Start Loc: Nara Inlet, Hook Island (20o 08.35'S, 148o 54.59'E)
Narrative: We spent yesterday relaxing at anchor at Nara Inlet. The kids did their school work, and we did the short walk to the Ngaro Cultural Site and had a look at the rock paintings. We ran the engine for 23 minutes for hot water.
There would have been close to seventy boats in Nara Inlet last night. We were in no rush to leave this morning, so we let all the charter boats file out before finally raising our own anchor at 10:08am. We spent the next 10 minutes cleaning the worst of the mud off the anchor, and finally headed out of the inlet. The winds were from the NW at about 10kts. Our course to Pioneer Rocks was 250 degrees mag. I allowed 10 degrees for leeway and tidal set and drift, so we steered a course of 260 degrees mag. As we went, I was surprised that I had to add another 5 degrees to our course as we were heading too close to North Molle Island. The wind also swung a bit to the west. The overall effect was that we set off on a close reach but when we cleared the northern tip of North Molle we were close hauled. Fortunately the seas were small so it was not uncomfortable and we averaged around 6.5kts over the ground. As we passed Pioneer Rocks we were back on a close reach and we anchored in Airlie Bay at 12:35pm.
The winds being from the NW, Airlie Bay was very exposed and had a good swell rolling in, which was not something I had considered. We checked with the marina and they could fit us in for the extra night, so after lunch (at 2:10pm) we moved around there and were tied up in the marina at 2:40pm. While I was reluctant to fork out another $87 to this marina, it takes a lot of time pressures off what we need to achieve over the next couple of days.
End Loc: Abel Point Marina (20o 15.85'S, 148o 42.69'E)
Distance run: 16nm (cumulative: 1076nm)
Engine hours: 1 hr, 20 min (cumulative: 127 hr 06 min)
Friday 30 September 2011
Tuesday 27 September 2011
27th September, 2011
Start Loc: Stonehaven Anchorage, Hook Island (20o 05.38'S, 148o 54.38'E)
Narrative: After pancakes for breakfast, the kids and I went ashore to explore the small beach. We finally dropped the mooring at 11:35am, raised sail, and started making our way down the west side of Hook Island to Nara Inlet. The forecast was for E/SE winds at 10-15kts, increasing 15-20kts at times. Before we set the sails we had noted a few gusts up towards 20kts, so we set sail with one reef in the main and 110% head sail. For the duration of the sail, the wind varied from SW to NE, and 2-18kts. Fortunately we were in no great hurry, and were content to let the wind take us (or not) as we lazily dragged a couple of lures behind us.
As the lures did not seem to be attracting any fish, my patience with the wind decreased. Eventually, with the wind changing constantly from SW to SE as I tried to head south, I gave up, furled the head sail and started the motor.
We anchored in Nara Inlet at 2:10pm in 8m of water, well away from other vessels and no more than 20m off the reef. As the afternoon went on, more and more boats came into the inlet. The kids pointed a charter boat sailing cat that was heading towards us and I watched incredulously as he passed between us and the reef. Fortunately he missed the two fishing lines we had out at the time, but I am not sure what was wrong with the 250m of clear water between us and the other side of the inlet! I was then angered as a charter boat power cat did the same thing, but this time at speed so that as he passed 5m off our stern we also copped all his wake. Bloody charter boats and their lack of etiquette ...
End Loc: Nara Inlet, Hook Island (20o 08.35'S, 148o 54.59'E)
Distance run: 10nm (cumulative: 1060nm)
Engine hours: 2 hr, 05 min (cumulative: 125 hr 46 min)
Narrative: After pancakes for breakfast, the kids and I went ashore to explore the small beach. We finally dropped the mooring at 11:35am, raised sail, and started making our way down the west side of Hook Island to Nara Inlet. The forecast was for E/SE winds at 10-15kts, increasing 15-20kts at times. Before we set the sails we had noted a few gusts up towards 20kts, so we set sail with one reef in the main and 110% head sail. For the duration of the sail, the wind varied from SW to NE, and 2-18kts. Fortunately we were in no great hurry, and were content to let the wind take us (or not) as we lazily dragged a couple of lures behind us.
As the lures did not seem to be attracting any fish, my patience with the wind decreased. Eventually, with the wind changing constantly from SW to SE as I tried to head south, I gave up, furled the head sail and started the motor.
We anchored in Nara Inlet at 2:10pm in 8m of water, well away from other vessels and no more than 20m off the reef. As the afternoon went on, more and more boats came into the inlet. The kids pointed a charter boat sailing cat that was heading towards us and I watched incredulously as he passed between us and the reef. Fortunately he missed the two fishing lines we had out at the time, but I am not sure what was wrong with the 250m of clear water between us and the other side of the inlet! I was then angered as a charter boat power cat did the same thing, but this time at speed so that as he passed 5m off our stern we also copped all his wake. Bloody charter boats and their lack of etiquette ...
End Loc: Nara Inlet, Hook Island (20o 08.35'S, 148o 54.59'E)
Distance run: 10nm (cumulative: 1060nm)
Engine hours: 2 hr, 05 min (cumulative: 125 hr 46 min)
Monday 26 September 2011
26th September, 2011
Start Loc: Black Island (20o 05.03'S, 148o 53.39'E)
Narrative: We went ashore and had a swim on Black Island. It didn't take long to explore as it is not exactly large. The kids ran around and played and swam, while Heather and I sat on the beach and read.
We dropped the mooring at 11:05am and motored south. There was no wind to speak of. We towed a couple of lures north and south in the passage between Black and Hook Islands, but nothing bit. We decided to delay our move down to Nara Inlet by a day given that Stonehaven was now virtually bare of boats, so we took up a mooring there at 12:05pm. There were several vacant mooring buoys while we swam, snorkelled and water skied during the afternoon. It was not until after 4:00pm that the buoys all started to be taken up again and it ended up being quite crowded again.
We will use the high tide tomorrow morning to go ashore to the beach. We will then head to Nara Inlet on the southern side of Hook Island.
End Loc: Stonehaven Anchorage, Hook Island (20o 05.38'S, 148o 54.38'E)
Distance run: 4nm (cumulative: 1050nm)
Engine hours: 1 hr, 03 min (cumulative: 123 hr 41 min)
Narrative: We went ashore and had a swim on Black Island. It didn't take long to explore as it is not exactly large. The kids ran around and played and swam, while Heather and I sat on the beach and read.
We dropped the mooring at 11:05am and motored south. There was no wind to speak of. We towed a couple of lures north and south in the passage between Black and Hook Islands, but nothing bit. We decided to delay our move down to Nara Inlet by a day given that Stonehaven was now virtually bare of boats, so we took up a mooring there at 12:05pm. There were several vacant mooring buoys while we swam, snorkelled and water skied during the afternoon. It was not until after 4:00pm that the buoys all started to be taken up again and it ended up being quite crowded again.
We will use the high tide tomorrow morning to go ashore to the beach. We will then head to Nara Inlet on the southern side of Hook Island.
End Loc: Stonehaven Anchorage, Hook Island (20o 05.38'S, 148o 54.38'E)
Distance run: 4nm (cumulative: 1050nm)
Engine hours: 1 hr, 03 min (cumulative: 123 hr 41 min)
Sunday 25 September 2011
25th September, 2011
Start Loc: Butterfly Bay, Hook Island (20o 04.35'S, 148o 55.71'E)
Narrative: Last night was not the best night's sleep. The wind dropped right off, so the tide change pushed us up onto the mooring buoy which then banged against the side of the boat. Four times we were rudely awakened in this manner!
I spent some time this morning coming up with an outline plan for the next few days. There was about 5kts of breeze from the east this morning, so we decided we would motor and try a bit of fishing. We dropped the mooring at 10:00am, cleared the green zone (no fishing) around Butterfly Bay, and towed a couple of lures around the top side of Hayman Island. We had no luck on the lures, and anchored in Blue Pearl Bay on the east side of Hayman at 11:05am. There were no moorings available, so we anchored in 15m of water with 50m of chain. I reversed to dig the anchor in, and it dragged a bit before finally biting. We went for a swim and a snorkel to have a look at the coral and marine life.
We planned to move to Langford Island for lunch, so we raised the anchor at 12:30pm. When the 15m mark on the chain was at the water, the chain stopped moving. After a few more goes it became clear we had fouled the anchor and it was probably a rock that it bit on and was now wedged underneath. I drove gently forward and backwards a bit and managed to get it loose (thankfully, as there was no way I was free diving 15m to get it free!).
We arrived at Langford Island just as a charter cat was leaving a mooring, so we took that up at 12:58pm. After some lunch, we took the dinghy ashore and walked the sandy cay. The wind picked up a bit and was blowing from the east so we were on the windward shore of Langford Island. We had been contemplating staying there for the night, but this convinced us to move and we departed at 2:38pm. Our original plan was to spend the night at Stonehaven Bay on the west side of Hook Island, but there were a heap of masts and motor boats visible so we opted for a mooring on the west side of Black Island. It was less than a mile from Langford Island, and we were moored by 2:57pm. Given the calm conditions it will be fine as an overnight anchorage.
End Loc: Black Island (20o 05.03'S, 148o 53.39'E)
Distance run: 8nm (cumulative: 1046nm)
Engine hours: 2 hr, 05 min (cumulative: 122 hr 38 min)
Narrative: Last night was not the best night's sleep. The wind dropped right off, so the tide change pushed us up onto the mooring buoy which then banged against the side of the boat. Four times we were rudely awakened in this manner!
I spent some time this morning coming up with an outline plan for the next few days. There was about 5kts of breeze from the east this morning, so we decided we would motor and try a bit of fishing. We dropped the mooring at 10:00am, cleared the green zone (no fishing) around Butterfly Bay, and towed a couple of lures around the top side of Hayman Island. We had no luck on the lures, and anchored in Blue Pearl Bay on the east side of Hayman at 11:05am. There were no moorings available, so we anchored in 15m of water with 50m of chain. I reversed to dig the anchor in, and it dragged a bit before finally biting. We went for a swim and a snorkel to have a look at the coral and marine life.
We planned to move to Langford Island for lunch, so we raised the anchor at 12:30pm. When the 15m mark on the chain was at the water, the chain stopped moving. After a few more goes it became clear we had fouled the anchor and it was probably a rock that it bit on and was now wedged underneath. I drove gently forward and backwards a bit and managed to get it loose (thankfully, as there was no way I was free diving 15m to get it free!).
We arrived at Langford Island just as a charter cat was leaving a mooring, so we took that up at 12:58pm. After some lunch, we took the dinghy ashore and walked the sandy cay. The wind picked up a bit and was blowing from the east so we were on the windward shore of Langford Island. We had been contemplating staying there for the night, but this convinced us to move and we departed at 2:38pm. Our original plan was to spend the night at Stonehaven Bay on the west side of Hook Island, but there were a heap of masts and motor boats visible so we opted for a mooring on the west side of Black Island. It was less than a mile from Langford Island, and we were moored by 2:57pm. Given the calm conditions it will be fine as an overnight anchorage.
End Loc: Black Island (20o 05.03'S, 148o 53.39'E)
Distance run: 8nm (cumulative: 1046nm)
Engine hours: 2 hr, 05 min (cumulative: 122 hr 38 min)
Saturday 24 September 2011
24th September, 2011
Start Loc: The Stepping Stones, Bait Reef (19o 48.69'S, 149o 03.85'E)
Narrative: We spent all of yesterday at Bait Reef. The plan was to snorkel in the morning and then ride the flood tide back south to Hook Island, but the wind was forecast to drop off and we were considering staying a bit longer. Then Lucey Blue came in and joined us at about 8:00am as the second boat. They are the only other cruising family we have encountered on our travels, so we decided we would stay a bit longer and take the opportunity to swap stories and advice. We snorkelled around the stepping stones again, and after lunch moved to another mooring to look at a different part of the reef. Apart from one commercial vessel with a load of tourists we saw no additional boats, and we had no qualms well exceeding the 2 hour time limit that applies to public moorings from 7:00am to 5:00pm. We ran the engine for 48 minutes.
With it being a weekend and the forecast being for calm winds, we expected more boats to arrive. We had another good snorkel and fed the fish in the morning. A couple of commercial vessels arrived, end then a couple of private boats. We went across to Lucey Blue, and then back to Seasprint for lunch. We dropped the mooring at 2:10pm, a little after low tide, motored back outside the reef, and set sail on a course of magnetic south. The winds were from the SE, consistently between 14-18kts. We sailed close hauled with two reefs in the main but full head sail, at a steady 5-6kts. The tidal assistance was initially only about 0.2kts, but as we got further into the flood tide increased to 2kts. I was reminded of the saying that only racers and fools sail into wind, but south is where we wanted to go. We were tracking to arrive at the north side of Hook Island at around 5:00pm. There are several suitable anchorages along the north side and we headed for Maureen’s Cove, roughly in the centre. The bays further east become smaller and more exposed, even in south easterlies. We preferred to pick up a mooring buoy. Each of the bays has a fringing reef which you can’t anchor over or inside to protect the coral, so you have to anchor outside the reef protection buoys. That generally has you anchoring in about 15m of water, which means that to maintain a decent chain to depth ratio we are letting out 55m of our 60m of chain. Maureen’s Cove is a bit shallower so you can anchor in 8-10m of water. Anyway, there were no moorings left in Maureen’s Cove (for our size boat) so we quickly checked Butterfly Bay and were lucky to pick up the last one. We were moored by 5:20pm.
End Loc: Butterfly Bay, Hook Island (20o 04.35'S, 148o 55.71'E)
Distance run: 18nm (cumulative: 1038nm)
Engine hours: 0 hr, 54 min (cumulative: 120 hr 33 min)
Narrative: We spent all of yesterday at Bait Reef. The plan was to snorkel in the morning and then ride the flood tide back south to Hook Island, but the wind was forecast to drop off and we were considering staying a bit longer. Then Lucey Blue came in and joined us at about 8:00am as the second boat. They are the only other cruising family we have encountered on our travels, so we decided we would stay a bit longer and take the opportunity to swap stories and advice. We snorkelled around the stepping stones again, and after lunch moved to another mooring to look at a different part of the reef. Apart from one commercial vessel with a load of tourists we saw no additional boats, and we had no qualms well exceeding the 2 hour time limit that applies to public moorings from 7:00am to 5:00pm. We ran the engine for 48 minutes.
With it being a weekend and the forecast being for calm winds, we expected more boats to arrive. We had another good snorkel and fed the fish in the morning. A couple of commercial vessels arrived, end then a couple of private boats. We went across to Lucey Blue, and then back to Seasprint for lunch. We dropped the mooring at 2:10pm, a little after low tide, motored back outside the reef, and set sail on a course of magnetic south. The winds were from the SE, consistently between 14-18kts. We sailed close hauled with two reefs in the main but full head sail, at a steady 5-6kts. The tidal assistance was initially only about 0.2kts, but as we got further into the flood tide increased to 2kts. I was reminded of the saying that only racers and fools sail into wind, but south is where we wanted to go. We were tracking to arrive at the north side of Hook Island at around 5:00pm. There are several suitable anchorages along the north side and we headed for Maureen’s Cove, roughly in the centre. The bays further east become smaller and more exposed, even in south easterlies. We preferred to pick up a mooring buoy. Each of the bays has a fringing reef which you can’t anchor over or inside to protect the coral, so you have to anchor outside the reef protection buoys. That generally has you anchoring in about 15m of water, which means that to maintain a decent chain to depth ratio we are letting out 55m of our 60m of chain. Maureen’s Cove is a bit shallower so you can anchor in 8-10m of water. Anyway, there were no moorings left in Maureen’s Cove (for our size boat) so we quickly checked Butterfly Bay and were lucky to pick up the last one. We were moored by 5:20pm.
End Loc: Butterfly Bay, Hook Island (20o 04.35'S, 148o 55.71'E)
Distance run: 18nm (cumulative: 1038nm)
Engine hours: 0 hr, 54 min (cumulative: 120 hr 33 min)
Thursday 22 September 2011
22nd September, 2011
Start Loc: Hardy Reef Lagoon (19o 44.36'S, 149o 11.10'E)
Narrative: It was not an uncomfortable night despite the winds of around 15kts. This morning, after watching a humpback and her calf swim up the passage between Hook and Hardy Reefs, we got ourselves organised and took the dinghy for a look around. The first task was to find the entrance we came in and mark its position on the hand held GPS so we could readily find it again when taking the yacht back out. It was something I should have thought to do on the way in. As we were roughly halfway through the ebb tide, it was not too difficult to locate all three “waterfalls” and GPS marked the one we wanted (19 43.811'S, 149 11.146'E). It was an interesting sight looking at the different tide levels inside and outside the lagoon, and the horizontal waterfall type effect it creates as a heap of water tries to get out of the lagoon through the three narrow gaps in the coral. That done, we went snorkelling. The make up of the coral was slightly different to the pillars at the Stepping Stones, but it was similarly spectacular.
Low tide was at 11:39am and I wanted to allow an hour after low tide for the waterfall to stabilise. After snorkelling, eating lunch and getting ready to go, it was a little after 1:00pm by the time we dropped the mooring and made for the exit. Despite being ninety minutes after low tide it was still flowing out a bit much for my liking, so we anchored just inside and waited for the tide to come in a bit more. At 2:00pm the sun was starting to glare off the water at the waterfall, and I didn’t want to leave it much longer as the lower the sun got the more difficult it would be to see the coral. I double checked my calculations to confirm we had enough tide to get through (we did), raised the anchor and motored through the waterfall at 2:15pm. Almost halfway through the incoming tide (2.5 hours after low tide), I was surprised that there was still water flowing out. The gap in the coral is only about 8m wide, and to add to the excitement there was a bit of a crosswind and the glare, but we got through without problems and the depth dropped off sharply from 3m to 50m.
We decided that seeing we had got out of the lagoon a little later than planned we would head back to Bait Reef for the night rather than back to Hook Island. Despite it more than doubling the distance we would travel, we motored down the passage between Hook and Hardy Reefs as we thought it might be interesting. It was interesting enough, but might not have been the best choice. As we came out the southern end of the passage we were exposed to the full force of the seas associated with the 20kt SE winds, and we had seas and swell of about 3m. These waves were also shortened and steepened by the opposing tide. We motored around the long corner of Hook Reef and once we were heading west with the wind and waves on our port quarter, we put out 115% head sail and cut the motor. The reduced head sail had us sailing at about 6kts, and it was a lot less uncomfortable than when we were into the waves. At 4:15pm I decided I wanted a bit more speed so we could get inside the Stepping Stones at Bait Reef well before sunset at 6:00pm, so we motor sailed at 7kts. We furled the head sail as we rounded Bait Reef and were on a public mooring by 5:15pm; in time for a beer while watching the sun set. We were the only boat at Bait Reef, and looking around could see nothing but water.
End Loc: The Stepping Stones, Bait Reef (19o 48.69'S, 149o 03.85'E)
Distance run: 21nm (cumulative: 1020nm)
Engine hours: 3 hr, 13 min (cumulative: 118 hr 51 min)
Narrative: It was not an uncomfortable night despite the winds of around 15kts. This morning, after watching a humpback and her calf swim up the passage between Hook and Hardy Reefs, we got ourselves organised and took the dinghy for a look around. The first task was to find the entrance we came in and mark its position on the hand held GPS so we could readily find it again when taking the yacht back out. It was something I should have thought to do on the way in. As we were roughly halfway through the ebb tide, it was not too difficult to locate all three “waterfalls” and GPS marked the one we wanted (19 43.811'S, 149 11.146'E). It was an interesting sight looking at the different tide levels inside and outside the lagoon, and the horizontal waterfall type effect it creates as a heap of water tries to get out of the lagoon through the three narrow gaps in the coral. That done, we went snorkelling. The make up of the coral was slightly different to the pillars at the Stepping Stones, but it was similarly spectacular.
Low tide was at 11:39am and I wanted to allow an hour after low tide for the waterfall to stabilise. After snorkelling, eating lunch and getting ready to go, it was a little after 1:00pm by the time we dropped the mooring and made for the exit. Despite being ninety minutes after low tide it was still flowing out a bit much for my liking, so we anchored just inside and waited for the tide to come in a bit more. At 2:00pm the sun was starting to glare off the water at the waterfall, and I didn’t want to leave it much longer as the lower the sun got the more difficult it would be to see the coral. I double checked my calculations to confirm we had enough tide to get through (we did), raised the anchor and motored through the waterfall at 2:15pm. Almost halfway through the incoming tide (2.5 hours after low tide), I was surprised that there was still water flowing out. The gap in the coral is only about 8m wide, and to add to the excitement there was a bit of a crosswind and the glare, but we got through without problems and the depth dropped off sharply from 3m to 50m.
We decided that seeing we had got out of the lagoon a little later than planned we would head back to Bait Reef for the night rather than back to Hook Island. Despite it more than doubling the distance we would travel, we motored down the passage between Hook and Hardy Reefs as we thought it might be interesting. It was interesting enough, but might not have been the best choice. As we came out the southern end of the passage we were exposed to the full force of the seas associated with the 20kt SE winds, and we had seas and swell of about 3m. These waves were also shortened and steepened by the opposing tide. We motored around the long corner of Hook Reef and once we were heading west with the wind and waves on our port quarter, we put out 115% head sail and cut the motor. The reduced head sail had us sailing at about 6kts, and it was a lot less uncomfortable than when we were into the waves. At 4:15pm I decided I wanted a bit more speed so we could get inside the Stepping Stones at Bait Reef well before sunset at 6:00pm, so we motor sailed at 7kts. We furled the head sail as we rounded Bait Reef and were on a public mooring by 5:15pm; in time for a beer while watching the sun set. We were the only boat at Bait Reef, and looking around could see nothing but water.
End Loc: The Stepping Stones, Bait Reef (19o 48.69'S, 149o 03.85'E)
Distance run: 21nm (cumulative: 1020nm)
Engine hours: 3 hr, 13 min (cumulative: 118 hr 51 min)
Wednesday 21 September 2011
21st September, 2011
Start Loc: Butterfly Bay, Hook Island (20o 04.36'S, 148o 55.71'E)
Narrative: We dropped the mooring buoy right on 8:00am and motored out of Butterfly Bay on a heading of 30 degrees magnetic, heading for the “outer reef”. The nearest cluster of reefs to the Whitsunday Islands, some 35nm from Airlie Beach, is named after the fisherman’s basics (although there are several places where fishing is now obviously banned as it is National Park green zone) due to their somewhat imaginative resemblance. So there is Line, Sinker, Hook Barb and Bait Reefs, with Hardy Reef tacked on the back side of Hook Reef. Our first destination was the Stepping Stones at Bait Reef, 18nm from our overnight anchorage.
Throughout the morning the winds moved from E to SE, generally at 5kts but never more than 10kts. With our NNE heading, the apparent wind was rarely above 6kts. We motored and motor sailed, but the motor was not turned off until 11:10am when we were inside the Stepping Stones on one of the mooring buoys (position 19o 48.62S, 149o 03.82E). The trip was great, with whales and dolphins as company again. We had an early lunch and then spent a couple of hours snorkelling around three of the coral pillars that are the Stepping Stones. Magic.
We dropped the mooring at 2:00pm, headed back outside Bait Reef and skirted it to the north, then sailed NE on a broad reach in SSE winds at 10-15kts to the number 2 beacon (a west cardinal mark). Here we dropped sails and motored in to where Line, Hardy and Hook Reefs meet. From here there is a deep passage running SE between Hardy Reef and Hook Reef. The passage is about 100m wide and 55m deep, and is where there are a couple of tourist platforms permanently moored. Instead of heading down the passage we headed east a short way and motored through a break in the coral into the Hardy Reef Lagoon. We had deliberately not left our run too late; the sun was behind us and not too low as we came in so we could clearly see the coral. We had read you can anchor just inside, but we came south a bit and picked up a mooring labelled “private”. It will be good for overnight and if we need to move off and anchor in the morning we will. We were moored by 4:00pm, about an hour before high tide. I was surprised there was no one else in the lagoon with us, but suspect the public moorings at Bait Reef are more attractive to most than anchoring surrounded by coral. Tomorrow, we will have a look around Hardy Reef in the dinghy and do some more snorkelling in the morning. Hardy Reef contains the famous Heart Reef, but I suspect we could go right past it at sea level and not make out the heart shape. I guess it will be the one with the seaplanes circling and the helicopters hovering over it as couples get engaged or married. Speaking of seaplanes, the Hardy Reef Lagoon is a bit of a landing strip for them so we will have to dodge them tomorrow as well. We will leave the lagoon once the tide out the entrance (known as The Waterfall) stabilises, around 12:30pm (an hour after low tide). From there we will motor down the aforementioned deep passage and sail back to Hook Island.
End Loc: Hardy Reef Lagoon (19o 44.36'S, 149o 11.10'E)
Distance run: 26nm (cumulative: 999nm)
Engine hours: 4 hr, 21 min (cumulative: 115 hr 38 min)
Narrative: We dropped the mooring buoy right on 8:00am and motored out of Butterfly Bay on a heading of 30 degrees magnetic, heading for the “outer reef”. The nearest cluster of reefs to the Whitsunday Islands, some 35nm from Airlie Beach, is named after the fisherman’s basics (although there are several places where fishing is now obviously banned as it is National Park green zone) due to their somewhat imaginative resemblance. So there is Line, Sinker, Hook Barb and Bait Reefs, with Hardy Reef tacked on the back side of Hook Reef. Our first destination was the Stepping Stones at Bait Reef, 18nm from our overnight anchorage.
Throughout the morning the winds moved from E to SE, generally at 5kts but never more than 10kts. With our NNE heading, the apparent wind was rarely above 6kts. We motored and motor sailed, but the motor was not turned off until 11:10am when we were inside the Stepping Stones on one of the mooring buoys (position 19o 48.62S, 149o 03.82E). The trip was great, with whales and dolphins as company again. We had an early lunch and then spent a couple of hours snorkelling around three of the coral pillars that are the Stepping Stones. Magic.
We dropped the mooring at 2:00pm, headed back outside Bait Reef and skirted it to the north, then sailed NE on a broad reach in SSE winds at 10-15kts to the number 2 beacon (a west cardinal mark). Here we dropped sails and motored in to where Line, Hardy and Hook Reefs meet. From here there is a deep passage running SE between Hardy Reef and Hook Reef. The passage is about 100m wide and 55m deep, and is where there are a couple of tourist platforms permanently moored. Instead of heading down the passage we headed east a short way and motored through a break in the coral into the Hardy Reef Lagoon. We had deliberately not left our run too late; the sun was behind us and not too low as we came in so we could clearly see the coral. We had read you can anchor just inside, but we came south a bit and picked up a mooring labelled “private”. It will be good for overnight and if we need to move off and anchor in the morning we will. We were moored by 4:00pm, about an hour before high tide. I was surprised there was no one else in the lagoon with us, but suspect the public moorings at Bait Reef are more attractive to most than anchoring surrounded by coral. Tomorrow, we will have a look around Hardy Reef in the dinghy and do some more snorkelling in the morning. Hardy Reef contains the famous Heart Reef, but I suspect we could go right past it at sea level and not make out the heart shape. I guess it will be the one with the seaplanes circling and the helicopters hovering over it as couples get engaged or married. Speaking of seaplanes, the Hardy Reef Lagoon is a bit of a landing strip for them so we will have to dodge them tomorrow as well. We will leave the lagoon once the tide out the entrance (known as The Waterfall) stabilises, around 12:30pm (an hour after low tide). From there we will motor down the aforementioned deep passage and sail back to Hook Island.
End Loc: Hardy Reef Lagoon (19o 44.36'S, 149o 11.10'E)
Distance run: 26nm (cumulative: 999nm)
Engine hours: 4 hr, 21 min (cumulative: 115 hr 38 min)
Tuesday 20 September 2011
20th September, 2011
Start Loc: Abel Point Marina, Airlie Beach (20o 15.83'S, 148o 42.73'E)
Narrative: I checked the installation instructions for the furler parts, which I had downloaded from the net, but the parts were not quite the same. I went to the top of the mast to have a look and while trying to get the bush inside the halyard deflector, one part came away and fell, bounced off the port seat in the cockpit and (naturally) disappeared into the water at the back of the boat. That was enough for me. Given the parts didn’t match the instructions I had and I was already angry at losing one piece, I decided it could wait until the rigger’s leg was better and the expert could do it! We booked back into the marina on 30th September and organised for the rigger to do the work then.
As we were giving the boat a good clean and refilling water tanks before heading out, a Bertrand 35 motor boat came in beside us. Naturally, Heather and I stopped what we were doing and went to lend a hand with mooring lines. The skipper was grateful for the help and commented that it was all a bit tight despite the marina saying he would have “plenty of room”. The marina has squeezed more berths in than is comfortable, has no competition and charges like a wounded bull – I fail to see how it’s business plan could have been that poor that it has gone into receivership.
The forecast for the next few days is light winds, SE to NE (and variable) at mainly 5-10 and 10-15kts; perfect weather for going to the outer reef. We pulled out of our berth at 11:45am and went to the fuel dock to get some unleaded for the outboards. I was hoping to get the opportunity to top up at a service station much cheaper, but didn’t, so we booked in for 12:00pm and I paid the $1.72/L for the 25L I needed. We pulled away from the fuel dock at 12:15pm and left the marina a few minutes later. The breeze was slightly north of east at 5-10kts, so we motored NE on our course towards the top of Hook Island. The breeze came more east for us and freshened to 12kts, so we were able to turn off the motor and sail on a close reach at 5.5kts. A little over half way the breeze died off and we motor sailed for a bit, before it swung back too close to the bow forcing us to furl the head sail and keep motoring.
As we came in south of the Langford and Bird Island cay we got a strike on the lure. Heather throttled back to idle while I wound in a 74cm spotted mackerel. With enough fish to feed us all two meals, I didn’t bother putting the lure back out. We put the sails away and motored between Hayman and Hook Islands, and continued around the north of Hook Island to Butterfly Bay. We anchored in 16m of water to stay outside the reef protection buoys, which two boats didn’t bother doing. We got everything set and I was about to start cleaning the fish when a boat dropped its mooring buoy and left. We quickly raised the anchor and took up the buoy. The mackerel made a great dinner. The forecast remains SE/NE at 5-10kts for tomorrow and then SE getting up to 10-15kts on Thursday. The plan remains that we will sail from here to the reef (Bait, Hook, Sinker, Line and Hardy reefs), explore and snorkel, anchor there for the night, and come back Thursday afternoon. We will then spend a week or so exploring Hook Island.
End Loc: Butterfly Bay, Hook Island (20o 04.36'S, 148o 55.71'E)
Distance run: 20nm (cumulative: 973nm)
Engine hours: 3 hr, 36 min (cumulative: 111 hr 17 min)
Narrative: I checked the installation instructions for the furler parts, which I had downloaded from the net, but the parts were not quite the same. I went to the top of the mast to have a look and while trying to get the bush inside the halyard deflector, one part came away and fell, bounced off the port seat in the cockpit and (naturally) disappeared into the water at the back of the boat. That was enough for me. Given the parts didn’t match the instructions I had and I was already angry at losing one piece, I decided it could wait until the rigger’s leg was better and the expert could do it! We booked back into the marina on 30th September and organised for the rigger to do the work then.
As we were giving the boat a good clean and refilling water tanks before heading out, a Bertrand 35 motor boat came in beside us. Naturally, Heather and I stopped what we were doing and went to lend a hand with mooring lines. The skipper was grateful for the help and commented that it was all a bit tight despite the marina saying he would have “plenty of room”. The marina has squeezed more berths in than is comfortable, has no competition and charges like a wounded bull – I fail to see how it’s business plan could have been that poor that it has gone into receivership.
The forecast for the next few days is light winds, SE to NE (and variable) at mainly 5-10 and 10-15kts; perfect weather for going to the outer reef. We pulled out of our berth at 11:45am and went to the fuel dock to get some unleaded for the outboards. I was hoping to get the opportunity to top up at a service station much cheaper, but didn’t, so we booked in for 12:00pm and I paid the $1.72/L for the 25L I needed. We pulled away from the fuel dock at 12:15pm and left the marina a few minutes later. The breeze was slightly north of east at 5-10kts, so we motored NE on our course towards the top of Hook Island. The breeze came more east for us and freshened to 12kts, so we were able to turn off the motor and sail on a close reach at 5.5kts. A little over half way the breeze died off and we motor sailed for a bit, before it swung back too close to the bow forcing us to furl the head sail and keep motoring.
As we came in south of the Langford and Bird Island cay we got a strike on the lure. Heather throttled back to idle while I wound in a 74cm spotted mackerel. With enough fish to feed us all two meals, I didn’t bother putting the lure back out. We put the sails away and motored between Hayman and Hook Islands, and continued around the north of Hook Island to Butterfly Bay. We anchored in 16m of water to stay outside the reef protection buoys, which two boats didn’t bother doing. We got everything set and I was about to start cleaning the fish when a boat dropped its mooring buoy and left. We quickly raised the anchor and took up the buoy. The mackerel made a great dinner. The forecast remains SE/NE at 5-10kts for tomorrow and then SE getting up to 10-15kts on Thursday. The plan remains that we will sail from here to the reef (Bait, Hook, Sinker, Line and Hardy reefs), explore and snorkel, anchor there for the night, and come back Thursday afternoon. We will then spend a week or so exploring Hook Island.
End Loc: Butterfly Bay, Hook Island (20o 04.36'S, 148o 55.71'E)
Distance run: 20nm (cumulative: 973nm)
Engine hours: 3 hr, 36 min (cumulative: 111 hr 17 min)
Monday 19 September 2011
19th September, 2011
Start Loc: Airlie Bay, Airlie Beach (20o 15.81'S, 148o 43.17'E)
Narrative: We raised anchor at 10:48am and motored around to the marina. As we approached the channel we raised the marina on VHF 09 and were given a fuel pump number and a marina berth after that. Diesel was expensive.
Refuelled: 46.49L @ 171.0c/L = $79.50
Economy since 26 Aug: 46.49L for 33 hr 58 min = 1.37L/hr
Economy overall: 198.25L for 107 hr 41 min = 1.84L/hr
The berth was again a tight squeeze. Our beam is basically 4m and we were berthing next to another Beneteau 411, so there is 8m. The pens were not more than 9m wide. Anyway, we got in and tied up, then discovered that our shore power cable would not reach the nearest box. We went to the marina office to check in and pay for fuel, and asked if they could lend us a 15A extension lead. They could not so we asked if we could move to another berth as the only way our cable would reach was if we turned around (stern in) and ran the cable over the boat next to us. Finally they agreed to move us up two berths. We dropped in to the chandlery (rigger) on the way back to the boat and found out that the rigger who was going to do the head sail furler work for us this afternoon has done his knee and wasn’t able to. The parts had come in so I decided I would give it a crack in the morning, but the priority was getting groceries and getting them stowed.
End Loc: Abel Point Marina, Airlie Beach (20o 15.83'S, 148o 42.73'E)
Distance run: 1nm (cumulative: 953nm)
Engine hours: 0 hr, 38 min (cumulative: 107 hr 41 min)
Narrative: We raised anchor at 10:48am and motored around to the marina. As we approached the channel we raised the marina on VHF 09 and were given a fuel pump number and a marina berth after that. Diesel was expensive.
Refuelled: 46.49L @ 171.0c/L = $79.50
Economy since 26 Aug: 46.49L for 33 hr 58 min = 1.37L/hr
Economy overall: 198.25L for 107 hr 41 min = 1.84L/hr
The berth was again a tight squeeze. Our beam is basically 4m and we were berthing next to another Beneteau 411, so there is 8m. The pens were not more than 9m wide. Anyway, we got in and tied up, then discovered that our shore power cable would not reach the nearest box. We went to the marina office to check in and pay for fuel, and asked if they could lend us a 15A extension lead. They could not so we asked if we could move to another berth as the only way our cable would reach was if we turned around (stern in) and ran the cable over the boat next to us. Finally they agreed to move us up two berths. We dropped in to the chandlery (rigger) on the way back to the boat and found out that the rigger who was going to do the head sail furler work for us this afternoon has done his knee and wasn’t able to. The parts had come in so I decided I would give it a crack in the morning, but the priority was getting groceries and getting them stowed.
End Loc: Abel Point Marina, Airlie Beach (20o 15.83'S, 148o 42.73'E)
Distance run: 1nm (cumulative: 953nm)
Engine hours: 0 hr, 38 min (cumulative: 107 hr 41 min)
Sunday 18 September 2011
18th September, 2011
Start Loc: Sawmill Beach, Cid Harbour, Whitsunday Island (20o 15.35'S, 148o 56.83'E)
Narrative: As planned, we spent yesterday at anchor off Sawmill Beach. The walk up Whitsunday Peak was about 2.5km each way and took us just under an hour to get up and 45 minutes back down, but the view from the top was spectacular and worth the walk. We ran the engine for 22 minutes.
We raised the anchor at 9:02am this morning and motored west past the top end of Cid Island. The forecast for today was S/SE winds at 10-15kts. We raised full main sail inside Cid Island in 6kts of true wind. As we got just west of Cid Island we started to get some clean wind at about 12kts, so we let out full head sail as well and started sailing. We had not yet turned off the motor when the wind jumped to 18kts and we were overpowered and had to reduce canvas. We furled the head sail, turned into wind and put a reef in the main, came back off and let out 100% (reduced) head sail. It was then a comfortable sail on a broad reach at 6kts in 15-18kts of wind.
I decided to take a slightly different route again and sailed through Unsafe Passage (which is safe enough for yachts) between North Molle and Mid Molle Islands. Once through the passage, we saw humpback whales (mother and calf) swimming SE along the coast of North Molle, with the calf practicing its jumping out of the water. Shortly after, we spotted another three humpback whales playing in Molle Channel, also moving SE. An adult whale decided to give us a demonstration of its breaching ability, but unfortunately we did not quite have the cameras ready and we were probably a bit far off anyway.
We sailed past Pioneer Rocks and into Pioneer Bay, finally dropping anchor amongst the hundred or so other boats moored and anchored in Airlie Bay at 12:05pm. We took the dinghy ashore and had lunch, and took the opportunity to restock some grog. After updating the log and our position, we will go ashore again and have a swim and a barbecue dinner at the lagoon (similar to Southbank).
End Loc: Airlie Bay, Airlie Beach (20o 15.81'S, 148o 43.17'E)
Distance run: 16nm (cumulative: 952nm)
Engine hours: 1 hr, 31 min (cumulative: 107 hr 03 min)
Narrative: As planned, we spent yesterday at anchor off Sawmill Beach. The walk up Whitsunday Peak was about 2.5km each way and took us just under an hour to get up and 45 minutes back down, but the view from the top was spectacular and worth the walk. We ran the engine for 22 minutes.
We raised the anchor at 9:02am this morning and motored west past the top end of Cid Island. The forecast for today was S/SE winds at 10-15kts. We raised full main sail inside Cid Island in 6kts of true wind. As we got just west of Cid Island we started to get some clean wind at about 12kts, so we let out full head sail as well and started sailing. We had not yet turned off the motor when the wind jumped to 18kts and we were overpowered and had to reduce canvas. We furled the head sail, turned into wind and put a reef in the main, came back off and let out 100% (reduced) head sail. It was then a comfortable sail on a broad reach at 6kts in 15-18kts of wind.
I decided to take a slightly different route again and sailed through Unsafe Passage (which is safe enough for yachts) between North Molle and Mid Molle Islands. Once through the passage, we saw humpback whales (mother and calf) swimming SE along the coast of North Molle, with the calf practicing its jumping out of the water. Shortly after, we spotted another three humpback whales playing in Molle Channel, also moving SE. An adult whale decided to give us a demonstration of its breaching ability, but unfortunately we did not quite have the cameras ready and we were probably a bit far off anyway.
We sailed past Pioneer Rocks and into Pioneer Bay, finally dropping anchor amongst the hundred or so other boats moored and anchored in Airlie Bay at 12:05pm. We took the dinghy ashore and had lunch, and took the opportunity to restock some grog. After updating the log and our position, we will go ashore again and have a swim and a barbecue dinner at the lagoon (similar to Southbank).
End Loc: Airlie Bay, Airlie Beach (20o 15.81'S, 148o 43.17'E)
Distance run: 16nm (cumulative: 952nm)
Engine hours: 1 hr, 31 min (cumulative: 107 hr 03 min)
Friday 16 September 2011
16th September, 2011
Start Loc: Sawmill Bay, Cid Harbour, Whitsunday Island (20o 15.88'S, 148o 56.54'E)
Narrative: After a calm and secure night, we motored out of Cid Harbour at 9:15am. The winds were still S/SE at 15kts and generally remained within 30 degrees of the bow, so we motored the whole way to Hamilton Island without bothering to raise any canvas. We motored into Hamilton Marina at 10:25am, and they were once again very accommodating and gave us a berth to use for the short period of time we would need. They usually charge an hourly rate for a casual stop, but I assume as we were bringing business to the marina they were a little more flexible. We picked up the 5hp (reportedly ready to go, however after a test run this afternoon I discovered it would not keep running at idle and had to adjust the mixture screw) and confirmed with the marina office that we would be able to use the fuel wharf for the future airport drop offs and pickups that we will have to make. We probably extended the stay a little more than we should have by ducking around to the general store and bakery to grab a few things, and finally motored out of the marina again by 11:50am.
The wind was obviously a lot more in our favour for the trip back to Cid Harbour. With the wind SE at 15-20kts, we sailed with a reef in the main and reduced head sail at about 6kts. We took a slightly different route back, sailing between Dent and Henning Islands and then running wing on wing until tacking up Hunt Channel back into Cid Harbour. It was a very pleasant sail. There were a heap less boats compared to yesterday, and we were anchored off Sawmill Beach by 1:45pm.
We will stay here tomorrow and do the walk to Whitsunday Peak, and have decided that on Sunday we will sail to Airlie Beach and so that on Monday we will only have to duck around the corner to get fuel at 11:00am and then to our berth. The rigger is confirmed to fix the furling foil on Monday afternoon.
End Loc: Sawmill Beach, Cid Harbour, Whitsunday Island (20o 15.35'S, 148o 56.83'E)
Distance run: 17nm (cumulative: 936nm)
Engine hours: 1 hr, 49 min (cumulative: 105 hr 10 min)
Narrative: After a calm and secure night, we motored out of Cid Harbour at 9:15am. The winds were still S/SE at 15kts and generally remained within 30 degrees of the bow, so we motored the whole way to Hamilton Island without bothering to raise any canvas. We motored into Hamilton Marina at 10:25am, and they were once again very accommodating and gave us a berth to use for the short period of time we would need. They usually charge an hourly rate for a casual stop, but I assume as we were bringing business to the marina they were a little more flexible. We picked up the 5hp (reportedly ready to go, however after a test run this afternoon I discovered it would not keep running at idle and had to adjust the mixture screw) and confirmed with the marina office that we would be able to use the fuel wharf for the future airport drop offs and pickups that we will have to make. We probably extended the stay a little more than we should have by ducking around to the general store and bakery to grab a few things, and finally motored out of the marina again by 11:50am.
The wind was obviously a lot more in our favour for the trip back to Cid Harbour. With the wind SE at 15-20kts, we sailed with a reef in the main and reduced head sail at about 6kts. We took a slightly different route back, sailing between Dent and Henning Islands and then running wing on wing until tacking up Hunt Channel back into Cid Harbour. It was a very pleasant sail. There were a heap less boats compared to yesterday, and we were anchored off Sawmill Beach by 1:45pm.
We will stay here tomorrow and do the walk to Whitsunday Peak, and have decided that on Sunday we will sail to Airlie Beach and so that on Monday we will only have to duck around the corner to get fuel at 11:00am and then to our berth. The rigger is confirmed to fix the furling foil on Monday afternoon.
End Loc: Sawmill Beach, Cid Harbour, Whitsunday Island (20o 15.35'S, 148o 56.83'E)
Distance run: 17nm (cumulative: 936nm)
Engine hours: 1 hr, 49 min (cumulative: 105 hr 10 min)
Thursday 15 September 2011
15th September, 2011
Start Loc: Cateran Bay, Border Island (20o 09.33'S, 149o 02.03'E)
Narrative: After having Cateran Bay to ourselves overnight, and another windy but relatively calm night, we dropped our mooringat 9:40am and headed out of the bay. The winds were again SE at 20kts and we sailed on a broad reach at 6kts to the northern tip of Whitsunday Island and through Hook Passage. The passage between Hook Island and Whitsunday Island had some rough water at the head, but it was just currents meeting as we were half way through a flood tide. We phoned Hook Resort and while they were open they no longer have a shop where we could but bread and milk. They offered us a mooring buoy for $25 so we could go ashore and have a look around. We decided against the mooring, and due to the tidal flow decided not to anchor to do the Whitsunday Cairn walk - maybe later.
Due to the lay of the land there were flukey winds until we were about 1nm south of Hook Passage when we started to get some clean air. The wind was more southerly here, so we sailed close hauled down the passage and then on a broad reach following the deep water west along the bottom of Hook Island. We were then close hauled again towards South Molle Island before we could tack back in towards Cid Harbour. We joined the plethora of boats already in Cid Harbour and anchored at the southern end of Sawmill Bay just after 12:30pm. It surprisingly took 3 goes to get the anchor to hold in the mud. We ended up needing 25m of chain to bite in 4.5m of water (just after high tide), but then we brought back in 5m of chain.
Heather and I spent some time this afternoon sewing some velcro back on where it is coming loose on the bimini. A close inspection showed that all the stitching is a bit worse for wear after years of exposure to the elements, so we will need to take the bimini off at some stage and get it run over again by a trimmer.
We will duck down to Hamilton tomorrow to get the 5hp, and some fresh bread and milk to see us through the next few days. Then it will be back to Cid Harbour and we will walk to Whitsunday Peak.
End Loc: Sawmill Bay, Cid Harbour, Whitsunday Island (20o 15.88'S, 148o 56.54'E)
Distance run: 17nm (cumulative: 919nm)
Engine hours: 1 hr, 31 min (cumulative: 103 hr 21 min)
Narrative: After having Cateran Bay to ourselves overnight, and another windy but relatively calm night, we dropped our mooringat 9:40am and headed out of the bay. The winds were again SE at 20kts and we sailed on a broad reach at 6kts to the northern tip of Whitsunday Island and through Hook Passage. The passage between Hook Island and Whitsunday Island had some rough water at the head, but it was just currents meeting as we were half way through a flood tide. We phoned Hook Resort and while they were open they no longer have a shop where we could but bread and milk. They offered us a mooring buoy for $25 so we could go ashore and have a look around. We decided against the mooring, and due to the tidal flow decided not to anchor to do the Whitsunday Cairn walk - maybe later.
Due to the lay of the land there were flukey winds until we were about 1nm south of Hook Passage when we started to get some clean air. The wind was more southerly here, so we sailed close hauled down the passage and then on a broad reach following the deep water west along the bottom of Hook Island. We were then close hauled again towards South Molle Island before we could tack back in towards Cid Harbour. We joined the plethora of boats already in Cid Harbour and anchored at the southern end of Sawmill Bay just after 12:30pm. It surprisingly took 3 goes to get the anchor to hold in the mud. We ended up needing 25m of chain to bite in 4.5m of water (just after high tide), but then we brought back in 5m of chain.
Heather and I spent some time this afternoon sewing some velcro back on where it is coming loose on the bimini. A close inspection showed that all the stitching is a bit worse for wear after years of exposure to the elements, so we will need to take the bimini off at some stage and get it run over again by a trimmer.
We will duck down to Hamilton tomorrow to get the 5hp, and some fresh bread and milk to see us through the next few days. Then it will be back to Cid Harbour and we will walk to Whitsunday Peak.
End Loc: Sawmill Bay, Cid Harbour, Whitsunday Island (20o 15.88'S, 148o 56.54'E)
Distance run: 17nm (cumulative: 919nm)
Engine hours: 1 hr, 31 min (cumulative: 103 hr 21 min)
Wednesday 14 September 2011
14th September, 2011
Start Loc: Tongue Bay, Whitsunday Island (20o 14.40'S, 149o 01.09'E)
Narrative: Although it was quite windy it was relatively calm overnight due to the protected anchorage, so we all got a good night’s sleep. All lights were out on the boat (less the mooring light) by 8:30pm!
As we had breakfast, there were yachts, boats and ships of all shapes and sizes coming into or going past Tongue Bay. It was a lot more populated when we left than it was overnight. We raised the anchor at 10:25am and picked our way through the boats, before coming back around into wind to hoist the main. The winds were SE at 20kts so our heading of 030 degrees had us between a beam and a broad reach as we headed for the east side of Border Island. We made 6kts through the water and had an extra 1.5-2kts of tide to help us along. As we rounded the top of Border Island there were another yacht and a cat also heading into Cateran Bay, and one more yacht already on a mooring buoy. We anchored at 11:35am in 12m of water just outside the reef protection buoys, with 50m of chain. The winds were forecast to increase to 20-25kts in the evening so when the yacht on the mooring buoy left mid afternoon, we were quick to move to pick it up for overnight.
Tomorrow we will head around the corner to see if the Hook Island Resort (and underwater observatory) is still open, as we would like to get some milk and bread. We also plan to take the dinghy across Hook Passage to do the Whitsunday Cairn walk. We will anchor in Cid Harbour for the night, and then on Friday duck down to Hamilton to pick up the 5hp.
End Loc: Cateran Bay, Border Island (20o 09.33'S, 149o 02.03'E)
Distance run: 7nm (cumulative: 902nm)
Engine hours: 1 hr, 30 min (cumulative: 101 hr 50 min)
Narrative: Although it was quite windy it was relatively calm overnight due to the protected anchorage, so we all got a good night’s sleep. All lights were out on the boat (less the mooring light) by 8:30pm!
As we had breakfast, there were yachts, boats and ships of all shapes and sizes coming into or going past Tongue Bay. It was a lot more populated when we left than it was overnight. We raised the anchor at 10:25am and picked our way through the boats, before coming back around into wind to hoist the main. The winds were SE at 20kts so our heading of 030 degrees had us between a beam and a broad reach as we headed for the east side of Border Island. We made 6kts through the water and had an extra 1.5-2kts of tide to help us along. As we rounded the top of Border Island there were another yacht and a cat also heading into Cateran Bay, and one more yacht already on a mooring buoy. We anchored at 11:35am in 12m of water just outside the reef protection buoys, with 50m of chain. The winds were forecast to increase to 20-25kts in the evening so when the yacht on the mooring buoy left mid afternoon, we were quick to move to pick it up for overnight.
Tomorrow we will head around the corner to see if the Hook Island Resort (and underwater observatory) is still open, as we would like to get some milk and bread. We also plan to take the dinghy across Hook Passage to do the Whitsunday Cairn walk. We will anchor in Cid Harbour for the night, and then on Friday duck down to Hamilton to pick up the 5hp.
End Loc: Cateran Bay, Border Island (20o 09.33'S, 149o 02.03'E)
Distance run: 7nm (cumulative: 902nm)
Engine hours: 1 hr, 30 min (cumulative: 101 hr 50 min)
Tuesday 13 September 2011
13th September, 2011
Start Loc: Whitehaven Beach, Whitsunday Island (20o 17.48'S, 149o 03.05'E)
Narrative: We spent Sunday 11th September and Monday 12th September anchored off Whitehaven Beach. We rolled a little bit on the swell at times, but for the most part it was a comfortable anchorage with good hold in clean, fine sand. And of course the scenery and the weather were spectacular. We ran the engine for 16 minutes and 20 minutes Sunday and Monday respectively, for hot showers at the end of each day.
We decided that today was time to move on. We raised anchor at 10:20am and motored away from the beach. We started down Solway Passage so we could get mobile reception, and when we did phoned Brett at Hamilton Island to see how he was going with the 5hp. It was done, so we decided we would head to Hamilton to get it straight away. As we came past Frith Rock and south of Whitsunday Island, we were no longer protected a bit from the SE winds by Teague Island. We found 20-25kts with seas of about 2m and swell about 1.5m, all from the SE. We had to go largely SW to Fitzalan Passage so we would beam on to all this for a couple of hours. We decided the 5hp wasn’t that urgent and it could wait for a few days, and turned back up Solway Passage.
We ran wing on wing NNE back past Whitehaven Beach on the east side of French Shoal. Here we crossed a bit of a deep hole, with the sounder showing 132m of water at one stage. It was strange being in so much water when French Shoal 300m west of us dries at low water springs, and Chalkies Beach (Haslewood Island) was 800m east of us. The 18kt wind was pushing us at 6kts, and we had 2kts of favourable tide so we made good time.
We altered course NW and crossed French Shoal in 8m of water just south of Esk Island, and sailed around Tongue Point into Tongue Bay. We anchored in 4.5m of water about one third of the way through the ebb tide. After lunch we took the dinghy ashore and did the walk to the Tongue Point lookout (looking over Hill Inlet down to Whitehaven Beach) and down to Lookout Beach.
End Loc: Tongue Bay, Whitsunday Island (20o 14.40'S, 149o 01.09'E)
Distance run: 10nm (cumulative: 895nm)
Engine hours: 1 hr, 19 min (cumulative: 100 hr 20 min)
Narrative: We spent Sunday 11th September and Monday 12th September anchored off Whitehaven Beach. We rolled a little bit on the swell at times, but for the most part it was a comfortable anchorage with good hold in clean, fine sand. And of course the scenery and the weather were spectacular. We ran the engine for 16 minutes and 20 minutes Sunday and Monday respectively, for hot showers at the end of each day.
We decided that today was time to move on. We raised anchor at 10:20am and motored away from the beach. We started down Solway Passage so we could get mobile reception, and when we did phoned Brett at Hamilton Island to see how he was going with the 5hp. It was done, so we decided we would head to Hamilton to get it straight away. As we came past Frith Rock and south of Whitsunday Island, we were no longer protected a bit from the SE winds by Teague Island. We found 20-25kts with seas of about 2m and swell about 1.5m, all from the SE. We had to go largely SW to Fitzalan Passage so we would beam on to all this for a couple of hours. We decided the 5hp wasn’t that urgent and it could wait for a few days, and turned back up Solway Passage.
We ran wing on wing NNE back past Whitehaven Beach on the east side of French Shoal. Here we crossed a bit of a deep hole, with the sounder showing 132m of water at one stage. It was strange being in so much water when French Shoal 300m west of us dries at low water springs, and Chalkies Beach (Haslewood Island) was 800m east of us. The 18kt wind was pushing us at 6kts, and we had 2kts of favourable tide so we made good time.
We altered course NW and crossed French Shoal in 8m of water just south of Esk Island, and sailed around Tongue Point into Tongue Bay. We anchored in 4.5m of water about one third of the way through the ebb tide. After lunch we took the dinghy ashore and did the walk to the Tongue Point lookout (looking over Hill Inlet down to Whitehaven Beach) and down to Lookout Beach.
End Loc: Tongue Bay, Whitsunday Island (20o 14.40'S, 149o 01.09'E)
Distance run: 10nm (cumulative: 895nm)
Engine hours: 1 hr, 19 min (cumulative: 100 hr 20 min)
Saturday 10 September 2011
10th September, 2011
Start Loc: Gulnare Inlet, Whitsunday Island (20o 17.59'S, 148o 57.35'E)
Narrative: As predicted, the winds changed to S/SW overnight. This had the wind blowing almost straight up the inlet and channeled somewhat just to make the gusts that little bit stronger than predicted. I had only just gotten up a little after 6:00am when there was a loud bang from the foredeck. It had Heather awake and out of bed in a matter of seconds and we went to see what made the noise. I noticed the forward hatch was fully open (lying back on the deck). We had left it slightly open when we went to bed and concluded the wind had got under it and opened it all the way. Having closed and secured the hatch from the foredeck, I was watching a cat off our port bow that was potentially dragging anchor in the wind when Heather yelled and gestured for me to come to the cockpit (it was blowing 30kts so I couldn’t hear much except for the wind in my ears). When I got back to the cockpit I saw what all the fuss was about – our dinghy (which we had towed the mile or so from Henning Island, and hence was on the water and not hanging from the davits) had been flipped over by the wind and was upside down. My main concern was that the 5hp was also inverted, with the power head in the water and the leg sticking up in the air. From my small amount of knowledge of outboard motors, I knew this was not a good thing.
It was easy to right the dinghy again, and I hauled in the dinghy’s rope, chain and anchor; but we lost the container they used to sit in. I then took the motor off, put it back on the pushpit rail, and gave it first aid. The leg should never be above the head as the gearbox oil drains. I don’t carry any, so I knew I had to get someone to go over it for me. I gave all the electrics a good dose of WD-40. I drained some fuel from the internal tank and confirmed it was not contaminated with sea water (when I last used it I had turned off the fuel and tightened the breather cap, so that probably helped). I drained the carburettor, which was contaminated. I took the front cover off the carburettor and sprayed a small amount of WD-40 direct into it. The only other thing I recalled from my training on submerged outboards was to remove the spark plug and pour a small amount of two stroke oil into the chamber, swirl it around and then get the motor to a marine mechanic. While I was doing all this, a cat off our starboard side went past dragging anchor, but they were quick to realise and fix it. There were a few charter boats in the inlet and we were concerned about them dragging into us; coupled with the wind, we were not going to stay in the inlet longer than was necessary.
As we left the inlet at about 9:45am, Heather had the good idea of seeing if there was someone we could drop the outboard off to at Hamilton Island, so she radioed the marina, got a phone number, spoke to a bloke, and we motored the mile and a half south to Hamilton Marina. They were great and let us tie up for half an hour or so while we dropped the motor off.
After leaving Hamilton, we sailed north and rounded the top end. We found ourselves going into 3kts of outgoing tide through Fitzalan Passage until we got past Fitzalan Island. From there we had E winds at 15-20kts. As we were headed just north of east, we were close hauled and tacked away from Whitsunday Island twice until we were able to sail through Solway Passage (between Whitsunday Island and Haslewood Island). We dropped sails as we came out of the passage, and motored to just north of where all the tourist boats were at the southern end of Whitehaven Beach. We were anchored by 2:20pm.
End Loc: Whitehaven Beach, Whitsunday Island (20o 17.48'S, 149o 03.05'E)
Distance run: 18nm (cumulative: 885nm)
Engine hours: 2 hr, 08 min (cumulative: 98 hr 25 min)
Narrative: As predicted, the winds changed to S/SW overnight. This had the wind blowing almost straight up the inlet and channeled somewhat just to make the gusts that little bit stronger than predicted. I had only just gotten up a little after 6:00am when there was a loud bang from the foredeck. It had Heather awake and out of bed in a matter of seconds and we went to see what made the noise. I noticed the forward hatch was fully open (lying back on the deck). We had left it slightly open when we went to bed and concluded the wind had got under it and opened it all the way. Having closed and secured the hatch from the foredeck, I was watching a cat off our port bow that was potentially dragging anchor in the wind when Heather yelled and gestured for me to come to the cockpit (it was blowing 30kts so I couldn’t hear much except for the wind in my ears). When I got back to the cockpit I saw what all the fuss was about – our dinghy (which we had towed the mile or so from Henning Island, and hence was on the water and not hanging from the davits) had been flipped over by the wind and was upside down. My main concern was that the 5hp was also inverted, with the power head in the water and the leg sticking up in the air. From my small amount of knowledge of outboard motors, I knew this was not a good thing.
It was easy to right the dinghy again, and I hauled in the dinghy’s rope, chain and anchor; but we lost the container they used to sit in. I then took the motor off, put it back on the pushpit rail, and gave it first aid. The leg should never be above the head as the gearbox oil drains. I don’t carry any, so I knew I had to get someone to go over it for me. I gave all the electrics a good dose of WD-40. I drained some fuel from the internal tank and confirmed it was not contaminated with sea water (when I last used it I had turned off the fuel and tightened the breather cap, so that probably helped). I drained the carburettor, which was contaminated. I took the front cover off the carburettor and sprayed a small amount of WD-40 direct into it. The only other thing I recalled from my training on submerged outboards was to remove the spark plug and pour a small amount of two stroke oil into the chamber, swirl it around and then get the motor to a marine mechanic. While I was doing all this, a cat off our starboard side went past dragging anchor, but they were quick to realise and fix it. There were a few charter boats in the inlet and we were concerned about them dragging into us; coupled with the wind, we were not going to stay in the inlet longer than was necessary.
As we left the inlet at about 9:45am, Heather had the good idea of seeing if there was someone we could drop the outboard off to at Hamilton Island, so she radioed the marina, got a phone number, spoke to a bloke, and we motored the mile and a half south to Hamilton Marina. They were great and let us tie up for half an hour or so while we dropped the motor off.
After leaving Hamilton, we sailed north and rounded the top end. We found ourselves going into 3kts of outgoing tide through Fitzalan Passage until we got past Fitzalan Island. From there we had E winds at 15-20kts. As we were headed just north of east, we were close hauled and tacked away from Whitsunday Island twice until we were able to sail through Solway Passage (between Whitsunday Island and Haslewood Island). We dropped sails as we came out of the passage, and motored to just north of where all the tourist boats were at the southern end of Whitehaven Beach. We were anchored by 2:20pm.
End Loc: Whitehaven Beach, Whitsunday Island (20o 17.48'S, 149o 03.05'E)
Distance run: 18nm (cumulative: 885nm)
Engine hours: 2 hr, 08 min (cumulative: 98 hr 25 min)
Friday 9 September 2011
9th September, 2011
Start Loc: Abel Point Marina, Airlie Beach (20o 15.85'S, 148o 42.72'E)
Narrative: After spending way too much money between bits and pieces at the chandlery and a new battery (120A deep cycle marine battery - read three times the cost of a good car battery), as well as arranging to spend more money when we go back in ten days (the rigger has ordered parts to fix the foil on the head sail furling system), not to mention the cost of groceries, we had to leave the marina so we couldn't spend anymore!
We departed the marina at 10:15am and sailed WNW past Pioneer Rocks and then on around the top of North Molle Island. We had a northerly wind at about 12kts which gave us a bit over 6kts boat speed on a close reach. Once clear of North Molle we ran down Whitsunday Passage to the bottom of Whitsunday Island, from where we saw whales breaching in the distance.
Weather wise, the low trough is moving offshore and a high is following it through, so the N/NW winds will swing SW overnight and then SE by tomorrow afternoon. We should then have several days of SE winds accompanied by glorious weather as the high moves over us. To that end, we planned to use the northerly winds today to run south down Whitsunday Passage and then use the SE trade winds to do an anti-clockwise circuit of Whitsunday Island. We decided to anchor tonight in Gulnare Inlet as it provides good shelter as the winds swing around and change direction overnight. Low tide was at 2:30pm but we needed a bit of tide to get into Gulnare Inlet, so we took up a mooring off Henning Island and went ashore to kill some time while waiting for the tide to come in a bit after the low.
Come 4:00pm we decided we had enough water and started making our way up the inlet. The sounder was showed 1.4m for a bit at one stage, but we were still moving and I couldn't feel the boat touching the bottom. I think the depth was more like 1.7m and bulb on the keel was stirring up the mud/sand bottom causing a false reading. Regardless, we made it to the deep water hole and anchored in 3m of water. High tide tomorrow morning is just after 9:00am so we will have plenty of water to get out.
End Loc: Gulnare Inlet, Whitsunday Island (20o 17.59'S, 148o 57.35'E)
Distance run: 18nm (cumulative: 867nm)
Engine hours: 1 hr, 42 min (cumulative: 96 hr 17 min)
Narrative: After spending way too much money between bits and pieces at the chandlery and a new battery (120A deep cycle marine battery - read three times the cost of a good car battery), as well as arranging to spend more money when we go back in ten days (the rigger has ordered parts to fix the foil on the head sail furling system), not to mention the cost of groceries, we had to leave the marina so we couldn't spend anymore!
We departed the marina at 10:15am and sailed WNW past Pioneer Rocks and then on around the top of North Molle Island. We had a northerly wind at about 12kts which gave us a bit over 6kts boat speed on a close reach. Once clear of North Molle we ran down Whitsunday Passage to the bottom of Whitsunday Island, from where we saw whales breaching in the distance.
Weather wise, the low trough is moving offshore and a high is following it through, so the N/NW winds will swing SW overnight and then SE by tomorrow afternoon. We should then have several days of SE winds accompanied by glorious weather as the high moves over us. To that end, we planned to use the northerly winds today to run south down Whitsunday Passage and then use the SE trade winds to do an anti-clockwise circuit of Whitsunday Island. We decided to anchor tonight in Gulnare Inlet as it provides good shelter as the winds swing around and change direction overnight. Low tide was at 2:30pm but we needed a bit of tide to get into Gulnare Inlet, so we took up a mooring off Henning Island and went ashore to kill some time while waiting for the tide to come in a bit after the low.
Come 4:00pm we decided we had enough water and started making our way up the inlet. The sounder was showed 1.4m for a bit at one stage, but we were still moving and I couldn't feel the boat touching the bottom. I think the depth was more like 1.7m and bulb on the keel was stirring up the mud/sand bottom causing a false reading. Regardless, we made it to the deep water hole and anchored in 3m of water. High tide tomorrow morning is just after 9:00am so we will have plenty of water to get out.
End Loc: Gulnare Inlet, Whitsunday Island (20o 17.59'S, 148o 57.35'E)
Distance run: 18nm (cumulative: 867nm)
Engine hours: 1 hr, 42 min (cumulative: 96 hr 17 min)
Wednesday 7 September 2011
7th September, 2011
Start Loc: Happy Bay, Long Island (20o 19.75'S, 148o 50.80'E)
Narrative: Not being allowed to take up our berth in the marina before 12:00pm meant that we could not leave too early, so it was another lazy start. We ended up weighing anchor at 9:50am and setting sail for Airlie Beach. The winds were SE at 10kts. We ran NW wing on wing with a full head sail and one reef in the main just to make sure it didn't disrupt the air flow to the head sail too much. This had us sailing at a lazy 4kts, but we also had a favourable outgoing tide.
We saw another whale south east of South Molle Island, but this one had a different behaviour to the others we have seen and I think it may have been a Minke rather than a Humpback. We have now seen lots of whales and I am convinced of my theory that rising sea levels are simply due to increased whale numbers - it's a simple matter of displacement!
Seas and swell were less than a metre, and the kids were below in school with Heather, so I enjoyed an easy sail alone in the cockpit watching the islands glide past. It was a terrible way to spend a Wednesday morning (recall something about a bad day on the water?).
The entrance to the marina was busy with all the boats coming and going, but we entered without incident (we didn't offend the larger commercial vessels and the smaller charter boats stayed out of our way) and were secure in our berth by 12:10pm. The berth was a bit tight with barely a metre between us and the yacht next to us, which made it interesting as we had a breeze blowing us toward that yacht and a "small" crew that have not quite mastered throwing the mooring lines.
The marina is bloody expensive at $87 per night, but there is a distinct lack of competition. Strange then that they are in receivership! We need to spend two nights here due to all the maintenance and parts we need to arrange as well as the usual grocery shopping, so we will head back out on Friday morning to continue our Whitsunday trek.
End Loc: Abel Point Marina, Airlie Beach (20o 15.85'S, 148o 42.72'E)
Distance run: 12nm (cumulative: 849nm)
Engine hours: 0 hr, 42 min (cumulative: 94 hr 35 min)
Narrative: Not being allowed to take up our berth in the marina before 12:00pm meant that we could not leave too early, so it was another lazy start. We ended up weighing anchor at 9:50am and setting sail for Airlie Beach. The winds were SE at 10kts. We ran NW wing on wing with a full head sail and one reef in the main just to make sure it didn't disrupt the air flow to the head sail too much. This had us sailing at a lazy 4kts, but we also had a favourable outgoing tide.
We saw another whale south east of South Molle Island, but this one had a different behaviour to the others we have seen and I think it may have been a Minke rather than a Humpback. We have now seen lots of whales and I am convinced of my theory that rising sea levels are simply due to increased whale numbers - it's a simple matter of displacement!
Seas and swell were less than a metre, and the kids were below in school with Heather, so I enjoyed an easy sail alone in the cockpit watching the islands glide past. It was a terrible way to spend a Wednesday morning (recall something about a bad day on the water?).
The entrance to the marina was busy with all the boats coming and going, but we entered without incident (we didn't offend the larger commercial vessels and the smaller charter boats stayed out of our way) and were secure in our berth by 12:10pm. The berth was a bit tight with barely a metre between us and the yacht next to us, which made it interesting as we had a breeze blowing us toward that yacht and a "small" crew that have not quite mastered throwing the mooring lines.
The marina is bloody expensive at $87 per night, but there is a distinct lack of competition. Strange then that they are in receivership! We need to spend two nights here due to all the maintenance and parts we need to arrange as well as the usual grocery shopping, so we will head back out on Friday morning to continue our Whitsunday trek.
End Loc: Abel Point Marina, Airlie Beach (20o 15.85'S, 148o 42.72'E)
Distance run: 12nm (cumulative: 849nm)
Engine hours: 0 hr, 42 min (cumulative: 94 hr 35 min)
Tuesday 6 September 2011
6th September, 2011
Start Loc: Shaw Island (20o 30.27'S, 149o 03.12'E)
Narrative: Yesterday was spent at anchor at Shaw Island. The kids did their schoolwork and then I set a swing up off the side of the boat and they had a play and a swim. We ran the engine for 17 minutes to give us hot water.
We decided that today it was time to move on and start heading for a marina. Today is our twelfth day out; we have run out of bread, we are on to our last litre of long life milk, we are starting to run low on other provisions, we have one empty gas bottle, we are on the aft tank and hence starting to get low on water, and we need to send the solar regulator back for replacement. So it is time to head for a marina. We will need to go up to Airlie Beach and into Abel Point Marina (I think we will be in and out of there probably three times as we take our time exploring the Whitsundays). Hence, we decided we would move to Long Island today and then into the marina tomorrow. We tried to radio Palm Bay Resort on Long Island to see if we could take a mooring in their lagoon (stern line to a palm tree on the shore - for a fee of course), but we didn't get an answer. A web site told us they were closed from Jan 2011 until further notice. Wondering if they had gone the same way as Brampton and Great Keppel, we decided we drop in and see.
We raised anchor at Shaw Island at 10:45am, giving us about two hours left of the outgoing tide. The winds were SSE at 15-20kts, so our heading of 280 degrees magnetic (with tide and wind taken into account to have a course made good of 290 degrees mag) had us on a broad reach. We sailed very comfortably (with initially two but then one reef in the main and the head sail furled to 100%) at 5.5 to 6.5kts boat speed, and the favourable tide gave us another 1.0 to 1.5kts. Our course brought us to the north of Three Fathom Patch and then we ran wing on wing (one sail out each side) up the passage between Long Island and the mainland. We lost the favourable tide as we sailed through the narrowest part of the passage ("The Narrows"), half a mile short of Palm Bay.
The resort looked fairly deserted less a few people lazing on the beach and the fact there were two boats and furniture visible. We took up one of the mooring buoys outside the lagoon at 1:15pm, had lunch, and then took the dingy in to find out what the go was. We spoke to the caretakers who told us that the resort is not functioning as a resort anymore, and it was "house guests only". The bar and restaurant etc are all closed up and only the owners of the bungalows are allowed. We weren't even allowed to use a mooring buoy.
We decided we would go up around the corner to Happy Bay off the Long Island Resort. They have ten or so mooring buoys that you can pick up for a fee, but it is a big bay so at 3:20pm we dropped anchor for free.
End Loc: Happy Bay, Long Island (20o 19.75'S, 148o 50.80'E)
Distance run: 17nm (cumulative: 837nm)
Engine hours: 1 hr, 09 min (cumulative: 93 hr 53 min)
Narrative: Yesterday was spent at anchor at Shaw Island. The kids did their schoolwork and then I set a swing up off the side of the boat and they had a play and a swim. We ran the engine for 17 minutes to give us hot water.
We decided that today it was time to move on and start heading for a marina. Today is our twelfth day out; we have run out of bread, we are on to our last litre of long life milk, we are starting to run low on other provisions, we have one empty gas bottle, we are on the aft tank and hence starting to get low on water, and we need to send the solar regulator back for replacement. So it is time to head for a marina. We will need to go up to Airlie Beach and into Abel Point Marina (I think we will be in and out of there probably three times as we take our time exploring the Whitsundays). Hence, we decided we would move to Long Island today and then into the marina tomorrow. We tried to radio Palm Bay Resort on Long Island to see if we could take a mooring in their lagoon (stern line to a palm tree on the shore - for a fee of course), but we didn't get an answer. A web site told us they were closed from Jan 2011 until further notice. Wondering if they had gone the same way as Brampton and Great Keppel, we decided we drop in and see.
We raised anchor at Shaw Island at 10:45am, giving us about two hours left of the outgoing tide. The winds were SSE at 15-20kts, so our heading of 280 degrees magnetic (with tide and wind taken into account to have a course made good of 290 degrees mag) had us on a broad reach. We sailed very comfortably (with initially two but then one reef in the main and the head sail furled to 100%) at 5.5 to 6.5kts boat speed, and the favourable tide gave us another 1.0 to 1.5kts. Our course brought us to the north of Three Fathom Patch and then we ran wing on wing (one sail out each side) up the passage between Long Island and the mainland. We lost the favourable tide as we sailed through the narrowest part of the passage ("The Narrows"), half a mile short of Palm Bay.
The resort looked fairly deserted less a few people lazing on the beach and the fact there were two boats and furniture visible. We took up one of the mooring buoys outside the lagoon at 1:15pm, had lunch, and then took the dingy in to find out what the go was. We spoke to the caretakers who told us that the resort is not functioning as a resort anymore, and it was "house guests only". The bar and restaurant etc are all closed up and only the owners of the bungalows are allowed. We weren't even allowed to use a mooring buoy.
We decided we would go up around the corner to Happy Bay off the Long Island Resort. They have ten or so mooring buoys that you can pick up for a fee, but it is a big bay so at 3:20pm we dropped anchor for free.
End Loc: Happy Bay, Long Island (20o 19.75'S, 148o 50.80'E)
Distance run: 17nm (cumulative: 837nm)
Engine hours: 1 hr, 09 min (cumulative: 93 hr 53 min)
Sunday 4 September 2011
4th September, 2011
Start Loc: Thomas Island (20o 32.68'S, 149o 06.52'E)
Narrative: As we anticipated, we spent yesterday at anchor at Thomas Island sitting out the 30kt winds. We had a lazy day with a late start, and then the kids I escaped the swell by going ashore. While Heather relaxed and had some "Heather time" on the boat, the kids swam and played at the beach while I sat on the beach and read. We later went for a walk to the west side of the island where we had some coverage, so we sat in howling winds to update the blog. We ran the engine for 36 minutes and changed gas bottles again. A 4.5kg gas bottle is lasting us about 3.5 weeks.
Today the forecast was for SE 20-25kt winds. Heather didn't sleep much last night due to the wind howling through the rigging and all the strange noises a boat makes when at anchor in strong winds. I got up and did several checks throughout the night, but slept reasonably well in between. The swell had not reduced this morning and we were still spending a lot of time beam on, so we decided we would move on.
We weighed anchor at 12:10pm and set sail for Shaw Island, which was the next major island north. The wind was SE at 20kts so we ran under just the main with one reef at about 5.5kts. The following seas were only about 1.5m and going slightly faster than us, so it was a more pleasant sail than I expected. After about n hour we changed course to a broad reach, sailed around Burning Point, and joined four other boats at anchor in the bay. Our anchor was set by 1:45pm.
We are not sure if it the wind has died down, but we have less wind and less swell so this anchorage seems to afford better protection than Thomas Island. We will certainly have a more comfortable night.
I am sitting in the cockpit typing this at 7:11pm. Heather is asleep already, but I can look north and see the lights of Lindeman Island Resort where this time 14 years ago Heather and I were on our honeymoon.
End Loc: Shaw Island (20o 30.27'S, 149o 03.12'E)
Distance run: 8 nm (cumulative: 820nm)
Engine hours: 1 hr, 45 min (cumulative: 92 hr 27 min)
Narrative: As we anticipated, we spent yesterday at anchor at Thomas Island sitting out the 30kt winds. We had a lazy day with a late start, and then the kids I escaped the swell by going ashore. While Heather relaxed and had some "Heather time" on the boat, the kids swam and played at the beach while I sat on the beach and read. We later went for a walk to the west side of the island where we had some coverage, so we sat in howling winds to update the blog. We ran the engine for 36 minutes and changed gas bottles again. A 4.5kg gas bottle is lasting us about 3.5 weeks.
Today the forecast was for SE 20-25kt winds. Heather didn't sleep much last night due to the wind howling through the rigging and all the strange noises a boat makes when at anchor in strong winds. I got up and did several checks throughout the night, but slept reasonably well in between. The swell had not reduced this morning and we were still spending a lot of time beam on, so we decided we would move on.
We weighed anchor at 12:10pm and set sail for Shaw Island, which was the next major island north. The wind was SE at 20kts so we ran under just the main with one reef at about 5.5kts. The following seas were only about 1.5m and going slightly faster than us, so it was a more pleasant sail than I expected. After about n hour we changed course to a broad reach, sailed around Burning Point, and joined four other boats at anchor in the bay. Our anchor was set by 1:45pm.
We are not sure if it the wind has died down, but we have less wind and less swell so this anchorage seems to afford better protection than Thomas Island. We will certainly have a more comfortable night.
I am sitting in the cockpit typing this at 7:11pm. Heather is asleep already, but I can look north and see the lights of Lindeman Island Resort where this time 14 years ago Heather and I were on our honeymoon.
End Loc: Shaw Island (20o 30.27'S, 149o 03.12'E)
Distance run: 8 nm (cumulative: 820nm)
Engine hours: 1 hr, 45 min (cumulative: 92 hr 27 min)
Friday 2 September 2011
2nd September, 2011
Start Loc: Goldsmith Island (20o 41.04'S, 149o 08.44'E)
Narrative: Yesterday we remained anchored at Goldsmith Island. The kids did their school work and then we went ashore and relaxed and played on the beach. The owners of Stray Cat took the opportunity to beach her just after high tide to do some work on a propeller. I checked the solar regulator as it hasn’t really been working well for the last couple of days, and found that the positive wire from the regulator to the battery was burnt. I rang the marine electrician that installed it for me and he told me how to safely bypass the regulator and I will have to mail it to him so he can send it back and get it replaced under warranty. When he gets a new one he will then to mail it to me somewhere, so we will be without a solar regulator for a while. We ran the engine for 1 hr 09 min.
We sailed away from Goldsmith Island at 9:18am, headed for Thomas Island. The forecast was for SE winds at 10-15kts in the morning, freshening to 15-20kts early afternoon and then strengthening to 20-25kts late evening. We had a good run averaging about 4.5kts boat speed. Heather sighted another whale, this time it passed a few hundred metres on our port side heading south. True to the forecast, as we changed course to a close reach to come in to Thomas Island, the wind picked up to almost 20kts. We anchored on the west side of the bay on the north face if Thomas Island at 12:05pm. It is a nice bay with good holding sand, and we have it all to ourselves – being at the bottom end of the Whitsundays, these anchorages are less populated.Again true to the forecast, the wind picked up at last light. The forecast for tomorrow is SE winds at 25-30kts, so we plan to stay here for at least two nights.
End Loc: Thomas Island (20o 32.68'S, 149o 06.52'E)
Distance run: 12 nm (cumulative: 812nm)
Engine hours: 1 hr, 52 min (cumulative: 90 hr 06 min)
Narrative: Yesterday we remained anchored at Goldsmith Island. The kids did their school work and then we went ashore and relaxed and played on the beach. The owners of Stray Cat took the opportunity to beach her just after high tide to do some work on a propeller. I checked the solar regulator as it hasn’t really been working well for the last couple of days, and found that the positive wire from the regulator to the battery was burnt. I rang the marine electrician that installed it for me and he told me how to safely bypass the regulator and I will have to mail it to him so he can send it back and get it replaced under warranty. When he gets a new one he will then to mail it to me somewhere, so we will be without a solar regulator for a while. We ran the engine for 1 hr 09 min.
We sailed away from Goldsmith Island at 9:18am, headed for Thomas Island. The forecast was for SE winds at 10-15kts in the morning, freshening to 15-20kts early afternoon and then strengthening to 20-25kts late evening. We had a good run averaging about 4.5kts boat speed. Heather sighted another whale, this time it passed a few hundred metres on our port side heading south. True to the forecast, as we changed course to a close reach to come in to Thomas Island, the wind picked up to almost 20kts. We anchored on the west side of the bay on the north face if Thomas Island at 12:05pm. It is a nice bay with good holding sand, and we have it all to ourselves – being at the bottom end of the Whitsundays, these anchorages are less populated.Again true to the forecast, the wind picked up at last light. The forecast for tomorrow is SE winds at 25-30kts, so we plan to stay here for at least two nights.
End Loc: Thomas Island (20o 32.68'S, 149o 06.52'E)
Distance run: 12 nm (cumulative: 812nm)
Engine hours: 1 hr, 52 min (cumulative: 90 hr 06 min)
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