The Broadwater

Courtesy of Cruising the Coral
Coast by Alan Lucas

Connecting Moreton Bay to the Gold Coast is a maze of islands and waterways commonly referred to as The Broadwater route, which allows passage inside of both North and South Stradbroke Islands.

Much like the passage inside Fraser Island, probably the most famous of these sand islands, a yacht with 2.2 m draft can make it through safely enough by taking care with navigation, buoyage and the tides.

With high tide at about 0900 on the day of our departure from Manly, it meant a dawn start and a 2-day passage, anchoring off Karragarra Island for the overnight.

Doh!!!

Joining us for the trip was Chris Mallet (he loves these tight passages) who flew in to Brisbane to join us at Manly. Then we were off at first light, unfortunately under very overcast skies. We weren't going to be able to see any shallow water - if we got it wrong, the first we'd know of it would be a rapid deceleration!

The first day was short and sweet, with us anchored safely just north of Karragarra Island a little after 0930. Not far from a sunken ketch, placed just short of our anchorage, as if to remind us what happens when you get it wrong!

Chilli supper

Surrounded  by  a plague of jelly fish (and the ever-present threat of sharks, or so Matt would tell us), it proved impossible to get the crew in the water for a badly-needed hull scrub, so the only other thing to do was... yep, go back to bed!  Later, a spicy chilli and a movie (Cape Horn, of course) was followed by another early night, ready for a quick getaway in the morning.

The next day we rode the flood, then the ebb through mostly mangrove-covered islands looking uncannily like parts of the Mississippi...

Broadwater or Mississippi...?

Until finally the sun started to come out as we approached the Gold Coast, allowing views of the towering skyscrapers of Surfers Paradise well to the south. From the sublime to the ridiculous...

Broadwater buoyage

House-boat or -plane?

Surfers Paradise