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The final stretch for 2024

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The month of October was a busy one for us; we left Liberty tied up in Hervey Bay on the 1st of the month and flew to Melbourne, ready to take possession of our new inner city “digs” and unpack all our belongings, which had been in storage for over twelve months! Fortunately, the move in went very smoothly and we enjoyed a lovely couple of weeks getting ourselves organised. Then, on 16th of October, we welcomed another granddaughter to the family: Matilda Louise O’Connell, the first daughter for Chris and Amy and a lovely sister for Jack and George. On the following Saturday, accompanied by “assistant first mate” Ian, the captain flew back to Hervey Bay to prepare the boat for its final passage home. It was windy as the two sailors flew into Hervey Bay and several of the tourist boats had opted not to operate that day. The captain was keen to move, however, and the next morning they untied the lines and headed down the Great Sandy Straits, timing their arrival at the shallowest section
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Chancy cruising

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Waiting for the “right” weather to go further north is no longer an option. With a new grandchild due to be born and a new apartment to move into, and no guarantees of what the wind and waves might do, we decided we didn’t want to get “stuck” on a tropical island for an extended period! Much better to start cruising south and see how far we get before flying to Melbourne in October.  We slipped out of Yorkeys Knob marina at 6:15am on the last Saturday in August, turning right and following the Cairns coast, past Green Island and Fitzroy Island, Normanby Island and Etty Bay, before entering the Moresby River and anchoring in Mourilyan Harbour just on 3:30pm. Cruising conditions were perfect and we enjoyed prawn rolls for lunch as we motored along. It was very peaceful in the harbour apart from the buzzing sound of the generator on a nearby fishing trawler - we assumed he had a load of fish in his freezer! It didn’t stop us having a great night’s sleep and we set an early alarm for Sunda
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Fickle FNQ weather

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Fitzroy Island is one of our favourite anchorages. Once we arrived, we intended spending a few days there, walking the various trails and maybe snorkelling and kayaking around the bays and generally relaxing. But the weather put paid to those plans! Whilst we were able to relax on Sunday afternoon and enjoy a leisurely Monday, that night the wind went way above forecast, wrapping around the island into our sheltered bay and making sleep almost impossible. So we threw off the mooring on the Tuesday morning as dawn broke and headed across to follow the coastline around and into Cairns. We booked into the marina, ensuring ourselves of calm conditions and a chance to stock up, wait for calmer weather and make our next plans. Cairns marina is home to the many tour boats heading to Fitzroy and Green islands and out to the reef. There are many hotels and restaurants in the vicinity and the town itself is very well set up for tourists. The captain’s brother paid us a visit and kindly lent us h
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Following the coral coast

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After a week of shivering in southern states, looking forward to the sunshine, we returned north to cloud and rain! The captain got caught in a shower on Tuesday on his way back to Liberty at the marina, the first mate’s plane nearly got diverted on Thursday due to thick fog covering Hamilton island. Our first night back together was spent at South Molle island, dodging the rain and staying warm inside. Next morning was still grey but very humid and we made our way to Airlie beach for a few necessities then started cruising north. Two hours later we anchored in Double Bay with no other boats in sight. It was so peaceful! The captain felt warm enough to venture to shore for a swim, the first mate was just happy to paddle in the water. We investigated an old hut on the shore which appears to be set up for visitors, with furniture, kitchen utensils, a well maintained fire pit and a few basics in a pantry. It’d be a lovely place to “get away from it all”. On Saturday morning we continued c
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Chasing the sunshine

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  We enjoyed a lovely week in the Wide Bay Area, anchoring for a night each at Ungowan and Kingfisher Bay and two nights at Moon Point before we headed to the Great Sandy Straits marina at Hervey Bay. We made the most of Saturday and Sunday to stock up at the local supermarkets, filling our trolley and several bags with food. We also visited both fisheries for the best of local produce and had a meal and spent some money at the local boat club and arts cooperative. By Monday morning we were ready to continue north, slipping out of the marina just after 6am and cruising towards Burnett Heads. Conditions were perfect! We arrived at the mouth of the Burnett River in time for lunch and anchored just near the shipping lane, but the rolling motion of the swell put us off staying there for the night so we continued upriver after lunch and anchored near the molasses terminal. The weather forecast for the next few days was almost identical, with light winds inshore and stronger winds (and more
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