Gypsea Fever

A quick update.We are in Airlie Beach relaxing & catching up on some walking & food shopping.It certainly hasn't felt like midwinter here with temperatures in the mid 20's.
We had our first snorkelling & kayaking day in Butterfly Bay.The brochures are right with the colour & temperature of the water.
We sail back to Hamilton Island on Saturday to fetch our new crew member,Marie's grand daughter, then on to explore more snorkelling spots.
The weather is beautiful & the sea is warm & blue so life is good.
  Love to you all from Gypsea Fever.
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Hamilton

Tuesday 17 June.

We have just spent two nights on Hamilton Island but the weather was unkind
to us and we did not get a reflection of the photographs we have seen
previously in the advertising brochures of the beautiful blue skies and
turquoise water Getting to Hamilton was an experience in itself. After
our departure from Port Clinton following a calm bay and moonlit waters on
Friday 13th, it was the intention to spend a couple of nights anchored
around the Percy Islands but rough seas could not hold the anchor and there
was no alternative but to face the conditions and head for Hamilton a
distance of 115 miles, in addition to the distance already travelled from
Port Clinton. This meant a night sail and a 2 hour on off watch for the crew
and no supper as it was too rough to do pretty much anything but stay seated
with all moveable objects either roped up or taped. The only way to get
around was to crawl around the floor on hands and knees, I swear if anyone
had looked through the windows they would have thought we had gone barking
(sorry) mad. Dave's attempts at providing us with some cold cut up lamb
chops ended up with him being thrown sideways into the Day Head (toilet)
complete with said lamb, and a very bruised rib (his not the chop).
However, lucky for us, at around 11.30 pm Dave discovered a bay, Refuge Bay
at Scawfell Island, to anchor safely. This was no easy feat as Ron and
John had flashlights at the bow to guide us in. Even though safely anchored
we had to have a through night anchor watch. Thankfully the conditions
subsided on the Sunday morning and we travelled on to Hamilton in calm seas
2 days ahead of schedule.

Moored next to us in Hamilton was 'Young Endeavour' which is a training sail
boat for 16-23 year olds. The recruits not only learn sailing skills but
team building, self awareness and leadership skills, galley skills etc etc.
and have to climb the 30ft mast. It was given to Australia by the British
Government in 1988 as a gift to celebrate Australia's bicentenary of
colonisation. It left yesterday for Port Mackay and we were able to witness
the arrival of a new crew (12 boys, 12 girls) and proud parents, before it
sailed at 4pm. What an exciting adventure for those lucky enough to win a
place on it by ballot and a cost of 3.500 dollars.

Following our forced extended stay in Gladstone and the ever present coal
dust we headed for the Keppel Islands again encountering very mountainous
swells. The Keppel Islands were described by Captain Cook as having
appearance more akin to barrenness than fertility. He named the Cape of
Capricorn for its proximity to the Tropic of Capricorn. John was at the
helm sitting in the Captains chair when a side swell sent him hurling and
ended up with him being unceremoniously dumped in the corner of the pilot
house. My wicked sense of imagination could only see him disappearing
through the open door and over the rail. I tell you I had to suppress a
giggle or two - they don't call me Lucy (Lucifer) for nothing - fortunately
the only thing damaged was his dignity. Said chair is now safely tied up
with no chance of it moving again and a recommendation that when at the helm
it may be more prudent to stand.

The dolphins and whales have deserted us; we did see a turtle AND believe it
or not a flying fish jumped on board. Unfortunately it was not large enough
to feed five so it was shunted off by John through the scupper holes via his
foot. Funny that the only true fisherman on board (John) could not bring
himself to pick it up, for sure not too much hope of a fish supper Hey!

It has not all been heavy seas, we have seen some beautiful scenery along
the way and where we are anchored today in CID Harbour we could be off the
Western Isles of Scotland, very unexpected. The weather has turned again
and we are expecting rain for the next couple of days. So just travelling
short distances to anchor before our arrival at Airlie Beach on Saturday.
On arrival at Airlie Beach we will have travelled 1000 miles.

We are in calm waters at the moment with all crew members relaxing (well
apart from one who is twiddling his thumbs - any guesses !) in one part of
the boat or another and enjoying the gentle rocking of the boat. The galley
slave (sorry maid) will shortly be preparing our dinner for this evening
which will be roast pork but sadly without all the trimmings as shopping on
Hamilton was horrendously pricy, with apples at 9 dollars per kilo.

We are taking on a new crew member next week, arriving at Hamilton Island on
29 June, and who will be given a dustpan and brush together with apron and
the presentation of all my well earned titles.

A S.A friend of John and Joan has made a travel blog for us, this is the
link gypseafever.blogspot.com If you don't want to receive our email
missives and prefer to use the blog, could you please let me know. Blogger Comment - If you submit your email address on the blog you will be automatically updated via email with any blog posting

Wednesday 18 June
Moved to Nara Bay on Hook island and woke to glorious sunshine and azure
waters. The toys came out and Ron was able to stop twiddling his thumbs and
kayak around the bay. Dave took John and Joan ashore by tender to view a
cave complete with aboriginal paintings. At present it's relaxation time
but not too much playing on the internet as the signal is poor.

Warmest wishes
Marie (Galley slave, P.A, Updater of the Charts, Fender thrower) - and a new
one 'laundry maid'.
for Jane, Dave, Ron, John and Joan

Ps: If you don't hear anything from us it's because we are out of signal
range, not because we have had a Mutiny on the Bounty moment.

Sent from my iPad=

Update

Being Friday the 13th & full moon,it's time for an update.
Things are going well again after a short delay with an electrical starting problem in the starboard motor which resulted in the stabilizers not working either.
We spent a few days in the marina in Gladstone where Dave had repairs done.
We left yesterday & had big swells all the way to Keppel  Island where we tried to anchor but decided we'd had enough rocking & rolling so headed for the Rosslyn Bay marina which was much more comfortable.
We had our usual gourmet meal prepared by Marie & enjoyed a peaceful night.
Today has been a much smoother ride & we are anchored in Clinton Bay ! skol Martins.
Tonight we will celebrate the full moon with a lamb "barbie". I have to admit that the Aussie lamb is really good.
Love to everyone from us all on Gypsea Fever.

Sent from my Windows Phone

Crossing the Tropic of Capricorn,John on watch

Sent from my Windows Phone

Joan at the helm

 

The Captain needs his rest too

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Sunday Dinner

Roast chook and four veg.

We don't starve / the cook (Chef) & the carver

 

Sunday Evening Drinks in Aft Cockpit

 

7 June (10h15 RSA time)

What a great surprise !

Yvonne and I have just received a phone call from Capt. Dave and his crew on board Gypsea Fever.

They are all well and having a ball.

Graham

Cape Town

Gypsea Fever update - (Jane 5 June 2014)

Hi all
To pick up where our Chief Purser, PA, Galley Slave, Chart Updater and Filer, Fender Handler and most thorough Pilot House Cleaner left off,  we had sundowners and nibbles and a delicious dinner on board. After the usual chatter and varying reports on the size of the waves in combat against the outgoing tide of the afternoon, we retired to our comfy bunks in preparation to face the bar again and head to the Gold Coast and Southport. I am sure that it those waves were at least 15ft.  Our very able skipper timed our crossing of the bar perfectly and I am sure, all silently ticked Ballina off our Bucket Lists in indelible ink.
The journey to Southport was easy and as has become the norm, enhanced by the spotting of whales and dolphins. We reached the entrance to The Gold Coast Seaway in the afternoon and to our berth at Southport Yacht Club. This marina abounds with million dollar boats and vessels, some of them so large and luxurious that they can surely only be managed by a permanent crew.
The first thing Dave did when planning our voyage and adventure, was draw up a daily duty roster for each of his crew. It is through this that certain crew members have had the opportunity to display their deeply hidden true and very important talents.  I've yet to achieve some form of recognition from the Skipper, however Marie has earned another Gypsea Fever degree,  I think we have all had a turn at cleaning the exterior of the pilot house windows and the aft cockpit, and dare I mention the day heads.  When entering or leaving a marina, John and Ron are in charge of getting mooring lines out of a locker on the foredeck and placing the shore power cord at the ready.  The ladies place the fenders in the appropriate positions and prepare spring mooring lines.  Ron has the agility of a young buck so, once along side the dock,  he steps or jumps ashore to fasten the stern line and then takes the bow line from John and secures it.  Once Dave is happy with the position of our good ship alongside the dock, the spring lines are secured and all is well.
Southport Yacht Club marina is huge.  I am sure it was almost a half a kilometer walk from our boat to the clubhouse bar and restaurant.  We spent two nights there and on the second night had a very enjoyable evening with John Lobenstein who drove some 100k's from the Tweed Valley, to see the boat and join us for dinner.  We had dinner at the yacht club restaurant which is right on the waters edge.
John had suggested that as we had some provisions to get, we should go to the Robina Town Centre as there is a good selection of shops and stores.  John and Joan went to Seaworld so Marie and I had the task of stocking up on essentials like roller towel, salad stuff, milk and and that vital beverage that keeps our skipper in good humour.  Robina Town Centre is not exactly in Surfer's Paradise so we,  courtesy of our cab driver had a good look at all the expensive and palatial homes along the various canals alongside the main area of Surfer's.  We then meandered through the less salubrious suburbs and finally came upon the largest shopping centre on Earth, or so it seemed.  There are two Woolworths stores, but at separate ends of the centre and only one has a BWS section.  We unfortunately ended up in the one without the BWS so had to traverse the centre again, with a heavily laden wayward shopping trolley in order to complete our mission.  Thankfully we didn't have to wait for a cab.  A most delightful little Chinese man helped us load our bags into the boot of his Prius and we set off for "home".  He had the most wonderful music playing in his car, Dean Martin, Jim Reeves, Nat King Cole and that genre.  We complimented him on his choice of music and he, in quite broken English, explained that he doesn't understand all the words but listens to the music to hopefully improve his English. He was born in Shang Hi and has been on the Gold Coast for 22 years.
Our next port of call was Mooloolaba where we tied up at the yacht club and had dinner at the club restaurant.   We were again on an outer mooring on the river / channel and towards evening, so many yachts were returning to the club, obviously having participated in Wednesday afternoon racing.  It might have been a "Ladies Race" as most of the yachts had a female at the helm.  After the yachts came the tinnies with rods and fishing gear and then a kayaking group all clad in pink and some in pink kayaks.
We departed Mooloolaba at 6.30 this morning and are bound for Tin Can Bay, inside of Fraser Island.  We have passed Coolum Heads and Noosa and the sea is calm and the sky clear of clouds.
So, until the next time
Warmest wishes from Gypsea Fever

Gypsea Fever Update (Marie - 1 June 2014)

After the swells and rain of yesterday we awoke this morning to a beautiful
day in Yamba. The journey here was uneventful until we reached the entrance
to Ballina Bay, where we encountered a 5ft cross swell, with a very narrow
entrance and the harbour wall of rocks very close; it was quite scary. I
can tell you it was not for the feint hearted but Dave's skills at the helm
came in very useful. Even the second captain had her head buried in my lap,
and who could that be! A yacht that was going out at the same time watched
us and decided to abort their departure, Ron muttered 'cowards', but even he
was quite pale and had a very nervous laugh. Being jostled about in a
front loader washing machine could emulate the conditions. If we don't make
the correct timing of the tide tomorrow then we will face it all again as
we can't stay here forever. Anyway after a glass of wine to soothe our
nerves we are all relaxing in one part of the boat or other with just the
occasional call from a bird, very peaceful, see photograph. On the way up
to Ballina we were treated to the spectacular sight of a whale breaching and
our friends the dolphins putting on their entertainment.
Anchored nearby is 'Notorious' which is a replica of a 15th century caravel.
Known to many as the 'pirate ship' it is built entirely of recycled timber
and has taken 10 years to build. The owners planned to sail up to the
WhitSundays but maintenance on the Harwood Bridge have scuttled that plan.
With apologies for the pun to any Mariners reading this. Jane and I thought
it was a wreck not dissimilar from the ones on the bay at the Waterfront,
oops sorry to the owners ! And, to let you in on a secret I got this
information from the local paper, as I don't have too much knowledge about
pirate ships.
Tomorrow, tide willing, the next port is Southport a distance of 60 miles,
where I believe is a very large shopping centre, so we may have some retail
therapy, just to keep our hand in of course.
Warmest regards and best wishes

Marie (Galley slave, P.A, Updater of the Charts, Fender thrower) for Jane,
Dave, Ron, John and Joan

Gypsea Fever Update (Jane - 29 May 2014)

Hello everyone

After one or two little concerns we set off from America  Bay on the Hawkesbury and headed out past Barrenjoey Head, turned the bow to the North and headed to Port Stephens. We had an extra day at Akuna Bay to deal with the last minute hiccups. We had spent the night in America Bay to avoid the likely mist and fog that collects on the Hawkesbury and hinders the trip from the marina to Barrenjoey Heads.

There was a fair swell once out at sea but Gypsea Fever took it in her stride as did we. Thank Heaven for  stabilizers. In the early morning we spotted a whale, first it's water spout and then the occasional flick of its tail.  We saw several other spouts in the distance and our two avid bird watchers had their far-lookers or binoculars as they are commonly known,  at the ready, together with a book on Australian birds.  John and Joan call them far-lookers as that is the direct translation from the Afrikaans word for them. Forgive me,  but I am no longer sure of the spelling of "verkykers".

We'd planned that our lunches on board would consist of cheese and crackers and anything easily prepared with no cooking whatsoever.  Well, being our first day out and the familiarizing of the boat and getting our sea legs again,  we only got to put out an eagerly awaited selection of cheese and biscuits once we'd tied up on a marina in D'Albora Marina, Port Stephens.

The exterior of the boat was caked in salt so a major wash down was undertaken by Dawie's able bodied and willing slaves, sorry crew, and she was slick and span and shining in the later afternoon sunshine. One of our crew also took it upon himself to rid our dock of much of the very evident evidence of Port Stephens locally sea birds.  He won't be able to do that at our next port of call though, nor will we be able to wash down the boat,  as only filling of water tanks is permitted, and that only if one is lucky enough to tie up on the visitors jetty at Laurieton. Once all our chores were completed, We three girls wandered into Port Stephens town in search of somewhere to have some supper.  On the waterfront, on the branches of the almost leafless trees were hundreds and thousands of parakeets, all sitting in pairs screeching and calling out.  There were many white cockatoos in the trees too.  This was as the sun was going down and the sound was quite deafening. After our evening drink and natter about the days voyage we went ashore for dinner and these birds had disappeared and it was tranquil apart from the merriment we could hear coming from the waterfront pubs and restaurants.  We went to Mavericks where John gave us a very explicit demonstration of how to devour and savour every morsel of Australian lamb ribs.yy

We set off for the marina at 6.30am this morning and are headed for Camden Haven and Lauriton this afternoon but as the entrance to the river and channel is quite tricky and tide dependent,  we may end up continuing through the night with Coffs Harbour as our next port of call.  That will be a long trip so we are hopeful to arrive after low tide to cross the bar and continue up the channel following the marker buoys.

Luckily today the swell is less than yesterday and we are having a calmer ride than yesterday.

We're all hearty and happy and benefitting from life at sea and with the elements again.  There is certainly no dress code.  Today we are doing two hours on, four hours off watches, with our respective spouses.  I suppose in the months to come,  this may or could be seen as a bit of a team building period.

That's all for now,  and please pass this on to those whose contact details I do not have.

Love and warmest wishes to all

Gypsea Fever

 

 

28 May 2014

Hi Graham and Vonnie,

Thank you for your mail and good wishes.

All is good so far, though we did abort the first day due to the fridge moving and doors opening with the lurching. So we turned tail and returned to the marina, where a shipwright did a better job of securing it.

Yesterday we did about 80 miles north to Port Stevens, and today we are doing a similar trip to Camden Haven. Our destination is over a thousand miles north, so these are pretty small bites to begin with.

The crew all seem comfortable with each other, and make allowances for the aging John T.

Love to you both,

Dave & Team