some terrible weather and some good

I left Mooloolaba for The Great Sandy Strait last Tuesday, and had some good sailing conditions for most of the way. I had to anchor over night behind Double Island Point as the tides were wrong for getting over the bar at Wide Mouth Bay. It was a terrible night with a lot of rolling and heaving on the anchor chain. I got up during the night and let more chain out, 35 meters and this settled the boat down a lot.
Next morning when I went to pull in 35 meters against a 15 knot wind and 2 meter swell was quite a feat. I usually put the main up before bringing anchor up, but I had to drop it again this time as she kept trying to sail off against the anchor even with the sheets loose.
It took half an hour but eventually got it in. Didn't put main up, just used the jib.
Going over Wide Bay bar was an adventure in itself. There is a dog leg half way through it and it takes about 40 mins to get right over. At one time I was picked up by a wave from behind, it was about 4 meters and I surfed down it, the stern was on the crest and the bow in the trough, with white water surging on either side. It went on for ages, probably only 5 seconds or so, but when I checked my GPS for maximum speed for the day it was 15.8 knots!!