Start Loc: Hummocky Island (23o 23.91’ S, 151o 09.34’ E)
Narrative: We shared the anchorage at Hummocky Island with two yachts and a motor boat. The motor boat was there at 4:30 am when I checked the anchor, but gone at 6:30am when I had a brew in the cockpit just after sunrise. Both yachts left over the next 15 minutes while I had my brew. We ended up leaving the anchorage at 9:45am and set a course for Great Keppel Island.
We had SE winds at 10-15kts, and our heading was basically NW, so we ran under just the spinnaker all the way at 5-6kts boat speed. We were also assisted by a 1-2kt current, so our speed over the ground was pretty good the whole way and we made good time. It was beautiful weather again; warm and sunny. We sailed up the eastern side of Great Keppel, dropped the spinnaker and jibed to sail west to our intended anchorage under just some head sail. As we went up the eastern side of Keppel we passed the yacht that left just after 6:30am, so we must have been going basically twice as fast. As we came in to Second Bay to anchor, I did a quick check of the tidal curve I prepared last night so I knew how much tide we had at that time and how much tide was yet to go out (we were on an ebbing tide), and hence what depth of water I needed to anchor in. As we came in, we also noticed the second yacht to leave coming in from the west. All in all it was a good sail to Keppel, and we were anchored by 12:45pm.
We plan to stay here for two full days and head to Rosslyn (Keppel Bay Marina) on Friday. We will restock and wash etc before we push north into the Shoalwater Bay area. The Army exercise Talisman Sabre finished two days ago, so the water is now open again. We look forward to the likes of Pearl Bay, Port Clinton, Island Head Creek, and into Shoalwater Bay itself (basically seeing all the parts of Shoalwater Bay that I never got to see in all my other trips there), before heading up to the Percy Islands. There is a lot we want to see in this stretch, and it could be a couple of weeks before we next make port in Mackay. It is the first stretch where I will really be watching our water usage ...
End Loc: Great Keppel Island (23o 09.72’ S, 150o 57.30’ E)
Distance run: 20nm (cumulative: 444nm)
Engine hours: 1 hr, 25 min (cumulative: 44 hr, 49 min)