Start Loc: Round Hill Creek, Seventeen Seventy (24o 09.82’ S, 151o 52.86’ E)
Narrative: Yesterday was spent anchored in Round Hill Creek as we explored 1770 and Agnes Water. We learned it was 24th May 1770 that Lieutenant Cook landed there, as well as a few other facts the kids will use as part of their school project on Cook. We ran the engine for 30 minutes.
The plan for today was to sail across Bustard Bay, around Bustard Head and Clews Point, and into Pancake Creek. (Bustard Bay and Bustard Head are so named because Cook and his crew killed and ate a large bustard bird, declaring it the best bird they had eaten since departing England.) Low tide at 1770 was 0.9m at 10:11am. Given 0.5m of water (LAT) and 0.9m of tide, I knew I was not able to get out of the creek at low tide. To maintain 30cm clearance under my keel, I calculated we had to be out of the creek by 8:41am.
I got up at 7:00am, woke Heather, and then took a load of rubbish ashore. The first thing I noticed was that several other yachts had left already while there was more water. We got the boat ready and weighed anchor at 7:50am. I cautiously took us out, wondering why everyone else had left so early, but confident in my calculations. In the end, we had about half a metre under the keel, cleared the bar at the head of the creek, and came to port onto 315o magnetic.
The forecast was for winds SW to SE at 10-15kts. What we found was wind from the SW with true speed of about 8kts. We went full main and head sail, and motor sailed across the bay. After about 8nm the wind had dropped to about 4kts true, so it wasn't enough to fill sails let alone have them contribute, so we proceeded just under motor.
From about 4nm out, we could identify through the binoculars Inner, Middle and Outer Rocks, as well as the unnamed rock between Inner and Middle. Being good weather and visibility I planned to go between Inner Rock and the unnamed rock. Clews Point came out from behind Bustard Head, and when the Clews Point light bore 170o, I came to port onto that course to pass safely between the two obstructions. We rounded Clew Point at 10:38am. Low tide at Pancake Creek was 1.0m at 9:58am, rising to a high of 2.5m at 4:49pm. Some advise anchoring just inside the creek and waiting for close to high tide before proceeding to the inner anchorages. A quick check of the tidal curve showed we had 1.1m of tide on top of charted depths, so we figured we would give it a crack. The water was clear, and I had three lookouts at the bow to help guide me in. Unfortunately two of them were looking out for, and alerting me to the presence of, numerous fish, turtles and rays. At least Heather called where the deeper water was! In the end, we had no dramas getting in, and were anchored in 3.8m of water at the southern end of the beach just after 11:00am.
End Loc: Pancake Creek (24o 01.78’ S, 151o 44.61’ E)
Distance run: 18nm (cumulative: 327nm)
Engine hours: 3 hr, 45 min (cumulative: 33 hr, 26 min)