Oz East Coast

Monday 4th November 2008

Arrived Bundaberg after aborting our next leg out to Lady Musgrave Island on the reef.

We had just left the most idyllic anchorage in Whites Bay in Middle Percy Island two days previously, but found that the forecast for a southerly change came in at 2300 hours on Sat night, 18 hours earlier than predicted.

That's probably why they refer to the Bureau of Meteorology as the Bureau of Maybeology I guess.

We heard a lot of fishing boats on the VHF cursing having to up anchor to find the new lee side of an island.

I was on watch after having 8 hours of the tripe knocked out of us, so made an executive decision while everyone slept, to change course by 40 deg to reach Port of Bundaberg.

Bundaberg is a busy customs port for pleasure boats coming in from New Caledonia and Vanuatu, and it was a veritable united nations of accents asking for clearance while we were there.

My friend Mark Johnson was making this his landfall here from New Caledonia a week later, so I was able to give him some guidance and alert him to the fact that the marina has the cheapest fuel on the eastern freeboard ($1.43 lt) with Qld boat registration discount.

I have read on Noonsite some bad reports about customs clearance in Bundaberg, but saw only satisfied arrivees.

A highlight for me was to see a fishing boat next door unload its deep water catch of the most brilliant fish I have ever seen. I expect it is all exported, unless they change the name of it when it gets to our fish markets.