Year 2 – 27th April 2025 - Dinghy Bay to Mackay Marina

We woke at a reasonable time and it was a lovely quiet day. There was no swell and we watched the sun come up over the hill. We sat and had a cup of tea on the aft deck and watched the lovely scenery. The couple who camped the night on the beach woke up and came on the beach. Their motorboat was some way out at anchor. They gathered all their camping gear etc and then the man swam out to the motorboat which was quite a swim. He got there and motored to the beach where they loaded up and off they went.

We had a cooked breakfast with bacon and egg and toast. I had to do some admin etc and this took a little time. We had the bay to ourselves and then prepared Stormbird for departure. This meant bringing the dinghy on the davits, putting down the solar panels and tidying everything away. We saw the odd turtle surface as if to say hello before they dived to eat again.

We upped anchor about 09.50am and headed out of this lovely bay which we had enjoyed. The wind was light but we could sail a direct course for Mackay Marina. We put out the sails and in about 7-9kts we were making 4-5 kts and so we set a direct course. It was a lovely day and we oozled along and it was flat and calm and just a bit slow. It did not matter – we were not in a race -I keep telling myself !!

We saw few sailing boats bearing in mind it was a Sunday and a number of motorboats. We sailed on and saw a few birds and the odd fish jumping out of the water. The wind varied a bit and we tweaked the sails but we maintained a fairly steady speed. We passed the odd tidal/current line for which there is no explanation. We carried and eventually took the sails down and motored toward the breakwater entrance. We had had a fishing line out but today was not our lucky day.

We entered the breakwater and called the marina and a person was dispatched to meet us at our mooring C11. We entered the marina and manoeuvred down the pontoons and straight into the berth. We were soon tied up. We started to clean and I heard the water pumps go off when we were not using our taps. I checked that all of our taps and showers were off. They were and I therefore knew there was a leak and I suspected it was coming from the engine room area. I went in and found the leak behind the generator at a connection in the cold-water pipe. There is a connector and it was leaking from the bottom of the connector. I think it was the same one Mark and I had repaired some time ago. I tried to reach the connector but I could not resolve the issue. I then took the housing off the generator and got the connector off. I checked my stores and had another connector. However, I think the hose was not cut flat and I think it was the same pipe Mark and I had to fix some time ago. I could not work out why it had failed after all this time. We fiddled around for some time and put a new connector on but that did not work. I then cut the pipe again to get a straight fit and that seemed to work, then dripped. To cut a long story short we eventually managed to get it not to leak but I would not be confident it will remain like that and I would like to get a plumber to look at it.  

We had in the interim cleaned and cleared up and prepared all the beds for the new crew arriving tomorrow. We showered and went ashore for supper. There was a live band playing which seemed initially too loud. We got a takeaway from the Lighthouse Take away and eat it in the quiet. We then went and listened to the band which were actually quite good. We enjoyed them for some time and then when they had finished returned to Stormbird.

We had had a good day of light sailing and preparation for new crew.

The picture of the day is Stormbird moored at her berth in Mackay.

Need/Opportunity Year Two

I am in need of more crew from late June to Mid-Juy. In addition, there is one space from Cairns to Indonesia from mid-July - so if of interest do email me at  hine.nick9@gmail.com  

In year two I will be going from New Zealand to Sydney and hen up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and then through Bali, Singapore and on to Thailand to end year two about the end of November 2025.

The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com