Salsa Update from Mooloolaba

Finally back underway after about 3 months of being moored in the Brisbane River. Here is the log from Brisbane to Tangalooma;

Thursday April 22 2010. Brisbane Australia, Pylon moorings off of the Botanical Gardens in the Brisbane River. Depart, 730AM, 6.5kts,

10:15AM, Brisbane River head, Motor off, 4.8kts. Squally ahead

11:30 Caught 30″ Spotted Mackerel!!

1:40PM Anchor down in 16′ water, Tangalooma.

What the log fails to mention is how good it felt to be back underway! I was hoping to leave Brisbane a bit earlier, but I decided to take the opportunity to do some work on another boat and help re-stock the cruising fund while I could, even if this meant leaving a few weeks later than planned.

The day before I left it was raining non-stop as I was making final preparations doing laundry and topping off food and water. Not that this leg of the trip is long or significant as I will likely be in Mooloolaba in a few days with access to everything I could want, however it just seems like I’m finally getting ‘back on the road’ after so long of basically going nowhere. Brisbane is a great city to hang out in and I will miss all of my new friends, the Botanical Gardens Moorings is an amazing location in the heart of the city. Still, it felt great to be underway again. By 730am the rain was letting off and I had the motor running with only a bowline slipped around the forward pylon I was moored to. I slipped it off and eased away from my home for the last 3 months and began motoring down the winding Brisbane River, about 15 miles before I hit open water in Morton Bay. The current was pushing me out giving me an extra two knots, and the sun was even making an unexpected appearance and by the time I had the sails up in the bay I was feeling great. Just easing along at about 5kts with no ocean swell in the semi-protected waters. I was starting to feel guilty for not fishing (it’s like my brother Craig is always whispering to me, “why don’t you have a line in the water fool!”) Plus he was kind enough to send several new lures to me after hearing my fishing report of zero fish caught so far in Australia. I put a white “bomber” lure with a red head (looks a lot like a repalla) on the hand line with a bungee and within an hour BANG, a 30″ spotted Mackerel!! What a good looking fish, to me it looks exactly like an Atlantic King Mackerel, but whatever, it tasted great, though wasn’t quite firm enough to make good sashimi. I was even lucky enough to have the wind on the beam almost the entire way.

By 1:40 PM I had the anchor down and was just thrilled to be in the clear blue water, I could even see the bottom! I went for a swim to inspect Salsa’s bottom, and was surprised at how few barnacles there were after being up the river for so long and considering that my bottom paint is over two years old, mostly a lot of “grass” growing along the water line that needed scraped off. After the swim it was time to start dinner, same thing as lunch… Fish! I’m not sure why I bought all this chicken and sausage!! I wont go on about the sunset, just check out the photos.

Day two out of Brisbane, Tangalooma to Mooloolaba (Who makes up these names anyways!?!?!)

4/23 530am Engine on anchor up. 630am 4.5kts motor sailing 1800 rpm full main broad reach
855am Engine off 26.58.4S, 153,30.2E, 5kts, first reef. 950am engine on till 1030
1130 4.6kts 320′ wing and wing first reef
1500, arrive Mooloolaba anchorage.

I wouldn’t have minded another day in Tangalooma to snorkel the wrecks (A must see!) again and walk the beaches but the forecast for the 23rd was looking good and the following two days there was virtually no wind predicted so I set the alarm for 430am and went to bed early. It was strange spending the night somewhere other than the ol’ Brisbane River. Up the river the water is usually perfectly flat, until a ferry comes along (every 20 minutes) and then you get rocked like crazy. Here at Tangalooma, an only semi-protected anchorage you just get a constant gentle rock, nice improvement!

I’m normally pretty good about not motoring but it was around 40 miles to Mooloolaba and I wanted to make a daylight arrival so I motor sailed the first three hours to be sure I could make it. The first reef I mention in the log was really just to stop the sail from slapping so bad and making noise, it makes the motor-sailing more tolerable. Eventually a little squall hit me and they don’t normally have much wind but I did put in the second reef about the same time the squall quit and left me with no wind, hence the engine on at 950am, but within 40 minutes a light breeze picked up again so I poled the jib out and sailed nearly dead down wind wing and wing at about 3kts gradually increasing speed up to 5kts by the time I got to Mooloolaba.

Craig’s lure wasn’t as productive this leg especially since I sailed through TWO schools of breaking fish!? Maybe I was going to fast or two slow or god knows what. Then again who cares, I just had some more of the mackerel for dinner again, and still have plenty in the fridge!

Mooloolaba is supposed to be a happening town with lots of partying to be done, but I’m back on to budget restriction mode and hoping to dry out a bit after all the drinking in Brisbane over the last few months. It is my Birthday but I’m just exhausted after sailing two days in a row and waking up at 430am, it was dark by the time I got the boat back in to “anchor mode” and got the dinghy set up and got myself showered. Yet, the city lights are still calling me, my bet is that I finish updating the website and get to bed J.

One more note before I sign off, I invested in a USB Wireless Broadband modem, it rocks! I get weather, grib files, email, internet etc just about anywhere and even while sailing until I get up North of Cairns and in the Northern Territory where I don’t think anyone gets cell phone reception, then again I don’t think anyone even lives there…

If you want to see the rest of the photos they are on photo bucket;

Click Here for Photo Bucket

I also added photos from the top of the mast as I motored up the Brisbane River to South Bank and beyond with Roger and Shannon. That’s it for now! -Kirk

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