The Voyage

Spectacles

Andy and Melissa are sailing around the world on their 48-foot sailboat, Spectacle.

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Bali, Indonesia

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The Voyage of Spectacle

Archive for the ‘Mooloolaba’ Category

Back to the Dock to Find Ella’s Pink Lady

Posted by: melissa

After rainy and cold Sydney, I was happy to get back to sunny Mooloolaba yesterday.  We walked onto our dock to find Australia’s favorite sailboat, Ella’s Pink Lady.  No sign of Jessica Watson yet, but plenty of lookie-loos.  The dock is behind a security gate, and in the last two days, I have personally stopped at least 10 people from following me in.  It’s annoying me.

Ella's Pink Lady is a Sparkman and Stephens 34 sailed by Australian 16-year-old Jessica Watson during her solo circumnavigation.

Ella's Pink Lady is a Sparkman and Stephens 34 sailed by Australian 16-year-old Jessica Watson during her solo circumnavigation.

First of all, Jessica’s boat is in the first slip closest to the shore … it’s totally visible with an unobstructed view for the perfect kodak moment.  It’s obvious she’s not there (no activity, companion way door is padlocked from the outside) so you won’t get a glance of her if you get closer.  Second, the “dock” is not a park or public property … it’s private property where we pay a fee to park our “home.”  I know people are fascinated with boats and our adventure (especially when we’re flying the American flag), but interest isn’t a free pass to come peek in our windows and try to get past security.

The Passage to Rosslyn Bay

Posted by: melissa

It was a real treat to get to watch the U.S. versus England match on the neighbor’s television, but we couldn’t keep crashing his yacht at all hours of the night.  After missing a lot of great soccer, we decided that we would try to get to our next destination to catch the U.S. versus Slovenia match late Friday night. 

After more research, we decided on Rosslyn Bay as our next stop which would give us easy access to Rockhampton, which hosts the rodeo on Friday night.  Thursday morning, the weather seemed to be calming down a bit and Andy was confident that we could get to Rosslyn Bay by early Friday afternoon.  Rodeo and soccer and a nice location?  I love it when a plan comes together.

We exited the Mooloolah River to find very rough seas, which got even rougher once clear of Point Cartwright.  Since this was our first real passage in many months, we were both a little rusty and popped a couple of seasickness tablets right away. Sadly, it was too late for Andy, who had a minor barf.  The conditions calmed down a lot after a couple of hours getting away from shore, and we settled in for the quick overnight passage.  Around 1:00 a.m., we crossed over the Tropic of Capricorn officially re-entering the tropics.

Andy could not sleep and took the graveyard shift, so I had a luxurious night’s rest.  When he woke me at about 5:00 a.m., I was rested and refreshed and ready for a lovely day of sailing.  Spectacle was humming right along in a comfortable beam reach with a following current.  I had a cup of coffee, enjoyed an absolutely incredible sunrise over Keppel Bay, watched a cadre of container ships disembark from Gladstone, and read J.M Coetzee‘s Age of Iron — a truly spectacular morning.

Sunrise over Keppel Bay during the passage from Mooloolaba to Rosslyn Bay.

Sunrise over Keppel Bay during the passage from Mooloolaba to Rosslyn Bay.

The approach to Rosslyn Bay and the Keppel Bay Marina was a piece of cake.  We tied up, checked in, showered up, rented a car, and headed for Rockhampton.