# QLD: Gold Coast to Brisbane (was: An Eventful Evening)



## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

Following the 10 pages of interest in the QLD Fishing Trips proposed by indiedog viewtopic.php?f=43&t=44595 decided to go up and look at the GC departure as suggested by patwah


patwah said:


> Will anyone update on the go?
> 
> Keen to follow this, should be a hoot


Wandered up to Paradise Point with a camera and got a few pics of the departure and the first of the yaks starting were on the beach starting to load, and an eye opener as to how much a kayak can carry, and note the yaks were carrying fishing gear and water as well as camp gear ........ all these blokes are being joined by other akffers at various stages on the run north

All kinds of yaks were there glass, plastic, SOT, SIK, paddle and pedal, and at the time of departure the Seaway tower has wind of 21 knots South to give them a tailwind.

AKFFers starting out were Brad [indiedog] stealth, sot ... dru Zeegul K550, sik ... Grant [gcgrant] swing,sot ... Jim [Jumaji] P13,sot ...
Andy [theclick] natureline,sik ... Dan [Imax] Ai,sot ... Ben [Basher] stealth,sot ....and visitor Dan stealth

_On the 2 pages of pics click to enlarge the view_

The scene on the beach









Then all tested the kayaks fully loaded


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

_click on pics to enlarge_

The crew that started out from Paradise Point, GC









The blokes all departed about 11.15am and I headed to Sovereign Island to get some on water shots as they battled the conditions of 20+knots .... as they passed about 2 kms from the start point they were fairly wide as they headed across towards South Stradbroke Island to find some sheltered water and were travelling in 2 groups about 200m apart

Group one









Group two









First group heading to a sand bank for a breather









Everyone takes a spell on the sand


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## scater (Nov 24, 2007)

Stupid freaking Uni and work!!! wish I was among them this looks like a great trip...


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## rob316 (Oct 2, 2007)

Good effort Dodge getting out to get the pics , even better job to the guys for leaving in those conditions and not expecting much improvement over the next few days either in weather...Have done the trip to many times in my old baycruiser many many moons ago and know matter what you paid me - I wouldn't do it in a yak these days in this weather...they are good though as they will nearly always be in sight and swimming distance of land , have coastguards and many spots to retreat to if needed so its a pretty safe expedition...and as you probably know from your "cruiser" days richo - are in some pretty fishy waters , pity no-one can take the crab pots , there are some great muddys to be caught along the entire route !!
I'm already giving a "well done" guys , as you deserve it just for leaving in the crappy conditions...rob


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## Gunston (May 10, 2006)

Nice report Dodge.
The conditions couldn't be much worse for the poor buggers.
I hope they make it safely and I'm looking forward to the tales when Jimmy gets back ;-)

Cheers
C


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## bushwoodboy (Oct 5, 2006)

Thanks for that Dodge.
Fairly pissing down here at the moment.
Might be a wet night for the boys.
Cheers Mal.


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## grinner (May 15, 2008)

was going to call this one why i hate occy (straps that is paul...not the occulator)

very busy morning at work yesterday, raced off to jacobs well. chucked everything on the AI

unbelievable speed achieved reaching the pin. first a 2 km reach with 25 knots , then straight downwind with a 25 knot tailwind. 
got to the pin about 3.

no signs of indiedog and his band of merry men.
i realized red would require 15,000 tacks to get here , so i was not expecting him.

had the entire pin to myself, never seen this before.

caught a few dart, went to kalinga banks. 25 knots onto a steep bank = washing machine.
tacked 20 times to get back.

now 5 pm

started fire, cooked dart, still no merry men.

rang indie, message bank.
left him a message i would come and find them.

look carefully and note frayed blue rope at end of sail where sheet attaches, source of future disaster 










set off, weather turned even more nasty .
didnt think that was possible.

sheet jammed on piece of frayed blue rope  

was trying to loosen it , could not, waves starts to wash tent off back.
fiddling around trying to do that up.

occy strap flies up and hits face so hard above left eye i was like a stunned mullett.both
sunglass lens"s flown off into the ether from the impact.eye brow caning, so much rain couldnt really see much. eye goes into spasm.

suddenly (thank god) hit a sandbank. trying to hold onto this big unit going flapper flapper flapper and find a knife in the dark (and find a torch in the dark).

really just thought i'll get out the mobile and dial 000. but was scared the rain would destroy my last lifeline. and i thought, dont be a pussy
finally managed to cut away a bit of rope and free the pulley.

the lightning show was really incredible at this point and i had an epiphany.

i remembered that morning i'd been telling one of the nurses the old joke about jesus and saint peter.(gods truth, you can ask her) the punchline is something like

peter sinking in the storm and jesus walking on water and then jesus calling out "get up here on the sandbank you dickhead"

anyway here was this amazing lightning and i'm standing on a sandbank, sinking. haha, serves me right.

packed up the sail and started trying to pedal.
dont know if other AI people have this problem but if i hit a bank with the mirage, the new metal clip system jams the pedals with one in and one out and sure enough thats what happened.

thankfully after a few bashes with the yabby pump. it unjammed. i gotta speak to hobie about this.

and then the most amazing thing happened. the stroms headed north, the stars came out and the wind dropped to about 15.

very gentley pedalled ashore.

got out the torch and refitted the ropes to the sail.
the eyeborw was throbbing like hell but thankfully i could see. (the lord had healed the blind man).

still could not see one boat or light. apart from the 2000 yellow red green and white beacons that add to disorientation.

put the sail up, the wind was now racing with the tide and the sea was almost flat. couldnot believe it.

a beautiful sail back to the ramp.though much tacking, got there about midnight. had the torch in my top pocket but did not see another craft. no signs of the indie and his band in my travels

hope they are ok, would hate to think they had more mishaps than above.

wedding this avo and then will see if i'm game to tackle the 25 knots tomorrow to go back out  

a couple of lessons

AI ropes ....take great care
occy straps...take great care
carry a torch in top pocket at all times
carry a knife at all times. with a jammed sail taking you out across a bar, probably cutting the ropes may have been an option

a few pics from earlier happier times


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## Zed (Sep 18, 2006)

Keep the torch on your head.
So what if you look like a lost Chilean miner. No one was there to see it anyway.

Good reporting. Doesn't sound comfortable, but I bet those darts(?) tasted the best!


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## bruus (Aug 27, 2010)

Ah sounds like you had a fun time like scoman and I when we were out there, definately a few moments of thinking of calling for help. Great to get onto some fish and have an adventure to remember


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## CraigMac (Nov 2, 2010)

WOW, was round a mates having a beer, feed of prawns and a curry, sat outside and watched the lightening show, (just down the road at carbrook) seems like a nicer day for a paddle today though.


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## CraigMac (Nov 2, 2010)

WOW, was round a mates having a beer, feed of prawns and a curry, sat outside and watched the lightening show, (just down the road at carbrook) seems like a nicer day for a paddle today though.


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## bazzoo (Oct 17, 2006)

Pete, you have just experianced the "joys of sailing", all is beautiful until something goes wrong and then the whole thing starts to unravel and you need 6 hands four knives and a set of bolt cutters , your post brought back many hairy moments experianced on the water out at sea .


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## mehi (May 25, 2009)

Glad you made it back Pete

Occy straps hate the bloody things, I hope your next attempt to catch up with the boys works out a bit smoother


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## grinner (May 15, 2008)

thanks fellas.

very true what ken and bazz said about sailing. unravelling is a good way to put it.

also a few words on the phenomenom of "panic" certainly the lightning + wind + rain + darkness + injury + equipment failure would have put me in this state   .

probably all yakkers will face it at some time.

whether watching footy or cricket or golf or whatever. once your confidence is shaken, you simply underperform until you "get a grip"
you simply have to recognize that your not doing yourself any favours by panicing and you are just making a bad situation worse.

i suppose my little ordeal lasted only an hour or two.

how jessica watson put up with fear for months on end.... or captain cook, for years on end.

i think they are made of sterner stuff


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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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QlpoOTFBWSZTWXhf6HUAAAjfgAAQQAEAEBAAFgAm7dygIABIx6nqbSH6UabU8KFDQA0NGI2LO6rRNh4zZQSuDSryBTHQwEcuphoO6FxNWktg3Rrw+LuSKcKEg8L/Q6g=


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## eagle4031 (Jan 29, 2010)

i really think it is great that you were able to share all this -----it is amazing how simply things can go wrong 
nature has a way of teaching us ----- problems also give us wisdom
maybe he (you know - above) was mad about your joke and thought --- i will show him


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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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QlpoOTFBWSZTWcdnfl0AABZfgAAQQKUCCBggEAAv79+gIACCIqf6mTVP1TxJ6NTaE2mmoGpPTSaaYmI0GQyHo4ujDUsOSrittuTTo1QDRD6yZNva+4LS4LShSn5ZZilpGXA5rVllO52GDKU5eIEMEJw4A7CAkcrX1owiQ7i7sfI6gYQDfNnh2d9y2gzakcohHj8mRPUJGRxNAWogWOBAvxdyRThQkMdnfl0=


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## swabio (Aug 16, 2010)

A couple of times there I thought you had sounded the dive alarm and were seeking the calmer waters below the waves!


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## clarkey (Jan 13, 2009)

Might have to change your name from grinner to gilligan :lol:
Glad you made it back mate,did you get back and find your rod?


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

Makes the good days so much gooder.


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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

Red good to read the lads have got some decent weather at last ...... and seems Grant's 99 model Swing has still got some good mojo.


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## scoman (Oct 4, 2010)

Good to hear you all back safely and that u did get some good weather at last  
Now we want to hear the details about the fish, the shenanigans and the rest of the highlights


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## grinner (May 15, 2008)

red, extremely generous offer, thanks sincerely mate

in answer to your question clarkey, no mate, didnt get back down, if you want to take out some goggles and can find it its yours mate.

made it back out sunday morning. left raby bay 11 am. got in the middle of a very interesting yacht race with quite a few 18 foot skiffs, geez those blokes carry some sail. lot os the blokes in nacras were pretty keen on the mirage drive. virtually a lake so pedalled the whole way.

ran into lapse over at a bloke in a stealth at peel who turned out to be dan from the queensland cricket team. he was busy texting chicks as he's a spin bowler and hoping to be shane warne someday.

ran into lapse . then the boys started cruising into horsehoe bay which was about as idyllic as it comes.
some new faces. fairly fit boys , i reckon, paddling from the goldie to brissie is bound to result in some shoulder burn.
some of the fellas were wearing all over black waterproof suits so they were either navy seals or had a rubber fetish.

set up camp, started our fire under the sign with a picture of a tulip with a big red cross thru it. thank god it was banning tulip bulbs and not fires.










cooked up heaps of fish .very very nice, brad has excellent fire grill structure as one would expect from an architect.

went for a night fish round the corner with lapse.

caught a few bream

no wind for the return trip so pedalled home with the boys and went to the stealth bbq .

excellent PR from stealth, top people , mega oblidging.

big, big thanks you to brad for organizing. the guys really got his act together.

some pics


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## GregL (Jul 27, 2008)

Great thread guys - heaps of good stories  
Awesome read.
Cheers,
Smeg


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## TheFishinMusician (Feb 5, 2007)

Great reports guys, thanks for sharing! 
Pete, glad you got through your ordeal without too much damage! Sounded a little harrowing! Like Ken said, you've gained a lot of experience In a short time there & itl make you a much better sailor for it!

Big thumbs up to indie for organising a trip like this! Well done.


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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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QlpoOTFBWSZTWerjtbYAABFfgAAQSYGn0oAQEAAva9+AIABIx6TQep6npDQ9Q09IyBjRtEYQNGE0NNP1QQOPhOXf6HIzseaUHtglbqkaF9psYjwivU5NFZaEQCivVDPTBpUP8gOqV9gO0VQnEnEk134u5IpwoSHVx2ts


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## Blaen (Jul 4, 2006)

Very inspiring guys, it has the makings of a very grand adventure. Relieved to hear that no one was hurt and everyone got through okay, oh yeah and that Red didn't miss the Royal Wedding telecast.


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