04/11/2020
Had a perfect breakfast made by J this morning and plan to spend the day at leisure.
Bob said he would be sailing from Mooloolaba to Tin Can Bay today with the southeasterly, we were planning to go on land to watch him sail his new boat through the Wide Bay Bar, then follow him into Tin Can Bay. Later J spoke to him on the phone and learned that his headsail was not in good shape, it was deteriorating bit by bit, and the wind was trending down. He might not arrive at the expected time. So we changed our plan and decided to meet him at Double Island Point, which meant it was our turn to go through Wide Bay Bar first.
The decision was made at 9.30am and the high tide was at 10am. We acted quickly, making preparations while sailing out of Pelican Bay, clearing the deck, securing the dinghy, making sure things won’t fall in the cabin. We contacted Coast Guard Tin Can Bay via VHF before passing. I could already feel the swells when approaching to the exit. Were using only the mainsail and engine until we reached the first point, and then jib was up during the first and second points, to reduce the bumpy movements with gained speed. Between the second and third point it was a bit gentler at some spots. From the third point to the fourth point we were going into headwind, so we made a couple of tacks and eventually went through the pass, and gradually made our way out of the notorious wide bay bar. To be honest, I felt more nervous about the US election result than crossing the bar.
At around 2pm, we made it into the lagoon of Double Island Point, a perfect shelter for boats. We anchored in 6 feet of water right next to Bob’s new boat, ‘So Good’.
Once settled, we couldn’t wait to get on Bob’s boat and take a look. J checked on his broken headsail, which could only be described as a mess. Bob bought it from the previous owner for $350 and it started to fall apart after only a short while. We all condemned the previous owner for his dishonesty and felt how lucky that we met such an honest and lovely seller like Bob! He kept working on Mustang even though it had already been sold to us. The boat was ready to go when handed to us.
It would be very difficult to sail Bob’s boat without a headsail, because the mainsail is too heavy and not curved enough. Luckily we have two spare headsails on our boat. We brought them to Bob’s and they fit ok. Bob asked if he could buy them from us. J said you can keep them, they cost one packet of TimTam. Bob said I’ll give you two! He had a look of gratitude in his eyes…
We invited Bob for dinner, and he came with two packets of TimTam wrapped in a plastic bag. When he got himself onboard, he said ’I think I know this boat’.
Not much variety of food left on our boat so I made stir fry pumpkin with veggies protein. We all enjoyed it. Bob said the previous owner of ‘So Good’ wasn’t happy with his offer and even got angry with Bob, so that he took everything he could off the boat and sold Bob a trashy headsail… (the guy was ridiculous, he could have refused to sell it to Bob if he’s not happy with the offer). Looks like Bob’s new boat needs more gear and improvements. He said he would stay at Tin Can Bay for the whole cyclone season to do the job. Bob mentioned again he probably should have kept Mustang… I felt sorry to hear about his disappointment on the new boat, but I’m sure he’ll be able to make So Good good again, because he’s a handyman.
After tea he rowed his dinghy back and disappeared into the night air. Tomorrow morning we’re going separate ways and I don’t think we’ll see each other again until next year… Good bye and good luck Solo Bob!
Sea Journal 