With huge thanks again to our Blue Nomad friends in Tweed Heads, I’m very happy to report successful navigation of the internal waterways last night.
Sea Wafer went past us on Monday afternoon to give it a try but at mid-tide didn’t even get to the shallowest part before they started touching bottom. As they came back past us down river a friendly ‘ahoy’ was followed by their report that they would take the outside coastal passage instead to aim for Mooloolaba. As we sat on our anchor all day yesterday in what would have been lovely coastal sailing conditions, I couldn’t help but wonder if we were making the wrong choice. The allure of navigating some internal waterways for a change won out, reasoning that if we couldn’t get through we would still have Wednesday and Thursday to take the outside passage and get Jim somewhere he could catch a plane home. With high tide not until 9:00pm it was a long day waiting but the others made the most of it, taking the dinghy ashore to South Stradbroke Island for a shell-collecting expedition along the beach. The dinghy only takes three people, and I was happy to use the time to stay aboard, mind the boat and do some writing. Very happy to report that the novel I haven’t touched in fifteen months acquired another chapter yesterday, marking the half-way point… and getting me back into motivation to add a little bit each day.
VMR (Volunteer Marine Rescue) Jacobs Well gave us some good ‘unofficial’ advice – to come around the north cardinal mark in daylight so we could ‘eyeball’ the narrow stretch ahead of us, then anchor up and wait for high tide. Once again, we are impressed with the service offered by these volunteers, both in NSW and QLD. With Belinda on nav on the iPad, Richard calling depth and Jim spotting moored, unlit boats ahead, I managed to guide us through passages that read 1.3 metres at low tide… with not a single bump. It was a really pleasant motor up the mangroves during the day then on the whole a really pleasant night-motor through the difficult stretches. We opted to keep going as far as Brown Bay at the southern end of Russell Island to ensure we’d got through all the shallow bits and wouldn’t have to wait for another high tide the following evening. It was 11:00pm by the time we got there, motoring at times against a 2.5knot current with the outgoing tide. 
We all agreed what a good decision it had been to wait the extra day rather than attempt the passage on Monday evening in 30 knot winds; both for the extra degree of difficulty that would have added but also the chill factor – we clearly haven’t reached a tropical paradise yet. I have never been so incredibly grateful for a glass of sauv blanc, a cup of packet soup, a pair of possum socks and a hot water bottle! The anchor is holding firmly and there’s very little wind – I’m first to bed and sleep like a baby for a very pleasant change. I’m also first up this morning (which makes a distinct change… in fact it could well be a first for the trip) and the sunrise views confirm that we’ve found a lovely spot. We’ll go on through the remaining passages to Peel Island in the southern end of Moreton Bay today; there’s even talk of breaking out the fishing lines and Richard’s tackle box. My suggestion of fish with omelettes for dinner is met with a reminder that such a menu would actually require catching something…