Bach and Byte

Built from Hull and Deck by David and June Gemmell. Second last Fastback 43. Ordered 10 Apr 1998, Started Jun 1998, Launched 9 Oct 1999. Named after June Gemmell's passion for music and David Gemmell's interest in Computing.

Bach & Byte - The Maiden Adventure

By Fiona Gemmell

Bach & Byte has exploded into the new millennium with a bang! After officially being launched in October 1999 and surviving the party, she did well to withstand the rigours of Millennium night celebrations. However, Bach & Byte s official mascot, "Lucy" the inflatable sex doll, complete with appropriately positioned orifices, was not so lucky- but don't ask! So, on New Year 's Day, the boat crept back to its mooring at about the same speed at which her passengers were operating . After final provisioning, Mum and Dad left for Mooloolaba on the first leg of her Maiden Cruise - to The Sandy Straits.
After making final preparations, picking up crew and repairing Lucy, fabulous conditions greeted us as we sailed out of the Wharf Marina - 15 to 20 knot south-easterly winds. Our spinnaker run saw us get up to behind Double Island Point in under 5 hours (despite almost losing the kite at one stage because of a frayed halyard!).
But we made it up in one piece (one of our less-than-seaworthy crew members may not agree with me) and spent a glorious night anchored in the lee of Double Island Point. We were greeted the next morning by crystal blue waters and stunning coloured sands - sailing can be such bloody hard work sometimes! The Wide Bay Bar was a breeze and our first night was spent in Pelican Bay where we managed to see the one and only Pelican after which the bay is so '1
appropriately named! We spent a sun-filled day attempting to catch dinner and quickly discovered I that Sandy Straits fish do not like either pastrami or turkey (someone forgot the bait!). But we managed to survive on what we'd brought. l
Thanks to Mum's fabulous ' provisioning' , we ended up with enough food to last a year!
Full to the eyeballs with Christmas leftovers, we headed up to Garry's Anchorage only to be greeted by 10,000 houseboats, twice as many annoying and noisy children and millions of mozzies that looked as though they'd all been fed steroids! ! (Dad has told me a billion times not to exaggerate !). So, after making the seemingly wise decision to move further up the, channel to where it was calmer and where more 'normal' boats were moored, we quickly joined the idiotic society and ran aground as the rest of them had. (Where's the 4WD mode when you need it?) So we did the only thing possible - cracked open the champagne and waited for the tide.
The next few days were spent in gorgeous conditions inside the island, while outside the seas had picked up to 3-4 metres and a 35-40 knot south-easterly gale was blowing ("apparently"). We weren't going anywhere!
We eventually decided to head down to Tin Can Bay to sit out the south-easterlies and drop off the crew. When we actually got there and saw the thriving metropolis itself, we were quick to place blame on the skipper who had chosen this option over another night with our friend in Pelican Bay! Even though all the hustle and bustle was a bit hard to handle after being on the boat, Tin Can Bay wasn't too bad. We even had the pleasure of meeting some of locals - one in particular took great pride in telling us that the distance from the marina to the bus stop was approximately one stubby - (but four for him) All in all, the trip was a great success. We had fabulous weather, plenty to eat and drink, great company and lots of fun. The boat did well and even the dinghy did a great job. Dad also did a fabulous job and didn't forget to put the plug in the dinghy once! Many thanks must go to Mum for the extra kilos, Harry, Becky and Burnie for making it a trip to  remember, and especially Jan for feeding all that burley to the fish on the way up! Thanks also to Peter and the autopilot for helping bring the boat back to Raby Bay and reality. We hope you all had a fantastic cruise and Dad has promised to remember the bait next time. And special thanks must also go to Lucy for all the great times.