Coral Coast 2011 News Updates   

See Boat Blogs here.

See news items below:

October 2011  The return of Coral Coast 2011

September 2011  Ngak Ngak in the Palm Islands

August 2011  Hinchinbrook Channel

August 2011 Change of Date for Magnetic Island Rendezvous

July 2011 Walking to the top of Mt Whitsunday

July 2011  'The Master' and fish stories

July 2011 - A Shag Story....   and a sequel....

July 2011 - Bundaberg - beautiful one day, perfect the next!

June 2011 - Mooloolaba to Gary's Anchorage

April 2011 - First Rendezvous Coral Coast 2011 at RPAYC  Friday 6th May

and there's more.........

September 2011 Ngak Ngak in the Palm Islands

The last few days have been pretty windy so we took the time out to make some pots on the beach. We carry a small wood fired kiln in ourfront sail locker as well as clay, tools, glazes and other supplies. The process takes a couple of days minimum with the initial step actuallyshaping the pots. We can do this on board or on shore depending on the conditions. Under normal conditions, the pots are dry enough to do the bisque firing on the next day providing that you are very careful with the initial firing process where drying the pots completely is very important.

Once through the initial firing stage, the kiln requires very little driftwood to get it up to around 1000 degrees C. The pots are then left to cool in the kiln if they are going to be glazed or else that they can be blackened using a smoke pit where the red hot pots are plunged into a hole in the sand filled with combustible material and then sealed to exclude all oxygen. The surface is reduced heavily in this smokey environment so they come our black. For glazing, we use Raku glazes which include bright colours and metallics. They are fired for a second time after the pot is painted with the glaze and then plunged into the smoke pit to reduce the glazes.

It has been great fun to combine two passions of Michele's - sailing and ceramics - and we have now done this on many occasions so our guests on board leave with a memento of their voyage in the form of a small pot that they have made on a tropical island.

August 2011 - The delights of the Hinchinbrook Channel

 August 2011 - Change of date for Magnetic Island Rendezvous

The Magnetic Island northbound rendezvous date has been amended to Saturday 13^th August.

Location will be Nelly Bay Marina.

                            July 2011 - Walking to the top of Mt Whitsunday

                             The appararition!! - alias Donna!

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July 2011 - 'The Master' and fish stories

Neil of ‘Billabong’ is known amongst the CC11 participants as the 'Master Hunter & Gatherer'. He is constantly helping us develop new skills, hunting and gathering, fish, oysters, coconuts, crabs.    

Now here is one for the books. Fishing off Billabong at Goldsmith Island, Neil hooked up a great reef fish, however the local shark had other ideas.  Now Neil has a new challenge, today we have been tasked with catching that shark.   Donna, get out of the food chain!

Friday 15 July from “Mixed Nutz’

Jim &Clem are now on their own in Mays Bay, just north of Cid Harbour in the Whitsundays after having spent a wonderful few days with quite a large group of fellow 2011 cruisers in a most delightful anchorage at Scawfell Island. Several get togethers ensued, fishing and gathering, internet purchasing, just chatting and the mandatory 5’s get together either on the beach or boat.  The final afternoon before the next morning’s departure for Brampton and Goldsmith Islands was a feast of xcelence spelt this way because a bit was certainly missing.

During the morning Jim and “The Master” (Neil - Billabong) were out checking the very hopeful crab traps to discover zero crabs but one pretty agitated almost 4ft white tipped reef shark in one of Jimbo’s traps.  A plan was hatched and the mob was to arrive at Mix’d Nutz for an afternoon feed of genuine “Fish and Chips” (of course we all know the genuine variety always consists of shark).  Some bottles of white wine (appropriate for fish – shark) were brought by “The Mob” and an afternoon of revelry, story telling and friends enjoying company ensued.

I don’t think that anyone particularly enjoyed “The Shark” but most were polite and the afternoon was voted a great success. Thanks to “The Master” and all others who provided, the cooking oil, the flour (for the beer batter of course) and the numerous salads and other accompaniments.

Good camaraderie, good fun and a bit of a feed – what a great recipe for cruising.

July 2011 - A Shag Story …….    and a sequel....  

from Margot Rathbone on 'Dame Margot'.......

Anyone who’s ever spent time in marinas knows that chaps wander around all day just looking at other boats and looking for someone to talk with.

Yesterday morning, in Airlie Beach’s marina, whilst quietly reading in the cockpit, one of these friendly souls came by and started to talk. He was interested in our boat, where we are from and all the usual cruising questions. He also wanted to know about our burgees. We have two – the RPAYC and the Flying Squadron – and I gave him some details.

Ken asked me whether I’d heard of his Club, the Shag Islet Cruising Yacht Club. Not knowing where this conversation was heading, I nevertheless told him the truth and answered that I had not.  Well, it appears that Ken and his wife Rhonda were visiting New Zealand several years ago and took themselves to the Royal New Zealand Yacht Club for dinner. Despite being well-dressed, they were refused entry because they did not have either a membership of another “Royal” yacht club or a position – Commodore, Vice Commodore etc – in their own yacht club. Not one to allow a New Zealand club show up any Aussie, Ken set about “creating” his own Yacht Club!

I did not get around to asking him why he chose “Shag Islet” but it is now called Passage Islet and is situated between Gloucester Island and the Cape of the same name. It is very close to Monte’s Resort, a rather tired but welcoming Eco-resort which also lets out a number of orange ball-buoys situated off the beach. According to Lucas “the Passage Islet promises superior comfort”.

The SICYC now has many members, no, let me correct that we are all Vice-Commodores. The membership is from all over the world and there is an annual get-together (maybe an AGM?) in August where else but Monte’s? Apparently the Resort is already booked out for the forthcoming 2011 event but, of course, one could still either hire a buoy for one’s boat or put down an anchor in this lovely wide bay.

A quite small amount of money buys life membership of the SICYC, a handsome polo shirt, a burgee and the status of a Vice-Commodore, the latter boldly printed on a membership card.  The burgee is a delightful creature – the colours of aqua-marine and yellow and a boldly outlined bird in navy blue. It’s actually a duck in flight – never mind – the graphics having been lifted from a generic website, the cost of having a shag being far too prohibitive!

The polo shirt is a handsome garment, coloured primarily aqua-marine – it has the flying bird and one’s position within the club boldly printed on the front, Vice Commodore, naturally!

The benefits of membership of this Club are legion and include a card which offers a 25% discount when dining at the famous Hog’s Breath restaurants and, of course, one can now also dine at the RNZYC.  For more information, see www.sicyc.org.

Later -  Just a little sequel: Martin and I were having a quiet afternoon’s rest in the cockpit yesterday (in Townsville marina). A very cheerful “hello, fellow SICYC Vice Commodores!” stirred us out of our usual senior citizens’ afternoon torpor. A chap had come over to say hello after seeing our SICYC burgee flapping in the wind. He is also a Vice Commodore (naturally!) They are friends of Ken (founder of SICYC) and within a very short time he had asked us join him and his wife for sundowners on his beautiful motor cruiser.

We had a very animated and enjoyable session – covering everything from yachting, boating, politics and earthquakes in NZ – and decided to get together on Sunday for dinner as well. What a marvellous introduction to the SICYC!

Walking past the Townsville Yacht Club this afternoon (en route to the Maritime Museum which we can fully recommend) we saw two more yachts with the SICYC burgee – obviously it’s catching!

July 2011 - Bundaberg - beautiful one day, perfect the next!

June 2011 - Mooloolaba to Gary's Anchorage

Mooloolaba was our cruise rendezvous location after most boats came directly up from Broken Bay.  Our next passage was Mooloolaba to Garry’s Anchorage, and this included crossing the Wide Bay Bar. 

Some had first hand experience, for others it was a new experience.  We timed our departure for a first light arrival on a flood tide, being the most favorable conditions.  We arrived at the Wide Bay Bar with a 5 to 10 knot southerly and a 1.5 to 2.0 m swell running in from the south.

The bar crossing consists of 3 waypoints.  WP1 to WP2 is the actual bar crossing, well to sea.  This part of the crossing was rather calm with a gently 1.0 m to 1.5m swell running every 8 to 10 seconds.

Billabong, Nirvana’s Kitchen, Cloud Nine, Mix’d Nuts and one shadow lined up behind Windsong, just like ducklings behind mother duck. 

On arrival at WP2 we turned west south west for the run down what is affectionally know as the mad mile to WP3.  Its named the mad mile because there is a sand bar running the full length along the southern side of the passage and another sand bar to the northern side of the passage.  The southeasterly swell has a tendency to break on both sand bars, left and right, with calm water in the channel.  Well that was the story Windsong communicated during the rendezvous in Mooloolaba.

What actually occurred was something more like a washing machine from WP2 to WP3.

We were very pleased as we made the turn into Wide Bay behind Fraser Island for the sail to Garry’s Anchorage for well earned R&R.

April 2011
First Rendezvous Coral Coast 2011 at RPAYC  Friday 6th May 7pm for 7.30pm Pittwater Room

March 2011

Polo Shirts - Delivery is expected very soon - hopefully by 1 April.

Seminars - Last 2 seminars are the weekend on 26/27 March - some spaces are available - book now!  These are both excellent sessions and great for every bluewater sailor.

February 2011

Enrolment - The Enrolment to Cruise is open.  Members are asked to let the Working Group know their intentions for the Cruise to enable some more specific planning before the first Cruise Rendezvous at the Club 6 to 8 May.

Polo Shirts - Orders have closed on Wednesday 9 Feb. 

RPAYC Rendezvous - A big CC11 farewell is being planned for the weekend of 6-8 May at the Club.  Details will be revealed soon - there will be full a Cruise Briefing and a sail past.

Seminars - A highly successful Diesel Maintenance Course was attended by a full house of members on 30 January.  Shane Douglas delivered a highly professional and interactive session in which members gained confidence to deal wit emergency sitautions and undertake basic maintenance taks.  A huge thank you to Shane and Rob.  There is another session of 27 February which is filling up.

January 2011

Is a boat driver’s licence is required in QLD.  The answer is yes, details at the attached site;  http://www.msq.qld.gov.au/Licensing/Recreational.aspx

Recreational marine driver licence

In Queensland, a marine licence is required to operate a recreational boat which is powered by a motor greater than 4.5 kW (over 6 HP) and you must have a personal watercraft (PWC) licence to operate a personal watercraft.

Valid marine licences
Licences are issued by Maritime Safety Queensland in accordance with the Transport Operations (Marine Safety) Act 1994 and include:

• recreational marine driver licence
• recreational ship master's licence
• speed boat driver's licence
• current commercial marine licences as master — for example coxswain.

Valid equivalent marine licences
Licences that are issued by other safety authorities within the Commonwealth of Australia or other entities recognised by Maritime Safety Queensland include current boating licences issued in other states (excludes junior licences).

The Seminar Schedule for January to March 2011, leading to the first rendezvous at RPAYC on 7 May, has now been finalised.  To see the program and to make a booking: Seminar Schedule January to March 2011 

December 2010 - Registrations to Date are:   

                                              Number of boats intending to cruise  -  29
                                              Number of boats 'maybe' cruising  -  30
                                              Total number of people registered interest in seminars etc - 72+

December 2010 - As the speed of preparation heats up we will be publishing newsletters as we head towards the first rendezvous date of 7 May at RPAYC.  You can download the December 2010 Newsletter for some very important news about your absence from a Club mooring or the Club marina while cruising with CC11.

Nov 2010 - This month we have enjoyed two highly successful 'Preparation' Seminars.  The first was the Man Overboard with John Quinn at First Friday.  With a sell out evening about 150 people heard John give invaluable advice on how not to be a 'man overboard' and the difficulties should this occur.  Retrieval procedures were also discussed. On 14 November about 40 members heard from Dr Tina Clifton and Dr Tim Armytage on 'Health Care for Cruising' - another highly successful seminar. Those attending have been full of praise for the information covered and the materials provided. - a very worthwhile day. Further seminars are close to completion and will be scheduled soon.

Sept 2010 - Our Seminar program is getting scheduled.  See the seminar page under CC11 and in Sail Training. Bookings are open for 'Health Care for Cruising' and will open shorlty for 'MOB Procedures' at First Friday in November.  Our CC11 Clothing Range has been lauched. You can now order this range under the Clothing menu item above.  Check it out - and look good around the Club!

July 2010 - Seminars are beginning with First Aid, Weather Forecasting with Kenn Batt, and Electrical Maintenance with Rob Starkey.  Se details under Seminars on rhe CC11 webpages.

June 2010 - The seminar series is now defined and short descriptions are available on the website on this page.  The Weather seminar has been re-scheduled to 16 July - be there for an interesting session. Registrations continue to be made - and arrangements with Queensland marinas are under discussion.  You are probably aware that the Round Australia Rally & Race for 2011 has been cancelled.

April 2010 - The web pages for Coral Coast 2011 have now been launched and members are asked to register their interest in the preparation activities.  The Working Group, in association with the Club Sailing Office, is developing a range of preparation seminars and activities and the interest areas of members, as indicated by registration, will be a major input to the range of opportunities available to all members.  Flyers are up around the Club and publicity of the planning and preparation is just beginning. 

March 2010 - The Coral Coast 2011 program was launched by Rob Starkey at “First Friday” at the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club on 5 March 2010. If you would like to see the launch presentation it is available on the 'Documents' tab above.
We are preparing a full program of  seminars, courses and discussions leading up to the cruise north. You do not need to participate in the cruise north to be part of the Prepare Phase of the C11 program. Whether you are new to coastal cruising or a veteran, you will find something useful and interesting. Register your interest and watch for the announcements of the program of events. 
Since the launch the Plan phase of the CC11 program has been in full swing. The Working Group has been getting all the information ready so that the Prepare phase can start to take shape. The Notice of Rendezvous Cruise has been approved, the web pages have been developed and a detailed Cruise Schedule is completed.