Well its been a while we know. Finally have set of from Southport.

Left Southport on Sunday afternoon 20th March and headed up the river a mile or so to an anchorage known as Bum's Bay for an easy get away.

We set sail for Mooloolaba at 2am Monday morning with our friends in there boat Screensaver.

The Weather was calm for the seaway exit which was good, only about 10 knots of breeze so we had to motor sail. Elaine was sick after about 10mins so that wasn't very good. While putting up the main sheet the electric winch got stuck on so it was panic stations for about 30 seconds trying to get the rope of the winch so it didn't pull the sail off. Water temp was 27.4 degrees. As Elaine was sick for most of the day I thought I would sit her on the back deck and give her hair a wash as we motor sailed along , thought this might help her feel a bit better, unfortunately this didn't stop the vomit. Arrived at Mooloolaba harbour at about 5.15pm that evening, after motoring up the harbour to an anchoring spot we found but it was to shallow for us so we ended up at the Marina.

Tuesday was spent doing a little bit of shopping and had a swim on the beach. Also I had some maintenance to do with a few things on the boat that had played up the day before. We had a couple of beers on the back of Screensaver about 5.30pm and decided that we would go out for some cheap eats . Not realizeing that everything in Mooloolaba closes at 7.30pm by the time we had got ready and walked to 5 different restaurants everything was closed. So back to the boat for a home cooked pizza. Walking back through the marina carpark there are 2 big waste bins used by boaties, staff etc, it was dark but there were carpark lights, there were alot of noises coming out from around that area, as we walked by there were dozens of RATS scourring up and over the fences out of the bins, I couldn't believe how many there were.

Wednesday morning were we up early and checked out of the Marina at 8am. Today we are heading for Wide Bay near Fraser Island. The day is perfect with 30.5 degree crystal blue water. We had plenty of time to kill so we sat on the back duck board most of the way and cooled down. Rod did a bit of fishing and caught himself a 2ft Yellow Fin Tuna which he threw back after a photo shoot! It would have been great for dinner but neither of us wanted to clean it and it was way to big for 2 so it would have been wasted. Our plan today is to get to Wide Bay (About 55 miles) and anchor there over night as to get into Tin Can Bay / Fraser Island you have to cross the Wide Bay Bar and the best time to do this is at high tide. Our arrival (5pm) would have been at the wrong time so anchoring up for the night at Double Island Point seemed to be a good idea as the winds were slight and the swell was small. After anchoring we went for a swim had a drink, cooked some dinner, watch some dolphins play around the boat and then decided to retire for the night . Well once the tide changes so did the swell. It was the worst night we have ever had on anchor. The boat rolled side to side all night with stuff flying about in cupboards. We where up and down moving things and changing sleeping quarters inside and outside. The moon was at it's brightest and the sky full of stars so way to much light to sleep outside. This lasted till about 3.30am when we could finally get a bit of sleep.

Thursday moring we were up again early as we had to get to the entry of the Wide Bay Bar in time for the top of the tide. Had some brecky and we were off about 8.30am. Only a short distance of about 10 miles to the Bar entrance so we took our time as the weather today is lovely with a small amount of wind. We passed through a school of fish and saw 3 shark having a bit of a feeding frenzy. Mental note don't swim here! Once we got to the Bar entrance we checked our position and decided to let Screensaver go first as he has done it before and we would follow. The weather was in our favour and the crossing was an easy one which was great for us as some of the stories of bad crossing had got stuck in our heads. We headed up the river and are now anchored of the western side of Fraser Island at a place called Elbow Point rafted up with Screensaver. Will relax here for today and head of to Hervey Bay in the morning up the Great Sandy Straight.