Start Loc: Lingham Island (22o 13.57'S, 150o 15.60'E)
Narrative: We did roll a bit last night, but it settled down somewhat after high tide and wasn’t too bad for the second half of the night. We had 15m of anchor chain out, having anchored in just over 3m of water shortly after low tide. At high tide (about 10:45pm last night) we were in around 8m of water, but still with only 15m of chain out. Due to our proximity to the shore on the ebbing tide I was reluctant to have any more than 15m of chain out as we approached low tide again. The tidal current ran at up to a little over 2kts so I sat on anchor watch over the high tide, checking bearings to two parts of the island to ensure we did not drag anchor. As well as having the anchor alarm set, I got up several times throughout the ebbing and slack tide to check the bearings. In the end, we had no dramas. From observations through the night I have decided the Lingham Island tides are about 65 minutes prior to Mackay and if not the same tide heights, certainly the same tidal range.
The four of us went ashore after breakfast and had a walk on the beach (and the kids played in the water). Cameron decided it was one of the nicest beaches yet. After lunch, we raised anchor and set off at 1:00pm for Thirsty Sound. There was a gentle ESE breeze at about 8kts, so we motor sailed on our WNW bearing (290 degrees magnetic) for the first hour or so. By this time the winds had picked up and we had 14kts from the east. With our heading unchanged and the wind on our starboard quarter, we sailed at a comfortable 5kts.
As we approached Thirsty Sound on the ebbing tide, there was a tidal current of about 1.5kts coming out of the sound from the west and meeting the seas and swell from the east, so the waves stood up and were steep, and it became a little choppy. We dropped sail and motored past the township of Plum Tree, making our way cautiously into the sound. With an hour to go before low tide, we did not want to get stuck. We anchored at 4:45pm in 2.5m of water (10m of anchor chain), a couple of miles up from Plum Tree where we had no seas or swell (I had promised Heather a calm anchorage).
We had slack tide at 5:37pm with 2.2m of water (50cm under the keel), and we kept a close eye as the boat swung around for the incoming tide. With the anchor still secure we had dinner. High tide at 11:50pm was due to give us 6.8m of water, so at 8:30pm (roughly half way through the flood tide) with a tidal current of 3.5kts, I let out an additional 10m of anchor chain, took bearings to two obvious land features either side of us, and set the anchor alarm. After a couple of hours sleep, I got up again at 11:45 pm to sit watch for 90 minutes or so through the change of tide (and to update the ship’s log for the day). Heather will take the watch through the slack tide at 6:00am.
We will raise anchor halfway through the flood tide at about 9:00am and head back to Plum Tree with a bit more water than when we came in. We will anchor off from the boat ramp and take the dinghy ashore to pick up our supplies. By the time we pack everything away we will be departing Thirsty Sound around the 12:15pm high tide, and we will be able to ride the outgoing tide the 10nm or so north east to our planned anchorage of Hunter Island in the Duke Islands. The forecast winds are SE to NE. SE would be great, but NE will be a problem, so will wait and see.
End Loc: Thirsty Sound (22o 08.63'S, 149o 59.76'E)
Distance run: 17 nm (cumulative: 619nm)
Engine hours: 2 hr, 16 min (cumulative: 67 hr 16 min)