I  (sometimes referred to as the notorious Captain Kidd) was suffering withdrawal symptoms brought about by insufficient sailing opportunities after Nova Vida was sold, so wife June provided a 3 day commercial cruise to Fraser Island for my 65th birthday present.  It became a family affair with son Clint coming along, and all the hard work done by the very expert and experienced commercial skipper Pete.  Pete's boat is called Blackbird, a 43 foot Jeanneau Sun Odyssey ocean cruiser.  We loaded up the boat at Hervey Bay's boat harbour and were all ready to depart early on November 11th, 2007.

Fine weather favoured the whole cruise.  We got the sails up as soon as we had motored out of the boat harbour, and from there headed across to Moon Point before following the Fraser Island coast close inshore for a while before anchoring for lunch.  From there it was another couple of hours northward sailing to the vicinity of Lagoon Anchorage, where we we anchored close in under the shelter of some sand dunes for our first night afloat.

Skipper Pete insisted on preparing the evening meal for us by himself, so he sent me, June, and Clint ashore in the dinghy to explore.  We had a good time checking out the long length of beach and climbing the sand dunes, while June acted the role of official photographer for the cruise.  In the sand we also found some soft coffee rock in the process of formation.  Then it was back to the Blackbird before darkness descended, to see what culinary delights Peter had prepared.

After a comfortable night and a leisurely breakfast in the cockpit next morning we again headed north, eventually passing Sandy Cape at the north end of Fraser Island before turning back.  We were too late in the year to see any whales in the bay, but we were close enough inshore to see several dingoes near the end of the island.  Wind and waves became a little boisterous after lunch as we continued southward, so I took the opportunity to sneak an afternoon nap.

Upon awakening I saw that skipper Pete had chosen an anchorage for the night well protected by some cliffs.  This was to be the night for my birthday party, so once again Pete busied himself in the galley.  June and Clint decorated the saloon, and after we had eaten produced a birthday cake complete with lighted candle to finish off the occasion.  It was a quiet but thoroughly enjoyable party!

For breakfast the next morning, the last day of our cruise, we once again fired up Pete's barbequeue in the cockpit.  We had burned the bacon the previous day, so paid particular attention to this detail this morning, whilst Pete cooked eggs in the galley.  Delicious food was a highlight of the cruise!

After a leisurely departure we headed back towards the boat harbour, taking it in turns to steer the boat as we had done several times during the cruise.  Clint was the only one of we passengers who was fit enough to help with the sail handling, so he got lots of practise helping Pete to raise and lower the mainsail whenever required.

A problem arose to worry Pete when the engine failed to keep running as we raised anchor after a brief stop we made.  After several tries it was obvious the engine would only keep running for a few minutes, seeming to need a rest then before it could be started again.  A batch of contaminated fuel?  The worry for Pete was that we would soon be entering the boat harbour, where drifting around out of control if the engine failed posed numerous expensive hazards!  I had some idea of how Pete must have felt from my experiences with Nova Vida, and noted that even a much more modern and professionally maintained boat like Blackbird was not immune from such problems.

Luck was with us (or was it skill?) as we entered the boat harbour with our sails up and the engine freshly started and idling, relying on me to steer whilst Pete and Clint got the sails down.  All went well and we reached our berth safely to end a thoroughly enjoyable cruise.

1. Blackbird at the boat harbour, almost ready to depart.

2. Captain Dave sits back enjoying his passenger status

3. Cruising northwards close in to Fraser Island's shore.

4. The inflatable dinghy towed obediently along behind.

5. Climbing sand dunes at our afternoon anchorage.

6. June admires the Fraser Island Coastal scenery.

7. Clint waiting while skipper Pete cooks our dinner.

8. Pete and Clint enjoying breakfast in the cockpit.

9. Entering Hervey Bay boat harbour at cruise end.