Friday 26th March to Thursday 1st April
Whitsundays
    We took our broken fridge motor to one of the engineering shops at Abel Point Marina and they promised to have a look at it and fix it if they could. Our friends were arriving on Good Friday so we had about a week to get it fixed. Airlie Beach is a bit of a rolly anchorage so while we were waiting we went back out to Cid Harbour on the west side of Whitsunday Island to chill out for a few days. Friends Russ and Deb from Lady Anne came out to say goodbye - they were off south in the next weather window. At this time of year the prevailing winds are SE up to 30 knots so any forecast of less than 20 knots is a weather window. While we were there Steve had time to practice with his model yacht.
   Went back into Airlie Beach on Wednesday, the engineering shop had fixed the motor so it just needed reinstalling and we were ready to go. Spent Thursday shopping for the 10 days our friends would be with us.

Friday 2nd to Tuesday 13th April
Cruising the Whitsundays with friends Bill and Barbara
    Bill and Barbara's flight came into Proserpine about midday so by 2:00 p.m. they were aboard. We set off straight away to get to Nara Inlet before dark and just made it. Over the next few days we cruised to our favourite anchorages, checked out the aboriginal art site at Nara Inlet and climbed to Whitsunday Peak from Sawmill Bay (the view is spectacular). We walked the length of Whitehaven beach and snorkelled at Blue Pearl Bay. It was a bit wet and windy but we fitted in between showers. We sailed down to the Lindeman Islands about 10 miles to the south and found a sheltered anchorage in Neck Bay on Shaw Island.
    By midweek the showers had all gone away and we had sunshine and light winds. We picked up a mooring off Peppers Resort on Long Island and had a very relaxing day around their pool and a splendid meal in the evening. After a most enjoyable week, which seemed to pass very quickly, we were dropping Bill and Barbara back at Airlie Beach to catch their flight back to Brisbane.

Wednesday 14th to Thursday 29th April
Airlie Beach to Hervey Bay,
Wednesday 14th - Airlie Beach to Cid Harbour, 13 miles approx
   Wednesday morning the winds had come in again. We had 20 knots from the SE so we motored across to Cid Harbour ready to head south the next day. Weather permitting we'd like to get to Brisbane by the beginning of June.

Thursday 15th - Cid Harbour to Shaw Island, 20 miles approx
   The forecast was for stronger winds so today we'll just try to get to the Lindeman Islands about 12 miles to the SE. We motorsailed in 20 knots from the SE to Shaw Island. There's a very sheltered anchorage between Lindeman Island and Shaw Island out of the swell.
   The forecast for the next day was for 20 - 25 knots from the SE so we decided to stay where we were hoping it would be a little less the next day. It wasn't. Each day the forecast was for 20 - 25 knots increasing to 25 - 30 knots. Beating into 20 - 30 knots of wind isn't a great deal of fun but by Tuesday we were so fed up with sitting around waiting that we decided to go anyway.
Anchor position - 20° 30.2' S 149° 02.9' E - sandy mud  

Tuesday 20th - Shaw Island to Goldsmith Island, 12 miles approx
   We put the main up with 2 reefs and motored out of the anchorage until we were clear of the rocks then rolled out a tiny bit of jib and started tacking southwards. We had 20 - 25 knots of wind from the SSE and 3 metre seas. It took us about 4 hours to cover the 11 miles to Goldsmith Island where we managed to tuck into a safe anchorage on the N side of the island. The forecast is the same for tomorrow so we'll try to get to the next group of islands another 10 miles or so to the south.
Anchor position - 20° 40.2' S 149° 09.1' E - sandy mud 

Wednesday 21st Goldsmith Island to Brampton Island, 10 miles approx
   The sail to Brampton Island was much the same as to Goldsmith Island. We had 20 - 30 knots of wind from the SE and 3 metre seas. Although the distance was only 11 miles or so, because we were beating into the wind we actually sailed about 18 miles, again taking about 4 hours or so to do it. We anchored off the jetty at Brampton Island. Although our anchor held first time we saw two other boats having difficulty setting their anchors so possibly the holding in this anchorage is not very good. Our next stop is Scawfell Island about 20 miles ESE. It looks as though the winds will ease by the weekend and there could be a weather window of a few days with lighter winds. We'll take a day off tomorrow from bashing into heavy winds and seas then try to get to Scawfell on Friday. From there we'll run south non-stop to get to Hervey Bay before the weather closes in again.
Anchor position - 20° 48' S 149° 15.6' E - rocky mud 

Friday 23rd - Brampton Island to Scawfell Island 20 miles approx
   Conditions were a bit lighter - we had 15 - 20 knots from the SE instead of 20 - 30 knots. Scawfell was about 20 miles away and it took us 6 hours to get there. The anchorage was sheltered although we got bullets of wind over the hills.
Anchor position - 20° 51.7' S 149° 35.9' E - sandy mud

Saturday 24th to Monday 26th - Scawfell Island to Great Keppel Island, 165 miles approx
   The forecast for the next few days is for the winds to decrease to about 10 - 15 knots (still from the SE of course)  then for a surge of 20 - 25 knots to come through on Monday afternoon. We should be able to reach Great Keppel Island early Monday morning then anchor until the surge has gone through.
   We sailed past Mackay about 40 miles offshore where between 20 - 30 bulk carriers were anchored waiting to go into Mackay to load up with cargo.
   We arrived at Great Keppel Island about 6 a.m. Monday morning and dropped anchor ready to enjoy a few hours uninterrupted sleep. It was quite an attractive anchorage until about midday when a swell started to work in and we rolled uncomfortably until Tuesday morning when we left.
Anchor position - 23° 09.8' S 150° 57.1' E - sand

Tuesday 27th to Thursday 29th - Great Keppel Island to Urugan (Hervey Bay), 167 miles approx
   By Tuesday morning the winds had gone down from 25 knots to 10 - 15 knots. We left about 8 a.m. to beat down the coast to Hervey Bay. Passing Gladstone around midnight we went through another area full of anchored ships waiting to load cargo.
   A brown booby decided that our pulpit was just the place to settle down for the night and didn't seem at all concerned about the headsail flapping around when we tacked the boat.
   By Wednesday evening the winds had become quite light so we were motoring. There was a bang and the drive belt broke so Steve replaced it but found the engine wouldn't start. Upon investigation he discovered that when the drive belt broke it caught one of the wires to the starter motor and disconnected it. Our problem is that to get to the starter motor we have to remove the exhaust manifold. This wasn't a job to be started at midnight so we set the sails and left it until the morning.
   Steve came back on watch at 4 a.m. and when it got light at around 5:30 tackled the job of removing the exhaust manifold to rewire the starter motor. By this time we were within a few hours of reaching the marina so time was a bit more critical. By about 7:30 the job was complete and the engine started properly. We reached the fairway buoy about 8:00 and by 10:30 were safely moored.

Friday 30th April to Friday 7th May
Hervey Bay and Fraser Island 
   Great Sandy Straits Marina is situated at Urugan which is at the eastern end of the Hervey Bay townships. Some of the ferries for Fraser Island leave from here so there are a few travel agents, tourist shops and restaurants. The Boat Club also has an impressive looking clubhouse overlooking the marina. There is a small shopping complex with a supermarket about a half hour walk from the marina but the townships are quite spread out with no real centre so getting around without a car is not easy.
    We met up with friends Keith and Rachel who have a beautiful house just outside Maryborough. Maryborough is one of Queensland's oldest towns with attractive colonial style buildings and a comfortable community feeling. Maryborough was often the first stop for newly arrived settlers and the port area is now a heritage centre.
    The main tourist attraction at Hervey Bay is Fraser Island. This is the largest sand island in the world measuring 75 miles by 10 miles and is the only place where rainforest grows on sand. Running down the centre of the island are a series of freshwater lakes surrounded by rainforest and sand dunes. There are sandy tracks criss-crossing the island giving access to the lakes and the beach on the eastern side. The tracks and beach are only accessible by 4WD and even then during a long dry spell the sand tracks become so soft that travel becomes difficult. It's possible to drive for about 40 - 45 miles along the eastern beach and this is best done 3 - 4 hours each side of low tide when there is a wide swathe of firm wet sand. Small streams cross the beach at intervals cutting channels through the sand and in two places the rocks come down to the sea so you have to detour inland to get around them. Towards the northern end of the beach is the wreck of the Maheno, a former passenger liner blown ashore by a cyclone in 1935. Fraser Island is also home to dingos which need to treated with caution. There have been occasional cases of them attacking small children and lone walkers.
    We hired a 4WD and spent 3 days exploring Fraser Island. The scenery was spectacular and we were lucky in that there was some rain to damp down the sand on the inland tracks making them a little easier to drive.
   We got back to the boat Tuesday evening and hired a car on Thursday to provision the boat for the next stage and to pick up various items from other shops in the area. Friday morning we left the marina for the first part of our trip down to Brisbane.

Friday 7th to Saturday 15th May
Hervey Bay to Scarborough Marina
Friday 7th to Tuesday 11th May - Great Sandy Straits Marina to Kingfisher Bay,Fraser Island, 14 miles approx
    Going south towards Brisbane from Urangan means going through the Great Sandy Straits between Fraser Island and the mainland. The northern end of the channel is no problem but as you get further south there are shallow channels and sand flats. To get through the shallowest of these channels we need a window 2 hours or so each side of high tide. At the moment the high tides are about 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. - not ideal. We plan to sail to Kingfisher Bay on Fraser Island which is about 12 miles away, then wait there a few days until the high tide is a more convenient time. When we arrived we found friends Steve and Selena on Westward II anchored in the bay. They had already been as far as Mooloolaba and were on their way back up the coast.
   The resort at Kingfisher Bay was very friendly and invited us to use their beachside facilities. This included a restaurant, hot showers, and pool. We whiled away a few days exploring the walking tracks in the area and generally chilling out. The anchorage was a little steep to. The ideal spots were already full so we anchored in deeper water a little further out. Another yacht decided to anchor inside the line of boats and discovered that at low tide it was perhaps a little too shallow.
Anchor position - 25° 23.6' S 153° 01.3' E - sand 

Wednesday 12th May - Kingfisher Bay to South White Cliffs, 9 miles approx
   Thursday's tide looked good for crossing the shallows so on Wednesday we motored the 9 miles or so to South White Cliffs which is within a couple of miles of the shallows. Despite strong winds outside Fraser Island it was very calm in the Great Sandy Straits. We were completely sheltered from the wind although the currents were pretty strong.
Anchor position - 25° 31.5' S 152° 58' E - sand 

Thursday 13th May - South White Cliffs to Pelican Bay, 22 miles approx
   High tide was around 8 a.m. so we left about 6 a.m. so that we would be going over the shallowest spot while the tide was still rising. The channel is well marked and obviously changes from season to season since some of the markers were nowhere near where they were shown on the chart. We'd called the local coastguard before leaving to check whether or not the markers were in the correct position and they had assured us that they were. We negotiated the winding channel with no problems and arrived at Pelican Bay just inside the bar at the southern end of the straits about 10 a.m. We need another rising tide to get over the bar so we'll do that tomorrow morning. We'd overheard a radio conversation between a boat attempting to cross the bar and a shore station which implied that today at least conditions were pretty rough.
Anchor position - 25° 48.7' S 153° 02.4' E - sand 

Friday 14th May - Pelican Bay to Noosa, 43 miles approx
    We left at dawn and motored out over the bar. The winds had gone down overnight and the wind and tide were together so we had a fairly easy crossing. In bad weather the seas over the bar can be dangerously steep making the crossing extremely difficult but we were lucky and had a good day. The winds were pretty light all day so we motorsailed most of the way to Noosa. The anchorage off Noosa can get very rolly in normal SE conditions but we were getting light winds from the south so it wasn't too uncomfortable.
  Anchor position - 26° 22.9' S 153° 05.6' E - sand 

Saturday 15th to Sunday 16th May - Noosa to Scarborough Marina, 64 miles approx
   Another dawn start, we have about 65 miles to go to reach Scarborough Marina just north of Brisbane. We expect to arrive after dark so will have to anchor outside until morning. Hope it's not too rolly. Again we had light winds so alternately motored and sailed. We arrived at the marina about 7 p.m. and anchored in about 5 metres of water not far from the entrance. Because the winds had been light for a couple of days we had a comfortable night.
   In the morning we called the Marina to confirm the berth and find out which side to put the fenders and by 9:30 a.m. were tied up alongside our pontoon.
   This is where Carillon will stay for the next few months. We will be returning to the UK via the Trans-Siberian railway (well you have to do it sometime) so will have time to stop in at Hong Kong to catch up with our friends who are still there. We will return about the beginning of October to begin the next stage of our trip. The plan then is to head for New Zealand when we get a good weather window.