Cruising Log—2...Scarborough to Mooloolaba

We have been very lucky with the support, encouragement and help we have received from the other yachties in the marina. As well as the local yachts, the marina is packed full of cruisers from all around the world waiting out the cyclone season. We have made new friends, been invited to wine tastings, dinner, boat renaming ceremonies, you name it.

After completing the work we needed to do on Masala, we left the marina on a final week-long test cruise from Scarborough down Moreton Bay towards the Gold Coast, about 50 miles or so one way. All the hard work has paid off. Masala is a magnificent sailing vessel and we are very happy with her. We have had many comments about her and even an offer to buy, which we turned down.

The marina community is alive with interesting people all with fascinating stories to tell, people who’ve been cruising for 25 years, raised all their children on the boat, or perhaps sailed from Seattle in the USA to Australia in a boat only 28 feet long. So the work on Masala has been well balanced with lots of socializing and learning of new things from as vibrant a group of people as you will find anywhere.

THURSDAY 5 MAY

We are back in the marina after a great 25 nm sail from Peel Island. We have a few more things to do as a result of our test cruise, but not many. We expect to leave here on our trip north in a week’s time, weather permitting. First destination will be the Great Sandy Straits and Fraser Island.

15/06/2006 Second Epistle From Masala - Scarborough to Pancake Creek (Brisbane area to Gladstone area)

Hi Friends,

THURSDAY 25 MAY

We are dashing off this e-mail whilst sailing north up Hervey Bay. The laptop is truly on the lap, out in the cockpit but under the shelter of the dodger – brrr the wind is chilly. We are currently 25 nautical miles (nm) south of Bundaberg but we aren’t going in there. We are sailing straight through to Pancake Creek about 60 nm north of Bundaberg. We left at 7:30 am today and expect to arrive sometime tomorrow morning or afternoon depending on wind speed. The passage is about 100 nm.

We finally got away from Scarborough Marina in Brisbane on the start of our cruise north, on 12 May.

We had more wind than we counted on when we left Scarborough. Approaching the southern end of Bribie Island we had 20-25kts with squalls and showers. We had 2 metres of the genoa furled in and the staysail up, with no main sail. Wind against strong tides in the narrow passage produced short steeps seas of around 1.5 metres but Masala punched through them smoothly at 6kts with only this sail combination, and she felt very forgiving. Once off the wind we were doing 7-8kts. It was pretty lumpy and we were stressed as we were not yet used to Masala in ocean conditions and we didn’t have our sea legs. Also the occasion of finally leaving had produced a huge emotional build-up – neither of us had slept too well the night before.

The good thing about the strong wind was that we arrived at Mooloolaba around 1pm after a very fast passage. While getting the staysail down we were hit by a nasty squall that snuck up from behind when we weren’t looking. Because we had travelled much quicker than expected it was dead low tide on entering the river. The exposed mud and rocks at the entrance looked a bit intimidating but, although we rose up and down on some large beam swells it all went OK.