With many thanks to their owners, I have had the privilege of delivering these lovely vessels to their current berths on the Gold Coast and Brisbane.
Delivery of "Robert Bruce" - 90ft Cheoy Lee - Hobart to the Gold Coast.
On March 3rd, we refuelled and departed Queens Domain wharf Hobart, at 2pm, bound for Eden on the NSW south coast. Averaging 8 knots, we cruised south and passed between Cape Pillar and Tasman Island at around 6:45pm. From there we travelled up the east coast of Tasmania and were abeam Wineglass Bay at about 2:30am Monday morning. At around 1pm we were in line with Swan Island at the northern end of Tassie. We passed well East of Banks Straight and Monday night at around 8:45pm, saw us draw level with the northern end of Flinders Island and then on to cross Bass Straight. We passed Gabo Island at around 1:30pm on Tuesday 5th and Cape Howe (the border line between Victoria and NSW) at 2pm. Green Cape came up at 3:45 that afternoon and we arrived at Eden at 5:35pm, finally dropping anchor at about 6pm. That first leg to Eden, took around 52 hours. Anchored there, we spent the night, the next day and the next night, to let a small weather system pass and then continued on, north to Sydney.
We attempted to haul anchor at 6am on Thursday 7th, however, the seaweed in that location is so thick that it balled up on the chain and prevented us from bringing the anchor in. This resulted in us having to launch one of the two tenders from the bow, and the physically cutting the weed away with a knife as the chain was pulled in. All part of boating, this proved to be a bit of an adventure as the water was very cold and fingers around the knife handle were frozen, but in the end, no real drama and we headed off at about 7am. We passed Bermagui at 1125 hours, Montague Island at 1235 hours and on past Bateman's Bay at 1600 hours. We were abeam Jervis Bay that night by 8:30 and Woolongong by 4:30am on Friday. Continuing on up the coast, passing through Sydney Heads around 9:30am Friday 8th March. We dropped anchor at Little Manly around 10am and spent the rest of the day and Friday night, once again allowing a small weather system to pass through.
It passed overnight and we departed Sydney at daylight on Saturday morning, passing Nelson Bay at 5:15pm and Seal Rocks at 8:30pm. We were passing by Tacking Point by around 3:30am on Sunday, Port McQuarie at 4am and Smokey Cape around 8:30am. We cruised on to Coffs Harbour, arriving at around 1:30pm on Sunday. We stayed anchored there overnight and departed Coffs Harbour at 8:30am On Monday 11th March. We passed Wooli at 12:15pm, Yamba at 3:15pm, Balina at 7:45pm, Byron Bay at 9:45pm Tweed Heads at 1:15am and arrived at the Gold Coast Seaway at 4:15am on Tuesday, 12th March.
From there we anchored for several hours at Bum's Bay for a short sleep and then headed up the Coomera River to Gold Coast City Marina, where Robert Bruce was hauled out for her regular hull cleaning and antifouling.
The owner and his family were on board for this trouble free 10 day journey. We had good sea conditions for the most part and sighted, literally hundreds of dolphins!! The Cheoy Lee handled the trip with aplomb, not needing to refuel along the way and the hydraulic stabilisers removed any hint of roll, making for a very comfortable ride. This was a most enjoyable trip on a quality vessel.
Delivery Of "ZEST" - Greenline 48 Flybridge - Airlie Beach to the Gold Coast
At 5am on the 11th June, we departed Able Point Marina, to make our way south to Sanctuary Cove on the Gold Coast.
Once again it was a great trip, with some whale sightings and the highlight was a cheeky dolphin that played on our bow for what seemed like half an hour. He was so close, with twists and turns and little jumps, he would roll on his side and I'm sure he winked at us several times too. It doesn't seem to matter how often I see this type of playfulness from these magnificent creatures, I cannot help but be in awe of their beauty!! This was very special!!!
With about 15 knts of breeze on the bow, mostly from the south east, we cruised along at about 10 knts and made our way south to Shoalwater Bay and anchored up for a few hours in a little anchorage on the northern end of Townsend Island. At about 8am on Wednesday morning, we hauled anchor and made our way on to Pearl Bay. This is a beautiful part of the world and sadly we didn't have time to stay and enjoy it. Still, it was nice to slow down for a few minutes and take some photos. Pressing on, we arrived at Rosslyn Bay, late afternoon on Wednesday. A good meal and a good sleep was enjoyed and Thursday morning we topped up the fuel and headed off again.
South of Yeppoon, the sea conditions continued to improve and by the time we were headed south of Bundaberg into Hervey Bay, we were experiencing glassy calm conditions. Another high spot, was cruising on towards Fraser Island, in a glassy calm sea at midnight, brilliant moonlight - and warm enough to stand on the bow in shorts - watching the sea mist slowly roll in on the horizon! It was almost like a scene from a movie set. We dropped anchor a around 3am, had a quick nap and headed off again at 7am Friday, to travel down the Great Sandy Straights. This was as calm as I have ever seen it. It was an absolute glass out!! Check out the photos.
We crossed the Wide Bay Bar around 1pm Friday and made our way on to Mooloolaba for the night.
We topped up the fuel again on Saturday morning and headed off by around 7am, making our way past Moreton Island, in magnificent conditions and arrived at Sanctuary Cove around 6pm Saturday.