Yeeeppppooonn day 4 or 5, have lost count

Winds are down a bit but it would still be an uphill slog into 2 meter seas in 20 knts, so no interest from me or crew. One boat did leave today due to comitments in Sydney, am sure they regretted the second bottle of port at 1:00am, I walked over to the beach to watch their progress and it was not pretty, pic below.
Most of the boats here are all now suffering the same issues of being stuck, the bar at the Capricorn cruising yacht club is now full at opening hours 4 till 7, it is a great place to waste 3 hours daily.
We have met a solo German/Canadian who has some great stories, here is a like to one that was published

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:-hDh5sAkJp0J:www.multihull.com.au/site/www/pdf/pdfs/parachute.pdf+rescue+in+Tasman+zero+gravity&hl=en&gl=au&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjYNunxetEEoF3fpzsQz1pUT8tooza93c8g-k4hIZlKxSrpnC1NYm5HAXsNq_v9y66-B1hBOhB3KGtRXp9q_DtIw_DgXr8iuuI1XrMbHsoeTB36Q8jQ2t_oqV8_chn3Jw7XdQbA&sig=AHIEtbTlWZQUwxCFWLvh_Gd_4FGQvNm4nQ

Long link but great story; he told another about hitting a reef at hook island after being distracted by some backpackers he had onboard! He has said that the next crew he will dress in sacks so as not to be distracted again.
He is now number 32 in the 'wombat club' whose members are those that have used a parachute anchor in storm conditions

More jobs completed all small now and crew is keen to help; the last pipe in the fwd head has been changed, breather hose, yet to do so we had to remove all the floorboards, a simple job took over 4 hours.

The water in he bay is muddy brown and fairly polluted, yet there is a local turtle who munches on the wharf coral under ES, pic below.
The last pic is a cool tree on the knobby hill that is an old volcano core.

Our current plan it to head out on Saturday through the narrows, past Curtis island, then onto pancake creek and Bundy

Stuck in Yeppoon day 2

Wind is now gusting to 37 knts so we are staying put, I climbed one of the hills to get a view of the ocean, huge sea running, crappy brown water and howling wind, see pics.
Tackled the profurl mizzen boom vang today as I finally received the new gas strut while in Mackay, only 2 months to get it from France. The job is not as easy as it looks, firstly we had to remove the old strut, pictures below explain it better, essentially we had to cut open the old strut, right beside where it says 'do not open' so that we could unscrew it from the housing. Next step was to drill a hole through the strut and the threaded rod, volia it unscrewed. The rigger in Hammo said to put the new strut in you had to use a Spanish windless to get the rivets in, no way mate that would not work! All we did was put it back on the boom and wind on the sheet, perfect. ES Now has a fully functioning mizzen yet still a jury rigged main.

Yeppoon

Is is blowing 30 knts and we are glad to be in the marina. Marinas are funny places, full of an eclectic mix of people and boats. Beside us is Amble another RPAYC boat on their way somewhere as they can't make their mind up to go home or to Europe. Other side is a bloke called Scott Rose from Lake Macquarie, turned out he was racing in the same division as us in Hobart last year. He wants a girl to be a nomadic sailor with him. Down the marina is a huge motor boat that was once a few mil worth, today the repair jobs are such that they just paint over the barnacles.
Another I met was a professional varnishing a beautiful timber NZ yacht (should have congratulated her on the all blic win, luckily we had to listen on the radio and not see the game as well). Sorry back to the story, she mentioned the motor boat was on sea trials out of Mackay after a refit. As they came back into the Harbour there was no reverse or power! The owner tried to turn around but ended up on the breakwater.

Based on the seabreeze forcast, Yeppon could be our home for a week. My new crew is ex navy and keen to work, the job list is huge as it always is.

Random Mackay pictures

I managed to complete the re plumb of the fwd head, a total of 9 meters of sanitation hose, unfortunately ES has two heads so I am only half was through the job. A few pics below, I had to use the iPhone to see how to get the hose through the bulkhead.

A nice pic from the pub at sunset, and another of the rats that roam under your feet!

The navy filling up with gas beside us, always ask them where they are going, what they are doing and what is in the boat, the answer is always the same "can't say"

The kid on the bike was the first kid that Alastair played with in 3 months! His mum was the hairdresser and cafe owner at the marina.

We also made some marina friends, Jim and sue of Kate Kelly which is the old kintama, a famous racing yacht of the 70s

Bye bye Mackay

After five days I finally got out of Mackay just ahead of the southerly predicted. A quick sail in 25 knts downwind to Curlew Island, then a 5.00am rise to do the 75 miles to Port Clinton. Most of the area around Shoalwater Bay is closed for military training so we had to stay outside certain coordinates. My  new crew Rob Walker who is ex navy says this is in case of over shots from live ammo! I obeyed the rules on this occasion! As we neared Port Clinton it was obvious that it was going to be a night time entry due to a 2knt adverse tide, is it ever with you? The decision was made to plug on another 40 miles to Yeppon, arriving at midnight and a full 6 hours before the change. The decision was wise in hindsight as we are now at the marina with over 30 knts, not nice conditions to be at anchor in an isolated bay.
Below are a few pics as we sailed past Port Clinton.

Just some random stuff

Ever wonder what happened to the 12 meters steak and kidney, and australia? They are on route south after a refit at Mackay, owners have put a callout for crew too.
The cafe in the marina is run by a French fan, you could almost be in Paris!

Alastair is now back at school after 3 months sailing in Qld, he swung, climbed and jumped everywhere, it wasn't until he went home, and within the first 24 hours he was in hospital with a split head courtesy of the marble bench in the kitchen at home
Pic of the storms in Qld, trade winds are gone.
Alastair read all these books, we failed as parent teachers, lucky he is a good reader

Mackay economy

Being at the marina you get a bit involved with the locals and find out what is happening on in the town. Firstly Mackay is the same as every other Qld town, full of miners, no accommodation, tourism dead, no cabs. Tv and radio are full of adds for mining service personnel, the marina hotel is 100% full with miners, the shirt logos are bhp, xta, boom logistics, very different to the yacht logos of Hammo.
Rents are huge, and unless you are on the mining boom then you are left behind, the local cafe just lost their barrista to a mining coy on $55 an hr. The shop fronts are not local businesses but bhp and xstrata coal. To make it up here it is accom and pubs, Mackay is short 2000 beds, my neighbour at the marina is one of many working in mining yet living on a boat, cheaper than living ashore.
At least the diesel is 10c cheaper that Airlie or Hammo.
Half priced holidays in the Whitsundays are advertised, maxi ragamuffin stopped their tourist run after 18 years, the old freight train is on the backpacker gig yet speaking to the owner confirmed why rags closed their doors.
Not sure if it is relevant or even if these adds have made it to nsw, the Qld govt is advertising on tv for their rate payers to learn to read and write! Sounds a good idea, don't they have primary school in Qld?