Decided to launch as soon as we could then have breakfast on the way. Our destination – the Wrecks at Tangalooma on the western coast of Moreton Island. Tangalooma is a resort, and a very pleasant one at that. Beautiful long white sand beaches and snorkelling around the wrecks, the bar, etc. The Wrecks are old ships that were scuttled to form a reef for fish, a dive location and protection for boats from westerly winds. The main shipping channel out of Port of Brisbane passes within a nautical mile of the anchorage – all ships leaving the port must head north along this channel as far as Caloundra before heading wherever they’re going. These ships create a rolly swell as they pass which is quite unpleasant, hence anchoring between the wrecks and the beach is the place to be. It can get very crowded – not good when boats are swinging in all directions as tide and wind change.

Anyway after a problem-free launch (only forgot to put the wind direction indicator on the top of the mast) we were away at 9.30am with a forecast of south-easterlies at 10 – 15 knots – perfect for a close-hauled reach to our due-east destination. Well … forecasts seem to be a bit like crystal ball gazing. We rounded the clear water beacon and headed east, and that was directly into the wind! And nasty 1 – 1.5 meter seas to go with it. To cut a long story short our estimated 4 hour sail of 15nm turned into 7 hours and 26 nm later by the time we tacked and fought the swell. The last two hours we relented and motored. We finally anchored, absolutely knackered at 4.30pm. Good start to the diet – couldn’t even boil the kettle it was so rough. I did manage to make us a salad about lunch time, and felt a trifle sea sick working down in the galley in those conditions.
No going ashore, no runs on the beach, no snorkelling the Wrecks – too exhausted. Just rested onboard.