We start sailing

We've started on our sailing journey!  First leg was Rivergate to Tangalooma, and it was wonderful. Second leg was from Tangalooma to Mooloolaba, and it was awful!

And then the thingy that transfers photos from my camera to my computer died. So although I have lots and lots of pictures, I can't share them with you until I get a new thingy.
Anyway ... I'll do the blog update with just a few pics from Marcelle's phone. 

Here's the route:

Rivergate, the Marina where we got the boat and started our journey is about 6 km up the Brisbane River. The river feeds into Moreton Bay, and from there its another 30km or so to Tangalooma,  a beach on a Nature Reserve Island. It was a glorious sunny day with flat seas and just enough wind to fill the sails and get us moving along swiftly. This boat does sail beautifully. Trimarans have a reputation for excellent sailing performance.

The previous owners of Pegasos, Jon and Clarissa joined us for the day. It was good to have them along, they're a fun couple and I certainly needed the hands on guidance on how to operate this boat. I had never ever sailed on a trimaran before, and here I am heading off over the horizon, indefinitely, on my own 37 foot trimaran!


After about four hours of sailing we anchored at Tangalooma and had sparkling wine and lunch.  There's a dozen or so old scrap ships purposely scuttled here in an attempt to make the anchorage a little more protected from the West. It didn't work out quite as planned, it makes no difference to the waves from the west but the wrecks are popular with divers.  

Here's me checking the anchor and ignoring the ominous bank of clouds building up on the horizon.

Jon and Clarissa headed back to Brisbane by ferry - a bittersweet moment for them to say goodbye to their boat which had also been their home for more than 5 years. Joining them on the ferry were scores of four wheel drive vehicles.

A bizarre but popular pastime here is to race along the beaches in the nature reserve. Even more bizarre is that the authorities cooperate by providing a ferry service discharging convoys of four wheel drive vehicles right onto the beach. Normandy landings with barbies and beers.

And then the wind built up stronger and stronger, and switched direction. The wrong direction.  And with it came rain and waves, short steep waves.  Pegasos bounced and rocked and became impossibly uncomfortable. Impossible to sleep or eat.  And so as soon as it was light, we lifted the anchor and sailed on.

It was frightening. There are strong tidal currents ripping up and down Moreton Bay. And it's dotted with sandbanks and criss-crossed with shipping channels. It's quite tricky to navigate at the best of times. We were tired, hungry, seasick and cold. There was no other alternative but to sail on despite the strong winds and poor visibility and big scary ships passing close by. Too queasy to go down below we were navigating with the laptop under a towel in the rain. At least our destination was downwind.

Eventually after six and a half horrible hours we arrived in Mooloolaba.
(They doo like loots of oo's in place names hereaboots.)

That was on Tuesday. Today is Wednesday. It's still raining with gales. More wind and rain forecast for tomorrow. Mooloolaba is a flashy over-developed holiday town built around a shallow lagoon with a very well protected anchorage.

This area is called the Sunshine Coast, and we're staying put till the weather matches the name. It did clear up just enough for me to take the dinghy on a mission for bread, milk and chocolate.