Start Loc: Gladstone Marina (23o 49.96’ S, 151o 14.65’ E)
Narrative: Having achieved all we needed to do in Gladstone (less a replacement batten for one that must have climbed out of the main sail during some strong winds), we departed the marina at 7:40am and set off north up The Narrows for Keppel Bay. There is 6nm or so of The Narrows that dries at low tide, and I wanted to get to that part for the 9:30am-ish (it varies by about 40 minutes depending where in The Narrows you are) high tide. The Narrows floods from both north and south, so I planned to have the incoming tide assist us up to the drying area, and then the outgoing tide assist us to continue north.
We got to the start of the area that dries right on high tide, and motored through the marked channel. The kids were down below reading, so they missed seeing things such as Cattle Crossing (roughly the shallowest point, and where they herd the cattle between the island and the mainland at low tide). We got over the drying area with the lowest sounding being 2.1m, so we had plenty of water thanks to the 3.5m tide. Mum and Dad lent us "Cruising the Curtis Coast" by Noel Patrick, and it was a great guide to this area. We had an average of 2kts of tide with us the whole way, so we broke into Keppel Bay (after an early lunch) just after midday.
I was planning to anchor on the north side of Hummocky Island, but Heather had read about Yellow Patch and we decided we would head there. As we came around Sea Hill (the north-west corner of Curtis Island and opposite the mouth of the Fitzroy River) the wind jumped to 20kts and swung to from the east. That wind direction suggested the Hummocky Island anchorage would be a little unpleasant, so Yellow Patch it was. All that meant was that we needed to beat into wind to get to Yellow Patch, which is on the inside of Cape Capricorn at the north-west corner of Curtis Island.
After several long tacks, we finally arrived and tried to find a way through the sand bars to the anchorage. We were about an hour before low tide, and after bumping the bottom (and then bouncing the keel off it a couple of times due to the swell) we put our tail between our legs and headed for deeper water.
We decided we would tuck in under Cape Capricorn for the night. At 4:20pm we anchored near two other yachts, but then noticed the little cove right under the lighthouse looked a bit more sheltered. We took the dinghy for a look and it had much less swell, so we moved in. One of the two other yachts decided to join us and a third came in just after last light.
End Loc: Cape Capricorn (23o 29.12’ S, 151o 13.87’ E)
Distance run: 49nm (cumulative: 407nm)
Engine hours: 5 hr, 20 min (cumulative: 40 hr, 54 min)