Island Head Creek to the Whitsundays

Tuesday, 4 August to Wednesday, 12 August 2026

We exited Island Head Creek at 0640 and set the spinnaker once clear of the island guarding the entrance. Our original plan was to head to Curlew Island, 70nm away. However this would require us to tack downwind and would mean a late arrival at the anchorage. As our current course was straight for Hunter Island, 35nm away, we decided to stop here for the night. 

Hunter Island

Hunter has a very pretty sand beach, spoiled only by the signs saying firearms are in frequent use on the cattle and deer property. Southern Exposure and Liberty were also here for the night.

Quartz veining in granite according to our resident geologist James (Sassafras)

Lots of noisy deer but no cattle

On Wednesday, we all headed off for Curlew Island, in about 10 knots of breeze. We set our spinnaker once clear of the shallows west of Hunter and had a pleasant if slow trip to Curlew, arriving in time for a late lunch. 

Early morning photo courtesy of Liberty

Thursday was a 52 nm sail to Scawfell Island, the start of the Whitsundays. We left early to make the most of the ebb tide together with Southern Exposure. We set our spinnaker and were enjoying the conditions until a whale on a collision course with us surfaced 5 m to port of Phase2. Warren called to brace as the whale dived under the boat, as he was sure it would hit us. We held our breaths and were relieved when it surfaced on our starboard side having missed both rudders and keels! It took a while for our heart rates to return to normal and we counted ourselves very lucky. Below is the distance we like our whales to be.

We made good time to Scawfell and decided to make Friday a rest day so we could have a sleepin. It was windy and rainy all day however, so no walk ashore but we did get to watch the Lions have a big win over the Hawks, thanks to Starlink.

Now that we are in the Whitsundays, the distances between anchorages are much smaller so we slowly cruised our way north stopping at Goldsmith (always a favourite), Shaw and Lindeman Islands before arriving at Whitehaven Beach in perfect conditions on Tuesday morning. A nice mackeral caught on our way to Shaw Island was delicious.

Goldsmith Island

Shaw Island

Whitehaven Beach

It was busy as usual but we caught up with Sassafras and Brett, Daron and Donna for sundowners. Brett regaled us with tales of charter boat mishaps when he was operations manager up here for one of the companies. On Wednesday morning we hiked up to Whitehaven lookout and took in the views. 

Whitehaven Beach

Looking south to some of the 74 islands in the Whitsundays

After lunch, as we prepared to leave we discovered the water pump was not working. The definition of cruising as boat maintenance in beautiful locations was never more true. Luckily it was only the pressure switch and Warren replaced it with a spare that we had on board. Our delayed departure, however, meant that we arrived at Macona Inlet just as it was getting dark so we anchored as far up the inlet as we dared as a strong SE was forecast to come through overnight. The BOM was spot on and at 0300, 30 - 40 knot gusts tore through the anchorage. Phase2 all secure however.

Pancake Creek to Island Head Creek

 Thursday, 23 July to Monday, 3 August 2026

After a week in Pancake Creek we were ready to move on, unfortunately just as the rest of the RQ fleet arrived here. Early start and we set the spinnaker which we carried until after lunch. The breeze went directly behind us (again!!) and became lighter so we were back to motorsailing for the rest of the trip to Great Keppel Island. We anchored off the old resort at Fisherman's Beach just on dark and had a quiet night.

Great Keppel Island

Next morning we sailed to Rosslyn Bay having booked in for 4 nights at the marina. The RQ fleet would be turning up here over the next few days and dinner was arranged at Waterline restaurant for Monday night as we were heading off again on Tuesday.

While in the marina the bikes (and our legs) got a workout. On Saturday, we rode into Yeppoon on the excellent bikeway and did various boat errands. 

Yeppoon in the distance

On Sunday, we replaced the broken batten box and spliced a ring to ensure the line that caused the issue could not be a problem again - we hope.

With most jobs done, on Monday we rode on more bikeway south to the Causeway. Only an 11km round trip but a very nice spot for morning tea.

Tuesday was moving day as Phase2 and Danu headed to Island Head Creek together with Sassafras (J45) and Aqua Therapy (Fontaine Pajot) who had joined our little group. We carried the spinnaker all day in very sloppy seas and occasional rain. Not the nicest days sailing we have had, but with more wind forecast we decided to sit it out in Island Head Creek. Southern Exposure and Liberty arrived on Wednesday in much nicer conditions. 

Early morning fog - Southern Exposure 

We have now been here a week with nice weather the first few days but deteriorating over the weekend - windy and showers. The plus side of that was I had plenty of time for a video project I was working on, I could do the blog and Warren caught some fish. I actually fished one day and caught the biggest whiting but I did only catch the one - unlike Warren.

Picture courtesy of Aqua Therapy

Tomorrow we are heading further north. How far we go will depend on the conditions we encounter.

2026 Cruise North

Friday 10 July to Wednesday 23 July, 2026

Raby Bay to Pancake Creek

We hauled Phase2 out in June at Boatworks for her annual maintenance to be ready for another trip north to the Whitsundays. Our planned departure on 6 July was delayed by a huge high near Tasmania - the largest ever recorded. So it was Friday before we slipped the lines and headed out in a light SW breeze. Sailing is often too much or too little wind and we were only able to sail for about an hour before we motor sailed the rest of the 58nm to the Mooloolah River. This entrance has become a challenge as sand is continually deposited across the entrance. We made the recommended "hook" entry and dropped anchor in the pond.

A small fleet from RQYS was also heading north with us. Danu, a Jeanneau 60, left on Thursday and Southern Exposure, a Hanse 370e, and Liberty, a Beneteau Trawler 40 on Friday with us.

Next day we departed the river early and headed for the Wide Bay Bar in light winds. Bad for sailing but it meant the big swell that had made the bar difficult/impossible had eased to the 1.5m that we favour for the crossing. We had enough wind to get the spinnaker up for a few hours and then it was back to motoring. 

First whales of the trip

We crossed the bar at 1600 (sloppy but safe) then motored up the Great Sandy Straits with the incoming tide to Garry's anchorage.

On Sunday we motored through Sheridan Flats, the shallowest part of the Straits and anchored at Big Woody Island. 

Another predawn start

We used a new track that had been marked by the vessel Jansz that was much wider and somewhat deeper (minimum 3.9m on a 2.6m tide). The fleet all gathered here ready to cross Hervey Bay for the Burnett River in the morning. We watched the Lions beat Essenden using our new Starlink antenna that Warren had bought.

Another 0630 start on Monday, where we sailed all morning, genoa then spinnaker, before the wind dropped so we were back to motorsailing. We tied up at the Bundaberg Port Marina at 1445.  

Photo courtesy of Danu

We had 2 nights in the marina, completing some unfinished boat jobs and I had a quick bike ride to the Burnett Heads IGA for some fresh food. Our group had dinner at the pub that night as Phase2 was planning to head up to Pancake Creek before the arrival of the next lot of bad weather. The rest of the group elected to stay in the marina and hired a car to visit the surrounding sights.

Our sail to Pancake Creek on Wednesday was the best so far on this trip and we anchored in the creek at 1645. 

The winds picked up as expected and we were in the creek for 7 days. Warren caught some fish, we did some repairs and I read - a lot. We had noticed that one of the mainsail battern boxes was damaged so we fashioned a repair from an old toothbrush and stickyback. We ordered a new one and hoped our repair would last until Rosslyn Bay marina.

It was 5 days before I got off the boat for a walk! 

Our last day there we walked up to the Bustard Head lighthouse - a beautiful 7km walk now that the bush has regenerated where the power lines ran, offering shade and a chance to identify the many birds. 

Oldest lighthouse in Qld - 1868

Overlooking Jenny Lind Creek

After a chat to the caretakers and morning tea, we visited the small graveyard. We once again read the inscriptions of the many children and adults that did not survive their time stationed here.

The next day we left Pancake Creek, bound for Great Keppel Island.