on the other hand....

for anyone seeking the ultimate getaway.....

tarzan and jane

...we have finally found a place to settle down that suits our lifestyle.....sharing with the anacondas is a bit unsettling though....

reclining Buddha

...they say the Buddha is represented in three positions....standing, sitting and reclining...this 42m statue is second only to the 44m one in Bangkok....I believe he was sitting under the Boddhi tree when enlightenment struck....

Ayutthaya!

not quite Angkor Wat but dating back to 1200AD.....if they had better mortar, they would have stood up better....

king's summer palace

a stop on the day trip to the Ayathaya ruins....

travelling...

Spent 5 nights in Bangkok!  I thought the traffic was bad in Montreal....it's an experience in Bangkok!  Riding the river and canals on a 'long tail' or the river ferries was a highlight.....day trip to ruins of Ayutthaya...lots of palaces and Wats (temples)...Tuk Tuk drivers hustling everywhere....then overnight bus down to Krabi and ferries to Ko Lanta Island.  Plan to relax on the beaches here for a week or so then visit Phuket.  Pics to follow when time and internet allow!

full moon...

...on one of the many canals in Bangkok!

Lok Si Temple, Penang

some of the views of this complex covering an entire hill.....

Hainan Temple!

The Temple of the Heavenly Queen, aka the Hainan Temple, in Penang was dedicated to Mar Chor, the patron saint of seafarers...so it seemed proper to pay our respects and make an offering!!

Penang!

Enjoying the Island of Penang!  Great hotel on the beach, 8th floor corner unit overlooking ocean, jellyfish in the sea, kids in the pool....great openair food market across the street where we have been having thai, malay, chinese, japanes, e indiand and even some yucky western food.....riding buses all over....just spent hours in Ko Lok Si Temple...what an experience.....two days we fly to Bangkok.....

postcards from Langkawi

Found a very nice place to stay after a couple of tries.....the Green Village is small, quiet and very friendly....the pool has a calming influence and the beaches are a short walk across the road...the small town is filled with every type of restaurant and we are beginning to unwind....the Hindu Temple figures were from a daytrip to the Batu Caves in KL....the Captain hangs over our bed....seemed appropriate somehow....

Langkawi!

escaped the hustle of KL.....plane hop to Langkawi was quicker and no more expensive than first class train overnight...so here we are looking for a beach....they have bigtime dutyfree here....

KL

off to  rocky start....the fancy Tilt Train to Brisbane broke down....twice...second time they loaded us on buses to continue....finally made the Gold Coast Airport Hotel (not recommended) 2 1/2 hrs late....but found a great pub across the street and a good Thai curry and cold beer got us back in the mood....Air Asia flight was uneventful...Airbus ok....long bus ride in to city centre....and quickly merged into the hot, sultry crowded atmosphere of Kuala Lumpur....hotel was a bust again but put up with one night then found a great place around the corner...we are in the heart of Chinatown and Little India...big busling husling market at the end of the road.....soaking in the flavors and aromas.....off to find the Batu Caves today.....

"on the road to find out...."

first stop after putting Toketie safely to bed in the boatyard was Ann & Chris's...where this young possum jumped from the roof to the tree to take a banana out of Chris's hand.....and in the morning the water dragons joined us for breakfast by the pool.....heading into Bundaberg to catch the train down to the GoldCoast.....

leavin' on a jet plane....

Well, cyclone Yasi hit the coast about 500m N of us.  It did a lot of damage to several small tourist communities behind the Great Barrier Reef.  Cairns was spared the worst of it but Port Hinchinbrook was hit hard enough to pile all the boats in the marina up on the shore! 

http://www.news.com.au/police-divers-search-for-cyclone-yasi-victims-in-port-hinchinbrook/story-e6freoof-1226000927368?from=public_rss

All is quiet on the 'cyclone front' at the moment.

The Toketie crew have booked flights to Malaysia and will escape for a while to do some land travel.  The plan is to put Toketie safely up in the yard till we return.

Tropical Cyclone 'Yasi'

It's a big one!  Category 5 and that is as high as the categories go!  With winds forecast to 290 kph to hit near Cairns tonight.  Most people have evacuated the coast.  For a dynamic satellite view see http://www.bom.gov.au/cyclone/satellite/sequadrant.shtml

Toketie is safely S of it but still on the edge of the cyclone zone and the season is just heating up!!

cyclone season in Australia!

Well, the cyclone season is well underway with 'Anthony' hitting the Queensland coast N or us and 'Yasi' cranking up to a Category 4 and forecast to hit the same area of the coast by Thursday. 

http://www.tropicalstormrisk.com/

But stormtracks are unpredictable and can change course and intensity so we stowed the dinghy today and will keep a weather eye out!!!

Kangaroos!

Across the road from the marina, in a dip in the grassy field, stepping carefully so as not to disturb any resting snakes, we found a family of kangaroos!  They feed here at dusk and at dawn.

More flooding in E Australia!

The official death toll is now '12' with many more people missing.  Brisbane and Bundaberg airports are still open but surrounded by water.  Bundaberg is expecting another peak today of 6m, less than the 8m that we had over the holidays but enough to flood businesses and homes in town.  The army is airlifting supplies to stock shelves in stores as people run out of food.
Meanwhile the cyclone season is heating up with one descending on New Caledonia and forecast to turn S towards New Zealand and another over NW Australia and moving towards the coast.  A deep low forming just N of us has the potential to develop into a cyclone.  A very large high pressure system is forming to the W and hopefully will push these lows away from us.
Reminds me of the old Chinese curse...."may you live in interesting times"......

Flood waters have receded....

...but not everyone escaped.....

missing boats!

Two absent owners of boats that were on the river during the flood have contacted us via comments on the blog or the YouTube video.  I have put in a call to the VMR488 rescue service to get any information on the boats locations.  They are checking records.  I also put out a call to the boats still on the river asking if anyone knows the whereabouts of these two boats.  This is the most information I have at this time.

S/V Kalalau last seen by us on moorings downtown may be hung up behind Spinnakers restaurant.  No confirmation on this but a light blue hull was seen there recently.  Will try to get a confirmation.

S/V SuseaQ last seen by us on moorings in center of river was part of four boats that became entangled and lifted their moorings as they drifted downstream.  The four were in sight for days until the river rose higher and pushed them downstream.  It is believed SuseaQ is stuck behind Paddy's Island but again no confirmation yet.  Just informed by VMR that the owners are flying in from the US and SuseaQ is believed to be behind the island.

Will post a followup if I get further information.

Meanwhile the good news is that the flood waters have receded by approximately 3 meters and the current is slowing. 

Toketie in the Bundaberg Flood on the Burnett River

December 24, 2010

Burnett River, Bundaberg, Australia

Christmas Eve!

This is without a doubt one of the more difficult Christmases aboard Toketie. Being on the other side of the world, away from family and friends is hard enough but more bearable nowadays with email and skype to make you feel closer. No, this year it is the circumstance we find ourselves in!

As you know from previous entries, we were moored in the river in downtown Bundaberg in Australia. We were enjoying the luxury of hot showers, or cold when the humidity went into the 90s and the breeze stopped. Being able to walk into town and wander through air conditioned malls to buy groceries. And we have met some wonderful people here through contact with Fred and Lesley, the Ocean Cruising Club Port Officers.

But we are busy as well. There is always a list of maintenance chores on board, getting the new wind instrument repaired, trying to solve the main sail track rigging problem and of course the routine daily chores of cooking and cleaning. We have been out to restaurants a few times with moderate success. The fresh prawns and scallops from the fishing boats at the marina are a treat.

But last week, the heavy rains that have plagued the East coast of Queensland this year, causing much flooding, have finally reached us on our little moorings on the river. With a particularly high tide and a spill of water from the dams upstream, our buoys were submerged and the mooring lines were tense.

So we had them move us from the center of the stream to near the edge where the current, still powerful, was not quite as trying to get to the dock. Debris from the fields upstream floating down river and getting caught up in mooring lines lifted four boats, moorings and all and floated them downstream in a tangle of hulls and rigging. For the time we were safe at the edge. But the rains were relentless and three days before Christmas, the water was so high, they were moving boats out of the marina. The marina itself was flooded and the fuel dock and main wharf cut off. Again boats were breaking loose in the heavy flow and colliding with other boats downstream, breaking them from their moorings. It was a mess with more rain in the forecast and no one willing or able to say how high the waters will go.

One by one, the fishing boats and local pleasure boats were heading down the river to escape what might be coming.

December 23

1430 hours

So with the last two hours of falling tide, we dropped our stern lines and I motored forward into the five knot current to give Linda enough slack to let the bow lines go. Our $200 worth of heavy mooring lines are attached about two meters below the river surface and maybe we can retrieve them some day. We pointed the bow into mid channel and gunned the engine to give us steerage in the strong current. Huge clumps of grass, mud and branches floated everywhere on the surface.

To add to our distress, the marine radio had been reporting for days that many of the floating buoys marking the river channel were out of position due to the flooding. So we ran like smoke and oakum, blind, downstream, hoping the high water would get us over the shallow bars, and on a falling tide! Not the best of situations but our only option really was to get to the river's mouth.

1530 hours

It was a fast ride and we covered the eight miles in less than an hour. At a bend about ½ mile from where the river empties into the big shallow Hervey Bay, we pulled off into a corner that we thought was out of the mainstream, and with Toketie's 60HP straining against the current managed to get our anchor into the bottom.

We sat up all night taking shifts on anchor watch. Huge clumps of debris were coming down the river and could drag the boat if caught up in the anchor chain. With a boathook we cleared the bits as they wrapped around our anchor chain. But we were holding and safely out of the worst of the town basin. I watched a small sloop ghost by under the full moon as it dragged its anchor. With no one on board it made its way around a bend and likely lodged among some moored boats. Later a huge trimaran looking like a Klingon battleship drifted by, also deserted and not lit. Here it is caught up on a sailboat and small power boat. It would later break all of them free and the group was last seen going out to sea. We were lucky nothing ran into us.

Next day we called the marina at the river mouth but there was no room at the inn. So we are anchored along the side in the river with about twenty feet of water below us. No wifi signal, so no internet. No cell phone, just the VHF radio for emergency contact. There is nowhere to land the dinghy and the current is too strong for it anyway.

Christmas Eve for us, was not so bad, confined on board and exhausted from constant vigilance to the floating lumps coming down the river. More rain and strong wind warning are forecast over the next few days so we expect to be stuck here till the flooding subsides. The option of running out to sea is dangerous as we would be in the large shallow Hervey Bay with strong wind warnings turning from SE to NW so would be exposed. Not knowing the local hurricane holes did not help.

The good news is that Linda did manage to find a ½ dozen bottles of an excellent Wolf Blass Silver Label Pinot Grigio and squirrel them away for the holidays.

So as we sit here in the torrential tropical downpours watching the river flow, we can raise a toast to family and friends far away but not forgotten!

December 25

0430 hours

Just as dawn was breaking or 'at first sparrow fart' as Captain Jack Wynters would say, a large raft of floating debris struck our anchor chain. The clump of sod and weeds and grass wrapped around the chain pulling the bow down and Toketie was dragging her anchor downstream. I frantically worked with an aluminum extending boathook to attempt to free us from the debris. After 45 minutes I managed to break it into pieces, taking the strain off the anchor chain enough so that we stopped our drift between two unoccupied boats anchored behind us. We raised the anchor and motored forward, re-anchoring where we had been.

1430 hours

When the tide changed, easing the flow downstream, we re-anchored in an area we thought might be free of the floating debris and out of the main current. In the process of lifting the anchor, the bow swung and put enough pressure on the chain to rip half of the windlass out of the foredeck. Fortunately it stilled turned and we got the gear up and reset closer to a row of pilings and rows of moorings, most with boats attached. Unfortunately when the tide turned to ebb and the current doubled, we dragged again. Michael on Eliza, which was hanging on two anchors close into shore, rowed over in his 'tinny', caught on to Toketie and climbed aboard. As we drifted slowly backwards, dragging our anchor, I motored again to ease the pressure. Brendan on 'Jorga', moored fore and aft behind us kindly tossed us one of his stern lines which we eased back on to hang off the mooring behind him.

Heavy rain continues to fall.

December 26

0330 hours

The tide is now half way through the ebb and the current is building. Brendan's one frayed mooring line is all that is holding us. So I start the engine and motor forward for three hours to ease the strain on the line.

1000 hours

The tide is rising and though the flow downstream is still strong, the tide slows it to about three knots and I launch the dinghy and motor forward with the 5HP to attach a line to 'Jorga' ahead of us. Using the line to hold me in place, Brendan eases me back downstream where I attach a second mooring line so that Toketie is now hanging off a two ton concrete block on double mooring lines. I then drop back down to Toketie and tie off her stern to attach another mooring line aft to the mooring behind us. We are now secured fore and aft and feel confident we can take the strain of the increasing current.

December 27

0330 hours

But the drama was just beginning. Two other yachts that have become entangled upstream of us are dragging down on us. One of them was an unmanned catamaran that broke loose upstream and crossed over a beautiful Hans Christian named 'Cloud Nine', locking them in a permanent embrace.

Ian on 'Cloud Nine' deployed every anchor he had and still the current pushed them back till they collided with 'Jorga' ahead of Toketie. They stabilized there temporarily till another unmanned steel boat, 'Wa Pe Ka', came loose and collided with them, moving Jorga's two ton mooring block back so that his stern was now in contact with our forward mooring buoy. The steel boat came free and scraped its way back outside of 'Cloud Nine' and floated off downstream. It was still dark so I could not see where it ended up. But with that pressure off, 'Cloud Nine' and the catamaran slowly drifted back down past 'Jorga' threatening to hook Toketie on the way by.

I cut our stern line and pushed the rudder hard over to keep us far enough to starboard to allow the tangled mess to clear us. The current was running strong again with the ebb tide and our mooring lines now led off the roller and under the bobstay. If we continued this for too long, it threatened to chaff through the lines holding us.

As daylight came, the strong wind forecast turned NW and without a stern line, Toketie started sailing on her hull surface upwind and into 'Jorga'. I could not leave the helm for a minute and had great difficulty keeping from running over 'Jorga' against the easing tide.

0800 hours

Meanwhile Linda got on the VHF and called the Port Bundaberg Marina at the mouth of the river to see if we could possibly haul the boat out or get into a slip. One fellow was in the office but no one was operating the travel lift. He called them for us and they said they could come in to work for double time on all charges! The marina told us that they had a slip possibly coming free as a boat was scheduled to leave and said he would let us know in an hour after contacting the owners. An hour later we called him back and he said they were not leaving but he had another he could put us in if we were willing to pay for the slip size which was longer than our boat. At this point, it did not seem like a good idea to quibble!

Before attempting to extricate ourselves from the moorings, I offered to help 'Cloud Nine' and the catamaran entangled immediately behind us attach to the mooring behind us. This was easier said than done as the current was stronger than our outboard could handle. Someone on the VHF heard us and offered to come down from the marina area in a power boat to assist. Well we waited for this Steve guy on 'Azur' and finally he cruised by to assess the situation and after leaning out his side window and giving each of us his opinion decided it was too risky for him and left, wasting an hour of our precious time. His opinions, by the way, were crap! At this point the owner of the catamaran arrived with a better dinghy and 9HP outboard which he was barely able to hold into the current. While steering Toketie back and forth in the wind and current, I dropped a line back to them and he hung off his dinghy attaching mooring lines to the catamaran, stopping their downstream drag.

In the attempt to leave our mooring, we sailed over our lines and managed to wrap them around the keel. The wind gusts were now hitting 30 knots against the current. I cut one mooring line, put the helm hard over to Port and Linda cut the second line freeing us and putting us out into the channel away from 'Jorga' and the 'Cloud Nine' debacle. With full throttle and the strong tail wind, I could just make headway upstream to get around the row of pilings and into the main channel of the river. As I turned to run downstream with the current I was doing 6 ½ knots, slowed by the strong headwind. The marina was about a mile and in no time we were alongside it and getting directions to the slip. Out of the main flow of the river, there was less current but we still had to dock downstream into the slip. With help on the dock, we secured Toketie in the slip and breathed a huge sigh of relief to be safely out of the river channel.

December 29

For us, we hope, the worst is over! But even as I write this our friends and many others are still out on the river tucked into any nook or cranny or hanging off their moorings. The flood waters continue to rise, more heavy rain has fallen, and boats upstream continue to break loose and fly downstream like loose cannons. The entire MidTown Marina we were in is under water and the main jetties and fuel dock have broken loose and are floating downstream. These huge heavy pieces along with the large clumps of floating debris are striking boats hanging on to whatever they can. Although we had the Harbour Authority tug come by several times while we were on the moorings, they were not willing to come to anyone's assistance. They made a feeble attempt to separate the catamaran from 'Cloud Nine' but gave up quickly. They were also unwilling to do anything with another unmanned, anchored boat that was drifting back on us. No other official presence was on the river assisting anyone in any way. I suppose if someone asked to be lifted off and abandon their boat, they would have sent someone out to pick them up. But only the other boat owners, and some real heroes among them, were active on the river trying to catch runaway boats and throw off whatever ground tackle they had on board to minimize the risk of them colliding with boats further downstream. We have heard of no deaths so far in this area. The closest was when two men took a dinghy out to one of the stranded boats to give them food. The dinghy overturned and they managed to get both out of the water but one man was elderly and needed medical treatment. Another boat got him to shore to a waiting ambulance.

The flood has apparently broken water level records now back to the 40's and is still rising. La Nina has been very cruel to Australia this year!

dinghy landing ramp downtown

four boats entangled downtown

debris in the river

Klingon Battleship entangled!

S/V Cloud Nine and catamaran entangled

S/V Cloud Nine and catamaran coming down on Toketie

Toketie on the Burnett River!

This is a short clip of Toketie on the Burnett River in Bundaberg, Australia. The river continued to rise washing out most boats and the marina wharfs. Many vessels have been lost out the river to sea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY2Gbf1MCP4

We are safe, for the moment, in a marina near the mouth of the river after 5 days of hell.

I will write more and try to upload some pictures when possible. If you go to YouTube and search on Bundaberg flood, several other videos show the town and the marina we were moored in.

Merry Christmas from Toketie!

Wishing everyone a very happy holiday season from downunder!

Avro Baby

so bored....Linda has borrowed Bert Hinkler's old Avro to take flying lessons....

Bats at dusk!

Every night at dusk, thousands of flying fox fruit bats pass over us on their way to feed in the orchards downriver!  They are as large as pigeons!

Toketie in Bundaberg!

Toketie attached fore n aft in the river in Bundy! 

Midtown Marina

The fishboats tie up to the funky old docks at Midtown Marina in Bundaberg!  When the tide is really low, the little dinghy landing dock at the marina is in the mud so we tie up to the floating fuel tanks and scramble over the fuel dock.  The prawns, scallops and fish don't get any fresher than they are coming right off the boats....we especially like the large banana prawns!!

dinghy landing

This little dock was put in by the town for people living on the river to land their dinghies!  It has a beautiful walkway all lit up at night going up to the street!

Arrived Aus!

After a bumpy but good passage, Toketie motored into Hervey Bay and up the river to Bundaberg Port Marina in the wee hours, arriving at sunrise with time to shower and swab the decks before clearing customs, immigration and quarantine. The yellow duster has been folded away once again and we are officially in the land of the Joey! Tomorrow the plan is to motor the 7 miles up the river to midtown and check out the city of Bundaberg which will be our home for the next while!

Nearing Aus!

Been a long night with strong currents against us. Motorsailing now with 29nm to the channel. Hope to clear into Bundaberg in the morning!

Day 6

Idyllic tradewind sailing continued today with a steady 15 knot breeze from the East. About 170nm to Bundaberg! The sun is shining and all is well on board Toketie.

Day 5

Beautiful sunshine with large swells from NE and SE making for lumpy confused seas. Light steady breeze directly off stern. Not going as fast as we like but making decent time.

Tradewind sailing!

Quite a relief after the first couple of days where we saw some of the biggest seas we have experienced. Veritable mountains of water following us(fortunately) with tops curling over like a herd of wild horses as they rushed past us. In the night, the motion of slewing down the face or taking one over the side, along with the phosphorescence, told you what you were in! But last night and today, the wind has calmed down to 15 knots or so and the seas are much smoother. This is the fourth day of the passage and we hope to make landfall in Bundaberg by Tuesday, only 380 nautical miles away!

Lest We Forget

It is not hard to find a moment of silence on the sea. The sound of the water rushing by the hull. The wind in the rigging. It is 2AM, a day ahead downunder, and it is pitch black on my watch with a few lonely stars peering around the clouds. No, there are many moments of silence at sea. And much time to remember!

rocking n rollin!

Toketie shot out Dumbea Pass through the main reef from New Caledonia doing 7.8 knots! Not that we wanted to but the wind was blowing and we could not shorten sail at the time. Since then, its been a sleigh ride! Our windomometer quit on us but maybe just as well...huge mountains of water cascading down behind us and slewing Toketie as we surf down their faces. We made good 150 nm the first 24 hours meaning we averaged over 6 knots. Not bad under trysail and half a jib! It has been a tiring day and night though and we are still being tossed around in big seas but the big gusts have lost their punch and we have settled down to a more comfortable 5+ knots. Lots of clouds around and a few drops of rain but nothing too serious yet. About 600 miles to go to Bundagerg!

on to Australia?

Looking good for a weather window this week! Hopefully Tuesday we
will lift the hook and head West to the land of kangaroos! Still
strong winds in the forecast but they are all behind us and looks like
the troughs and fronts might settle down for a week to let us
pass...never enjoy the squalls, lightning and heavy rains! It is
about 800nm from where we are (Noumea) to where we are going
(Bundaberg) so we hope to do it in a week. I will try to update along
the way if I can!

Toketie on the move....almost!

The Toketie crew have 'officially' cleared out of New Caledonia but are sitting in the anchorage watching the weather patterns form over Australia and out into the Tasman Sea! They are a lively bunch, I must say! Highs and Lows, fronts and conversion zones....almost makes you want to pull a 'kiwi' and just go and take yr lickin! But tonight a half dozen or more OCC boats are gathering on 'Szel', a Deerfoot anchored next to us so we must put in a presence! And last night we had the crew of 'Bold Spirit' on board for the dinner they gave us in Fiji.....its so easy to come up with excuses! We have topped up the diesel, the water, the provisions so are running out of excuses...but for that darned weather! To top off the pre-departure anxiety, we are in a strong La Nina year....which is a cold current cycling below the ocean West of S America.....the pundits have declared it will enhance cyclone activity in the S Western Pacific...and guess where we are?
So we hope to cast off soon....its only about 800nm to Bundaberg on the East Australian coast and that is our destination. We think we will park there and travel a bit! Now all we have to do is get there!!! For those out there who pray (Julie:), we'll think of you too!!!

another dive!

five months in the tropics and I can't seem to find a barber....no
worries....Sukanuk to the rescue and Anthea gives me a trim....just
before suiting up with the dive gear again to clean Toketie's bottom
for the very particular Australian quarantine authorities...then over
to Sukanuk to do the same....only to be chased (literally) out of the
water by a shark who was just too interested in me for
comfort.....amazing what adrenaline will do for you.....

a dive

the trip to the top of the mast resulted in the wind transducer
jumping out of my hand (or it could have been an albatross flying by
and clipping it with its wing)....anyway it did not bounce off the
deck but splashed into the chuck at the dock....only 20 ft...no
problem...borrow Derek's dive gear and down I go....got it! Bloody
thing still doesn't work.....

concertina!

a Colin Dipper concertina arrives in the anchorage......

The 'kids' arrive!

all too short....but most enjoyable....

hunting for sharks....and hiking....

leave only footprints....

Isle Signal, New Caledonia

bugs on a branch!

while walking on the beach...what strange sights we see....