Passage: Burnett Heads to Brisbane

2nd to 21st November, 2021

John and I planned to get to Brisbane by the end of November. It would only take four hours to do the same distance in a car –but you only travel 5 nautical miles an hour in a boat. Since Covid many people have bought caravans and travelled within Australia. Same with boats. The marinas are full and the end of November was the

earliest we could book in.

Burrum Heads John and I left Burnett Heads marina around 5.30 am to give us plenty of time to get to Burrum Heads around the high tide. It took around 6 hours and were able to sail most of the day. Again, the dolphins were the highlight of the trip.

The township sits along the river just inside the heads and the anchorage is alongside the river bank within a long sandbank. Lots of long term liveaboard boats are anchored there. To mix things up the navigation charts did not reflect the movement of the sandbank and during change of tide the boat swung around on the anchor with the boat really close to the bottom. One mono lay on its side at low tide.

The Captain and I spent a few days here walking the dog and checking out the town. Nice neat place which would be good for people who like fishing holidays. Tallis, grumpy 18-year-old man, has got much slower and I think his sea days are numbered.

Inside Fraser Island (Kgari) John and I had arranged to see old friends from Alice Springs, Sarah and Chris, near where they live at River Heads. This is at the mouth of the Mary and Susan Rivers. John and I left early and took eight hours as we had to go against the tide most of the way. The following day we picked up Sarah and Chris from the little jetty nearby and had lunch on board. It was great to catch up. As usual I failed to get a photo...next time!!

John and I like the Great Sandy Straits and would like to explore more but the “no dog” rule is difficult when a certain dog will only do his business on land - it's very hard to maintain the “this is a dwarf dingo” story.

We had a great day sailing to South White Cliffs – 7 knots using the jib only – love it when the wind and tide align. The northerly wind that allowed us a great sail made the anchorage a bit uncomfortable at night. See the photo showing the movement at anchor. Next night we stopped at Inskip Point.

Travelling south from inside Fraser Island requires passage through the Wide Bay Bar. This is a dog-legged channel with no entrance markers, the shifting sands make the entrance difficult with shallow depths and the entrance track is 3 nm long. The last section of the track is called the “mad mile”. It is very moody and must be treated with respect – right tide direction, right tide time, right wind, right swell and never do at night. I usually wish I had a drink half way through but this passage it was really easy.

Double Island Point Lagoon is a lagoon on the north side of the headland formed by sands shifted by storms. It is protected from the majority of trade winds which are from the south east. It is a beautiful calm anchorage which overlooks Rainbow Beach.

As usual there were many boats in the lagoon including a lot of people we had met in the past. In the end John and I stayed for five days. There was no hurry, there was a high wind warning outside the protection of the lagoon, it was raining much of the time and Tallis likes the sand bank. We met up with old and new friends, took long walks and scrubbed the outside of the boat along the waterline. The kite surfers arrived. Crazy people.

Mooloolaba It’s a good sail (44 nm) to the entrance of the Mooloolah River. The weather had turned good so we left early, sailed most of the way. It’s always a challenge getting into the river – motor towards the beach, then travel adjacent to the beach until the breakwater where you do a left hand turn into the river avoiding jet skis, surfers, paddle boarders, kayakers, motor boats and anyone else who decides they need to impede the sharp right hand turn over the waves into a small opening. Lately a dredge has closed off a third of the entry.

Once into the river we motored past the marina, past an anchorage known as the duckpond and anchored in our favorite spot next to a bridge with parkland and mansions all around.

We spent five days anchored here catching up with friends and

looking around. One day we did a canal tour in our tender. John nearly had a wardrobe malfunction when he tried to put shoes on - it had been so long since he’d last worn any.

We caught up with Kath and had a yummy seafood platter at the Kawana Waters Surf Life Saving Club. A few days later she had a sleep over on the boat. Always good the see the Admiral (that’s what she calls herself).

Lois and Murray had a sleep over as well. Great to see them – you just never know where Lois is going to pop up – Tin Can Bay, The Narrows and Mooloolaba.

Another night we caught up with cruising yachtie friends Bec and Andy at their land house in Minyana. Again, no photos.

Back to Brisbane We had an excellent sail, despite the tide, to Sandhills on Moreton Island. We stayed there the first night then moved to Adams Bay near the ferry terminal on North Stradbroke Island. It was a great spot to watch the lunar eclipse that night – apparently the biggest since the 15th century. Avoiding the plovers (my least favorite bird) we walked around the streets of Dunwich.

The following day we would sail into the Manly Marina and stay for the duration of the cyclone season.

Next: Back at Manly Marina 2021