Some challenges on the way to Tangalooma!

We had planned a sailing trip from Newport Marina, with a few nights set to stay at Tangalooma Wrecks, Moreton Bay. If everything went smoothly, we aimed to continue our journey down to Peel Island. In preparation, we spent the week prior carrying out several repairs and upgrades, focusing mainly on the electrical systems and tackling numerous minor maintenance tasks to enhance our trip’s enjoyment. This adventure marked our first time sailing with just the two of us on board, but unfortunately, the weather conditions were less than ideal.

Our first task was to replace the batteries and rewire the power distribution to key areas of the boat. Next, we tackled rewiring the main switch panel, which was plagued with faults and redundant wiring. Although we didn’t fully complete this task, everything is functioning well now. We’ll revisit this in the future to tidy things up.

We had lots of late nights trying to finish everything before we left - but could we really complain?

We departed at about 8am on Friday, rushing to get out before low tide. With a keel depth of 1.53 meters, navigating Newport Marina at near low tide meant our depth sounder read 0.00 meters, and we probably scraped the bottom a couple of times. Despite the average weather, with uncomfortable winds and uncomfortable swells, we set off for what was supposed to be a 4-5 hour sail to Tangalooma. Along the way, we encountered numerous challenges that provided significant learning experiences for future trips.

The wind was behaving in a way I had never experienced before, blowing hard within a 60-degree arc that made sailing nearly impossible. The combination of strong winds and swells left our motor struggling, and at times, we were progressing at less than 1 knot. We tried raising the sails and tacking through the wind to follow our intended course, but the wind direction forced us to veer significantly off course. Ultimately, we had to travel SSW to make any progress and then head NNE again. What was supposed to be a 4-5 hour sail ended up taking us about 8 hours to reach Tangalooma.

The trip over to Tangalooma had its challenges. The pulley on the mainsail furler broke, a problem we only discovered later, making it impossible to retract the mainsail until we fixed it—a difficult task amid 2.4-meter swells. Additionally, we broke a shackle on the boom, forcing us to be cautious about putting too much pressure on the main sheet. Lastly, the entire furling system was found to have been broken away from the mast.

Despite these setbacks, we finally arrived at Tangalooma around 6pm, found a place to anchor, and set up for the night.

The next day was spent lounging around the cabin, making a few repairs but mostly trying to relax and do as little as possible—a much-needed break. However, to top off the rough trip, our brand new 4hp Mercury motor wouldn’t start despite our best efforts. After a couple of days enjoying the beauty of Tangalooma, we patched up the boat as best we could and headed back home.

Oh and, I lost my favourite hat……