CRUISING wEATHER along the sunshine Queensland coast.

The High pressure systems rolling across Australia to the east are regular and we get the associated SE tradewinds with it. The perfect direction to take us to the north of OZ. In general we have 3 or 4 or 5 days strong south easterlies then two days of light winds. Our cruising schedule is thus accordingly. A few days sailing from break-of-day till the next overnight spot (sometimes short-, other times long hops). Then a couple of days resting and catching up with home chores and exploring. We've had fair weather mostly. Not enough rain to catch water but getting miserably wet seems to be a constant. The 'Sunshine Coast' we've only occationally experienced with glimpses. It is warm temperatures and that we like. The sun shone, the trades blew, and the current raged as we rounded the top of Australia leaving the Pacific Ocean after eleven years. Read more

CRUISING SECURITY ALERT for Australia, Queensland.

The following I presume could be encountered anywhere where there are plenty yachts. But this happened to us on the Queensland coast.
* aggresive yacht attack on Mylady sailboat.
* un-manned yachts under full sail and motor.
The alarm went at 5:30am and the anchor was on deck at 6:00am. While skipper was still securing the anchor, I steered Mylady out to sea. We noticed the only other yacht in the bay at North Palm Island, at the far opposite side, who came in late afternoon the previous day, also have navigation lights on. We were moving opposite directions. I turned back to the bay to pass them red to red. But they turned also inside. I turned more to not be misunderstood, but so did they. Deciding if they want to pass us on the shore side I'll go to sea. Making an almost 90 degree I headed out to sea. But they turned with us. Confused I asked skipper am I reading the lights right? He turned around and ordered 'Give gas!' The lights (boat) was concerningly close. We sped away. But they followed at high speed. Skipper took the wheel and after a short full rev run, stopped the boat. The aggresive yacht who reved up with us, made a sharp turn to the south and passed our stern at arms length. 'IDIOTS! skipper shouted'. The yacht motored away as the day was breaking. 
The unmanned yacht we encountered earlier going to Airlie Beach. We were sailing on a strong southeasterly, hard to windward, the last leg to Airlie Beach. A big yacht under full sail came out from Airlie Beach heading our way. Since we were on a concerned course, we kept a close eye on it. We soon realized he was motoring but not a person in sight. In all the time that we passed him and afterwards till he was out of sight, no human was visible. It left an eerie feeling to know at full speed in very changeable weather, their are yachts with NO LOOKOUT.
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