Category: Life On A Boat

Making Fast Tracks North

We liked Port Macquarie, don’t get me wrong. But after months in that winter wonderland of rain and floods, once Go was ready, so were we. With our visas on the verge of expiring and the cold weather continuing, we started making fast tracks north. Townsville, just under 1000 knots north, was our goal, and we made it in good time.

Making Fast Tracks North: Our Route

We planned our route beforehand, and made some slight modifications due to – what else? – wind and weather. Our route was straight to Coffs Harbour, then an overnight to Gold Coast, our first stop in Queensland! From there, it was going to be an easy sail inside the islands to K’Gari and up to meet our friends in Scarborough Marina, outside Brisbane.

After celebrating Brian’s birthday over two nights in Scarborough, we moved north to Mooloolaba for one memorable night. Then we jumped to Double Island Point, Hervey Bay, and spent two nights in the marina near Bundaberg.

making tracks north from Port to Townsville, map
All the stops on our 800nm sail from Port to Townsville

After Bundy, we sailed to Great Keppell to Island Head Creek to Curlew Island, then two nights in Mackay with a quick reprovisioning and off again to the Whitsundays.

Continue reading “Making Fast Tracks North”

Getting Go Back on the Water

After our “Worst Wave” incident, Go was stuck in Port Macquarie for almost five months. Go was a mess. Everything got soaked from our windows being smashed in. Our electronics, engines, books, appliances, and more. We knew early on that getting Go back on the water would be a massive effort. Here’s what it was like.

Getting Insurance Approvals

The good news was that we got Go to safety in the marina in Port Macquarie. In between trying to get the insurance company to help us, we cleaned and dried what we could and moved off the boat for a few weeks.

We tried to dry things out the best we could but we were hampered by the seasonally terrible weather. Over the period we were there, Port Macquarie had floods at least twice, and a lot of rainstorms. With our smashed front windows it was hard getting and keeping things dry.

Go's cabin after being smashed by the worst wave
Go’s cabin after being smashed by the worst wave

Once our insurance company realized the size of the job, they sent an assessor to look at the boat and report on the damages. He took a few weeks to submit a report and then we waited. We went on several trips while for insurance.

Continue reading “Getting Go Back on the Water”

The Worst Wave

We’ve been through a lot in our six years living on our boat. Between Sava and Go, we’ve lost our autopilot, torn sails, and dragged anchor. Those problems pale in comparison to our latest incident. The worst wave we’ve ever been hit by crashed into the bow of our boat and smashed our forward facing windows. Our boat flooded and soaked everything with salt water, us and Domino included. We’re still drying out and we don’t know what’s next.

We Got Hit by the Worst Wave

Since returning from Tasmania, we started making our way north, hoping to get back to some of our favorite parts of Queensland and see new ones. Well, we exited a bar on a pretty calm day, heading from Camden River to Port Macquarie, when a huge wave struck our boat. It was so strong it knocked out our front salon and galley windows, spewing tons of salt water into Go. Within a second, we lived through the worst disaster we’ve experienced on board in six years.

Continue reading “The Worst Wave”