An early start again this morning, but I don’t mind. The sunrise watch is always the best time on the boat for me. After a brisk sail in the fresh south-easter, we made Lady Musgrave mid-afternoon.

Alan Lucas gives Lady Musgrave a bit of a scary write up in his book, pointing out that it can be a thoroughly uncomfortable anchorage in a fully developed trade wind. Our visit this time was certainly not the best we’ve had, with the south-easter gusting over 20 knots a lot of the time. Our ground tackle is pretty conservatively sized, so I wasn’t too aprehenisive, but I still kept the handheld GPS next to me all night with the anchor drag alarm activated. We were also confined to the boat because rowing the inflatable “fish hunter” in that kind of breeze just was not sensible.

Oh well, a bit disappointing for the crew, who had not been to Lady Musgrave before, but we decided to head off for Keppel Bay the next day.

A perfect day…

I got up at 4am, weighed anchor and motored up the Ship Channel to get into Hervey Bay. The south-easterly started picking up while I was still in the channel and I made sail and stopped the diesel; bliss…

The kettle soon boiled and a mug of strong coffee and an “Ouma” rusk kept me company as the sun came up. The crew started emerging from their various bunks in drips and drabs after 8am.

As we set course for Rooney Point we came on to the wind, which was now a steady 20 knots, and soon I took two reefs in the main. We raced across Hervey Bay and dropped anchor inside Rooney Point not long after midday. The video says it all…

By the time we dropped anchor in Kauri Creek I was brain dead. It was about 1AM after a long day of downwind sailing and crossing the Wide Bay Bar in the dark was nerve wracking to say the least. So we motored up the creek and I knew full well we would not be able to get out at low tide the next morning… still…

I got up at 6AM, and started motoring down the creek. As one would expect, we were soon stuck in the mud. Just as advertised, we only had five feet of water, and we needed six… So, we turned off the engine and made breakfast! Two hours later we motored out without any problem whatsoever.

The passage up the Strait was uneventful, requiring concentration, timing and a reliable engine. At about 4PM we anchored off Kingfisher Resort for a peaceful night.

We had quite a productive day in Southport, re-provisioning, re-fuelling and a rip-roaring party on the dock, hosted by Rooster and the marina staff. The crew took us on a tour of the super-yacht “Platinum” and we all “oohed and aahed” at all the opulence. In the end we all crowded into Sunny Spells, put some good vibes on the stereo and drank and chatted into the early hours. There was a competition to see who could fit into the upper pilot berth, always a tight fit!

A great day of sailing today, downwind most of the time with good breeze. Downwind between Cape Morton and Double Island Point. Not Sunny Spells’ most comfortable point of sail – she tends to roll a bit – but we made really good miles with 20 knots of south easterly breeze behind us.

As always, when sailing by the lee, the main was prevented out and the boom brake set tight to avoid any gybe dramas…

Crossing the Wide Bay Bar just before midnight was a bit scary, even though it was at the slack high tide. Got the latest coords for the leads from the Coast Guard and then motor-sailed through with the motor ticking over and the double reefed main keeping us powered up and stable. Had everyone on deck, with life-jackets and clipped on. Only took one swell over the port quarter that drenched us, but that was enough!