Boisterous Sailing 13th & 14th May

The weather looked superb for sailing north across Moreton Bay so we packed up early and left Manly Marina in the warm sunshine. Studying the charts carefully is a must here as the bay is scattered with low islands, sand and mud banks and the shipping channel into the Brisbane Harbour is busy. We had to avoid a couple of extraordinarily ugly car carriers on their way in. The wind gradually built to 20kn from the south and we raced along on one of the best sails we have had for the whole trip. Scarborough Marina seemed like a good place to spend the night and to decide our route out of Moreton Bay. The northern part of the bay is riddled with sand bars and shoals.

Shipping in Moreton Bay keeps us on our toes

 

The forecast for today was for 15-20kn winds from the south and a good chance of 5-10ml of rain. The 35nm to Mooloolaba took us 6 hours. We kept a close eye on the chart plotter as we negotiated the sand banks around the southern end of Bribie Island. In the end it was a boisterous sail with winds up to 25kn towards Point Cartwright and clouds building and threatening rain. The entry into Mooloolaba was easy and the sea flattened out as we came around the point. We are now in the Mooloolaba Marina ($50 per night) and the rain is pouring down. We may spend a few days here as there appears to be plenty to do and see.

 

The clouds are sneaking up on you Peter