Old Woman Island / Emergency and Rescue

Sailed Savage out of Moololaba and did a lap of Old Woman Island with 19 boats from the Hobie Island club. Felt good to sail in a fleet. The weather was perfect so after the group finished I headed out again for the rest of the day and did another lap of the Island. I came across a shark and a pod of dolphins!


Looks like my selfie made the Hobie Island club's "best picture"


The boat ramp was like a traffic jam!

I might look like a bandit, but it's better than getting fried in the harsh Queensland sun!






Old Woman Island
Apparently this Island is THE best place to snorkel on the Sunshine Coast. I will have to come out here on a calm day with an anchor and try to find the shallow reefs.

I probably sailed 35kms in total with two laps of the Island

Emergency beaching and damage

Headed out to try and sail from Mooloolaba to Caloundra. Family came down to watch Savage and I put out. My rudder was loose so Mum helped out and I tightened the control lines. Got followed by dolphins for a portion of the trip. Was nice to have company.








I did succeed in getting to Coloundra however when I put about the rolling seas were putting a lot of pressure on my rudder and making Savage hard to control. She was constantly swinging around and I could feel the rudder being pushed. As I battled my way back the rudder ended up breaking.

Busted rudder forced emergency beaching in surf
I tried to fix the rudder at sea but was not able to. Then I attempted to sail and steer with my paddle. This probably would have worked if the wind and waves weren't so strong. The boat was uncontrollable. I happened to be off a beach so I furled the sail and paddled for shore.


Unfortunately I could see breakers smashing the beach front. Not good. I'd been reading the warnings about surfing Hobies on big waves and I found out that the warnings are correct. Trying to control the boat as it rode in on a big wave using only my paddle was a real challenge. A bolt broke on my AKA (the arms for the pontoons) causing Savage to lose stability. I felt it trying to tip over in the surf and my kayaking experience kicked in. I managed to keep the top heavy beast upright and rode it right onto the beach. It was a messy landing. I tried to haul Savage up the sand but got smashed by the next breaker. Finally I hauled her out, looking like a shipwrecked sailor in front of many beach-goers. The life savers had no interest in me, but as I came in they closed the beach because it was too dangerous for swimming.

Wind for the day.

Swell for the day
Mum came to the rescue. She got my truck and drove down so I could load up. Thanks Mum, love you.

Installed a new upgraded rudder and repaired all damage

Rescue

On another trip I spotted another Hobie moving erratically near rocks and shore. I approached and Amanda had an equipment failure. I took her bow line and wrapped it around my waist, then managed to tow her 10kms upwind and get her safely onto a sheltered beach. It was slow difficult going but rewarding to help someone out.




Location: Mudjimba Island, Queensland, Australia

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