Cruise to Canaipa - From the Deck of Shanda

By Bruce Wieland

The planned July cruise to the Moreton Bay Boat Club at Scarborough was hastily changed to the Canaipa cruise when we learned that there were other events competing for the limited number of spare marina berths in Scarborough Harbour on that weekend. It must have been providence, because the Canaipa venue proved to be an excellent choice. As a member of RQYS, I had made enquiries as whether visitors could use their annex at Canaipa Point. This would be ok as long as the member/visitor ratio was within their guidelines. NO PROBLEM!

I was keen to have two nights afloat so with first mate Lyn and crew member John Hamaty on board, Shanda left Manly Harbour at 1400hrs Friday. The forecast for Friday afternoon was for S.E. at 20+ knots, but the real wind did not exceed 15kn. So we had a nice sail to the Lazaret Gutter on Peel Island and found a protected anchorage. Peter and Allison on Steppin Along also planned to leave on Friday intending to find an anchorage along the way. I tried to call them on both VHF and mobile but got no response. The sunset was golden, but chilly, so we soon went below. All of us retired early.

Saturday dawned clear with very light wind and lots of dew on deck. After a leisurely breakfast we weighed anchor and sailed slowly south with a favourable tide leaving Peel Island to port. As Shanda approached Potts Point on Macleay Island the breeze faded so the motor was started. Passing Blakesley’s Anchorage, I noticed a yacht further south that fitted the profile of Steppin Along which was confirmed with the binoculars. They had anchored on the western side of Potts Point for the night.

Both Steppin Along and Shanda found a good anchorage just west of the RQYS pontoon early afternoon and waited for the rest of the fleet to arrive.  Ray and Sue on Purr-Fik arrived mid afternoon followed by Ken Darcy on Island Time and Chris, Sonya and Claire on The Lady Claire. Everyone bundled up their goods and went ashore and we were made very welcome by Kevin, the onsite manager. Ray had zoomed across the passage earlier to invite Andrew and Trish from the very new looking 15 metre Leopard catamaran named Sengo. (African for Leopard), who joined our party ashore. Andrew and Trish are now “live aboards”, who sold up in Melbourne, and are making their way slowly north. Andrew is a very hardy Melbourneite, as he stayed with us until late that night, in the freezing cold wearing shorts and a T-shirt! The very efficient Bar-B-Q and the hot showers were appreciated as we had a long and relaxing evening. The mosquitoes only stayed for a very brief visit also. There were two other groups sharing the venue, and we all came together around a welcome log fire to keep the mood going. Sue revealed a previously hidden side of her persona as a pyromaniac. Sue just loves to stoke a fire! The party finally broke up around 11.00pm. Sunday morning was again clear and dewy. All ashore again at 0800hrs for breakfast and coffee. Shanda left around noon and motored the entire journey to Manly as there was barely a breath of wind. This was a most enjoyable weekend with good company. See you on the next cruise!