Latitudinal Origins - Visiting the Flipside for Xmas

Christmas is always a poser: Go home to our Perth family -Yes/ No? We'd so far been absent for 4 consecutive Christmases. Since the previous Christmas saw us travel to Queensland from Sydney to celebrate with the Brisbane crew, it was decided that Christmas 2016 should be spent in Perth.

A suitable spot for a lay-over

Undressed? All the sheets are off.

Zofia needed to be below the cyclone belt anyway and would be 'parked' on the Sunshine Coast enabling there to be 3-generations-of-Oldfields aboard QF589 - Brisbane to Perth, and ensuring that the entire wing of the family could celebrate together. This made one 94 year old family matriarch VERY, VERY HAPPY indeed!

QF589 -Brisbane to Perth for Christmas 2016

Our latitudinal origins - 32 Degrees South

On arrival we wasted no time reconnecting with familiar landscapes, often with grandchildren and other family.

The boys checking who bought the beers

 

The lovely South Cottesloe, on the Indian Ocean.

The Bloke supervising our little mermaids

Poolside Xmas cheers from Roger and Jill

Table prepared for 'Wigilia' 

 

Brothers-in-law on Xmas morning

Xmas morning heroes.

Younger members of the Floreat Beach Surf Patrol roster.

Mid-air shot of Hugo in a Santa suit (taken by Emma), pretty much encapsulating everyone's exuberance.

The effort of getting home for Xmas?

100% worth it!

No Such Thing as Too Much Rope for a Brisbane Breather

Checking into Brisbane's Garden Point Marina AKA the Botanical Garden Pile Moorings was a bit exciting. First there was the thrill of traveling upstream but next came the selection of a vacant position among the already moored vessels followed by getting tied up. This was to be a mooring method completely 'new' to us and The Bloke complained like mad about what I was getting him in to.

 

Brisbane Town Hall, King George Square

 

We had already worked out an approach:-

1. Prepare bow and stern leads. 
2. Try to arrive at a 'kind' time relative to the tides (the Brisbane River can race at up to 3knots). *
3. Motor into the current while approaching the bow-end pole. 
4. Get the bow attached. 
5. Allow the current to drift the boat back in order to secure the stern end (like we had at Kiama).

We verbally rehearsed the sequence several times to ensure that we both knew what to do. Awesome. Let's do this!

Once again our dock-stick was super useful in allowing me to lasso the pole that would hold our bow. So far so good. Then we got unstuck. The gap between the poles could not be bridged by merely 2 mooring lines, even if they were the longest we owned. This is where helpful neighbours came into play. A fellow cruiser immediately jumped into their tender to help attach a 2nd mooring line to our clearly 'too short' stern line to help complete the tether. Phew. Doubly fortunate was the fact that The Bloke had not yet held his intended 'garage sale' of previously considered, unwanted and 'surplus' rope. Jib sheets earlier deemed too fat for use, instantly became 'just the thing' and secured our visit. My hoarding proclivities were rewarded yet again.

 

No such thing as too much rope in the bilge

 

Tied up on C10

 

Moorings viewed from the Botanical Garden, Kangaroo Point and from an office tower

 

  

Sunset over the mature trees in the Botanic Gardens plus an illuminated cityscape

 

Gardens Point Marina

• First in best dressed
• Use your own mooring ropes
• Ropes left between piles indicate a position is taken and the vessel is absent
• Visit office to get permit. Level B1, King George Square car park. Entry from Adelaide St. This office is completely unlabeled and is basically the staff control booth adjacent to the exit boom gate. It is necessary to walk across the car park to reach it!
• Tariff =$70/pw + $20 non refundable fob. Maximum stay of 3 months.
• Take:-

1. Insurance Certificate of Currency - legal liability 10,000,000AUD
2. Boat registration
3. Boat /skippers license

• Public pontoon below Stamford Plaza for dinghy tie up. 
• Dockside amenities near dinghy wharf, adjacent to riverside path beneath Stamford Plaza
• $20 amenity key swipe. Washing machines and dryer. 4$ per wash. 1$ and 2$ coins

–---------------------------------------

Ray Sawyer
Leasing Support Officer | Asset Management
Brisbane Infrastructure | BRISBANE CITY COUNCIL
Brisbane Square | Level 19, 266 George Street, Brisbane, Qld 4000
Phone: +61-7-3178 6450 | Fax 07 3334 0054
Email: ray.sawyer@brisbane.qld.gov.au

 

The pile moorings were renovated during the 2016 winter period giving the BCC an opportunity to move along a few long term stayers. Some still remain and have some bizarre 'home extensions' such as this pontoon supporting an inflatable paddling pool. By the end of our stay this shabby and poorly secured structure had partially sunk following a week of nightly thunderstorms!

This river location proved to be stellar albeit busy. Basically it is in the heart of the city at the end of of Edward Street and is in walking distance of everything the CBD has to offer (including supermarkets). A dinghy can be left locked on the dinghy dock in relative safety, even overnight. There is also a jetty on the opposite side of the river enabling a short visit to the, heritage listed Kangaroo Point Cliffs, for a change of scene, coffee and step-climb to the cliff top for a serious cardio workout. These cliffs are illuminated at night and also amplify concert sounds from the nearby Queensland University of Technology Riverstage venue, adding to an already incredibly dramatic backdrop. 

* If arrival can't be timed for slack or slackening tide, it is possible to anchor off just before the river bend beyond the moorings.  Note that the prevailing breeze is NE. Head down (bow facing down stream) minimized night time disturbance from hull slap (water slapping under the transom).

Tangalooma to Brisbane - a Mission Accomplished

For some years, it's been an ambition to arrive in Brisbane in our own boat. Driving along the Brisbane River we'd see yachts and catamarans anchored and moored in a variety of places and thought that one day one of those boats on the river would be ours. And now it is!

Dawn departure from Tangalooma

To get the benefit of tide, plus avoid stronger afternoon winds, we needed to depart Tangalooma at stupid o'clock. Luckily for us there were minimum shipping movements in the morning. Just 2 vessels were scheduled to leave the port at 08:00. We'd be beyond the wharves at Fish Island by then and not need to be dodging tugs and maneuvering vessels.

The Sea Heritage with tugs attending and conveniently stationary on the wharf

The Gateway Bridge up ahead

   
No matter how tall the span, we always feel that the mast is about to be ripped down

Approaching Bretts Wharf

Time to switch from VHF Channel 12 - Port Ops, to Channel 13 for river traffic

 

Some housing is 'waterfront'

And some is literally 'on' the water

A quick look at the legendary Breakfast Creek (r)

The Brisbane CBD hiding behind the Storey Bridge

It's 31m above the waterline but still feels like we'll be tangled up on that metalwork

Alerted to our imminent arrival, Lucas (man on the terrace)

came out of his office to film Zofia's arrival

The Botanical Gardens pile moorings were about to be our base for the next week

  Lucas being ferried aboard to share some of our Moreton Bay prawns for lunch.  

What a satisfying feeling to have reached this destination. We'll be river rats for a couple of weeks until we need to look for a weather window to return to Mooloolabah for Zofia's summer siesta.

Impeller Mayhem

We're often asked what we do all day, so here is a day's report:-

• Up at 05:00 in anticipation of Coast Guard vessel arriving to retrieve the jetski involved in the accident 2 days previously.
• Read the weather forecasts, news, emails etc.
• Invite neighbouring vessel over for morning tea and bake pumpkin scones.
• Socialize for 2 hours.
• Attend to some messages and paperwork
• Do some hand-washing related to jetski accident.
• 16:00 turn on motor for hot water and battery charging.
• 17:00 The Bloke has a shower and pours a drink for 5ers. My turn to shower but we hear a weird noise in the engine bay. Bloke sprints up companionway to turn off the motor before returning below to investigate engine bay.
• 17:00 - 12:30 Engine off. Mayhem's just arrived! Keystone Cops saga ensues sleuthing and repairing - what caused the impeller to chew itself up?

Ouch! the impeller casing is HOT, HOT, HOT!

Looks like a vein has sheered off and the rest look like they are about to GO....Noooooo!

The impeller sits in here and pumps cool sea water around the heat exchange/ cooling system

Scoured impeller casing indicating friction

Very deformed impeller. The broken bit thankfully wasn't swallowed up into the heat exchange

Impeller failure is a crisis on a boat. Not only does it mean there is no possibility of propulsion by motor, there is the concern of shreds of neoprene/rubber finding their way through the entire cooling system. Engine overheating could lead to ....... Oh, let's not even go there! If there would be a need to deploy or retrieve anchor chain it could only be achieved manually. We had 40m of chain deployed and had no reason to think our holding was poor seeing as only 48hours before our anchor had secured Zofia, plus Tender Marilyn, plus jetski, plus the Water Police RIB, plus the Coast Guard. Yup, we think we were well dug in! The prospect of a wind shift that would put us on a lee shore filled us with dread. Luckily there were no predictions for this but noone wants to flirt with Murphy's Law.

So, one minute everything is fine and relaxed; a lovely anchorage, prospects of a warm shower, a drink and a lovely sunset etc and in an instant the moment is GONE. Time to haul out tool boxes and the Sh*t Box is definitely on standby. Stupid o'clock or dusk seem to stand out as the most dangerous of times.

By now we are working in the dark

Replacing the impeller didn't actually take long. We had 2 replacements on hand and it was just a matter of ensuring that all of the damaged one could be accounted for before lubricating the new one, and popping it in, then check if it all worked. If only it were that simple. We also needed to know if there was a reason for the impeller to be starved of water causing it to disintegrate. This is the first impeller to 'go' in 8 years and normally there would be some water in the housing. Instead it was dry.

Wine cork improvisations

 

A blockage in the seawater intake system was the likely culprit but we had a problem: The Bloke had over-tightened the lid (tighter better right? NO) to the skimmer bowl meaning the only way we could check and clear it, assuming the blockage was there, was to remove the whole housing and flush it in a bucket. Priming the system again would normally entail removing the lid and pouring water in. Unable to do this, we turned it upside down, filled it, then we put our wine drinking habits and my propensity to hoard 'potentially useful' bits and pieces to good use. A wine cork acted as a bung while we tried to shove the water hoses back on as quickly as possible, hoping that the skimmer bowl would not be completely emptied in the process.

  The Bloke holding the engine bay cover:also the companionway stairs.   Testing the various solutions meant turning on the engine to see if water was pumping from the exhaust. We were in the cabin. Engine controls and exhaust outside.  How many times did the stairs come off and get re-fitted? Too many times, that's how many!

The skimmer box wasn't especially full of 'stuff' and clearing it didn't make any difference. Was the below-water intake blocked? By this time it may have been 22:00 and diving below not a prospect. Perhaps we could push our mousing rod through the hose and out the ball valve? To attempt that, it was necessary to cut all the cable-ties holding the hoses, pull the intake hose through a bulkhead to try and straighten it etc, etc..... This was only marginally successful. Water flow was still restricted but only by about 80%. We'd learned a lot in the process but now it was 12:30 am and we'd missed dinner altogether. Time for a calming drink and we called it a day.

In the morning we gave the motor one more go. Encouragingly it spewed out a few cups of water before the delay ahead of the next mean splutter of water was unacceptable. When we checked the water level in the filter bowl, it was all gone. Empty! Another race to shut off the motor.

Going Down

 

Nothing for it, it was time for the 'inevitable'. Time to dive! Luckily it was a clear morning with good water clarity. The Bloke checked with the skipper of a nearby vessel who's day-job had been a Navy Clearance Diver what his most likely dangers would be. The Bloke was thinking 'sharks', given that prawning trawlers, little more than 500m away,  were attracting a lot of pelicans and other scavenging sea birds. Surprisingly, the answer was 'Jellyfish'!  A moments delay occurred at this point for a costume change. Board shorts were switched for a wetsuit.

 

Bottoms UP!

Our suspicions were confirmed immediately.  The Seawater scoop on the underside of the boat was entirely caked with a fine slimy weed and it was sucked in and on. It was the cause of the water starvation that shredded the impeller! To clean it all off, The Bloke called for a knife to clear the vents. This stuff was not going to let go without encouragement, so our improvised tool was a dinner knife. 

Confident that our troubles were over, we fired up the engine with both of us straining our necks around the side of the stern praying that we'd see the exhaust water gushing like it should. What we saw, followed by an inspection of the water strainer bowl made our hearts sing......YAY, we'd nailed it! Repair effected. Panic over.

  

Happy Days are here again!

Exhaust water 'gushing' and water strainer bowl 'bubbling'.

So that's an example of how we fill our day. One of them anyway. Can you top it?

High Ambitions

With yesterday's dramas now behind us, albeit that a jetski still trailed from our transom, it was time to do some sightseeing. The Zofia Bootcamp was open for business. Sand hills adjacent to the anchorage beckoned. In fact they called out to be climbed!

The Bloke was a pacesetter

   

Beautiful prints and markings in the sand

 

It was still enough for the clouds to reflect on the ocean

We scrambled up, up, up with the fine sand, sometimes firm and sometimes soft underfoot. This is terrain that requires 3 steps to progress one step forward! The Bloke took the direct and steeper route to the top while I looked for ridges to provide a gentler path. As the photos show, it was a diamond of a morning with still water capturing reflected clouds.

An ancient old banskia tree giving some drama to the view

 

  

These are fleeting moments of unparalleled pleasure for us.

We do so hope our Irish Mermaid, plucked from the sea yesterday, after being flung from a jetski recovers fully and quickly and can enjoy some more stellar moments in Australia before returning home.