The flag of Australia and map of South Queensland
On October 22nd, we left Noumea bound for Bundaberg in central Queensland, Australia. This is a trip of about 800 miles and it would take us five days at sea. We left Noumea with thunderstorms brewing. But, after the first 100 miles, we left them behind and the wind lightened. For the next four days, we motored through calm seas. A high pressure system had developed over us and it was an exceptionally smooth ride. It would have been fun to do more sailing. But, others who had gone ahead of us had some very difficult storms when they closed on Australia. So, we counted our blessings and no one complained that we had to motor. It meant nice long off watch rests at night. We even had dinners down below on the main dining room table, a rarity on most long passages.
Clark and Kevin on a calm Coral Sea passage
It was nice to have Kevin join us in Noumea for this passage. It broke up watches and brought back memories of the trip from Mexico to New Zealand. This was the first time he joined us in 2004. Unfortunately, the surfing wasn't that great as the wind and seas were very gentle.
Kevin has one on the hook
There was a lot of time to try to catch fish. And, Kevin did catch a few. Note the lack of big swells and very light ripples on the water from winds under ten knots. That's the way it was for about 600 of the 800 miles on this passage. We even watched movies to stay entertained on this leg of the trip.
Proof we caught something
We threw this one back to grow a little bigger. Most of our catches were Pacific mackeral. We also broke the line a couple of times with something much bigger. The fishing kept us occupied and it was fun.
Taking movies at sunset
By sunset on October 26th, 2004, we were under 100 miles from Bundaberg in Queensland, Australia. The wind started to pick up and that allowed us to sail the last part of the trip. We arrived in Bundy at 0700 the next day and enjoyed participating in the festivities that were a part of the Port to Port rally.
We spent a week in Bundaberg before making the 150 mile trip south to Mooloolaba where we have berthed Final Straw while we take a few months off to fly home for the holidays. We will return to Australia in the March-April 2005 timeframe to begin touring the country and sailing north to the Great Barrier Reef during the Southern hemisphere's winter. More to follow in the coming months!
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