Turtles, whales and dolphins

After leaving Mackay on Friday we sailed to Keswick and St Bees Islands, and spent two days in an anchorage between the two islands. The water was clear and the coral gave us a taste of what is to come, but the weather could only be described as bizarre. The cloud base sat below 1000 ft (and often much less) for four days, and brought with it some rain and drizzle. Visibility on the open water was down to a couple of miles at stages. Heather suggested that if the sun was shining it would be a spectacular anchorage, so it is on our list of places to drop back into on the way south.

Refuge Bay, Scawfell Island

On Sunday, with no wind and a dead calm sea, we motored to Scawfell Island and spent two days anchored in Refuge Bay. As we sailed in to the bay we saw several turtles. It was more of the same weather wise, but the kids were not deterred and they are spending more and more time in the water. Today we sailed across to Brampton Island, and tomorrow we will have a quick look around before continuing north to the Smith Island Group where we will anchor at Goldsmith Island.


On the way to Scawfell Island, and then again today, we were lucky enough to see more whales. The first encounter was a mother and calf swimming slowly north. Today's was another mother and calf, but the rougher conditions encouraged the calf to show off and demonstrate how it could jump out of the water. We have had a few other times when we have seen whales leaping at a distance, but these two came close enough to us to let us get some photos and video. After leaving the whales this morning, we were escorted by a small pod of dolphins who spent about 40 minutes playing around us and leaping in front of the bow as we sailed to Brampton Island. It has been a good few days for animal encounters!

It's Been A While

Haydee fishing at Island Head Creek

We've traveled a fair way since my last post from Port Clinton and a little over 700 nautical miles or 1300km all up. We're currently sitting out some strong wind, re-stocking and doing some maintenance in Mackay. After Port Clinton, we spent some time relaxing in Island Head Creek, a ridiculously popular spot with 30 or so other boats in there with us. While our fishing efforts there weren't successful, some blokes doing some serious fishing donated a rather tasty Golden Spotted Cod to us - a nice break from chicken and sausages, which was somehow the only meat we had left in the fridge at the time.

Shoalwater Bay was interesting although not on my Top 10 list if I'm honest. The tides in the area are big and fast-moving so movement and anchoring can be interesting. Having said that, we did discover the very beautiful Lingham Island in the Cannibal Group and the kids enjoyed Cape Townshend. Our depth sounder started playing mind games with us on the way into Thirsty Sound - we have a 1.7m draught, we could see lots of sharp pointy rocks around us and the depth sounder started telling us we were in 1m of water. It was the effect of air and mud churned through the water by the tide but it almost felt like we were blind. Shane was completely calm but I was working out where we were in the tide, how long it would take to float off again if we grounded, and where the kids and I would go to wait for the boat to float again (I decided on the local pub). We were, of course, fine.

Relaxing at Middle Percy

After restocking the fridge at Thirsty Sound, we headed 40 miles or so offshore to the Duke and Percy Isles. The Dukes are at the top of my Top 10 list - and possibly Shane's as well as the fishing there was great. We had a tasty parrot fish curry there (which Haydee ate and enjoyed unlike the Golden Spotted Cod at Island Head Creek which she named, patted and refused to eat). The stunning Percy Isles are revered as a cruising mecca and it was great to visit the hut and leave our own little bit of memorabilia (a small plank of wood which we engraved using Shane's soldering iron). The kids spent lots of time on the beach, playing with the poor wildlife that wasn't quick enough to get away from them. We originally planned to move from the Percies to Mackay via Curlew Island but a strong wind warning where we were and a gale warning further south prompted us to bypass Curlew and head straight into Mackay. Both Seasprint and I are happy in strong winds, and Shane was grinning like a crazy thing when we set a new boat speed record of 9.3 knots, 11 knots over ground, while surfing down a wave but gales I won't do so was it was good to get to a marina. From here, we will continue north to the Whitsundays - the part of the trip I'm looking forward to the most - avoiding, I hope, the craziness of Hamilton Island Race Week and the multihull equivalent at Airlie Beach.

We made it to Mecca

Hunter Island in the Duke Islands

What we have seen of both the Duke Islands and the Percies is nothing short of spectacular. After restocking some fresh food from the Plum Tree Store near Stanage Bay (we ordered by VHF on the Monday and Maree and Bevan added it to their list for their trip to Rocky on Tue, and we then picked it up on Wednesday), we headed north east to the Duke Islands. We spent two days anchored off Hunter Island, mostly with the bay and beach to ourselves. The weather, the beach and the water were fantastic. The fishing was not bad either, and Cameron and I quickly reached our bag limit of parrotfish. Yes, Karyn, true story - enough for two meals.

West Bay, Middle Percy Island

West Bay of Middle Percy Island has surely been visited by every cruising yacht that has passed through the area. It has to be Mecca for cruising yachts. The lease has a bit of history, including swindling/stealing and more recently a battle to renew the lease rather than make the whole island National Park. Suffice to say, a small chunk of the island remains under lease, including West Bay. Cruising yachts have been leaving bits and pieces, primarily with the yacht's name and dates, at the old hut and the A-frame for the last fifty odd years. With the lease renewed, the coconut palms and the A-frame still stand, the latter being a growing museum of who has visited.

Our little piece of history

Soon after anchoring on Saturday we had the dinghy ready and we went ashore for a look. The A-frame is a sight to see - thousands of name plates, various items of clothing, fenders and all sorts of other boat bits, and even a couple of prosthetic legs, all engraved, burnt or penned with boat names, the crews and the dates they were there. While we were ashore, Ernst (one of the residents) came down to the beach and announced he would be doing a goat stew for dinner on Sunday. All were welcome with the only price being bring a few veggies for the stew. We took our veggies, had stew for dinner and enjoyed the company and stories of others. Before we left, we added the name plate we had prepared to a vacant spot.

We have internet again! Sort of ...

Hi all. Sorry it has been so long between posts. We blame Defence for not meeting the communications needs of all the Army's young soldiers and hence not having mobile/internet coverage in the Shoalwater Bay area. We are currently at at Hunter Island in the Duke Islands, north of Shoalwater Bay. There is a lot to share, but it will have to be done at a later stage. I have climbed to the top of a hill and am perched on a rock with the laptop in my lap to post this blog! I have also updated the trip map and ship's log. We will get ourselves organised and make the trek again so the kids can post their blogs.

Two Special Hello's

Even more importantly than whales, we'd like to send two special hello's to two brand new humans - Harrison Cleverly, born late last month in France, and Amelie Rose Guthrie, born yesterday. Congrats to Kirsty and Matt, and Katrina and Dave! We hope all is well with you!

We Saw Whales!

We're currently in the southern arm of Port Clinton after hunkering down last night in a small bay protected from northerlies a few miles north of here. On the way here yesterday from Freshwater Bay we had the ultimate wildlife experience. After a morning playing with soldier crabs at Freshwater beach, we continued the trek north, the sail starting off with an inquisitive turtle on our way out of Freshwater Bay. We then saw two whales a little off our beam, heading in the same direction we were. Shane heaved to (or is it hove to?) and, after a scramble for cameras and video cameras we slowed and watched them from a distance. They were accompanied, almost shepherded, by an amazing number of dolphins who seemed to almost be scouting for them, with three small groups out in front and some either side and behind. Early on in the encounter about a dozen dolphins came right alongside the boat either, I suspect, checking that we were friendly or perhaps even trying to scare us off. I'm no expert but there certainly seemed to be something going on between the dolphins and the whales.

We kept watching the whales and dolphins and, after a little while, the whales - two quite large ones, a mating pair perhaps, or a mother and very well fed calf - came alongside, at one stage swimming perhaps 5 metres from us and diving under our bow. It was amazing. They were with us for about half an hour.

Haydee had the video camera for a while and we have some hilarious video that we'll share - possibly with the world on Funniest Home Videos. The lens cap is on for a good 60 seconds of dolphin action, we have a lot of footage of Haydee's life vest and legs, and some highly amusing commentary including "I don't think it's recording. Is it recording?" while the lens cap was on, "I just saw a really weird shark! It had two fins!" and "There's the whale! Oh, no it's not."

Ban ALL whaling, I say!

Rosslyn Bay Is In Party Mode

Haydee and the Team Vodafone Sailing trimaran

Keppel Bay Marina at Rosslyn, a little south of Yeppoon, is a great marina. We borrowed their courtesy car to do the groceries today and right now there is a bit of a party feeling here at Rosslyn. The first two boats in the Brisbane to Keppel yacht race crossed the line this afternoon, plus a ring-in trimaran, Team Vodafone Sailing, who covered the same course in less time but wasn't officially part of the monohull race. Wild Oats XI, a 100 foot super-maxi, travelled the distance in a little over 24 hours, blitzing the old race record by about 3 hours and last year's winner, Lahana, a 98 foot boat came second. At 5.5m, Wild Oats is too draughty to get into the marina and is anchored outside but Lahana and the Vodafone boat are here - they're amazing machines. The boat Shane did his sail training on, Oceans, is in the race and doing well (although we're sure they'd be doing better if Shane was crewing. Hi Mike.) The flaw in Rosslyn Bay's plan is that 90% of the race fleet is still sailing. The party may be a little premature but perhaps it is just an excuse to have another party tomorrow.

Before signing off, I would like to publicly announce that Shane provided us with fish to eat (a rather tasty lesser queenfish, which Cameron supplemented with a bream), and that I have had absolutely no idea what day it is for more than a week now. It is a nice feeling (if a little confusing occasionally). I perhaps shouldn't admit that to the kids in case they take advantage of me.

We're off tomorrow to see the delights of Shoalwater Bay starting with Freshwater, a beach Shane has amphibiously assault a few times in the past. I wonder if he will start twitching or perhaps even marshall the kids and re-live it once again.

(not so?) Great Keppel

Haydee at school with Great
Keppel in the background.

We sailed from Cape Capricorn to Great Keppel Island yesterday. It was a fantastic sail; running under spinnaker all the way, clear sunny skies, and 26 degrees. The kids did their school work while we sailed. Sitting on the helm was a glorious way to spend a Tuesday morning. A bad day on the water always beats a good day in the office, and it was better than a bad day on the water.

After anchoring on the north side of Great Keppel (Second Bay), we went ashore and had a quick look around the beach. We got to talking to a couple off Babe who have been sailing the Queensland coast for the last twenty odd years. They were a good source of information on some of the places to visit and how the coast has changed over time. One thing we found out from them is that the main resort at Great Keppel closed several years ago. It has apparently been bought and there are development plans going through the approval process. We decided we would have to go to the western (resort) side of the island to have a look.

Great (?) Keppel Resort

After school work this morning, we took the dinghy and had a look at a few beaches, including Middle Island and the now closed underwater observatory, and then went and walked around the resort area. It all had quite a strange feel. The resort itself is closed and fenced off, but there is a neighbouring area that appears to be orientated towards backpackers (accommodation, bar/bistro, dive shop, reef tours), supported by a couple of kiosks/shops. We took a photo of the kids in the mouth of a shark that looks like it has seen better days, and I wondered how many other kids have had their photos taken there over the years. We got the impression that Great Keppel Island could not compete with the likes of the Whitsundays, and is no longer what it used to be. That said, while it lacks some reef, it still has spectacularly clear water over clean white sand and has made a great anchorage.

The Start of the Working Week

Approaching Hummocky Island

It's Monday morning, the kids are doing their school work, Shane is on the helm, I'm blogging and we're under sail approaching Hummocky Island. The sun is shining, the sky and water are blue and there is no traffic. Life is good.

Hummocky Island is a pointy lump of rock in the southern end of Keppel Bay. There is no human habitation on the island, other than transients like us of course. There is apparently a nice beach on the northern side, where we plan to anchor and shelter from the south easterly winds and swell we're getting at the moment and let the kids explore yet another beautiful Queensland beach. All we need is warmer weather so we can swim and a few more fish to jump on Shane's lure.