This is about Daryl & Laurel Fisher and their cruising adventures on the catamaran "Cool Bananas"...


Sunday, 3 May 2009

In and around Sydney - March/April 2009

Seventy two sea hours later (and a three day stop in Port Macquarie) we arrive into the Hawkesby River, near Sydney. For a week or so we soak up the surroundings and enjoy time catching up with friends -Chris, Showcat and family plus Sue, Steve and family, both friends who live in the area and go back a long way.





Then it’s time to hit the big smoke. A picturesque sail down and funnily enough when we got to Sydney Heads Daryl said he’d go and recheck the charts, as the charts indicated that this was the entrance, but it didn’t look developed or busy enough to be the right place. Sure enough we had the right entrance and further in the city rose to meet us. Who could remain unimpressed sailing up Sydney Harbour on this gorgeous autumn day? We anchored ourselves in Blackwattle Bay and had downtown city on our doorstep.






We spent days wandering the city, admiring the architecture, visiting the sights and sampling the cuisine. I even managed to coax Daryl to two shows – ‘The Buddy Holly Show’ and ‘Guys and Dolls’.



After Daryl’s tolerance for city life hit max we headed again for the Hawksby River for some quiet time. Daryl watched the weather and Tuesday was to be the departure day.





Showcat cooked us a beautiful farewell curry dinner and we said our goodbyes.
The weather hadn’t given us any decent southerlies for some time so when finally some boisterous southerlies surrounding a low system came up we decided to hop on the side and see how far north we could get.



Two nights and three days later we were safely tucked up at Morton Island for the night, not wanting to attempt the Mooloolaba bar entrance in the dark. A brisk trip but we were pleased.
We got a fabulous warm welcome back into the marina and it was like coming home. We kept the stay to four days – polishing, cleaning, shopping and socialising. Excitement grew as we finalised plans to begin our trip north to the Whitsundays.



The first day out sees us in light winds and little swell. Daryl is keen to get the spinnaker up and it gives us a leisurely sail up to Wide Bay. Next morning we, along with eight other boats, cross the notorious Wide Bay bar –piece of cake in these mild conditions. In true cruising style we come up to the next intersection and ‘will we go left or right?’. I win the toss and we turn left and up the channel into Tin Can Bay. After checking out the local area, we sample the local barramundi fish for lunch and take back some local prawns for dinner. We were up early the next morning to go and check out the advertised dolphin feeding at the shore – one dolphin, a bit of a let down, but ‘you never know unless you go!!!’
Onward to Bundaberg.



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Mooloolaba - February 2009

After a two month break in NZ, where we managed to mix some business with pleasure, we are back in Mooloolaba. The yacht is in great shape, bar some waterline scum and growth –nothing a dive and a little scrubbing won’t fix.
We manage a five minute run from where we left her in the waterways to the Mooloolaba Marina. The whole place is comfortable – way too comfortable. We know February is going to be hot and the luxuries the marina offers are so tempting….. air conditioning….hire a car….buy a sewing machine…..fresh prawns…..shopping malls…..and on we stay…….



Daryl starts a new project, that of lining the cockpit roof. It is a much bigger project than first anticipated but we are pleased with the end result…..four weeks later!!! No regrets, we have indulged in marina life for four whole weeks but the kitty has had a beating and it’s time to move on.
It feels fantastic to be back on anchor once more. We head south towards Brisbane. Whose suggestion was it to go down the inside of Stradbroke Island? We have renamed the ‘Beacon to Beacon ‘guide book to ‘Sandbar to Sandbar’. We had chosen to go down on an incoming tide but that wasn’t enough. With murky water and the tide too low we banged sandbar after sandbar. That coupled with being attacked and bitten by march flies – we were very glad to anchor up outside Seaworld. But true to cruising life we had a surprise visit from Peter and Toni off ‘Tigger’ and the trials of the day were soon forgotten. It’s always a treat to remeet with old cruising friends and catch up on travels and info. We found we had mutual cruising friends in Brisbane – Jenny and Dudley on ‘Tropical Cat’ so the next day was taking shape already - lunch all together at the local yacht club.



Wonderful. Peter and Toni gave us valuable info on the best deal to get broadband onto the boat and Dudley offered to take us to the mall to get what we needed. What a luxury to have broadband on the boat for the next six months.
We were also able to thank Jenny for the article (and photos) she wrote about buddy boating with Aurielle and ourselves in the Loyalty Islands. It was published in the Australian Multihull Magazine last year and again in the Australian Cruising Helmsman in April of this year.
All too soon we are on our way again – destination Sydney.


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