Springtime on the bay

Cruising out to the bay, leaving the Yarra behind

We're back to Yarra's Edge Marina for some springtime fun! We're hoping a few of our friends and family join us for a cruise or two! We also plan to have a few week nights on the water - when the weather and our calendar allows us!
There is nothing lovelier than leaving work, catching the 109 tram to Port Melbourne, and being picked up by Manookatoo. It is an instant relaxant, changing my mood from work-think to rest-think!!

Not leaving the Marina!!

Of course, not every day lends itself to cruising. Springtime means windy weather and changing conditions. A planned weekend at Sandringham was not quite curtailed by gale force winds, but we certainly stayed well inside the Marina! Walking around the local markets and shops, with a restaurant dinner one night and drinks at the Yacht Club the other helped sweeten the weekend.

HMAS Canberra III

September was also a travelling month, with a weekend in Sydney spent on and near the water. We caught the ferry to Manly, passing Matt's big ship on the way, checking out likely coves for overnight stays next year.

A likely cove for 2017

Two weeks in South Australia didn't involve a lot of cruising, but we did manage a boat trip along the Murray to visit the Overland Corner Hotel!

Cruising along the Murray

Visits from a local paddle steamer also kept us interested.

Now, as the weather starts to settle and warm up, we look forward to visits from family and friends, before Manookatoo takes off again for the lakes!

Two junior captains on Papa's boat

Summer's End and beyond

Even as life returns to the city and the days get shorter, we try to make the most of times on Manookatoo. The Captain is always keen to spend as much time as he can on the boat but the first mate, with work commitments to balance, finds a trip to Lakes a fortnight quite enough!
We continued to enjoy a social time in February, with friends Ian and Joanne joining us on our first weekend; we enjoyed dinner on the Friday night at the Motor Cruising Club in Paynesville but cruised to the solitude of Bunga Arm for our second night, at Egret campsite.

Our next weekend on the water together was the Paynesville Music Festival so it was a great chance to catch up with friends, listening to "The Wizard" at the Wine Bar on the Friday night and enjoying a beachside three course dinner - complete with candelabra - outside the Yacht Club on the Saturday night. We certainly know how to enjoy ourselves!
 The Captain was keen to see the Classic Boat Festival on the following weekend - he particularly enjoyed seeing the boats cruise past while he was on the Raymond Island ferry.
The following weekend was Labour day so we made the most of three days on the lakes, with the first night relaxing at the jetty on Raymond Island, then a leisurely cruise to Bunga Arm for a night, a trip to Metung Pub to listen to "The Uncles" and catch up with (many different) friends, followed by a night at Boxes Creek, before returning to Paynesville then home.
Easter is early this year so we planned our return to Melbourne on Manookatoo for the end of March. The Captain stocked the boat with supplies and moved to Lakes Entrance in preparation and we travelled to Lakes by train and bus on Good Friday. We had a couple of lazy days in the lakes before the wind and weather was right for travel, so we relaxed on Flagstaff Jetty for a day - the first mate even made some hot cross buns, then we cruised around from Flagstaff to Bancroft Bay for a drink at the Metung Pub and a night at Boxes Creek, finishing with lunch in Lakes and an early night at Flagstaff with a 5am start on the Monday. We followed a fishing trawler out through the bar - it was certainly easy to see where to go!! Then we headed right, following the coast for the day and reaching Refuge Cove at Wilsons Promontory just after 5:30pm.
We cooked ourselves a delicious roast chicken and enjoyed the solitude as the waves rocked us to sleep. The next morning we left a little later - 6am - rounding the Prom just before sunrise and enjoying the trip along the coast with the southerly breeze. We entered Cleveland Bight, the eastern entrance to Westernport Bay, just after 3:00. passing under the San Remo bridge on the running tide and tying up at the jetty at Rhyll for the night.
Our plan was to head to Port Phillip Bay so we left Rhyll at 8:30 the next morning, however after rounding the island and passing Cowes, the outgoing tide met the incoming swell to create lumpy, unpleasant conditions, so we turned Manookatoo around and headed up the bay instead, deciding that Hastings was a much nicer alternative! The wind picked up as the day continued and we were very pleased with our decision, enjoying a nice dinner at the local tavern with Julie and Gary Plumley that night.
Not wishing our holiday on Manookatoo to end prematurely, we cruised the next day up the bay, enjoying lunch on the water and dropping anchor behind French Island, in Chicory Lane, for a final night on our own. The weather was perfect and we toasted our good fortune as the sun set - and another beautiful time on the water drew to a close.

Manookatoo Summer daze

Sunday 27/12 
Captain Martin travelled to Bairnsdale on the train then on the bus to Lakes Entrance where he boarded Manookatoo, cruising across and staying at Flagstaff Jetty - enjoying mussels and seafood for dinner
Monday 28/12 
Captain Martin took Gary, Julie and family to Metung pub for lunch then spent another night at Flagstaff Jetty, with BBQ steak for dinner 
Tuesday  29/12 

The First Mate arrived at Paynesville, where Manookatoo and Captain Martin were waiting - we took off as soon as we were ready, straight to Bunga Arm - second blowhole, with prawns for lunch, mussels then turkey for dinner, washed down with a bootle of sparkling red - what a way to start a holiday!! 

Wednesday 30/12 
The water level at second blowhole had dropped a little, so we moved 100m to anchor on the west side of the blowhole, enjoying turkey for lunch and a lamb mixed grill BBQ that night.
Thursday 31/12 
We cruised back to the Paynesville cruising club where we provisioned up ready for the Lynches visit - after lunch we all cruised to Duck Arm for an afternoon swim then back to Paynesville where we tied up at a mooring in the channel to watch the fireworks and celebrate the New Year, enjoying a seafood platter and lots of champagne!!
Friday 1/1 
We cruised across Lake King and into the Tambo River, stopping for lunch at the Swan Reach Hotel then we continued under the bridge and along the river to tie up under the cliffs for the night, swimming and lazing the afternoon away. We BBQed a steak BBQ and enjoyed a relatively early night.
Saturday 2/1 
We cruised back along the river, stopping for breakfast at Johnsonville then back to Paynesville for supplies, then we anchored in Newlands Arm for a sausage sizzle lunch. Back to the main jetty at Paynesville for the night with dinner at Alma's Restaurant
 
Sunday 3/1 
We said farewell to the Lynches, then headed off to Metung to meet Kirsty and Chris, with lunch at the pub then an afternoon cruise to Lakes then returning to park at Box's Creek for the evening to enjoy mixed seafood for dinner. The weather was inclement but the company was good!
Monday 4/1 
We dropped Kirsty and Chris back in Metung, then went for a walk, bought some food then returned to Box's Creek for some time on our own - baked beans for lunch and a lamb roast dinner

Tuesday 5/1 
We cruised back to Paynesville to await the arrival of the O'Connell kids, who all arrived mid morning. We spent the afternoon in Paynesville, with lunch on the boat and a barbecue dinner at their motel
Wednesday 6/1 
Today we cruised up to Lakes Entrance for a prawn and oyster lunch, with a stop at Flagstaff Jetty for a walk to the Entrance and so that the Captain could collect some mussels for entree before fish and chips for dinner.
Thursday 7/1 
The weather was lovely so we spent a beautiful day cruising and relaxing at Steamer Landing including swims and walks to the beach, then back to Paynesville for another BBQ dinner
Friday 8/1 - Sunday 10/1
Early this morning the families departed, so we restocked and headed back to Bunga Arm, second blowhole for a few days RnR, cooking bread, walking to the beach, zipping in the Brig, walking the Boole Poole Peninsula from Bunga to Mosquito Point and swimming in the lake. We enjoyed seafood pasta on the first night, a lamb mixed grill the second and home made pizza on the third.
Monday 11/1 
We returned to Paynesville to re-stock and meet Shaunagh and Mark, our guests for the night. We cruised over to Duck Arm in the sunshine to enjoy swimming before chicken and prawns for lunch, then headed south to Steamer Landing for a walk along 90 mile beach before BBQ steaks for dinner. A post-sunset beach walk followed before bed.
Tuesday 12/1 
We ventured further up Bunga Arm to Egret campsite for lunch before returning Shaunagh and Mark to Paynesville for their departure. After our farewells we cast off and cruised to Metung where we bought some supplies then continued to Boxers Creek for  the night. We found a nice sunny spot to plant Percy the Poinsettia, Martin tried his hand a fishing with no luck, so he cooked chicken satay for dinner.
Wednesday 13/1 
Continuing east, we cruised up to Flagstaff Jetty where we found a nice spot on the jetty and caught up with a few of the "locals". We zipped across to Lakes Entrance and got some prawns for lunch and salmon for dinner before returning  for a relaxing afternoon, interrupted only when we repositioned Manookatoo before a wind change. When it did blow we were well sheltered and able to BBQ the salmon for dinner.
Thursday 14/1 
The morning was grey and drizzly so we rang the Waterwheel Tavern to arrange a pick up for lunch in Lake Tyers, where we enjoyed calamari and fish and chips. Returning to Lakes Entrance we bought a small pork roast for dinner - a lovely choice on a cool evening!
Friday 15/1 
We cruised over to the fuel dock then on to Lakes Entrance to buy still more prawns! We headed west, stopping at Harpers Bight for toasted pork sandwiches for lunch then headed into Boxers Creek to meet up with Rick and Corinne on "Gently"; rafted together on the beach we enjoyed a few drinks, some prawns and a curry for dinner.
Saturday 16/1 
We had arranged to collect Gary and Julie, Luke and Linda plus Jasmine and Nick from the main wharf at Lakes Entrance for a days cruising the lake; we had also arranged to meet Rick and Corinne at Harpers Bight for a birthday lunch for Gary. With prawns and chickens, rolls and salad, we all enjoyed a very social occasion before we returned our friends to Lakes Entrance and ourselves to Flagstaff Jetty for another lovely night with seafood marinara for dinner.
Sunday 17/1 
A short stop at Lakes Entrance for water, food and alcohol then we cruised east for a chicken burger lunch at Harpers Bight. With more wind than predicted we cast off in the afternoon and continued west, into Box's Creek where the water was calmer! We perfected our pizza bases with more cooking time today :-)

Monday 18/1 
After a lovely walk around the creek followed by a swim and breakfast we cruised across to Metung to meet the parents just after midday. We parked on a small spit opposite Nungurnah where we enjoyed chicken and salad for lunch, returning for an afternoon rest and meeting Lynne and David for drinks before dinner at the Metung Pub.
Tuesday 19/1 
We arranged an early departure today, cruising via Barrier Landing and up to Lakes Entrance where we bought some prawns off the trawler, then cruised over to Flagstaff Jetty where we had a swim and enjoyed lunch on the back of the boat. We returned to Metung for an afternoon siesta before BBQ steaks and a nice red for dinner.
Wednesday 20/1 
A slower start today with a short cruise to Box's Creek for lunch, returning for afternoon rests then off to Paynesville for a delicious Thai dinner at the Motor Cruising Club, with a twilight cruise home afterwards.
Thursday 21/1 
We headed west again, up the Tambo River for a sausage sizzle lunch at Johnsonville. Dinner tonight was take away fish and chips and salad.
Friday 22/1 
We farewelled the parents early then after breakfast we headed back to the Tambo River, enjoying lunch at the Swan Reach Hotel then cruising back to Johnsonville as the rain set in, tying up for a lazy afternoon and seafood marinara for dinner.
Saturday 23/1 

After a walk and breakfast we cruised back down the Tambo River and across to Paynesville, where we filled the boat with water and the car with our belongings. We drove into town for supplies for lunch and tonight, then drove back to put these onto the boat before driving the car to the ferry and over to Raymond Island. Returning to the "mainland" we walked back to Manookatoo then cruised over to tie up near the car. We enjoyed a lazy lunch then the first mate went window shopping (very quiet in Paynesville on Saturday afternoon)! Later we cruised across and picked up a mooring in Duck Arm for our final summer night, enjoying oysters, roast chicken and pudding with a lovely bottle of sparkling red for dinner.
Sunday 24/1 
We left our mooring fairly early, cruising back to Raymond Island where we found our jetty spot, had a last breakfast and locked up the boat before heading back to the car for our trip home. The holidays have been wonderful - social, relaxing, rejuvenating and we look forward to a few weekend cruises around the Lakes before Manookatoo returns to Melbourne.