Riding the East Australian Current From Mooloolaba to Sydney (Pittwater)

The sail from Mooloolaba to Sydney (520nm, 830 miles, 960 km) was rather uneventful. Conditions were light, but the East Austarlian Current which some of you may remember from the Pixar movie "Finding Nemo" gave us a fast ride down.

A fellow traveler on the East Australian Current

And his cousins as depicted by Disney (Finding Nemo)

At night the waters are clearly full of plankton as there is an unusual amount of bio-luminescence. It makes the bow-wave and the surrounding waves light up so brightly we could just about read a book. Sea creatures (dolphins, fish etc.) also were beautifully visible as they swam around us.

The bow wave... (here with flash)

... lights up electric blue as the boat moves through it.

As conditions are pretty calm, the crew is put to work to finish off some of the maintenance that we had started in Mooloolaba.

In calm conditions, the crew is put to work (polishing)

We take a break when we get some visitors

Not everyone is taking cleaning duties totally serious!

Jet enjoys a "clean with a view" as she tackles some of the stainless steel.

We only made one stop along the way in Coffs Harbour. We would have liked to make more stops, but we were in a bit of a rush to get to Sydney before New Year's eve.

Coffs Harbour
Coffs Harbour is a small sea-side town about 280nm (450 miles, 520km) North of Sydney. In Coffs Harbour we held an in-promptu Whitbread Race renunion. Mark Willett flew into town from Melbourne with his son Fergus. By sheer coincidence Bert Visser sailed into port on board Pinta-M on their way down to participate in the Sydney-Hobart Race. All three sailed on Dutch entries in the 1985-86 Whitbread Race.

Mark had brought some surfboards and  lots of enthusiasm. Despite the water temperature getting fresher now that we have left the tropics, Mark and Fergus gave several surfing lessons to Jet and Hein. They have a little way to go before they can ride Maverick back home in California, but it was fun to move from boogie to surf boards.

As Mark joined us South, Judith had a welcome break from night watches, which are not here favourite thing in life! Coming down the coast we were overtaken once every two hours by huge bulk carriers on their way to Newcastle. Off Newcastle we were astonished by the 60+ enormous bulk cargo carriers waiting their turn to be loaded up with raw materials (filthy coal :( ) before heading back North to support China's economy.

To the childrens' delight Mark wears Judith's pink glasses to do some bosun's work.

Left to Right: Fergus, Ewout, Hein, Eltjo, and Mark

It is that male bonding thing

Who is to blame?

Pittwater
Mark directed us into Pittwater, a beautiful Bay off the Northern suburbs of Sydney. We stayed at both the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club and then moved over to the Royal Motor Yacht Club. Each had great facilities, but the RMYC had the bonus of a pool and a laundry which makes any stay more fun. As soon as we tied up Tony and Judy in the neighbouring slip started feeding us copious quantities of Xmas cake (almost as good as my mum's). What a delight!

Judith is very disciplined about keeping the children progressing through the Calvert School program. However, Ewout thinks she may have overdone it when she and Jet completed a double helping of school on Xmas day! Will she ever live this down?

Father Xmas had some difficulty finding Bravado, but Jet came to the rescue with home made gifts:

• Ewout: A 12 volt socket that Ewout gave to Jet last Xmas, but which he never got round to installing in her cabin. In the accompanying poem Father Xmas didn't mince his words (ouch!).
• Hein: Hein makes himself a calendar every year. He usually starts next year's calendar by July of the current year. Jet made him a couple of pages for a 2010 calendar, just in case he wouldn't finish on time.
• Eltjo: Eltjo isn't the tidiest Bravado crew member. Jet gave him a coupon for a bunk tidy-up session.
• Judith: A coupon for a pedicure session with Jet (Do we detect some self-interest here?)

The weather was a little cold and rainy as the remnants of a tropical cyclone crossed over us. This meant we spent a lot of time indoors. We were entertained however by watching Charlie Chaplin's classic "Modern Times" and several episodes of Animal Planet's "Whale Wars" a documentary/drama about the volunteers of the Sea Shepherd Coservation Society. With their ship, the  "Steve Irwin" (named after the "Australia Zoo" founder), they harass the Japanese whaling fleet in Antarctic waters.

For New Year's Eve we will move 20nm (32 miles, 37km) down the coast to Sydney Harbour proper.

Landlubbers, Turtles, and Crocodiles

We started Bravado's Haul Out on Hein's birthday. On the eve of his birthday we did have a small celebration with other boat children, but we owed Hein a proper birthday. Hence once the haul-out was underway, we rented a car, became landlubbers and made two trips inland. First we went to see the Turtle Rookery in Mon Repos near Bundaberg and two days later we took a bus to the Australia Zoo near Brisbane:

Hein, formerly Nine.

Hein's birthday party, an impromptu gathering of boat children.

Hein's gifts from the other children were two second hand books and a copied DVD. Everyone thought that was totally normal and Hein was really happy with his presents. They had a great time together. Quite a triumph over consumerism! We don't think it will last, but we hope that in years ahead the children will recall how happy they were with very little.

Bundaberg

Bundaberg is a 300km drive North from Mooloolaba. It was a beautiful drive North through eucalyptus forests and later an agricultural region with endless sugar cane fields. Bundaberg is a provincial town half steeped in the 1950s. Internationally it is known for its Ginger Beer and Rum. One of the highlights of our visit was attending Wolfgang Engel's glass blowing studio. Jet used some of the money she earned making jewelry to have a pair of glass kangaroos made.

In his glass blowing studio...

... Wlofgang Engel makes kangaroo earrings for...

... a very happy Jet.

Mon Repos
We first heard about Mon Repos in the Science Museum in Brisbane. Mon Repos is one of several sites in Australia where marine turtles come ashore to lay their eggs. Having released turtles in Mexico, we were eager to see the laying of the eggs. From November through March mature females come ashore and lay their eggs. On average they lay about 120 eggs in a batch. They may lay 4 to 6 batches in a season. Crawling ashore takes some 10 minutes. Next they dig an egg chamber with their rear flippers. This may takes about 25 minutes. Laying the eggs takes 30-60 minutes after which they cover the entire nesting zone and crawl back to the water. In pitch darkness a ranger guided us to the tracks of a turtle that had just come ashore. We sat around her and saw the entire operation.

After laying 112 eggs, mum gets retagged...

... and vital signs are recorded.

Because the turtle hadn't laid her eggs far enough above the high water line, the ranger indicated the nest would need to be relocated. Hence, after the mother had left, the eggs were dug out and we helped move them to a new nest a little further inland.

Hein becomes part of turtle conservation by relocating the eggs that have been dug out by the ranger.

It was great fun and we were glad the mum cooperated. She crawled ashore at about 8pm and by 10.30pm we were back in the motel. Sometimes the mums can let the visitors wait until 5am!

Its official. Been there, done that.

Australia Zoo

Steve Irwin, the man behind Australia Zoo

Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray in 2006. His enthusiasm for wild (and dangerous) animals is legendary. He took forward the work of his parents and with his American wife built what is now known as the  Australia Zoo, a wild life park full of crocodiles, snakes, but also tigers, kangaroos, wallabies and creatures that are native to Australia, but are very exotic to us. We really enjoyed the kangaroo pens. It was a very warm day and they weren't particularly interested in the food one could feed them, but they were very responsive when we poured them water from our drinking bottles.

Who is looking more scruffy, Eltjo or the Koala?

Another inhabitant of the Zoo

Making friends with the locals...

... who can be pretty thirsty

The locals can be hungry too (spot all the empty seats).

Teasing a crocodile may not be such a good idea!

Do these children read signs?...

... This one sure didn't!

Happy Holidays and a Successful 2010 from all of us on Bravado!

Mooloolaba: Time for a Haul Out

Time for a haul-out.

After crossing the Pacific, Bravado needed some maintenance. With the benefit of moving down the coast, we requested quotes from yards from Mooloolaba (50 nautical miles North of Brisbane) down to Sydney. Noakes in Sydney charged almost 300% of the prices in Mooloolaba. Prices more or less went up linearly according to a yard's proximity to Sydney. After a bit of a dialogue with the Mooloolaba yard (Lawries Boat Services) and Norm Wright who runs a boat building operation within that yard, we decided on Mooloolaba.

Mooloolaba has a lot of thunderstorms. Spot where the lighting is going to strike

The downside of a haul-out is that we live in a "tree house". Bravado has a 2.5m keel and when she is out of the water it is quite high up. Moreover, many of the on board systems (toilet, fridge, sinks etc.) don't work when we are out of the water. Hence life becomes very primitive and we are all happy once it is over.

Eltjo in front of his "Tree House".

Nothing like a bit of child labour: Jet and Monica ("All the Colours") cover the steering wheels with new leather.

At night, we eat in the food court of the local Mall and sometimes play drinking games. Eltjo loves "who can drink his smoothie fastest without getting a brain freeze" and usually wins.

We did make Bravado look pretty again. In the process we got several unsolicited offers for the boat.

Having dealt with many yards in the past, we were very pleased with the work done in Mooloolaba. Ewout is quite particular and it is a delight for him to deal with contractors who meet his standards and don't cost an arm and a leg. Norm, Mark, and Keiran, Thank you for a job very well done!

Twilight Saga New Moon Party by Jet Mante

Part of my winnings from the party :)

For those of you who don't know it New Moon is the second book in the Twilight Saga, which includes Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. The series is written by Stephenie Meyer, and the first movie came out last year. The premiere of New Moon in Australia is at midnight on November 19. To celebrate Borders is holding a Twilight (Saga) Party, and as I absolutely love the books, and am sort of obsessed with them I decided to go to the party. Mom and Dad had visitors, but they allowed me to go by myself!

After Dad had dropped me off at the dingy dock I walked to Borders, only stopping to ask directions once. When I did ask directions I didn’t really need them, because when I looked again I could see Borders just one block down.

When I reached Borders I saw no sign of a party. I was looking around thinking what to do when a staff member approached the door. At first I thought that he was going to ask me if I was okay, and offer help, but when he opened his mouth he asked “Are you here for the Twilight Party?”

I was very relieved, and I asked if he could wait while I called my parents. After 3 tries, and hearing nothing I decided that they were busy and didn’t hear the VHF. I finally gave up and went inside.

On the third floor I found about eight women in their late forties, and three twenty year old Borders staff members. I settled in, feeling a little out of place, and introduced myself.

I was handed 5 quiz sheets and told to make myself at home. On the quizzes, I did rather well, having an average 10 out of 15. I even won the last round, receiving 2 free New Moon passes, and a Twilight 2010 Calendar.

After finishing their quiz I wrote my own. I also learned that Emmett, the wolf pack, and Edward were the main attractions for people to go and see New Moon. We shared how we had been introduced to the Twilight Series, which turned out to be either by seeing the first movie or a friend suggesting the book (for me it was the latter).

The last thing we did was ‘pin a kiss on your favorite character’. The character, who earned the most kisses was Emmett, with Jacob coming in second and Alice third with three kisses including mine.

At nine o’clock I headed downstairs, just as I had promised Dad. As I hurried downstairs I saw Dad talking to a Borders staff member, and trying to enter Borders. When I saw him I rushed over, and after he told the Borders person how concerned some people had been we left. He told me how Mom had been very worried, because when she came an hour earlier to surprise me she could find no sign of a party and this mega-bookstore was all locked up. Adding to this the absence of a VHF call from me, Mom had come to frightening conclusions. After Dad had called Mom on VHF and reassured her that I was OK, we walked home living the saying “All is well that ends well!”

Land Ho! by Jet Mante

Australia is HOT! (spot my earrings!)

We made it to Australia! The first first-world country since the USA. After stunning nature, wonderful untouched cultures, and places right out of vacation brochures, I was personally very glad to be back in a city! I absolutely loved the (hopefully not) once-in-a-life-time experiences, but after a year in the Pacific I must confess to enjoying such little things as the hustle and bustle of people, and traffic lights. Even traffic jams can seem wonderful.


As soon as we were through customs, we met lovely people. Especially Susanne and Jerry (long term Australian cruisers) made us feel very welcome. For those of you who know Lisa Peery, Semiti Saini, Martin Livingstone, Kelly & Al Chan, Don Raymond from SDYC, Paul and Tamar, Pamela from Precious Metal, Lupe from Moon and Stars, and many, many others, you will know one of the greatest joys of cruising is meeting such extraordinary people!

Australian welcome committee, the wonderful Susanne and Jerry

On Saturday we, Jerry, Susanne, and the Mante family, went shopping at the Outlets. The funniest thing that happened was that Dad bought two new pairs of shorts and a new polo-shirt, but when he put them on Hein and Eltjo refused to believe that they were new. They said that they were exactly like the old ones!

OLD	NEW

Spot the ten differences, it's not easy!

On Sunday we visited Mom’s old school friend’s younger brother: Joris Eerkens. I had great fun playing Scrabble with Yinte (8), and Torwen (7), Joris’ two eldest daughters. After Scrabble we jumped into the pool and splashed about with them and their younger siblings Mognild (5) and Jeurt (3).

What do all children like?

Today I sorted out my cupboard and made a pile of clothing that was 1/2 a meter high, for Yinte, Torwen and Mognild. Not only did I realize that I am either really spoilt, or a packrat, but I also managed to procrastinate writing this blog post for over half an hour! I definitely decided that I should clean out my closet (if you can call it a that) more often.

The pile I cleared out is too high. I need a LONGER ruler!

On Wednesday Joris and Co. will visit and have dinner on the boat, which I am really looking forward to. Afterwards I will go to a 'Twilight Saga New Moon' party, which I will be going to alone because it starts at seven and we don’t know how long Joris will stay. Even though I will have to go alone I still insist on going, because I am obsessed about this book the way I sometimes can be about books.


Before the internet connection breaks off I must tell everyone who knows Dad, and his policy about pets, the amazing breakthrough: I am now not only allowed to have virtual and imaginary pets, but also ladybugs! Yes! I hope to even get Dad so far as allowing geckos, or hermit crabs.

Brisbane

Australian customs and Quarantine have a reputation for being draconian. With that in mind we had prepared to make things easy to get off on the right footing. For example we had dug out all the shells we collected in the Pacific and had them ready on the cockpit table for inspection. The event was painless.

With entry formalities put aside, we got our first taste of Australian hospitality when we were embraced with open arms by Susanne and Jerry, a local cruising couple taking a break from actively cruising, yet still living on their boat. They knew what it is to arrive after a long passage and pampered us. The first night they fed us a gourmet meal and poured several bottles of champagne. In the following days they drove us around town on all kinds of errands and generally helped us find our feet in Brisbane. What a wonderful experience. Thank you!

Susanne and Jerry host us for a yet another gourmet meal.

Brisbane itself is a major city with a population of 2 million. Moored on the river just off the Botanical Gardens in the heart of the City we were meters away from high rise office and residential towers. After 10 months of sparsely populated tropical islands, ocean and coconut trees this was quite a change! Another reason to enjoy the tall buildings around us was that Brisbane is known for its heavy thunderstorms. We certainly experienced some spectacular ones.

What a change from a deserted South Pacific Island!

We loved seeing the sights of Brisbane. The city is a mix of ultra modern buildings and beautifully restored wharves and Victorian/Edwardian Government buildings. There are many museums and most of them are free. Amongst others we visited a Fashion Exhibit, the Modern Art, Queensland (Science), Police, and Maritime Museums.

At the Fashion exhibit Jet is happy to spot this Cate Blanchett dress. Ewout was disappointed not to find the lady herself.

One of the many delights of Brisbane's South Bank: The Senang and Bravado boys play "chicken" in a waterpark.

First "kangaroo" sighting by Senang and Bravado boat children.

Brisbane also played an important role during WWII. Many of the GIs shipped in from San Francisco landed in Brisbane prior to being sent into battle. Brisbane essentially became a large garizon town. General MacArthur, Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in the Southwest Pacific Area, had his Head Quarters in Brisbane from July 1942 to November 1944. From here planned and managed the campaign to defeat Japan. His old HQ has been converted into a Museum:

General MacArthur's Head Quarters is one of the many museums we visited in Brisbane.

Hein learns about secret codes in the MacArthur Museum.

We learn about the role Australian children played during WWII (collect alumninium and rubber, help adults etc.)

Ewout tries General MacArthur's desk. Hmm. Ewout you sure are good at barking orders, but these boots might be a little too large to fill!

The MacArthur museum also gave us an interesting insight into how and when Australia shifted its allegiance from England to the United States. During the height of the panic in the Far East Churchill and the Australian Prime Minister John Curtin had a sharp difference of opinion: Churchill ordered Australian ships North to support the British in South East Asia. Curtin ordered Australian forces to return South to defend Australia. Curtin stated: "Without any inhibitions of any kind I make it quite clear that Austrlaia looks to America, free of any pangs as to our traditional links or kinship with the United Kingdom".

The rest is history. Australia today remains an interesting mix between British traditions and an American get-up-and-go attitude.

On our way out of Brisbane Eltjo had a close encounter!

We think there is something BIG in Eltjo's future!