10 October to 12 November
Butterfly Bay and onward to Hook Reef again
10-16 October (back to Coral Sea)
Four great boats had company sailing from Stonehaven to Hook Reef via Butterfly Bay, Sanctum (with Kristin and Jeremy visiting Evan and Kelly), Argenta (Greg and Karen), Rara and Catch the Wind (Phil and Julia, Catalina 42). Very good social times were had and beautiful snorkeling at the reef, with sunny weather and light winds. A few of us continued to Bait reef, for even better snorkeling and then Sanctum started their speedy journey south, leaving RaRa and Catch the wind to enjoy another day on the reef.
Happy Bay, Long Island
18-19 October
We had an overnight stop here and in spite of the name the abandoned resort there looks a little sad. It’s an absolutely beautiful bay though, so hopefully the resort will be re-opened at some time.
Whitsundays with Oliver
19-26th October
Oliver flew up from Sydney to Hamilton Island on the 19th and we took him along for a repeat visit to some of our fave places in Whitsundays, including Whitehaven beach, Tongue Bay Butterfly Bay, Bait Reef and then a stop at Brampton Island before we dropped him off at Mackay to fly back to Sydney on the 26th.
At Brampton Island we went ashore in the morning at low tide to pick coconuts. Thinking this would be a quick mission we left the dinghy only a few meters up the beach… The collecting of the nut took longer than expected and when we went back to the dinghy it was afloat and rapidly drifting out to sea. Niclas swam to the rescue and managed to capture it before drifting too far. It could have ended badly without a dinghy and too far to swim to Rara. We will be more careful in the future.
Going South from Whitsundays
26-29 October
From Mackay we had some full days sailing and anchored at Curlew, Marble Island and Port Clinton in varying weather, but with northerly winds, to enable us to be at Gladstone by the 1st of November.
Lightning storm on our way to Great Keppel
29 October
Whilst motor sailing from Port Clinton to Great Keppel Island we had two lightning storms, the first one was quite gentle and we still had some sails up without issues. The second one just outside North Keppel was much worse though. We saw the extremely black cloud front appear and made the wise decision to furl all sails away and batten down the hatches. At one point we considered dropping an anchor, but we were glad we didn’t as we would have run out of time to get a secure anchor in place. We held on for dear life and Rara was almost completely on her side with no sails up. The wind instrument measured 57 knot max and the hail destroyed our outdoor speakers and took parts of the windex out. It could have been a lot worse though and we’re happy to say Rara was strong enough to take it. The whole event only lasted for about 15 minutes and I think we had a stiff drink afterwards.
Gladstone
30 October to 2 November. Re-provisioning and meeting up with friends from Sweden
From Great Keppel we went straight to Gladstone, outside Curtis, without any further mishaps.
Gladstone marina has excellent amenities and very competitive pricing. It’s a government owned marina rather than a private one. It’s a bit of a walk to restaurants and shops, and when we were there it was very hot and humid. Although it’s situated in a very industrial harbour the marina sits within a lovely park area and most of the industrial part are out of sight. Our friends, Anna and Anders, from Sweden, joined us from here.
The Narrows
Just north of Gladstone, and between the mainland and Curtis Island lies “the Narrows”, a very shallow and narrow passage that can only be attempted at high tide. At low tide parts of it is well above water, and there’s even a cattle crossing, Ramsays crossing, where they can take cattle across at low tide. This was our first visit to “the Narrows” and we travelled north with a first stop for the night at Black Swan bay, just south of the more shallow parts to await the highest possible tide. One has to add 2 meters extra to the boat depth as a minimum to pass the crossing.
After a BBQ dinner in the cockpit enjoying the warm evening we were suddenly startled by a loud scream from Anna who had spotted a snake sitting on our still warm Weber! None of us are particularly fond of snakes, and some less than others, and we didn’t know at the time that this one was a harmless Carpet Python. Frantic activity took place with sticks and boat hooks forcing the snake back in the water. It kept coming back for a while until it gave up and swam back to the mangroves. This night all hatches were closed on the boat and we were sweltering through one of the hottest and most humid nights I’ve experienced.
In the morning we headed off early to make the high tide and had an uneventful but exciting navigation through the narrows.
North Gladstone and Turkey Beach
3-5 November
Once north of the Narrows, the plan was to sail north again to Great Keppel Island (with exception granted from the insurance company to venture into cyclone season area after 1 November), however, after a short sail towards Keppel in 15-20kn N wind and current against wind it became to uncomfortable and we decided to change plans and head South again, rounding Curtis Island on the eastern side. We found the next shelter just north of Gladstone between Curtis and Facing Island. No snakes were seen.
The day after we set sail and steered south in a northerly breeze to find the next anchorage at Turkey Beach. It was a fairly shallow and long creek but once in there totally protected from any seas.
We went ashore and walked to the General Store, about 15 min walk. It had everything you might need, such as fuel, gas, bait, alcohol, mozzie repellant and groceries.
Lady Musgrave Island
As we were motoring out of Turkey beach creek in almost no wind, we swiftly decided to change plans and head for Lady Musgrave rather than Pancake Creek which was the original plan. As it turned out this was a great decision!
We spent three nights here and saw plenty of fish, including a whole bunch of 1-2 m long reef sharks just by the beach on the island. There were also a large number of turtles who were breeding like rabbits!
Our weather window to leave Musgrave meant we headed off early morning, which unfortunately was in a low but rising tide. The current coming into the atoll was very strong, around 5-6 knots and we just barely managed to make 1 knot or so speed over ground at full engine throttle. Heart rate was elevated again…
Further south to Bundaberg and Hervey Bay
10-12 November
After Lady Musgrave we headed straight for Bundaberg, where we had some strong winds at the end of the day and a challenging approach to a blow off berth. It all ended well though with only some minor scuff marks on Rara. This is where Anders and Anna left us to continue their journey to Hobart, Tasmania.
After a short break in Bundaberg we continued south to Hervey Bay, where we jumped on a flight to Sydney. It’s been a while since we visited Oliver and Fredrik with family, and we’ve missed them so it was well due.