Sailing Solitaire to Gold Coast, Day 1 & 2, 30th Nov / 1st Dec

Sat 30^th Nov.  St Andrew’s Day.   Having only got back to the GC from Melbourne on Tuesday evening, and then losing Thursday afternoon and evening due to a “very enthusiastic” acupuncture session (Don’t ask !!), I was still unpacking while simultaneously trying to get everything ready to head off to Rockhampton.  My ex-neighbour Jamie had asked if I would like to help him sail his 45 ft yacht Solitaire down from Rockhampton to the Gold Coast – About a 6-7 day trip, dependent on weather.   Initially I had hesitated as I am truly a landlubber, but after some consideration I realised that this would probably be the only chance ever in my life to have such an adventure, and with a very good friend  – So despite it being way outside my comfort zone,  I accepted !!   Jamie’s brother in law Neil was also coming from northern NSW, so he came to our house and then Janet drove us up to Brisbane airport to catch the flight to Rockhampton – And it was bucketing down with rain !!! Luckily, being Saturday, the traffic was OK and we made it to the check in desk with about 10 minutes to spare.  By the time we got to the gate they were already boarding the plane, which was good !!  Easy flight to Rocky, and then Jamie met us a drove us back to Solitaire in the marina in Yeppoon.

The original plan was to depart Yeppoon on Sunday morning and head south, but Jamie greeted us with the news that a big storm front was coming through, and after having constant and pleasant northerly winds for the past several weeks (we need northerly’s to blow us south – apparently !), the wind was about to change to a southerly, and be VERY strong – Not what we needed !! 

So after going shopping for some supplies, we had a few beers on the poop deck with Bob from “Why Knot” next door – And then the weather front hit !!  Very strong winds and heavy rain had us scuttling below, where we had a light supper and turned in, secure in the knowledge that tomorrow we would be WOW – Waiting on Weather !!   We used to do that on the rigs, and I am very good at WOW – Gives me a chance to sleep, read my Kindle and blog -  Not necessarily in that order, but I am very good at all three !!!  Ha ha.  And I brought a big bag of wine gums with me as they are ALWAYS good, whatever is happening !!

Sun 1^st Dec   Well at this rate I will have my sea legs all sorted before we even leave safe harbour !!  A very windy and rainy night, and the yacht bobbing around even in the marina !  Rain had stopped by morning, but the winds are still blowing too hard, and from the wrong direction !  So today is a W.O.W. day, (Waiting On Weather – An old offshore oilfield term !!) and the plan now is that we will depart tomorrow (Mon), sail across to Keppel Island and overnight there, then head south on more favourable winds on Tues morning.   But for today we had a relaxing day, with Jamie working on things around Solitaire, while the refrigeration people kept working to fix Jamie’s fridge and freezer, which has been causing problems for a while, and really needs to be fixed so we do not have to rely totally on tinned food !!  Jamie also took the opportunity to show Neil and myself some of the finer points of safety around the ship, and also some of the maps of tides and our proposed route south.  Eventually, all seemed well with the fridge, so we set off in the car to do our shopping for supplies for the trip.  Food, beer, wine – All sorted, and on the way back to the Marina we stopped at Rosslyn Bay  Fisherman’s Market, right on the water, and bought our supplies of fresh scallops for supper !  ALWAYS buy the local fresh scallops here – Just about the best available !!

Once back on board we stowed ll the food in its required places, while Jamie started preparing a lamb Rogan Josh to set aside for another evening, and I set up the bbq on the stern for the butterflied lamb we proposed to have this evening.  At the same time, the scallops were prepared (ie the cover taken off !) along with the required Soy sauce, Wasabi mustard, ginger, and lemon.  And we immediately tucked in – YUMMEEEEEEE  !!!   They hardly touched the sides – Just SO good.

Meanwhile we were listening to Lady Antebellum on the stereo !!

 

By this time the wind had got up again, and it looked like rain, so we cancelled the BBQ and decided to have the curry instead.  And that was absolutely delicious.  I have learned how to do it, and we reckon it would work REALLY well in my Dream Pot slow cooker in Troopie !!   

 

Puss, the ships cat, meanwhile got on with its daily ablutions !!!

 

After supper and washing up, we turned in, exhausted after another day (almost) on the water !!

 

 

Pics here :-

https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/SailingToBrisbaneDays12?authkey=Gv1sRgCOzoqP6p3OOKSg#