the good, the bad and the ugly!

Family, friends, fix-its and of course, weather!  This pretty much covers the last month … a whirlwind of emotions … the good, the bad and the ugly!

Our 4-day interlude in Byron Bay was definitely a highlight.  Seeing our kids and little Ava was a treat after being away for several months. Lots of walks, talks and sightseeing.

While it was busy in Byron, we did keep one eye on the weather up north. Our plan was to leave the Mackay Marina asap after our return.  Fortunately the northerly winds had finally arrived.  No more SE bashing.  South it was!  It was a mixed day of motor sailing with erratic winds, and often only on one engine. One of our engines gave us a fright with a noisy rattle and puff of smoke during this passage, so it was nursed, but it seems all good now?!

Port Clinton was our last stop before Great Keppel Island. The troublesome engine had settled, but then our depth sounder spat it as we were about to drop anchor at Port Clinton. Really???  Argghhh!! Depth is a ‘must have’. Depth dictates how much anchor chain we lay (with the tide calculation added) and whether we have enough water under our keel. So Neville got out the spare …

The northern side of Port Clinton is a pretty, calm and protected anchorage.  We often anchor here on our journey south. Not this time! The winds were all over the place once again. The easterly swell made for a very uncomfortable night, along with torrential rain and strong wind early in the morning.  We were outta there! Even in the rain.

The Keppel Bay Marina was very much a welcome sight with more storm warnings forecast over the next few days! Several friends were gathering so some socialising was on the cards and we had to collect our new $600 depth sounder transducer. Ouch!  (Hmmm … then our wind instrument decided to spit it a few days later … remember … “everything on a boat is broken, you just don’t know it yet!”)

We had lots of socialising in the KBM catching up with various yachties including our friends on Vivacious who have relocated to Rosslyn Bay.  Thanks Jo and Kevin for your hospitality yet again (if you follow my blog you will remember these very generous yachtie friends loaning us their house in Shoalhaven Heads when we ‘escaped’ Victoria in 2020).  We had a great music night at Jo and Kevin’s with five guitars, a flute and a singer.

So the ugly?  Thunderstorms!

What’s wrong with this photo?

Yes we are on a lee shore! The approaching storm’s wind spun all 50 boats around 180 degrees. We suffered our 20+ knots of wind facing the wrong way for a few long hours but more importantly the lightning missed us. Yay!!

We have been anchored off Long Beach, GKI, for a few days now.  Long Beach is a long stunning beach with clear waters and white sand. It’s just around the corner from my snorkeling beach, Monkey Beach. We are still getting storm warnings.  While writing this blog I am looking out the back of our boat watching a lightshow with the lightning illuminating the sky further south.  I’ve had contact with friends further north who are sitting out 50+ knots of howling wind and rain. We never really know when they are going to catch us out. Thankfully the surrounding storms here seem to be missing us … so far.

We have enjoyed some stunning sunsets. Can you spot the goat?  This goat has appeared on the bluff every night we’ve been here.  Even on the stormy nights.

While the weather has dominated this post, we have enjoyed some stunning days here at GKI.  You do forget the bad times quickly. It has been very hot so there has been lots of swimming and of course snorkeling.  We also need to remind ourselves that there are far worse weather events ocurring around our country, particularly in our home state Victoria and in NSW.

Watch out for my next post … snorkeling around GKI.

PS … the lightning didn’t reach us last night but the wind changes did! Another long night on a lee shore.  Not enough sleep!