{"id":5923,"date":"2019-04-20T00:48:01","date_gmt":"2019-04-20T00:48:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/?p=5923"},"modified":"2019-04-20T01:41:14","modified_gmt":"2019-04-20T01:41:14","slug":"into-the-shallows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/?p=5923","title":{"rendered":"Into The Shallows"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The next leg of our adventure takes us through the inland waterway known as The Broadwater, which connects the Gold Coast to Moreton Bay. This whole area is basically estuary-land, and the water here is very very thin.  I vividly remember the stress of navigating through here on our previous monohull \u2018Illusion\u2019. Her draught was 2.1 metres and we had to carefully work the tides to avoid being snafued on a sandbank somewhere (the official terminology is \u2018going aground\u2019, also known as \u2018hitting the bricks\u2019, \u2018bottoming out\u2019  \u2018on the rocks\u2019  \u2018foundering\u2019.\u2026and a whole lot of other less savoury terms, but if you own a boat it\u2019s only a matter of time before it happens to you).  This time it\u2019s a different story – Toucan\u2019s draught is a teeny weeny delightful 1.3 metres and suddenly a whole world of opportunities awaits us. Just because we can, we decide to explore the shallower, eastern channels of Tippler\u2019s and Canaipa passages.  But first I need a wee rest\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m having difficulty getting my cruising mojo back after the flurry of departure activities, a less than pleasant first passage and three solid days of intensive work on the hard stand. I\u2019m exhausted but I can\u2019t sleep, my wind whirring and buzzing with trivial and annoying worries like pesky mozzies, trying to remember all the things I may have forgotten.  I\u2019m having to re-learn so many things – my constant refrain is \u2018How do I do this again?\u2019  in response to simple tasks such as using the functions on the chart plotter or radio. Even the previously automatic sequences of reefing the main or the checks we do before leaving an anchorage are needing conscious effort.  I feel frustrated and discombobulated.  So it\u2019s time to take some of my own medicine – stop, breathe, relax and slow down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our journey through The Broadwater is just what I need. The sun is shining, a gentle breeze is blowing and the tide is on the rise. So we unfurl the jib and with some motor-assist meander our way up the inside passage, passing attractive anchorages and scenery on the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The entrance at Jumpinpin Bar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Looking back towards Jumpinpin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It takes about 4 hours to emerge at the other end into Moreton Bay, and not wanting to rush these things (the new mantra) we drop the pick at Blaksley\u2019s Anchorage on North Stradbroke and settle in for the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Blaksley’s Anchorage, North Stradbroke<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The forecast tells us we\u2019re in for some rainy weather soon, so the next morning we take the opportunity to explore North Stradbroke while the sun is still shining.\u00a0 To do that we need to be closer to the town of Dunwich so we move up to Myora Anchorage just north of the township.\u00a0 This is a pleasant and mostly protected anchorage from the SE winds, but we still get some swell coming in when the tide covers the sand flats. We dinghy round to The Little Ship club and ask if we can leave our tender at the back of their pontoon. They\u2019re very welcoming so we feel it\u2019s only fair to patronise the bar and restaurant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tide’s out!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The beers are good, the food not so much, but it\u2019s a pleasant outlook and there\u2019s two other surprises in store for us.\u00a0 Firstly, the bus to our destination, Point Lookout, pulls up just outside their door, and not 50 metres from the bus stop is a lone gum tree with a resident koala just hanging out. How cool is that?! \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We found Blinky Bill!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Point Lookout is about a 40 minute bus ride, on the ocean side of the island.\u00a0 We’re expecting a taller, more impressive lookout, but it\u2019s still beautiful and we stretch our legs by doing the 1\/2 hr Gorge walk, watching the turtles below battling the surge as they try to find the tastiest seaweed morsels, and strolling past the roos nonchalantly munching beside the pathway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Looking North from Point Lookout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Bush Stone Curlew<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Pandanus trees<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The Gorge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s school holidays so the place is buzzing but we can\u2019t pass up the opportunity to sample a homemade gelato – it\u2019s worth the wait in the queue, cinnamon and fig is my new favourite flavour!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The buses only come every hour, so by the time our bus arrives there\u2019s a sizeable crowd and it feels more like a Tokyo subway train than a rural bus. But all\u2019s good, it\u2019s been a great day and equilibrium has been restored.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The next leg of our adventure takes us through the inland waterway known as The Broadwater, which connects the Gold Coast to Moreton Bay. This whole area is basically estuary-land, and the water here is very very thin.  I vividly remember the stress of navigating through here on our previous monohull \u2018Illusion\u2019. Her draught was … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Into The Shallows”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-svtoucan"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6B46t-1xx","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5923"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5958,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5923\/revisions\/5958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}