Australia - Pacific Crossing Notes: A Sailor's Guide to the Coconut Milk Run - page 439

Ticking off the Milestones
Now that we had found our rhythm again (and were making good speed as long as we re-
mained inshore), it was a pleasure to watch time tick by, so unlike the rushed hours of our
lives on land. With our sturdy boat, a cooperative wind, and each other, we felt we had it
all. The moon was gradually waxing from quarter phase to a plump gibbous shape; that and
a good book was all the entertainment we needed over the next two days and nights. Land
provided fewer distractions, except for a few more distinctive mountains and the stiletto
skyline of Surfer's Paradise, a Queensland milestone. Each mile brought us closer and
closer to Brisbane. Soon, it was time to plan our approach.
The city of Brisbane lies behind two barrier islands, Stradbroke and Moreton Islands,
which protect Moreton Bay, an area of sand banks and shallows. Although a narrow cut
between the islands tempts some sailors to shortcut into the bay, we took Namani and her
six-foot draft up and around both islands to follow the marked shipping lane into the bay.
We had to fight a two knot current on the way, but by this point, we had hours of daylight
on our side. One by one, we ticked off the buoys marking the channel, keeping red to left as
is the rule throughout most of the Pacific. What was unusual was having navigation aids at
all. In most places we'd visited since departing Panama, a crooked pipe stuck into the
corner of a reef had been enough of a navigation aid to celebrate - here, we had real buoys
to steer by.
We wound our way through ribbons of pastel greens and shallow blues, astounded at the
size of the freighters maneuvering through the aquamarine maze. To make the most of our
remaining hours at sea, we took to hand steering. It had been our plan all along to sell
Namani in Australia, but the reality was truly upon us now. Soon, we spotted a forest of
masts of boats within Scarborough Boat Harbour, located in a suburb of Brisbane. When
we made Namani fast in her berth, we knew that our days of calling ourselves sailors were
numbered. The following week was a flurry of beautification work to present the boat at
her best, and we found a buyer within a few weeks. That part of the trip, at least, had gone
according to our original plan.
If nothing else, three years aboard Namani has taught us to be flexible. This start-and-stop
passage from Sydney to Brisbane wasn't the first to bring a few surprises. Our battle with
the EAC proved more complicated than our Gulf Stream crossing several years before, but
without the specter of adverse weather breathing down our necks, we had the luxury of
time. A few days later, the prevailing high pressure system gave way to a troughy mess, so