Gold Coast to Pt Stephens June 2026…

When Rob, the new owner, called me, I was halfway through our Camino pilgrimage in Spain, walking the final 100km. Despite this, we had a lovely chat and he expressed interest in several boats. He asked lots of questions, which I happily answered to the best of my knowledge. By the time we arrived home, he had settled on Sundaze and booked us to help him deliver her from the Gold Coast to Port Stephens.

Juggling several jobs meant we had to change Rob’s start dates a few times, and I truly appreciate his willingness and understanding. Finally, the day arrived. After fixing the leaking steering ram, we headed to the fuel wharf and then set off. Initially, we encountered some moderately rough seas, but conditions improved over the next 24 hours. We stopped briefly in Coffs Harbour to top up fuel and resumed our journey until around midnight when a horrible noise interrupted our progress.

Surprisingly, there was noise followed by silence for about 10 minutes before more noise and the engine (single screw) stopped. The conditions were too dangerous to consider jumping in to investigate, so we called marine rescue at Pt Macquarie. It took them about five hours to organise themselves and reach us, but thankfully, we were safe. We had opted to track six nautical miles offshore to be in the current and hopefully but not, avoid the fish traps that caused our problem.

Our diver at Pt Macquarie explained that we would never have been able to free the line from the propeller without an air tank, as it was so tightly wound around (see the photos). After this minor detour, we resumed our journey and had smooth sailing for the rest of the trip.

We thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Rob and his wife Gerry. They were incredibly hospitable, putting us up and serving us a delicious dinner upon our arrival.