Hey Chris, I hear you buddy! The weather over the last 4 weeks has been crap.
We left Newcastle (NSW) in our own boat on the 16th August bound for the Kepples, Island Head and Pearl bay for a spot of popping. We got stuck at Coffs in that low for over a week on the way north. Crawled up the inside passage between the Gold coast and Moreton bay to avoid the weather before deciding to make a run for it up the outside of Fraser to Lady Musgrave on the same day as the start of your charter.
We were forced to turn back into Harvey Bay after rounding Break Sea spit in appalling conditions. 25 - 35 Knot SE. We broke a furler on the headsail, two awnings on the boat and lost our engine due to fuel blockages from all of the stirring up, right on the tip of the spit!.....It was a long way back to Urangan under half sail.
Having lost most of our planned 6 weeks break just getting here, we were forced to start heading back a couple of days ago (having only just finished repairing the damage). As I write this, once again we are sitting in Tin Can Bay at the Southern end of the Sandy Straights, waiting for the SE to die down so we can cross Wide Bay Bar and continue our journey home........not a popper thrown in anger!
2 Days ago we were nearly knocked flat by a 55 knot squall that uprooted a lot of the trees on the beach upwind from us, and broke neighbouring boats away from their moorings.
You gotta love Nature don't you! What do they say about best layed plans. That's 6 weeks worth of long service down the tubes, not to mention 12 months of planning and logistics. Nuthin for it but to start planning the next one hey!
Cheers.