Back on the boat, we spent the rest of the morning making
everything ship shape – Taking down the sun shades, preparing ropes etc, laying
out safety ropes, and Jamie went through important procedures like how to
handle a “Man Overboard” situation, and the correct use of the safety ropes,
and the procedure to tying up at the fuel jetty. Once all done, and everything either tied
down securely or put away, Neil walked round to the fuel jetty with Bob
(Jamie’s neighbour in the marina), which Jamie and I motored round.
The tide was on its way out, so we watched
the depth meter carefully. Neil and Bob
arrived at the jetty at the same time we did, and helped us tie up, and get the
diesel hose connected so we could fuel
up. All went well, 320 litres added, and
we said goodbye to Bob – And tried to set off ……………… Whoops, we are aground !! We had only been tied up at the fuel jetty
for 15 or 20 minutes, but the tide drop, maybe combined with the weight of the
diesel taken on, combined to put us on the bottom !! Luckily, within a couple of minutes,
Jamie
had worked us free, and off we set, out of the marina and into the very choppy
and rough seas !! Once out, and clear of
the shallows, Jamie and Neil put up the main and foresail, and soon we were
able to turn the motor off, and travel at about 6 knots over to Keppel Island.
It was still quite rough, but we had all taken our pills, so all seemed well. Jamie and Neil had a lovely time playing with
the trim of the sails, and working out how to go faster, and it was a very
pleasant afternoon’s sailing.
We anchored on the north (and hopefully more sheltered)
side of Keppel, in Svensen’s Bay, at about 6pm, and while Jamie and Neil did a
couple of minor improvements to the main sail, I prepared the second and last
tray of scallops, and also cooked supper !!!!
Yes, I did !! Spaghetti Bolognese
– and it turned out pretty well, despite the heavy swells rocking the boat so
much that several of the ingredients went flying across the galley !! Luckily the gimbal on the cooker worked
really well, and not a drop of the spaghetti or sauce was spilled.
With a cold beer at the end of a great day, we ate our
scallops and then the spag up in the cockpit in a cool breeze, while Puss, the ship’s cat, watched us from the wheelhouse,
not sure what to make of all this activity that was disturbing his previously
quiet life aboard Solitaire !! We then
retired below for Jamie to plan for tomorrows sailing (the weather forecast
looks promising !), Neil to read his
Kindle, and me to do my blog !! Plan is
to get up at 4 am tomorrow and set off early, so it will be an early night
tonight……………….
Tues 3rd Dec
Bit of a rock and rolly night, but I managed not to fall out of my bunk
on the odd moments when I got some sleep !!
Roused by Jamie and Neil at 4.00 am (!), once we had had a cup of tea
and cleaned teeth, it was Neil and I raising the anchor in the dark while Jamie
kept us instructed !! All successfully
achieved, we motored out of the mooring with the day lightening and the sun
rising around us. It was a bit choppy as
we rounded Keppel, but it was a magical first morning at sea.
We soon had the sails up, but the wind was from the wrong
direction, and the seas were really choppy, so it was all fairly slow and
uncomfortable for the first few hours of the day. We needed the wind to blow from the correct
direction if we were ever going to make our planned overnighter at Pancake
Creek, south of Gladstone. After about
11 am, we got a more favourable wind, and once we were past Cape Capricorn, the
day improved dramatically and we were soon sailing at 6 or 7 knots on much
calmer seas. Meanwhile Puss spent the
entire day sleep on Jamie’s bed – She really wasn’t having a very easy day either
! We had been starting to think that
Pancake Creek was outside our reach (a difficult entry to the creek would not be realistic
in the dark for us), but as we picked up a bit of speed, soon we realised we would make it, and brightened up a
bit. Approaching Gladstone we had
to
pass outside the busy “car park” area that is designated for all the waiting
coal and ore carriers waiting to load – Over 25 ships there at the moment. We had been keeping our eye on one vessel
that was coming in from the sea to park there, and working out whether we could
outrun him, or whether we needed to slow down to let him go (even though
officially we had right of way !!). Once
we realised we were just about on a precise collision course, we furled the
headsail and changed course to let him know we were letting him go in front of
us. After that little bit of excitement,
all we had to do was find the markers to enable us
to get safely into the
sheltered anchorage area in Pancake Creek – And that proved harder than we
imagined !! With one hidden in bushes
until the last minute, we finally made out way gently into this beautifully
calm anchorage, only one other yacht there, and were quickly anchored and
enjoying a welcome cold beer and the end of a very long and wearying day, after
a rough night the night before ! Jamie
and Neil cooked a delicious butterflied lamb on the bbq while I prepared the
veggies, and we enjoyed an excellent supper before all collapsing into bed by
about 8.30 pm, exhausted. A great day.
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