After our uncomfortable night near 1770 I had to wrap up the last blog quickly as Naomi got desperate to get off the boat. Climbed into the dingy with difficulty as it rose and dropped with the swell and headed to the sand banks to look for a way through to the sheltered channel next to 1770. As we got closer it occurred to us that there may be no way through as the swell seemed to be breaking right across our way. Headed toward the beach as I thought I saw a gap. As small steep waves were mounting behind, Naomi suggested it might not be safe to go further but a few moments later it became clear we had come through he breakers already.... phew ! Motored over to a beach and just as ... read more

Up early again yesterday Wednesday to leave about an hour before high tide, to give us plenty of water under the keel and also so the currents could flush us out when we reached the mouth of the river into The Sandy Straight again. I had talked to Brett previously at the marina about the markers not matching the chart and he said quite a few had been washed away with the flood in January and probably wouldn't trust them as he wasn't sure if they had been put back in the right places yet. Fortunately I remembered that the chart plotter leaves a track of where the boat has been so we were able to follow this, from our trip up the river, with confidence. Bit of grey day with scattered showers but the plan ... read more

Well as the title suggests we are still in Maryborough. With strong winds blowing various wrong directions at our potential next anchorages in the Sandy Straits or Harvey Bay we have decided to stay put. Weather has been like a British summer, not very warm, often cloady, with frequent showers. Despite this, life on the river here has been quite nice and we have had lots of time to explore this lovely little historic town, but we feel we have been here long enough now and will probably head down the river tomorrow. Our first full day here was a Thursday which was good timing as this is market day in Maryborough and they have the steam train running along the portside. Tied up at the marina and walked the 10 minutes to the townhall and ... read more

Was watching a British documentary about dogs last night with Martin Clunes. He "went all the way to Australia" to visit Fraser Island to see dingos. Was odd to see this TV program from the homeland visiting an island that we were actually at. Up on time today (Monday) to leave Garry's. The French catamaran "First Trax" that we originally anchored behind was running his engines again - I assume he was charging his batteries like he had yesterday afternoon. We cranked up the engine, pulled up the anchor ...by hand! (the new bolt for the stripper fitted well but now the other bolt needs replacing - and the winch itself only worked briefly too), and finally left Garry's cautiously via the shallow but slightly quicker northern entrance. Then turned north and continued to follow the ... read more

After Tuesday's blog entry we took the dingy for another trip. Before this I was in the toilet and opened up the ceiling hatch to say hello to Alex as he was roaming overhead - he replied by dropping a dried bird turd on my head! Headed south to Bullock Point, the spot where the Fraser Island ferry ties up at night time. Alex's toy boat accompanied us as usual and this time he got to trail the boat behind us in the water, though Naomi seemed to enjoy doing this more than him. Went to look for an old pier that was on the map but didn't find it. Got back to the boat as night fell just in time to put on the anchor light. Yesterday we woke to a grey day with light ... read more