SEGMENT 31: Magnetic Island Harbour (Nelly Bay Harbour) to Cape Upstart. Sunday 7 October 2012 ( the day of the great car race - BATHURST ), 70 NM

SEGMENT 31:   Magnetic Island Harbour (Nelly Bay Harbour) to Cape Upstart.

Sunday 7 October 2012 ( the day of the great car race -  BATHURST ), 70 NM

Capt Barry and Graeme were up early, at 1.30 am to see some of the qualifying for the Grand Prix, then up again at 4.45am to check the weather  (BOM 1.2  seas and 15 to 20 kt winds ) Buoyweather; 0.5 to 0.8 m seas at 8 secs and winds 7 to 10 kts from the ESE ----ALL GOOD ) and  cast off and get  underway at 5.20 am, whilst rear admiral Julie slept .

Capt Barry remembered to give an all ships alert that LAST WORD was leaving Magnetic Island harbour ( even though we were not expecting traffic at that time ) , but forgot to turn on the navigation lights, which was not such a NO NO as there was plenty of low light , and we could pick up the long leads to Townsville that go out about 6 NM from Townsville ( past Nelly Bay, and which LAST WORD  had to cross).

LAST WORD  sat on the usual passage making revs of 1050 or there abouts,  making 9+ kts  , and Capt Barry did several speed runs spaced approx. 90 mns apart, getting up to 23 kts.

23 kts

The sea was reasonable at about 0.5 m , and the wind about 10 kts at its strongest, but really not much until mid morning.

Rear admiral Julie stirred about 8.45 am (half the trip was over ) and came up to the pilothouse to discover Capt Barry and Graeme watching TV.

Graeme had jerry rigged the Digitech omni –directional antennae on the fly bridge antennae, and Capt Barry had ocky strapped the 20 inch TV to the right side of the pilothouse helm, and we were receiving a very clear picture, and just waiting for the Bathurst 1000 car race to start in 15 mins, 10.00am NSW time and 9.00 am QLD time.

Graeme watching the Bathurst 1000 as we make passage to Cape Upstart

We were just off Cape Bowling Green when the race started, having orange juice and toast with strawberry jam .....breakfast on the go.

Rear admiral Julie reported that the master suite toilet was playing up, ie no fresh water was being pumped into the bowl, but otherwise it worked fine. 

So Capt Barry made a note to add that to the leaking starboard water pump seal to be fixed when we arrived at Airlie Beach.

Capt Barry still had a blocked right ear ( three days now), and everyone was  getting used to Capt Barry saying .....WHATTT.

LAST WORD arrived at Cape Upstart ( Shark Bay ) at just after noon and we anchored in 5 + m of water.

The bad news was that we lost the TV signal about 30 mins before arriving at Upstart Bay, so after anchoring Graeme’s first priority was to try to restore the TV picture.

This task just illustrates why man is at the top of the food chain ( I think ). It also provided rear admiral Julie with no end of amusement and shaking of her head.

Graeme figured that the high land around Cape Upstart was interfering with the signal SO WE NEEDED HEIGHT.

Well Capt Barry assured him HEIGHT was no problem, and produced a 11 foot rope hook.

 This worked ....ALMOOOST.... and Graeme ordered MORE HEIGHT.

Capt Barry  produced a 12 foot extendible washing pole, and Capt Barry and Graeme lashed these two poles together using gaffer tape (with a decent over lap for strength ) and we then sat the extension contraption on top of the davit and lashed the pole to the stainless structure that held the radar dome and anchor light . In all we figured we had raised the antennae about  23 feet above the fly bridge deck,........where it swayed away in the 12 to 15 kt breeze.

we had taped two poles together as an extension and managed another 20 feet or so on top of the davit , so we had the antennae about 23 feet ( 7m ) above the fly bridge deck.

This was a great success.......UNTIL THE BOAT SWUNG ON ANCHOR.....WHICH IT DID WITH MONOTONOUS REGULARITY.

After twisting the antennae for better reception ( which needless to say ....DID NOTHING .... we settled down to watch the last half hour..... and managed to see about a third of every lap.... in between  the picture either half pixilating or the screen going black with the ominous blue box in the middle “NO SIGNAL”.

Any way we got the gist of what   was going on , and enjoyed the telecast.

We must have thought the picture was ok, as we then watched the Japanese grand prix ( in bits and pieces) straight after the Bathurst race.

After the car races Graeme and Capt Barry fiddled with the snubber, and agreed that a bridle needs to be made to take all the strain off the anchor cradle, as that s what is making the noise as LAST WORD moves around on anchor.

This will take some engineering, as one has to pass the snubber through the slot in the bow (where the anchor is housed) from the front of the boat and have the bridle outside the bow. Something to do, in the slower moments on board.... if we ever get any.

Whilst dicking with the snubber we witnessed a lot of fish activity around LAST WORD, including a racey looking 3 to 4 foot , dark, longtom  that was stirring up the smaller fish and dashing about and under LAST WORD.

We threw some lines in but,,,, no luck that evening.

We enjoyed BBQ dinner and a DVD and a relatively early night.

TRIP:  7 HOURS:  364 L/TOTAL:  av 10 KTS, av 52 L/HR total.

SEGMENT 30: Downtime at Magnetic Island, Wed to Sat ( 3rd to 6th Oct 2012 inclusive).

SEGMENT 30: Downtime at Magnetic Island, Wed to Sat ( 3^rd to 6^th  Oct 2012 inclusive).

The wind continued to blow from the E/SE for the next three days , and was consistently between 15 and 25 kts, and occasionally about 30 kts.

Plenty of boats came into Nelly Bay Harbour seeking shelter. One such vessel was a Marlow, about 68 feet, named Explorer IV.

The skipper tried berthing on the blow off berth next to LAST WORD, several times, and eventually reported that his bow thrusters had given up the ghost and he would go back outside the harbour to fix the thruster and return. However we did not see him again, and we later learned the skipper went back to Townsville Breakwater marina (from where he came ) and berthed there, but after some difficulty and several attempts.

On the Wednesday, David and Rhyannon went for a walk around Nelly Bay and then  rear admiral Julie, David and Rhyannon caught the ferry to Townsville to fill in some time, whilst Capt Barry caught up on maintenance on LAST WORD.

Rhyannon walking along the marina edge walk

A Rhyannon type flower, at rest amongst the boulders 

Later that night we all dined at the Peppers, Blue on Blue resort restaurant, and he food was fabulous.

On the Thursday, David and Rhyannon, departed, as their time on LAST WORD was up, and they were flying to Brisbane to spend a day or so with Capt Barry’s brother, Graeme, at his house, at Surfers Paradise.

However, as fate would have it, Graeme was on his way to Townsville, on route by car with some good friends, to spend some time with Capt Barry and rear admiral Julie on board LAST WORD. The plan was that Graeme would make the trip to keep his friends company (some 1400 klms)  and return on LAST WORD  , as far as Airlie Beach , where he would be collected by his travelling friends and driven back to Surfers Paradise.

When Graeme found out the he would miss David and Rhyannon , he organised for them to be collected  at Brisbane airport, driven to his house at Surfers Paradise, and for them to stay in his house a, use his car, and even to be driven to the airport when they were due to depart for Sydney. SOME UNCLE  EHHHH DAVID.

Graeme arrived at Nelly Bay, as planned , the same afternoon that David and Rhyannon departed, so Capt Barry just had time to wash and change the bed linen and practice saying “GRAEME “ instead of “DAVID”.

Friday, Graeme and Capt Barry caught the ferry to Townsville, and caught a cab out to the suburbs to buy some fishing tackle and wholesale electrical equipment (longer extension leads and plug ends – to ensure LAST WORD could plug into three phase power as long as the power outlet was within 30 m of the berth). Whilst there, Capt Barry also purchased a omni-directional  TV antennae ( for $59 ) to see if we could pick up the Bathurst Race and grand prix, and rugby tests.

Capt Barry returning from a shopping expedition with cable and TV antennae

Whilst LAST WORD has a satellite dish for TV and a free to air box, it cannot pick up a TV signal north of Mackay, and Capt Barry is too mean to install  Foxtel.  The limitation of the free to air ( FTA ) box is an issue that Capt Barry will gladly take up with the fellow who supplies the Ocean TV satellite, on his return to Sydney . Mackay ).

  

The days at Nelly Bay Harbour, waiting for the winds to ease and seas to abate , were spent with walks, a swim each afternoon in the Peppers resort pool, talking to the neighbouring boat occupants and fiddling ( making extension leads and trying to tune the TVs to the new Digitech antennae) , organising the fishing gear , and a little polishing of LAST WORD, and Capt Barry visiting the medical clinic to have his ear syringed ( as he had partial hearing only in the right ear).

Sunday, 7^th October  we planned to depart , as the seas looked ok and the wind was predicted to be less than 15 knots.

SEGMENT 29: Hazard Bay ( Orpheus Island ) to Nelly Bay ( Magnetic Island). 43 NM Tues 2 October 2012.

SEGMENT  29: Hazard Bay ( Orpheus Island ) to Nelly Bay ( Magnetic Island). 43 NM

Tues  2 October  2012.

                                                              

We were expecting the wind to increase overnight and we were not disappointed. The wind was between 12 and 18 kts and LAST WORD  rolled a  little, and the anchor chain made some noise as the boat swivelled on anchor , and the anchor cradle  was moved from side to side by the snubber.

Capt Barry noted that he would have to make up a bridle snubber , and pack washers either side of the anchor cradle to address the noise issue, but some other time, as the solution would require a bit of thinking and trial and adjustment  concerning the rope lengths , as the anchor goes through the bow ( not over the top like most boats ).

Early morning ,Capt Barry consulted BOM and Buoyweather to decide whether to take LAST WORD around the outside of Hinchinbrook Island , which was only about 5 NM to the west of  our anchorage.  After discussion with David, rear admiral Julie and Rhyannon, Capt Barry decided it would be best to let Hinchinbrook Island be discovered another trip (despite being so close) and head back to Magnetic Island , as sea conditions were deteriorating  rapidly as the expected winds built.

BOM was predicting 15 to 25 kt winds , and 2 plus m seas , and Buoyweather   a little less.

We lifted anchor at 7.50 am and arrived at Nelly Bay marina 5 hours later , at 1.00pm

About a third of the trip was in the lee of Orpheus and Great Palm Islands, and along the inside of Magnetic Island. Here the swell  was  about  2 m and the wind  10 to 15 kts, but out in the open  the swell was 3 to 4 m and the wind gusting frequently to 20 to 25 kts, and both were coming from about 11 o’clock to LAST WORD’S  passage.  

Whilst LAST WORD  handled the conditions with ease, it was a rolly trip, and would have been most uncomfortable without stabilizers, which make a huge difference.

Sitting on our usual 1050 rpm, and going with the current,  LAST WORD only averaged about 8.2 kts out in the open waters.  Without the oncoming seas and wind,  LAST WORD would normally  manage about 10 to 11 kts, at those revs and with a 1 kt current.

Capt Barry and David did most of the driving , and rear admiral Julie did some reading then lay down on the saloon lounge to pass some of the time , whilst Rhyannon spent some of the time in the pilothouse helm and had one or two catnaps below deck.  In fact Rhyannon mentioned  that she managed to “GET SOME AIR” ( when she lifted off the bed ) when sleeping in the front VIP cabin, and moved to the master suite , where the  vertical  lift ( from the bigger swells ) was significantly less.

We rounded Magnetic Island at Picnic Point, and headed straight into the wind and sea , about 3 + m , and  made a bee line for the leads into Nelly Bay harbour. Capt Barry radioed  “all ships “ that LAST WORD was about to enter the harbour, and ignored the 6 kt speed limit, and gunned the entrance at about 10 kts , with stabilizers and wipers on full, until behind the breakwaters. This is necessary in swelly /windy times , as the markers are only about 15 m apart and the current , swell and wind make for a very confusing sea  that rocks and rolls all vessels, even the ferries .

Capt Barry had previously telephoned the marina manager, and organised a berth , as we were expecting the winds and sea to increase and thought we may need to high tail it back to the marina . 

The allocated berth was A26, (the opposite side of the finger LAST WORD   was  last berthed at  when in the marina),  and Capt Barry knew it would be a blow on berth, which would make things easier in the 25 kt wind.

Capt Barry berthed, bow in ,for privacy , but after finding out that there was STILL  no three phase power  for berth A25 and 26 ( Capt Barry had been promised it would be fixed while LAST WORD was away ), and as LAST WORD did not have long enough extensions to use the 15 amp plug ins, Capt Barry had to restart the engines and rotate LAST WORD, stern in to the berth , so the 32 amp leads could be plugged into the 15 amp power supply  with the short adaptor fittings LAST WORD carried.

This turned out to be the better orientation , as the wind did not blow straight into the saloon.

Whilst Capt Barry washed  away the salt residue that was on every part of LAST WORD  , the girls ordered a take away lunch of hamburgers and chips.

Later that afternoon the 57 foot Nordhaven , Myrtle, arrived and attempted  berthing in A27, the blow off berth next to LAST WORD,  but after second thoughts (and seeing Capt Barry put buffers down the port side of LAST WORD – in case he muffed the berthing )  the skipper of Myrtle , berthed in someone elses  berth, A25, a blow on berth, until the winds died somewhat.

The wind  did not abate and the skipper of Myrtle successfully berthed next to LAST WORD  without incident.

rrear shot of Myrtle, the Nordhaven 57 ( with extended boarding platform) next to Last Word

front shot ,Myrtle and LAST WORD

Later that day a vote was taken and we all decided to stay on board for rack of lamb and dine out at the restaurant Wed night.

action shot of the girls washing up

TRIP:  5.4 hours ;   202 L/total;  329 total engine hours;   av speed 8.3 kts;  av fuel used 37 L/HR/TL

segment 28 : Horseshoe Bay ( Magnetic Island ) to Hazard Bay ( Orpheus Is)

segment 28 : Horseshoe Bay ( Magnetic Island ) to Hazard Bay ( Orpheus Island)
Mon 1 Oct. 2012:  45 NM.

Capt Barry woke early to do the usual weather and sea state checks.

Originally , Capt Barry had planned three options for David and Rhy. However, the threatened rising wind and seas had called for a reassessment, and Capt Barry had wasted a day of the alternate planned  trips by spending a night at Horseshoe Bay , pending the weather picture clarifying itself.

BOM was predicting winds 10 to 20 kts and seas 1.2 to 1.7 m and swell under 1.5m , but rising to 25 to 30 kts Tuesday with seas 2.5 to 3 m.

Buoyweather had seas 0.8  m and winds 15 to 18 kts Mon with Tues. rising seas to 1.7 m at 6 secs and winds 20 to 25 kts.

Capt Barry called a conference meeting and explained that we could stay put for two days or today and then return to Nelly Bay early Tuesday or we could go to one of the Palm Island group Islands now ( and see Hinchinbrook Island about 5 NM away ) and spend the night and return tomorrow, but the return trip would be in 2 m seas and 25 kt winds , ie a bit uncomfortable for three hours or so , but tolerable AND SAFE.

The crew wanted  adventure and were all in favour of the trip to the Palm Island group.

So, Capt Barry ordered the anchor up at 10.00 am , and the usual rpm of 1050 ( about 9 kts and 36 L/H/total).

Rear admiral Julie did most of the skippering while Capt Barry read the Fin Review, answered some emails and did some share trading,  and we did our first speed run ( for about 15 mins ) to run up oil temperatures and clean out the exhausts after about 90 mins.

Rear admiral Julie spotted some rocks on the charts " Cordelia Rocks " about half way between Magnetic Island and the Palm Island group, and ordered the trolling lines in the water, as LAST WORD was going to circle the rocks , but wide of the 4m deep shoal that surrounded the rocks.

David and Capt Barry set the rods with lures in the water, David grabbed a beer ,  and rear admiral Julie set the speed to idle, about 7 plus kts , and around Cordelia Rocks we went.

About half way round the rock  Capt Barry went forward  to look at the charts and  rear admiral Julie's course,  to check we were not too close to the shoal. After all , one cannot be too care full at sea , and ........ there were two women at the helm, ....... and wedding details -  for David's and Rhy's wedding next year - were being discussed ). One does not want to be spending the night on Cordelia Rock over what colour the flowers should be or whether the invitations should be by email ( Capt Barry's idea now he is retired ) or elegantly  packaged, but  ridiculously priced affairs.

After satisfying himself all was ok, Capt Barry returned to the boarding platform to scare up a fish.

About half way around the rock , which is about 50 m round and 30 m high ( and 10 NM from nowhere ) , we happened upon 4 fellows in a boat, not much bigger than a tinny, anchored on the shoal , fishing.  Capt Barry waved to them as we idled past at 7 knots , about 60 m off, and commented to David that he better be alert, as they would not be there unless it was a favourite spot.

WELL, Capt Barry had just returned from the helm ( to find out what colour flowers we were having, this week,  for the wedding  ) , when he noticed David had the rod out of the rod holder and  in his hand yelling ......I HAVE GOT A FISH.

Capt Barry thought David was joking,  until he heard the ratchet going berserk and  noticed the bend in the rod... (how it did not snap Capt Barry will  never know ), and suggested immediately that David tighten the drag to slow the run somewhat or he would be quickly spooled at the rate the line was running out.

David explained that he had the drag on max, and it was then that Capt Barry noted that David may have snagged the shoal at the shallow spot, as it was well up on the lures swimming depth.
David was not sure and yelled out for the boat to be put in neutral , which the rear admiral did immediately. This had the  desired effect and the spooling slowed dramatically, and even stopped and continued spasmodically , and David started to play in the fish.

Being convinced that David had a fish, and not the bottom, Capt Barry collected the gaff ( not the piddling, short one, rear admiral Julie purchased for the Capt Barry ,  BUT THE BIG MOTHER - so he could stay well away from whatever was on the other end of the line, and the pacifier  (to pacify the fish on landing it  on the boarding platform ) , and fitted the rod holder belt around David's waist.

Capt Barry then suggested David  wedge himself into  the corner of the boarding platform rails for support, and most important...... RELAX......BREATH   EASY.... AND ENJOY THE MOMENT.

Capt Barry then summoned the official photographer, Rhy, who was already on the job, shooting action shots by the millisecond.

Rear admiral Julie even left the helm for a quick look at all the action then returned to the helm to ensure we stayed away from Cordelia Rock, about 60 m away.

Capt Barry offered great support and unparalleled technical guidance to David during the process of him slowly bringing in the fish, between  runs , by pointing out that the four fellows in the tinny were only 70 m away and all pointing a watching, ( and probably  hoping that the blokes on the big white boat would lose the fish).

After an epic battle, David worked the fish near the boat, until we could see the flashes of white and colour in the blue waters. David also  had to instruct that the engines be put in neutral when the fish tied running under the boat.

Eventually Capt Barry opened the gate in the middle of the boarding platform rails and , on first attempt - which amazed Capt Barry considering his last failed attempts with the shark - Capt Barry gaffed the fish under the gills,  and ( as instructed by the fellow who sold Capt Barry the gaff ) in one fluid motion , lifted it through the gate and onto the boarding platform

It was a good thing that the laz door was closed or the fish would have ended up  in the laz or the engine room.

David closed the gate , to assist  keep the fish , a 1.2 m plus SPANISH MACKEREL , from thrashing its way back into the sea, while Capt Barry administered the pacifier.

Capt Barry had some difficulty with this bit ( one tough fish ) and rather than go into chapter and verse , David finished the job whilst Capt Barry held the mackerel.

When the mackerel was pacified Capt Barry tied a string around  its tail , put the fish in the fish tank built into the boarding platform and tied the other end to the tank box lid  lock for safe keeping.

We then stowed the gear, washed down the boarding platform and got back on course and under way for  the Palm Islands.

Of course,  there was great celebration on board, and recounting of the catch, during which the fish grew to enormous lengths. David explained that he had just knocked off the top of his first mornings beer when the fish struck, and .....after a suitable pause.........went off to find his beer.

Capt Barry pointed out how the fellows in the tinny must have felt, ie ... they had probably woken  early that morning, braved the seas to get to their favourite , secret location, miles from anywhere,  and been patiently waiting for hours for some action, when ......from out of nowhere ... this bloody big white plastic boat arrives, drops its lures in the water, does half a circuit of their patch, hooks a big fish right in front of them , lands it, then disappears , all in less than fifteen minutes.

The mood in the boat soon came  back to normal and we did a couple of speed runs to get back on track , and soon reached and motored  past Great Palm Island for a look.
Great Palm Island  , is now inhabited by aborigines , and unfortunately , locals and the guide books advise tourists not to  land there as crime is rife.

We also  motored past Fantome Island , and consider anchoring at Juno Bay, but kept on going north to Orpheus Island and looked at both Hazard Bay and Pioneer Bay which offer better protection , to get out of the rising wind.

When approaching Pioneer Bay , in 24 m of water, the bottom suddenly rose  to 6 m , well out from shore and where there are no charted shoals, and we became  a little anxious at this  sudden and dramatic rise in the sea floor.  Capt Barry handed  the helm to David , with instructions  to proceed slowly,  and went   out to the bow  to check the water colour and for bombies etc, but saw nothing. Suddenly , but after about another 100m the bottom fell away again, to 24 plus m,  and whilst we felt somewhat better , Capt Barry decided to return to Hazard Bay,  which is not as deep as Pioneer Bay,  to anchor.

Of course we went back  over the same shallow patch ,which made us just as anxious.

We could see Hinchinbrook Island about 7 NM distant, but decided not to go there without looking at the weather and seas in the morning.

At 3.30 pm , we dropped anchor in Hazard Bay , a couple of miles  south of the Orpheus Island resort ,  in about 10 m of water ,  and  not far from a large anchored catamaran.

The anchor  chain made a  rasping sound as it set, and we hoped it was  just moving over itself as it set and not scraping on fringing coral , which  is close by. Oh well , we will find out when we want to leave, but   Capt Barry will NOT be diving on the anchor in these waters.

After checking the boat, and washing down the fishing gear , Capt Barry , with David's assistance, cleaned the mackerel and cut it into steaks and delivered the several large platters of steaks to rear admiral Julie. Julie cut them into even smaller steaks, packaged them into small parcels in snap lock freezer bags and packed them in the freezer.

Food for a month, and then some.

This process took Capt Barry about 40 mins, and Julie another 20 mins. The hardest part was skinning the fish, which is difficult to do on the boarding platform. I think a fish cleaning preparation board will be  high on the LAST WORD  christmas list.

At 5.00 pm, rear admiral Julie decided it was time for her to do some fishing, so Capt Barry broke out all the fishing gear which included three deck chairs on the boarding platform, as every one joined in, and several bottles of wine and a couple of beers.

Another lovely, calm  sunset was enjoyed, drinks in hand, then the serious fun began with fish biting and being caught left, right and centre.

Several different species were brought to the surface ,  unhooked and returned , but the unlucky good looking bigger ones we kept. Rear admiral Julie caught a large bream , and even Rhy , who at first was not hands on, had a turn and landed two fish in quick succession, one also a good size bream.

Most of the action was had by David who operated out of the starboard corner rail. David hooked what must have been a big fish or a sting ray as there was plenty of action on the rod (and it was not a light rod ) , and one fish  he brought to the surface for all to see,  just before it broke the line and lived to fight another day.

We retired from fishing  , and the girls prepared dinner whilst Capt Barry cleaned more fish, then we watched a movie and went to bed.

The expected wind blew  up,  15 to 20 kts during the night and we received  light rain.

Capt Barry and David were up at various times during the night checking the anchor , but all was ok.


TRIP. 45 nm,  5.6 hrs, 234 L total, av speed 8 kts per hr ,  av fuel burn 41 L/H total.

SEGMENT 27 : NELLY BAY TO HORSESHOE BAY (MAGNETIC ISLAND).

SEGMENT 27 : NELLY BAY TO HORSESHOE BAY  (MAGNETIC ISLAND).
SUNDAY 30 SEPT. 2012.

Capt Barry woke early and put through two loads of washing , and did some ironing.

safer sometimes to just DO , rather than delegate 

it is not true that Capt Barry may be a little anal retentive , it is pure coincidence that the clothes have matching hangers  

We were expecting David and Rhyannon today. They were flying into Townsville , so Julie and I  decided to catch the ferry over to Townsville to meet them.

taken from the ferry going up Ross Creek , looking back over the breakwater wall, into the breakwater wall for the Townsville Breakwater Marina , with Magnetic Island in the background.

The ferry runs every hour and  tickets are about $29 return per passenger and takes about 15 mins to do the 7 NM between the mainland and Magnetic Island, plus about 15 mins to slowly navigate up Ross Creek and dock at Townsville.

On arrival at Townsville, rear admiral Julie and Capt Barry walked through the ferry terminal and across the lovely park ( with enormous very OLD fig trees )  to the adjoining Breakwater marina, and inspected the facilities at Breakwater to determine if we wanted to berth there instead of Nelly Bay on our return trip from Hinchinbrook Island.

fantastic old fig trees.     Spot  Capt Barry

At the marina we caught up with John on his  57 foot catamaran " Defino ", and had a drink (coffee and water ) and swapped some stories of where to go and fishing etc.

The marina ( first impressions - but the rear admiral and Capt Barry both agreed ) seemed a bit sad ie  run down and lifeless , but was big , and has a bit of a community block where they have some BBQs and a large TV for special events.

After drinks with John, we hot footed it back to the ferry terminal , excited  to meet David and Rhy.

After a short greet and hug all round, we hoped on the ferry and were under way for Magnetic Island in less than 5 mins.

David and Capt Barry went up to the Ferry skippers helm and chatted with him and received some expert tuition on how to park a ferry.

After a light lunch ( and re-laxer beer for David ) , we discussed what the options were for the next several days , as all weather reports indicated that the wind and seas were building up over the next 24 to 48 hours.
We decided to suck it and see by staying close to Nelly Bay marina , until the weather pattern became clearer. So we cast off the berth and headed for Horseshoe Bay on the northern tip of Magnetic Island, just over an hours run at 9 kts.

Rear admiral Julie did the skippering this trip, while Capt Barry watched .

just out side Nelly Bay marina

rocks just outside Horseshoe Bay

We gave the shark net a wide berth and anchored ( along with many other boats - obviously a popular spot ), in about 5 m of water ,  about half way along the north eastern shore.

Upon arrival , the girls commenced preparation of our  chicken pasta dinner later that evening, while David and Capt Barry tried their luck fishing ,  and had another beer. After about an hour  we launched the small tender ( with the  3 hp motor since there was 4 of us and no room to row ) and all went ashore to the Marlin Bar & Bistro.

looking ashore from LAST WORD towards the bar &  bistro 

After lifting the tender a fair way up the beach we discovered that David had no shoes, so back to LAST WORD Capt Barry and David went for his thongs , while the  girls organised a table at the bar/bistro.

When David and Capt Barry returned, they discovered it was happy hour , and  the girls had ordered a  jug of some potent  jungle juice, but only two glasses (ie for them ) , so......David ordered his own JUG of whatever, and Capt Barry ( seeing how this evening was going to end up ) ordered a soft drink.

We enjoyed the party atmosphere of the pub and watched snippets of the beginning of the NRL grand final . but after the girls had ordered and polished off their second jug,  so Capt Barry ordered an evacuation of the bar/bistro , as dinner was in serious jeopardy of not happening.

As we made our way back to LAST WORD, about 5.15 pm and jast as we approached LAST WORD under threatening skies, the 57 foot Nordhaven " Myrtle " appeared and anchored just off from LAST WORD.

On the way back to LAST WORD ,   we saw two fish feeding frenzies and decided to get out the fishing gear once more.

As Capt Barry was readying the rods he and David heard another commotion on the water about 30 m away from LAST WORD , and when we looked up we both saw a mackerel ( about 1 m plus ) launch itself out of the water, vertically, easily 6 m plus ( higher than LAST WORD which is 6.3 m ).

Capt Barry ordered the relaunch of the small tender , and David and Capt Barry jumped in and  took one trolling rod and immediately did one big circle of the feeding fish in trolling mode, but no strike. The result was probably a good thing, as  we were both a little concerned what we would do if we had a strike, as we both thought  there was a good chance we would stab the inflatable with either the lure or the gaff, if not the fish.
David solved this  problem by deciding we would just drag any fish we caught , back to LAST WORD,  and deal with it there.

We enjoyed a fabulous chicken pasta dinner, set off by another fabulous sunset ( and some  wine of course ).

After dinner  David caught one fish ( a throw back ), and Capt Barry promised him something more substantial the next day.

After dinner we watched a remake of the movie " 21 Jump Street", then turned in for the night, which promised to be a calm affair as there was almost no breeze.

  
TRIP : 8 NM 1 hour , 36 L .