Its also best to cross a bar in daylight.

In effect this gives us a window of 3 hours in 24 to arrive at a barred destination. Not always easy to do. Some entrances have deep water, and can be crossed at any time. They include Coffs Harbour, Port Stephens, Pitwater, and Sydney.

Over the weekend of March 3-4th, George had a gathering of women friends at Angourie, near Yamba. I sailed down with two of the husbands, to await the time when George could join me on Nimrod, and the others all drove home.

Since then, the wind has been stubbornly from the south, making further progress down the coast difficult. But Yamba, Iluca and Angourie are fabulous places to be holed up, and we have had a very relaxing time here. Lots of prawns, and mudcrabs. Plenty of walks.

Tomorrow we aim to catch a forecasted N-Easterly and duck out 50 miles to the East Australian Current and do an overnight trip down to Port Stephens.

Here are some recent photos.

 

 

 

 

GoPro shots of Nimrod under sail

I recently got a little GoPro underwater video camera. Here are some shots of Nimrod under sail. The camera gets attached to a boat hook, and held over the side to see unusual angles.

Fraser Island 4WD

After Lady Musgrave Island, the wind turned gently from the north-east, which made it possible to sail directly to Rooney Point, on the north-western tip of Fraser Island. A long day, but a pleasant one. We walked on the beach in Platypus Bay, and caught 13 sand crabs of various sizes which turned into a fantastic seafood chowder in due course.

Then a beautiful 25 nm kite run the length of Platypus Bay to tuck in behind Moon Point.

On Tuesday we had some shore time in Urangan, topping up fuel, water and provisions. Its a whale watch town, now out of season, and pretty quiet. The whales and their calves are on their way to the antarctic.

 Urangan marina

On Thursday we rented a little Suzuki 4WD from Kingfisher resort on Fraser Island and went for an explore. Some beautiful places, but the driving is not for the fainted-hearted. The sandy tracks were very dry, and churned up by the big 4WD backpacker coaches, so very easy to get bogged in if we didn't keep our speed up. Hair-raising at times!

 Lake MacKenzie

 Kookaburra

One Day on Earth (Lady Musgrave Island)

I first heard of heard of the One Day on Earth project last year, when 10/10/10 was the day when people shot video from all around the planet, which was edited into a compilation.

You can see the trailer here.



This year the date was 11/11/11.

We sailed from Pancake Creek out to Lady Musgrave Island, starting under a full moon at 2.30 am.

Lady Mus is a fantastic place. It is a coral cay, one of the best in the world. We walked around it, and did some powerdiving and snorkelling. We shot some video for the One Day on Earth project.

Yes, I know it doesn't match the standard, and none of it will make the final cut, but, hey! you have to start somewhere.



After leaving Lady Musgrave, we had a tight reach to the tip of Fraser Island, picking up a nice Spanish Mackerel on the way.

Keppel Bay to Gladstone

George and I flew to Rockie and rejoined Nimrod at Rosslyn Bay. She had had her diesel infection dealt with in our absence, and the filter bowl looked like Chardonnay rather than Pernod. All happy.

Rosslyn Bay marina

Next day we rented a car to do the big provisioning raid on Yeppoon supermarket, before collecting our friends Brian and Meredith from the airport. They are both psychiatrists, known to George and I independently for about 20 years.




We had a lovely four day cruise with them, taking in Great Keppel Island, North Keppel, and Corio Bay. Some nice kite runs, and a bit of snorkelling.

Considine Bay, North Keppel Island.

George turned on some great meals, as usual.

Corio Bay

On Tuesday, Brian and Meredith flew home, and we reprovisioned again, before setting off south. Pacific Creek was a peaceful night, before catching the tide to traverse the Narrows between Curtis Island and the mainland. There is a lot of industrial development going on, with the coal seam gas plant being built, and extensive dredging. There has been considerable controversy about the dredging in particular, intensified by a recent run of sick fish being caught near Gladstone.


We passed a Friends of the Earth operation and gave them a cheer.

We are now relaxing in Pancake Creek, planning our next move.