Mooloolaba to Hervey Bay (2nd May 2014)

Sunrise leaving Mooloolaba

We rose early and left Mooloolaba at around 5am about the same time as the Anzac services were beginning including the very famous ‘Raising of the Oars’ at the surf club.  We were lucky enough to have enough wind to sail for about half the 62NM trip up to Inskip Point which is just inside the Wide Bay Bar.   We had a pretty action packed trip.  Mark decided that we should do a bit of fishing so threw in the line and not too long after something big must have taken a fancy to our lure and the 250mts of line, leader, trace and lure were now gone – probably lucky as I don’t think we wanted to try and deal with something that big of the back of Sally.  Next we had a large pod of dolphins that decided to keep us company for the best part of an hour and just before we arrived at the bar a thunder storm formed just offshore of us which included a water spout – luckily this missed us however, we did decide to furl in the head sail just in case!!.

With the calm weather, small swells and also arriving at the bar at the top of the flood meant that we had a relatively calm crossing across the Wide Bay Bar and into the Great Sandy Straits and spent the first night anchored at Inskip Point – the first time on the pick for a couple of months.    The next morning we headed into the thriving metropolis of Tin Can Bay.  We had a wander around the township in the arvo – it doesn’t take that long to do a lap although we did stop in at the chandlery to purchase some replacement gear for our fishing rod.  In the evening we wandered into the yacht club for a drink and ended up stopping for a meal which was great especially as Carlton managed their second wind of the season!  On Sunday morning we were up early to go and check out the dolphin feeding at the Tin Can Bay ramp.  We did this on the way through in 2011 and enjoyed it so much we are back for a repeat performance and were not disappointed.  You will note from the photos below that there were a few interlopers (i.e. Pelicans and Cormorants that were also keen on the fish feeding!). Think we were lucky to turn up when we did as we heard there were around 450 feeders visiting on Easter Sunday which would have been just a bit crazy.

Tin Can Bay Dolphins



Monitor Lizard - Walk to McKenzie's Pier

After the dolphin show we are off again to spend the night at Garry’s anchorage which is always a good spot to stop before tackling the Sandy Strait Shallows.  We left Garry’s at around 7.30am so that we can meet the high tide at Boonley Point at 8.45am – luckily we have a 3mt high tide which made the passage very uneventful.  We spent the day and night at Sheridan Flats which is a lovely quiet anchorage especially as you find yourself almost surrounded by sand at low tide. Tuesday morning and we are up to Kingfisher Resort for a few days.  We went in on sunset for the obligatory drinks on the pier and headed for a nice walk down to McKenzie’s Pier on Wednesday morning. 
As there is some changeable weather coming we decided it is probably prudent to head into Urangan Marina for a few days which will allow us to restock and may also give me a chance to watch the big game against Collingwood on Friday Night at the Hervey Bay Boat Club.  At this stage it looks like we will be heading up to Bundy on Saturday morning and then out to Lady Musgrave on Sunday for a few days as the weather is looking nice and calm until Thursday.




Segway's at Kingfisher Bay - HUH!!