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.

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.

In the Whitsundays, we anchored in Shaw Island followed by Gloucester Island before another jump to Shark Bay at Cape Upstart. After that, we were so close to Townsville but we stopped in Magnetic Island for two too short nights.

Trip Overview

Good wind and nice weather aided us in making fast tracks north. The 800+nm from Port to Townsville took us just under 4 weeks, including a week stuck in Coffs Harbour. We left Port Macquarie Marina on July 31, and arrived into Townsville Marina on August 27th.

Since we had already been to many of these places last year, we felt comfortable rushing through while making fast tracks north. Regardless, it isn’t my favorite way to sail, with long days and little rest. But we were in a hurry, especially after getting stuck in Coffs for much longer than anticipated. We used the one or two night stops in marinas to get some much needed land time, sleep in a little, and provision.

These weeks are a blur, with 5am wakeups, full day sails, and nights in new anchorages. At most of these stops, we didn’t take the dinghy down and go to shore. We stopped to eat and sleep and do it all again the next day. There were some lovely sunsets though.

Obviously, we could have done this trip faster and not stopped at all, but we weren’t in that much of a rush. The only overnight we did was between Coffs and Gold Coast, and only because there are no safe harbours between the two points. Plus, it’s prime whale migrating season, so we didn’t want to risk sailing after dark if it wasn’t necessary.

Stalled in Coffs Harbour

We debated going straight from Port to Gold Coast but decided it was more prudent to head to Coffs Harbour, a trip of 68nm. This day trip served as a shakedown to test out all Go’s new equipment, and it went pretty well.

Our plan was to get to Coffs for a night and then make the overnight to Gold Coast. Mother Nature changed that plan and brought in gale force winds to the Mid North Coast of New South Wales. While the marina protected us in Coffs Harbour, the wind and waves outside were huge for days.

We stayed in Coffs Harbour for almost a week, going on bike rides in between rainstorms, and exploring the area. We finally made it to the Big Banana, which isn’t the most impressive “Big Thing” we’ve seen.

After Coffs Harbour, the wind was on our side and we got in our sailing groove, making fast tracks to North Queensland. In three weeks we did all day sails with some breaks at marinas and traveled almost 1000nm to Townsville. We spent most nights at anchor, and every 5 or 6 days would stop in a marina for a night or two. That’s how it worked out with our route.

Terrible Bar Crossings in Queensland

I am still a bit shell shocked from the boat getting smashed up in March. On our trip north, we had a couple more terrible bar crossings in Queensland that did not ease my fears.

Southport, gold coast

Maybe we left Coffs Harbour too early after the storms, because when we arrived in Southport, Queensland less than 24 hours later, the bar entry was rough. We had an easy experience with this very wide entry to the bay last year when we entered Australia. This fooled us into thinking it was always easy. Not so. We got rocked by a huge wave on the beam which knocked a bunch of our gear around, including our last two scuba tanks, sacrificed to Neptune. Fortunately, nothing else was damaged or lost, but it shook us up quite a bit.

mooloolaba

Our other bad experience entering a harbour was in Mooloolaba. Now we visited Mooloolaba twice last year: on the way north, and south. Both times it was easy entering the bar. But this year, something has shifted. We entered near low tide and the waves felt extremely big crossing the entrance. We did get hit but Brian steered masterfully into the safe harbour.

Others behind us were not so lucky and a multitude of boats limped into the marina later, wet and broken. A month later, a fishing boat capsized entering the bar, leaving the captain dead. Those bars are scary and I don’t want to cross them anymore. Fortunately, when we left Mooloolaba the next morning, the exit was calm, with very small waves breaking across the bar.

Stop Off in Scarborough

From Gold Coast we kept making fast tracks north, through narrow channels behind the islands to Scarborough Marina, a distance of 50 nautical miles.

We spent three nights in Scarborough, celebrating Brian’s birthday with our friends on Viridian, and waiting out some rainstorms.

Every time we layover in a marina we do laundry and hop on our bikes to provision. Near Scarborough we cycled to Redcliffe, home of BeeGees Way and a nice big Sunday market. with a good variety of produce and food vendors, live music, and coffee. It was a good place to provision for the next few days on the water.

Another Break in Bundaberg

Last year we spent a long time in Bundaberg, well technically Burnett Heads, but were happy to stop there on our way north. We stayed there for two nights after a night each in Double Island Point and Hervey Bay anchorages. The Bundaberg Marina is a nice place, with good amenities and friendly people. We conveniently timed it to get our 50 hour engine service and the Friday night cruisers barbecue pot luck. In between, we cycled around and got to see some kangaroos. I know we’ve been in Australia a while, but we haven’t gotten bored of the roos.

Goal Achieved: Townsville

We made it to Townsville on August 27th, almost a month since departing Port Macquarie. After all that sailing, we gave ourselves a break with a visa run to Singapore, some visits with friends, and stocking up the boat. Then we had to continue on our way north.

Sailing Conditions while Making Fast Tracks North

Aside from the troubling bar entries, we had good sailing conditions. This time of year is optimal for making fast tracks north on the east coast of Australia. Prevailing winds are from the south, which was our experience for the most part. The weather was fabulous and we had no rain and it got progressively warmer at night. We went from wool hats, hoodies and socks and long pants to t-shirts and shorts by the time we arrived in Townsville. We are done with winter!

The main issue was staying ultra alert due to whale season. It is beautiful to see these majestic creatures floating, spouting, and playing in the ocean. However, it is not so great when they get close to our boat. More than once we had to adjust our course, once at the last minute, to avoid a potential collision.

Go’s Condition

After all the work and new parts, and Go not moving for so many months, we were curious to see how Go would perform on the water. The good news is, despite some challenging bar crossings, she did great. The 50 hour test in Bundaberg was a success, so we breathed a little easier. We had a couple of small issues with the windlass and watermaker, but got things resolved quickly. Here’s hoping these conditions continue for our trip across to Darwin and on to Indonesia.