Bundaberg

Saturday 25 September, Pancake Creek to Bundaberg

We had been waiting in Pancake Creek for a break in the weather so we could sail out to Lady Musgrave Island. The best day seemed to be today but as we headed out at 6am it became clear that with heavy rain we weren't going to get the visibility we wanted to find our way into the anchorage. We had taken a tack out to sea so moved to Plan B which was on to Bundaberg. The breeze started easing around lunchtime so we started a motor to keep us moving. It died completely later in the day and we motored into the river to anchor just off the marina at 6pm.

Sunday 26 September, Monday 27 September, Bundaberg

We moved into the marina on Sunday morning and Warren got a surprise when cleaning the boat to have a snake decide that it looked like a better place to be than in the flooding Burnett River. If you have been following the blog you will know Warren is not a fan of snakes so it stayed on the boat only long enough to get the picture! The extended transom of the 1000XL really does make it easy to get on board.

Sunday afternoon we rode the bikes to Bargara along an excellent bike trail that follows the coast at first and then runs behind Mon Repos. About 12k to Bargara which has a big IGA and Woolies another 1k out of town.

Monday we took the marina courtesy bus into town to shop and look around. Midtown marina is well positioned but looking a bit tired. With access to Bargara and Burnett Heads by bike and the free bus into town, I think we will stick with Bundaberg Port marina.

Pancake Creek

Sunday 19 September, Gladstone to Turkey Beach

We left Gladstone Marina at noon which was later than we planned so we had only a short time with the outgoing tide. This was fortunate in one way as with a 20k easterly breeze the waves were really standing up. While the seas got better with the incoming tide, our speed over ground suffered and we realised we weren't going to make Pancake Creek before the sun went down. We ducked into Gatcombe Head but decided it was too exposed and tight with 2 other yachts already anchored.

We went with the tide to Turkey Beach in the Rodd Peninsula for the night. The anchorage was good but rain in the morning stopped us going ashore to look around.

Monday 20 September, Turkey Beach to Pancake Creek

The good weather ended today with rain and squalls for the short trip to Pancake Creek. Another school mackeral on the line meant fresh fish again tonight. We anchored in the mouth and moved further into the creek when the tide came in later in the day.

Tuesday, 21 September to Friday 24 September, Pancake Creek

Only our second period of prolonged rain in 4 months and Pancake Creek is a nice place to sit. We dragged our anchor for the first time in this trip so moved further up the creek and reset the anchor. 21 boats here at one stage.

Highlight was kayaking around to Jenny Lind Creek. This was a 3 hour round trip and needs to be done right on high tide. You go up Chinaman's Creek and take the first branch to port after the power poles. You follow that and cross the salt pan to enter a stream that takes you into Jenny Lind Creek.

It wasn't easy to find but when we climbed a sandhill on the eastern shore the views were worth the effort.

We didn't have time to climb to the lighthouse but the track from the mouth is good and it is definitely on our list of things to do next trip. It looks much easier than the trek from the anchorage through the bush.

Someone suggested tying a ribbon to the mangroves so you can find your way home again as it can get confusing. The stream home is shown in the centre of the picture at right. It is not so easy to pick in the panned out picture below. We would mark the salt pan exit next time as we got a bit disorientated here going home.

Trolling lures

A number of people have asked about the lures we are having success with this trip. We have tried a lot since we have had Next Phase. We started with the good ol' spoons and tried them for 1500 nm on our last trip with only 1 Mac Tuna to show for our efforts. We used to lose a lot of lures probably due to the spinning action of these lures causing trace wire breakage.

We then tried a range of different types until getting some good advice from the Cannonvale fishing tackle shop where we bought a Halco Trembler that caught our first mackeral. No photos as unfortunately we lost the lure going into Pancake Creek. He also recommended much heavier wire trace (120 lb) and swivels (400lb) to help prevent the lost lures. He also said as soon as there is the smallest kink in the wire to replace it. We bought a small lure as we don't really want to catch massive fish. We are cautious about ciguatera poisoning and also the freezer on the boat is just not big enough.

The lures that were recommended to us in Mackay were Halco Laser Pro 190DD. They are much bigger than we had been using but we have now had 2 mackeral and 2 tuna on these lures at right in the last 500 miles. They go deeper which is better for mackeral apparently and are designed to work at speeds of 5 to 9 knots which is ideal. You can buy these lures at lots of places including Big W (about $19).

PS Hi Warwick, We use venetian blind cord with a bike tube or plumbing gasket for shock absorption around the stern cleats (it's stored on a hand reel). Even the 1.2m tuna Warren caught he just pulled in by hand. We look forward to catching up with you and Ruth after you get your boat.

Yellowpatch

Monday 13 September, Great Keppel to Yellowpatch

The great weather continues so we have to motor sail the 30nm to Yellowpatch on Curtis Island. We run on one motor which conserves fuel and lets us maintain a good trolling speed of around 5 knots. More success with the new lures sees a nice school mackeral on board (no blood on the deck Shawn!) as we approach the anchorage.

Lois and I bought the lures in Mackay after getting advice from a gentleman called Steve Palmer who saw us looking confused at all the options in Big W. It was a lucky meeting as it turns out he makes fishing DVDs and shows.

Tuesday 14 September to Friday 17 September, Yellowpatch

On our 2 stays at Cape Capricorn in the past we have looked longingly at Yellowpatch and promised to spend time here when we had more time. It is a beautiful spot with it's orange sand hill and clear waters.

After catching 4 sand crabs the first day, I thought I would never get Warren to leave. It took him a bit longer to find the fish but a 30cm whiting had him smiling.


Steve and Denise (One More) spent a night here and it was good to catch up. They were off to Lady Musgrave Island while the weather was good.







Saturday 18 September, Yellowpatch to Gladstone

We sail and motorsail the 32nm to Gladstone, entering the harbour through the North Entrance at low tide. No problems although we were concerned when we saw a trawler aground near Farmer Reef.

Gladstone Marina has been great. Staff are very friendly, the facilities are good, and it is the cheapest to date. Only negative has been the magpies that attacked relentlessly on our way to the shops.

Great Keppel Island

Tuesday 7 September to Sunday 12 September

We spent a relaxing 6 days at Great Keppel Island alternating between Second Beach (top photo) and Fisherman's Beach depending on the wind direction. The water is as clear as anywhere we have been on the trip so far.

Fisherman's Beach is where most of the development is found although with the resort currently closed things are pretty quiet at the moment.






We spent one day circumnavigating the island and revisited Butterfish Bay where we camped for a week 30+ years ago when we were just married. We also kayaked up Leeke's Creek where we had stayed with our boys on our trailer sailer when they were young.

We also caught up with Ralph and Trish (Shadow Image) and also Bob and Julia (Kinta) who we met 2 years ago at Wathumba Creek on Fraser Island.

South to Yeppoon

Saturday 4 September, Hunter Island to Island Head Creek

With a forecast of NE 15 - 20 knots for the next 2 days we decide to head south towards Yeppoon. We left Hunter about midday hoping to get a nice spinnaker run to Island Head Creek. Unfortuately the breeze stayed around 7 knots and we were forced to motor sail to make headway against the 3.5 knots of tide! The whales were everywhere and we were glad of the engines running which alerted them to our presence. We entered Island Head Creek on dark following our GPS track from the trip north.

Sunday 5 September, Island Head Creek to Yeppoon

The forecast 15-20 knot NE did not come in until lunchtime so more motorsailing as we had about 60 nm to cover today. We finally got the spinnaker set after lunch and headed towards Great Keppel Island. The breeze freshened as we approached the island and with a 20kn N to be followed by a 20kn S change during the night we opted to go into Rosslyn Bay for the night as there are no all weather anchorages on the island.

Highlight of the day was the Yellowfin Tuna that Warren caught south of Cape Manifold. We decided it was too big to keep so we released it after removing the lure.

Rain on Monday meant we stayed 2 nights at the marina and Lois and Kel headed home after helping us with the reprovisioning. We certainly enjoyed their company over the last 10 days - even if Kel could only laugh at the irony of releasing the biggest fish we have ever caught!

Middle Percy and Hunter Islands

Thursday 2 September, Curlew to Middle Percy Island

Light SE breeze on the nose saw us motoring or motor sailing to Middle Percy Island. On the way into the anchorage we encountered a whale heading out - definitely our closest encounter yet.




Middle Percy is a must see place for yachties with an A frame hut and small shed filled with items from yachts that have visited the island since the 1950s.

Some are as simple as the yacht name written on a coconut with a felt pen while others are intricately engraved or painted woodwork.





We opted for a yellow flag which we hope will help us find it again when next we visit here. Not as unique as the artificial leg left by one crew!







Friday 3 September, Middle Percy to Hunter Island

We had never visited the Duke Islands so headed south in another nice easterly. I must say I was a bit disappointed with Hunter Island as we had heard such rave reports about it. There is a pastoral lease over the island and it is cleared with long grass and no sign of cattle. There are some nice beaches, a few fish and we had the anchorage, which was very protected, to ourselves.

Scawfell and Curlew Islands

Monday 30 August, Mackay to Scawfell Island

With a strong SE still blowing we decided to reach across to Scawfell Island rather than try to bash south. We anchored the first night in the western arm of the bay and moved to the eastern arm for the second night where there was less swell.

Lois and Kel snorkelled on the reef and were surprised to find large clams here. Quite a few racing yachts stayed here on their way home from Hamilton Island Race Week.




Wednesday 1 September, Scawfell to Curlew Island

The extra night at Scawfell meant we had an easterly breeze for the 49 nm to Curlew. The trip was relieved by a pod of dolphins bow riding but no whale sightings. Lois and Kel's disappointmnet at this was short lived as we had a pod of whales breaching in the distance just after we anchored. Very impressive they were.

Port Newry and Brampton Island

Wednesday 25 August, Goldsmith Island to Port Newry

We reached across the 17nm to Port Newry and anchored on the western side of Outer Newry Island. We had the bay to ourselves for 2 nights and it was wonderfully protected after our rolly stay at Goldsmith.

We walked across to the eastern side of the island which is strewn with large and small boulders.










We later took the dinghy over to Newry Island to see what remains of the resort that was built here in the 1930s. It is a beautiful grassy area maintained by the Seaforth Historical Society and National Parks.

The bar and tables of the old Beachcomber bar that was popular with yachties has been kept together with the remains of many old stone buildings.

The stones we had seen on the eastern side of Outer Newry Island had been put to good use as building materials.








Friday 27 August, Port Newry to Brampton Island

Another good reach back to Brampton Island so we hopefully will have a better angle of sail to Mackay tomorrow. We climbed to the top of the island for some spectacular views.



Saturday 28 August, Brampton Island to Mackay

A SSE breeze meant we had to tack to Mackay arriving just before the tall ship Young Endeavour and our friends Lois and Kel who are joining us for a week or so. They will travel with us down to Yeppoon where they have left their car. As they had hired a car to get to Mackay we were able to visit town to restock the supplies. Very windy so we stayed Sunday here also.

South to Goldsmith Island

Thursday 18 August, Stonehaven to Airlie Beach

We had booked 2 nights at Abel Point marina so I could get a desperately needed hair cut and colour and so we could catch up with Alan and Kat (Talisker) and Jim and Diane (Chilli Cat) for dinner. Of course we also needed to vote. This was on top of the usual shopping, washing, cleaning etc. It was very hot and we had a swim at the lagoon in Airlie and checked out the new Port of Airlie marina development which is nearing completion.

Saturday 21 August, Airlie Beach to Long Island




















Our plans to get to Thomas or Shaw Island were waylaid by the light south easterly and the spectacle of the passing Hamilton Island Race Week fleet. Above is the 50m superyacht Perseus who hadn't caught up with the news that Julia had taken over from Kevin (look closely at the MPS). I thought advertising was banned on election day!

We also saw Lulu whose charterers we had met at Stonehaven. We had offered to take some photos of their boat as they had commented on how hard it is to get any under sail. They gave us a CD of jazz (Gazjaz) that one of them had recorded however motored off that day so no sailing photos. We were pleased to see them today however and we emailed them some of Lulu going past. We enjoyed the CD which will remind us of this holiday.

Sunday 22 August, Long Island to Shaw Island

SE winds again so we decided that Burning Point on Shaw Island looked good after 5 hours tacking. Saw lots of whales.

Monday 23 August, Shaw Island to Goldsmith Island

Very light SE breeze early so we motored down to Goldsmith Island where we spent 2 nights. The anchorage was very rolly as a NE sea breeze came in during the afternoon. Next to no wind Tuesday so we decided to stay another night only to have a swell again come in after dark. 2 whales surfaced close to the boat on the way down and the smaller one breeched 100m away. Later 2 cruised by the anchorage going down the passage between Goldsmith and Locksmith Islands.

Back to the Whitsundays

Sunday 15 August, Bona Bay to Double Bay East

Another beautiful though windless day as you can see from the photo of Gloucester Passage. We revert to motoring with one outboard while trolling, in the hope of another fish. We do about 5 knots this way which saves fuel and is a good trolling speed although the fish are elusive again.

Monday 18 August, Double Bay East to Stonehaven

We motored to Airlie Beach in the morning to check out the Bareboat Show as part of Airlie Beach Race Week. A fashion parade and lots of boats to look at filled in a few hours before we had our first good sail in a week to Stonehaven.

Tuesday 19 August, Bait Reef

The calm weather of the previous week prompted us to sail out to Bait Reef today. This is about 16nm NE of Hayman Island and is the closest outer reef to the Whitsundays. The forecast of 10-15 SE sounds good so we head off at 7 to be there about an hour before low tide at 11. Low tide is the best time for snorkelling and when the reef offers protection from the swell. 3 more whales sighted as we left The Narrows between Hayman and Hook Islands. We slowed for a while then had to keep moving. Unfortunately when we were about a mile away the whales started breaching and tail slapping. Even at this distance the splashes were spectacular.

We arrived at Bait Reef, negotiated the entrance and took up a mooring. We were lucky that a yacht was leaving as we arrived which helped confirm the correct path. The snorkeling was good although as the breeze was more like 15 - 20 knots there was some sediment in the water. Warren snorkelled around the Stepping Stones which are a set of coral pinnacles rising from a depth of 15 - 25 metres which you can see in the photo above. I kept watch in the tender and contented myself with the sights in shallower water.

Another good reach saw us moored back at Stonehaven by 4.30. It was any easy day sail there and back and with 4 hours at the reef it was well worth the trip.

We decided to spend today, Wednesday at Stonehaven to go for a kayak, finish my book and catch up on the blog. Luckily there were spare moorings all day and we didn't need to move. I am enjoying the Kobo eReader and about to finish all 117 chapters of The Count of Monte Cristo. A Russian yachty I met at Townsville marina recommended I read Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky next. He (the yachty not Fyodor) had spent 8 years circumnavigating in his 49 foot yacht. The interesting people you meet while doing the laundry!

Gloucester Island

Thursday 12 August, Bowen to Sinclair Bay

We left early in the hope of catching another mackeral off the Don River but had to satisfy ourselves with seeing more whales on the way to Sinclair Bay (south of Montes resort).

Friday 13 August, Sinclair Bay to Bona Bay

Another beautiful sandy beach and calm anchorage although with the light winds of the last few days I am sure we could anchor just about anywhere.

We were pleased to see Celebration from the RQ cruising group also anchored here. We had sundowners ashore with them and a couple of locals on Saturday night.

Warren got a few whiting but couldn't land the large fish (mackeral??) chasing the bait fish in the bay.









PS. I have just read the comment on the last post and my apologies for getting a bit behind. Believe it or not it is hard sometimes to find the time to do the blog (and to have coverage with Optus)- but it is nice to know some people are reading it!

Continuing south

Saturday 7 August, Orpheus Island to Magnetic Island

We decided to go ashore and look for the ruins of an old sheperd's cottage behind the beach and walk to the top of the ridge which has views over the coast to the east.

The walk is marked by a trail of ribbons tied to trees and is fairly easy to follow. It does pass through quite thick grass towards the end that had us worried about encountering more snakes. The view from the top was again worth the effort.


After the walk we headed off in an ESE breeze so we tacked in close to the islands (Fantome and Great Palm) to keep out of the swell as much as possible. This resulted in our first mackeral of the trip which was large enough to keep. We enjoyed it for dinner in Horseshoe Bay after arriving at 7pm after 52nm on the wind. It tasted great!

Sunday 8 August, Magnetic Island to Townsville

We cut short our visit to Magnetic Island as the forecast is for ENE breezes over the next few days which would help our passage south. We headed to the Breakwater marina for a pitstop for fuel, water and supplies. The scene at the fuel jetty was interesting.

Monday 9 August, Townsville to Cape Upstart

We headed off at 0700 for what was to be our longest day of the trip so far - 83nm. The breeze started in the SE before dying and then finally coming in from the ENE. This gave us a nice reach to finish the day anchoring at 9pm. Highlight was sighting 2 whales inside Cape Bowling Green. We had the music blasting as we reached at 8knots in the dark, hoping the whales would keep out of our way!

Tuesday 10 August, Cape Upstart to Bowen

The NE breeze was again light so we motor sailed much of the day to anchor in Queen's Bay, on the northern side of Bowen. A strong SW change was predicted and this anchorage proved to be well protected when the change came through at 11pm. We spent Wednesday here as well. Glorious sunset!

Zoe Bay

Friday 6 August, Gayundah Creek to Orpheus Island

We motored out of the Hinchenbrook channel at 1030 in next to no breeze and decided the conditions were good to visit Zoe Bay on the eastern side of the island. This is not a very good anchorage and we had resigned ourselves to maybe not getting there this trip due to the weather. The breeze picked up on the way (8nm from the Lucinda jetty) and we anchored (after 3 attempts) in a very rolly bay in 15 knots of SE breeze. There was no one else anchored or at the campsite.

The bay is beautiful and we went ashore to walk to the waterfall. It was clear with plenty of water after the recent rains.



We continued up the track to the head of the falls via a good track that included a rope climb in one steeper part.

The view from the top was spectacular. We ate lunch next to the rock pools - definitely our best lunch spot yet. I'm afraid the pictures don't do the view justice.

After leaving Zoe Bay, we had a good sail to Orpheus Island where we picked up a mooring for the night.

Hinchenbrook revisited

Tuesday 3 August to Thursday 5 August, Macushla, No. 7 Creek and Gayundah Creek

The sunny weather allowed us to appreciate the beauty of Hinchenbrook with it's wide, deep creeks and spectacular mountains. We anchored for a few hours at Macushla in Missionary Bay and walked the track to North Shepherd Bay. This took a couple of hours but the resulting views of the beach were worth the walk.

From here we made our way up No. 6 Creek and then across to No. 7 Creek (very imaginative naming up this way). We spent 2 nights here giving the fishing a go (a couple of big bream but not much else) and another walk along a boardwalk to Ramsay Bay. National Parks have a lot of facilities on Hinchenbrook for boaties and campers.

Thursday we motored around to Gayundah Creek where Warren was hoping to get some crabs. He wasn't disappointed catching 2 sandies and 1 big muddy to go with a big bream for dinner. Unfortuantely the muddy was empty!

Warren also caught 2 hammerhead sharks here which we released when we realised they weren't the big fish he has been waiting for. We heard the noise of crocs at night so this is definitely not the place to swim.