Start Loc: The Narrows (23o 36.79'S, 151o 02.60'E)
Narrative: Given there was strong wind warning for this area in place all day today, and it was blowing 25-30kts outside Curtis Island, we made the right decision to stay inside Curtis Island and come through The Narrows.
We sat at anchor this morning waiting for the tide to come in. The Narrows has a 6nm or so stretch in the middle that dries at low tide, in some places to 2.5m at LAT. The rule of thumb is that you need a tide of 1.5m plus draught, based on Gladstone. High tide at Cattle Crossing is about 30 minutes after high tide at Gladstone and 15-25% higher, depending how conservative you want to be.
We passed through The Narrows on our way north on 30th July with a Gladstone high tide of 3.5m, and showed a least depth of 2.1m as we went through. High tide today was 3.3m at 1:30pm, so we had enough water.
We raised the anchor at 12:39pm and motored towards the drying area. Just before 1:00pm, an hour before high tide and with roughly 20cm to still come in, we started through. Half an hour later we were past the shallowest part and nearly out of the drying area. The sounder showed us a least depth of 1.8m.
Clear of The Narrows and coming in to the Gladstone pilotage area, we checked in with Gladstone Harbour Control (VHF 13), pulled out some head sail and switched the motor off. The wind was E at 15-20kts, so we sailed SE towards the main part of the harbour. It was good for 30 minutes or so but then the wind was too much on our bow, so we furled the head sail and motored again.
We stayed out of the main shipping area by passing between Passage Islands and Curtis Island. They are doing a lot of development work in this part of the harbour and we would have had less traffic if we had been in the main channel area.
We came around Hamilton Point about 3:15pm and looked for an anchorage on the lee side of Tide Island. While it was protected enough, it was 15m plus deep until it shelved to 5m about 15m off the island. It was no good for anchoring so we moved and had a look at the lee side of Picnic Island. It had a swell running south to north, so we decided we would give the marina a try.
Heather tried calling the marina on the radio just after 4:00pm, but VMR responded to tell us they had knocked off early. We tried phoning, but there was no answering machine to give us an after hours mobile number or similar. We decided we would go into Auckland Creek and see if there was anywhere suitable to anchor, and if there wasn't we would then have a look at the marina.
There was no room to anchor in Auckland Creek. The public jetty was an overnight option, but it was possibly not the night to be tied to a public jetty, so we headed in to the marina. After motoring around and having a look at a few berth options and trying to anchor in the poor holding mud near the swing buoys, a bloke called us over and pointed us to a corner berth that he knew was vacant. We tied up there at 5:03pm.
The kids went and checked out the marina office for us, but there was nothing giving us an after hours point of contact. One of the other blokes lent us his key so we could use the showers, and we were invited to join a few other yachties for a barbecue and drinks. We got cleaned up and spent the evening swapping stories until we welcomed the new year.
End Loc: Gladstone Marina (23o 49.96'S, 151o 14.62'E)
Distance run: 21nm (cumulative: 2800nm)
Engine hours: 4 hr, 13 min (cumulative: 111 hr, 28 min)
Saturday, 31 December 2011
Friday, 30 December 2011
30th December, 2011
Start Loc: Great Keppel Island (23o 09.81'S, 150o 57.30'E)
Narrative: The forecasts had not changed this morning so we stuck with our revised plan. There were almost 20 boats anchored with us at Great Keppel last night which is the most boats we have seen outside a marina in well over a week. Given the time of year, we have been surprised at the lack of cruising boats getting around. Anyway, we were the only boat showing any signs of leaving the shelter of Great Keppel.
We raised the anchor at 9:34am and motored out of the bay. We pulled out 110% head sail to sail east across the top of the island then put it away again to motor around the east side. Seas were around 2m on top of a 1.5m swell, and it was rough going.
After clearing Bald Rock we raised sail again in SE winds at around 15kts. We sailed on a port tack as close to the wind as we could, a little west of south. Being under sail sat the boat down in the water a little better so the ride became more comfortable. We passed west of Hannah Rock and east of Humpy Island, heading towards the safe water fairway buoy at the start of the channel into Port Alma.
As we sailed the wind increased in strength to around 20kts and swung to the E so we were able to sail exactly where we wanted. When we rounded Sea Hill we came into the lee of Curtis Island and the waves settled a little. I made the comment to Heather that it had been an enjoyable day of sailing. We managed to sail down through The Narrows to Division Point and then motored to Badger Creek (on the west side of Curtis Island) which was our chosen anchorage for the night.
We spent a little over 30 minutes in five failed attempts at anchoring. The anchor kept dragging through the soft mud and would not bite into the thicker stuff underneath. I gave up in frustration and moved another mile and a half south to an unnamed creek to anchor there. After two failed attempts there (and a bit of swearing) we moved back out into the main channel and anchored there. The anchor bit first time and after an hour of stuffing around I was finally able to declare us anchored at 4:32pm.
We are only a couple of miles north of the drying part of The Narrows, so we will have a lazy morning tomorrow waiting for the tide to come in. Parts of The Narrows dry to more than 2 metres so it is important to time your crossing carefully. High tide is around 1:30pm, so we will be ready to cross through then. We will likely spend tomorrow night anchored inside Facing Island, just out of Gladstone.
End Loc: The Narrows (23o 36.79'S, 151o 02.60'E)
Distance run: 34nm (cumulative: 2779nm)
Engine hours: 3 hr, 23 min (cumulative: 107 hr, 15 min)
Narrative: The forecasts had not changed this morning so we stuck with our revised plan. There were almost 20 boats anchored with us at Great Keppel last night which is the most boats we have seen outside a marina in well over a week. Given the time of year, we have been surprised at the lack of cruising boats getting around. Anyway, we were the only boat showing any signs of leaving the shelter of Great Keppel.
We raised the anchor at 9:34am and motored out of the bay. We pulled out 110% head sail to sail east across the top of the island then put it away again to motor around the east side. Seas were around 2m on top of a 1.5m swell, and it was rough going.
After clearing Bald Rock we raised sail again in SE winds at around 15kts. We sailed on a port tack as close to the wind as we could, a little west of south. Being under sail sat the boat down in the water a little better so the ride became more comfortable. We passed west of Hannah Rock and east of Humpy Island, heading towards the safe water fairway buoy at the start of the channel into Port Alma.
As we sailed the wind increased in strength to around 20kts and swung to the E so we were able to sail exactly where we wanted. When we rounded Sea Hill we came into the lee of Curtis Island and the waves settled a little. I made the comment to Heather that it had been an enjoyable day of sailing. We managed to sail down through The Narrows to Division Point and then motored to Badger Creek (on the west side of Curtis Island) which was our chosen anchorage for the night.
We spent a little over 30 minutes in five failed attempts at anchoring. The anchor kept dragging through the soft mud and would not bite into the thicker stuff underneath. I gave up in frustration and moved another mile and a half south to an unnamed creek to anchor there. After two failed attempts there (and a bit of swearing) we moved back out into the main channel and anchored there. The anchor bit first time and after an hour of stuffing around I was finally able to declare us anchored at 4:32pm.
We are only a couple of miles north of the drying part of The Narrows, so we will have a lazy morning tomorrow waiting for the tide to come in. Parts of The Narrows dry to more than 2 metres so it is important to time your crossing carefully. High tide is around 1:30pm, so we will be ready to cross through then. We will likely spend tomorrow night anchored inside Facing Island, just out of Gladstone.
End Loc: The Narrows (23o 36.79'S, 151o 02.60'E)
Distance run: 34nm (cumulative: 2779nm)
Engine hours: 3 hr, 23 min (cumulative: 107 hr, 15 min)
Thursday, 29 December 2011
29th December, 2011
Start Loc: Rosslyn Bay (23o 09.75'S, 150o 47.26'E)
Narrative: We borrowed the marina's courtesy car yesterday to do the groceries. This is the only marina we have come across that have such a car. The next closest is Mackay who have a car you can rent. A courtesy car makes it very easy to get the groceries done.
We also changed our plan slightly in that we decided today we would head for Great Keppel Island and see how the weather was looking for the next few days, rather than try to sail the 32nm to Cape Capricorn, straight into wind. That decided, we were in no great rush to leave and it was just before 10:00am that we moved from our berth around to the fuel wharf to fill up.
Refuelled: 81.48L @ 153.0c/L = $124.66
Economy since 16 Dec: 81.48L for 30 hr 39 min = 2.66L/hr
Economy overall: 603.04L for 298 hr 01 min = 2.02L/hr
As expected, this was our least economical period so far and took our economy ofr the trip over 2L per hour. The trip from Mackay to Curlew Island chewed a lot of fuel beating into wind and waves.
We left the fuel wharf at 10:21am and motored out of the marina. The bearing to Cape Capricorn was 120 degrees magnetic, and that is exactly where the wind was blowing from, so we were glad we decided to head to Great Keppel. The wind was 15-20kts and we sailed close hauled with a reef in the main and the head sail at 110%. It was an uneventful trip and we anchored on the north side of Great Keppel Island at 12:47pm.
After lunch we had a relaxing afternoon where we all lazed around and read. Cameron and I took the dinghy ashore for a bit and played on the beach, and Cam took the dinghy for a spin when we got back, but that was as active as we got. It was very pleasant.
We checked the latest forecasts again this evening and it is not looking good. The plan was to head out to Heron Island (55nm from Great Keppel) and then travel SE through the Capricorn and Bunker groups of islands, including Lady Musgrave. Unfortunately, the forecast for the next few days is SE winds at 20-30kts. It will be hard to get there in the first instance and probably not real comfortable in the second.
Lady Musgrave is the island/lagoon that we really want to visit, so we have decided we will sail south from here (which we should be able to do in SE winds) to the north west corner of Curtis Island tomorrow, pass through The Narrows between Curtis Island and the mainland on Saturday, then on to Pancake Creek, and from there we will sail E to Lady Musgrave Island. We will basically stay inshore during the strong winds and hopefully they will settle down a bit over the few days.
End Loc: Great Keppel Island (23o 09.81'S, 150o 57.30'E)
Distance run: 12nm (cumulative: 2745nm)
Engine hours: 1 hr, 18 min (cumulative: 103 hr, 52 min)
Narrative: We borrowed the marina's courtesy car yesterday to do the groceries. This is the only marina we have come across that have such a car. The next closest is Mackay who have a car you can rent. A courtesy car makes it very easy to get the groceries done.
We also changed our plan slightly in that we decided today we would head for Great Keppel Island and see how the weather was looking for the next few days, rather than try to sail the 32nm to Cape Capricorn, straight into wind. That decided, we were in no great rush to leave and it was just before 10:00am that we moved from our berth around to the fuel wharf to fill up.
Refuelled: 81.48L @ 153.0c/L = $124.66
Economy since 16 Dec: 81.48L for 30 hr 39 min = 2.66L/hr
Economy overall: 603.04L for 298 hr 01 min = 2.02L/hr
As expected, this was our least economical period so far and took our economy ofr the trip over 2L per hour. The trip from Mackay to Curlew Island chewed a lot of fuel beating into wind and waves.
We left the fuel wharf at 10:21am and motored out of the marina. The bearing to Cape Capricorn was 120 degrees magnetic, and that is exactly where the wind was blowing from, so we were glad we decided to head to Great Keppel. The wind was 15-20kts and we sailed close hauled with a reef in the main and the head sail at 110%. It was an uneventful trip and we anchored on the north side of Great Keppel Island at 12:47pm.
After lunch we had a relaxing afternoon where we all lazed around and read. Cameron and I took the dinghy ashore for a bit and played on the beach, and Cam took the dinghy for a spin when we got back, but that was as active as we got. It was very pleasant.
We checked the latest forecasts again this evening and it is not looking good. The plan was to head out to Heron Island (55nm from Great Keppel) and then travel SE through the Capricorn and Bunker groups of islands, including Lady Musgrave. Unfortunately, the forecast for the next few days is SE winds at 20-30kts. It will be hard to get there in the first instance and probably not real comfortable in the second.
Lady Musgrave is the island/lagoon that we really want to visit, so we have decided we will sail south from here (which we should be able to do in SE winds) to the north west corner of Curtis Island tomorrow, pass through The Narrows between Curtis Island and the mainland on Saturday, then on to Pancake Creek, and from there we will sail E to Lady Musgrave Island. We will basically stay inshore during the strong winds and hopefully they will settle down a bit over the few days.
End Loc: Great Keppel Island (23o 09.81'S, 150o 57.30'E)
Distance run: 12nm (cumulative: 2745nm)
Engine hours: 1 hr, 18 min (cumulative: 103 hr, 52 min)
Tuesday, 27 December 2011
27th December, 2011
Start Loc: Port Clinton (22o 31.07'S, 150o 46.07'E)
Narrative: After dinner last night I went to bed to get a few hours rest before we headed off. While I was asleep, Heather and the kids did the final night sail preparation including fitting the jack stays and getting the harnesses and safety straps ready. I woke up a bit before 10:00pm, we made a brew, and got ready to head off.
We raised the anchor at 10:08pm last night, switched from mooring light to navigation and steaming lights, and motored out past Round Island.
So much for 15-20kts! Just after the tide turned at 11:00pm, we had a NW breeze at about 10kts. Our heading would be SSE until we cleared Cape Manifold just south of Freshwater Bay, then we would turn south. Our SSE heading had us on a training run, so I had no head sail out and one reef in the main (still kind of hoping for 15-20kts). We motor sailed like this for a bit making 4.5kts boat speed and 5kts over ground.
By 11:30pm the breeze had dropped to 8kts and the apparent 6kts could not keep the main full, so we dropped the main and motored under a few more revs, making 5.5kts boat speed and 6.5kts over ground. Heather went to bed to get some sleep and the kids had settled and were sleeping in the cockpit.
At 12:30am the breeze was less than 5kts and the engine kept reliably chugging away. By 1:30am the kids had both retired to their cabins, but more importantly the wind had picked up to around 12kts. I brought out 130% head sail and switched off the engine. The breeze was enough to give us 3.5kts boat speed and with a slightly stronger tide we made 5kts over ground. I was quite happy to sail for a bit, plus we didn't want to arrive at Rosslyn Bay too early. I was aiming to get to the marina at about 5:30am (an hour after low tide) so that we had enough tide to get in and so that we were entering and berthing after sun rise.
The wind didn't last and by 2:30am was back down to 7kts. Heather came up on watch and we dropped the sails and motored again. Although we could easily do over 7kts over ground, we kept the revs down to maintain our arrival time. I left Heather on watch and went to bed for a bit.
I came back on deck at 4:00am as we had North Keppel Island off our port beam. A heap of small boats came out of Rosslyn Bay over the next 90 minutes, making an early start to the public holiday. I was treated to a pleasant sunrise as we motored in, then woke up Heather and the kids about a mile out from the marina. We got the lines and fenders ready, motored in, located our allocated berth, and were moored at 5:37am.
Today is a rest day. We will do some groceries tomorrow, then head off on Thursday 29th December for Cape Capricorn. From there we will head out to Heron Island and Lady Musgrave for a several days before coming back in to Hervey Bay.
End Loc: Rosslyn Bay (23o 09.75'S, 150o 47.26'E)
Distance run: 43nm (cumulative: 2733nm)
Engine hours: 6 hr, 42 min (cumulative: 102 hr, 34 min)
Narrative: After dinner last night I went to bed to get a few hours rest before we headed off. While I was asleep, Heather and the kids did the final night sail preparation including fitting the jack stays and getting the harnesses and safety straps ready. I woke up a bit before 10:00pm, we made a brew, and got ready to head off.
We raised the anchor at 10:08pm last night, switched from mooring light to navigation and steaming lights, and motored out past Round Island.
So much for 15-20kts! Just after the tide turned at 11:00pm, we had a NW breeze at about 10kts. Our heading would be SSE until we cleared Cape Manifold just south of Freshwater Bay, then we would turn south. Our SSE heading had us on a training run, so I had no head sail out and one reef in the main (still kind of hoping for 15-20kts). We motor sailed like this for a bit making 4.5kts boat speed and 5kts over ground.
By 11:30pm the breeze had dropped to 8kts and the apparent 6kts could not keep the main full, so we dropped the main and motored under a few more revs, making 5.5kts boat speed and 6.5kts over ground. Heather went to bed to get some sleep and the kids had settled and were sleeping in the cockpit.
At 12:30am the breeze was less than 5kts and the engine kept reliably chugging away. By 1:30am the kids had both retired to their cabins, but more importantly the wind had picked up to around 12kts. I brought out 130% head sail and switched off the engine. The breeze was enough to give us 3.5kts boat speed and with a slightly stronger tide we made 5kts over ground. I was quite happy to sail for a bit, plus we didn't want to arrive at Rosslyn Bay too early. I was aiming to get to the marina at about 5:30am (an hour after low tide) so that we had enough tide to get in and so that we were entering and berthing after sun rise.
The wind didn't last and by 2:30am was back down to 7kts. Heather came up on watch and we dropped the sails and motored again. Although we could easily do over 7kts over ground, we kept the revs down to maintain our arrival time. I left Heather on watch and went to bed for a bit.
I came back on deck at 4:00am as we had North Keppel Island off our port beam. A heap of small boats came out of Rosslyn Bay over the next 90 minutes, making an early start to the public holiday. I was treated to a pleasant sunrise as we motored in, then woke up Heather and the kids about a mile out from the marina. We got the lines and fenders ready, motored in, located our allocated berth, and were moored at 5:37am.
Today is a rest day. We will do some groceries tomorrow, then head off on Thursday 29th December for Cape Capricorn. From there we will head out to Heron Island and Lady Musgrave for a several days before coming back in to Hervey Bay.
End Loc: Rosslyn Bay (23o 09.75'S, 150o 47.26'E)
Distance run: 43nm (cumulative: 2733nm)
Engine hours: 6 hr, 42 min (cumulative: 102 hr, 34 min)
26th December, 2011
Start Loc: Hunter Island, Duke Islands (21o 58.95'S, 150o 08.66'E)
Narrative: Fortunately Santa found us on Saturday night, and there were plenty of presents under the tree on Sunday morning. The kids (who have proclaimed themselves non-believers) woke us up just after 6:30am, and after making a brew we tackled the presents. It was a good haul all round.
The swell picked up considerably at one point on the night of Christmas Eve but it wasn't until it happened again late Christmas morning that I realised it was because of tidal disturbance with the high tide. At about 11:00am on Christmas Day, it was a bit too rolly and we decided we would move. We ended up dropping anchor on the west side of Marble Island below Homestead Bay. It was a lot calmer, and full of turtles. We enjoyed our Christmas lunch (well done Heather) in the cockpit, with a gentle breeze to keep us cool and a magic view of island beaches and hills. We logged a total of one hour and one minute on the engine.
We kicked off Boxing Day discussing the sporting events we would miss, before raising the anchor at 8:12am and motoring south. We passed through the significant tidal disturbance between the south end of Marble Island and Danger Island and set course for Cape Townshend on the way to Island Head Creek. The winds were variable (all over the shop) at less than 5kts, so we motored for a few hours. By 11:00am it had steadied from the NE at around 6kts. Our SE heading allowed us to raise full sail and motor sail on a close reach. At 1800rpm we were able to keep the sails full and make 5kts over ground.
By midday the wind had strengthened to around 10kts. With an apparent wind strength of 12kts, full sail and a bit of tidal assistance we made 6kts over ground. We sailed past Cape Townshend and continued towards Island Head.
By 1:30pm the wind had swung N dropping our apparent wind strength on our SE heading. With full sail we were able to maintain 5.5kts through the water and 7.5kts over ground with the tidal assistance. As we were approaching Island Head we decided that as we had made pretty good time we would continue another 12nm or so to Port Clinton rather than stop at Island Head Creek. Unfortunately the wind then dropped to 8kts giving us an apparent strength of about 6kts. We put the main and head sails away and at 2:30pm sailed past the mouth of Island Head Creek under spinnaker, at 5.5kts over ground.
As we approached Split and Dome Islands off Pearl Bay, we put the dinghy in the water. Cameron and I left Heather and Haydee to sail the boat, while we did some circle work and took some photos of Seasprint sailing under spinnaker. It was quite an effort getting the dinghy in the water and putting the outboard on while making way, but the photos were worth it. At the bottom of Pearl Bay we put the spinnaker away and, towing the dinghy, motored past Entrance Island towards Round Island.
We were virtually right on low tide and the waves were breaking over the shallows north of the entrance to Port Clinton. Unfortunately, they were also breaking over the shallows on our entrance route, denying us access. We dropped anchor in the lee of Round Island and had a family meeting to discussed our options.
I wanted to use the 2-3kt ebb tide to assist us going south, rather than go against a 2-3kt flood tide which runs north. That meant we had the option of waiting for the tide to start coming in to settle things down and then enter Port Clinton, spend the night and sail the ebb tide from 11:00am the 40nm or so south to Rosslyn Bay. The second option was to not bother entering Port Clinton, sit tight where we were for five hours or so, and sail south on the ebb tide tonight from 10:30pm.
We decided on option two. With NE/NW winds at 15-20kts forecast overnight, it has potential to ba a good sail. We had dinner and started preparing for a night sail.
End Loc: Port Clinton (22o 31.07'S, 150o 46.07'E)
Distance run: 49nm (cumulative: 2690nm)
Engine hours: 5 hr, 18 min (cumulative: 95 hr, 52 min)
Narrative: Fortunately Santa found us on Saturday night, and there were plenty of presents under the tree on Sunday morning. The kids (who have proclaimed themselves non-believers) woke us up just after 6:30am, and after making a brew we tackled the presents. It was a good haul all round.
The swell picked up considerably at one point on the night of Christmas Eve but it wasn't until it happened again late Christmas morning that I realised it was because of tidal disturbance with the high tide. At about 11:00am on Christmas Day, it was a bit too rolly and we decided we would move. We ended up dropping anchor on the west side of Marble Island below Homestead Bay. It was a lot calmer, and full of turtles. We enjoyed our Christmas lunch (well done Heather) in the cockpit, with a gentle breeze to keep us cool and a magic view of island beaches and hills. We logged a total of one hour and one minute on the engine.
We kicked off Boxing Day discussing the sporting events we would miss, before raising the anchor at 8:12am and motoring south. We passed through the significant tidal disturbance between the south end of Marble Island and Danger Island and set course for Cape Townshend on the way to Island Head Creek. The winds were variable (all over the shop) at less than 5kts, so we motored for a few hours. By 11:00am it had steadied from the NE at around 6kts. Our SE heading allowed us to raise full sail and motor sail on a close reach. At 1800rpm we were able to keep the sails full and make 5kts over ground.
By midday the wind had strengthened to around 10kts. With an apparent wind strength of 12kts, full sail and a bit of tidal assistance we made 6kts over ground. We sailed past Cape Townshend and continued towards Island Head.
By 1:30pm the wind had swung N dropping our apparent wind strength on our SE heading. With full sail we were able to maintain 5.5kts through the water and 7.5kts over ground with the tidal assistance. As we were approaching Island Head we decided that as we had made pretty good time we would continue another 12nm or so to Port Clinton rather than stop at Island Head Creek. Unfortunately the wind then dropped to 8kts giving us an apparent strength of about 6kts. We put the main and head sails away and at 2:30pm sailed past the mouth of Island Head Creek under spinnaker, at 5.5kts over ground.
As we approached Split and Dome Islands off Pearl Bay, we put the dinghy in the water. Cameron and I left Heather and Haydee to sail the boat, while we did some circle work and took some photos of Seasprint sailing under spinnaker. It was quite an effort getting the dinghy in the water and putting the outboard on while making way, but the photos were worth it. At the bottom of Pearl Bay we put the spinnaker away and, towing the dinghy, motored past Entrance Island towards Round Island.
We were virtually right on low tide and the waves were breaking over the shallows north of the entrance to Port Clinton. Unfortunately, they were also breaking over the shallows on our entrance route, denying us access. We dropped anchor in the lee of Round Island and had a family meeting to discussed our options.
I wanted to use the 2-3kt ebb tide to assist us going south, rather than go against a 2-3kt flood tide which runs north. That meant we had the option of waiting for the tide to start coming in to settle things down and then enter Port Clinton, spend the night and sail the ebb tide from 11:00am the 40nm or so south to Rosslyn Bay. The second option was to not bother entering Port Clinton, sit tight where we were for five hours or so, and sail south on the ebb tide tonight from 10:30pm.
We decided on option two. With NE/NW winds at 15-20kts forecast overnight, it has potential to ba a good sail. We had dinner and started preparing for a night sail.
End Loc: Port Clinton (22o 31.07'S, 150o 46.07'E)
Distance run: 49nm (cumulative: 2690nm)
Engine hours: 5 hr, 18 min (cumulative: 95 hr, 52 min)
Sunday, 25 December 2011
24th December, 2011
Start Loc: Curlew Island (21o 35.62'S, 149o 47.98'E)
Narrative: We spent the last two days sheltering at Curlew Island. Thankfully, TC Fina behaved as forecast and died quite quickly.
Having got into Curlew Island well after dark on Wednesday night, we raised the anchor on Thursday morning and moved around the bay to see if there was a better spot to anchor. We ended up dropping the anchor back in much the same spot. With the moving around and running the engine later in the day for hot water and power, we ran the engine for a total of 54 minutes.
The Friday afternoon forecast told us the winds for Saturday were expected to be SE at 15-20kts. Given that, we decided we would leave the next morning for the Duke Islands. We ran the engine on Friday for a total 1 hour 30 minutes, mainly for power given the overcast skies.
Heather didn't sleep well overnight. I was woken just after 4:00am to her swinging her book at a mosquito! Given we were both wide awake we decided to get an early start. We left the kids in bed, prepared to sail, raised the anchor at 4:47am and motored out of the bay. Once we were clear of the islands and had some clean wind, we set sail. Contrary to the forecast the winds were S at 20-25kts, with short steep waves at 2.5-3m. With two reefs in the main and the head sail reduced to 100% we sailed close hauled in a SE direction. It was rougher than we expected but at least we were able to sail in a straight line to where we wanted to go!
By 7:00am the wind had increased to 25-30kts and the waves were at 3m+. We had reduced the head sail to about 75%, but the sailing wasn't much fun.
Around 8:00am the winds dropped to 15-20kts and the seas were down to around 2m. We let the head sail out to 100% again. An hour later the winds were down to around 10kts with seas at 1.5m. With the wind down and the seas flattened out a bit, we unfurled the head sail to the full 130%. This was actually a couple of hours of enjoyable sailing.
By 10:15am wind had dropped slightly further again to around 8kts. We had shaken both reefs out of the main but even under full sail we still only made 3.5kts over ground, so we started motor sailing to bring SOG up to 5kts.
We were thinking we would anchor on the north side or Marble Island, but with the wind right down decided to have a look at the west side of Hunter Island which is more picturesque. We dropped sail, changed course to the south and motored around the reefs and shallows at Bamborough Island before approaching the bay on the west side of Hunter Island around 11:45am. Unfortunately, being spring tides with a 6m+ tidal range, we had to anchor too far off shore to be protected from the swell. We decided we would motor around to have a look at the southern end of Hunter Island. It was calm, but we also wanted to have a look at Marble Island, so we motored through Lola Montes Passage to the Bay at the east end of the north side of Marble. Somehow it had NE breezes and swell so was exposed. We dropped anchor at 1:15pm, had lunch and pondered where we would spend the night.
The SE winds were due to swing to the NE tomorrow afternoon, but looked like they might have swung 24 hours early. The bottom end of Hunter was calm, so we motored back through the passage and anchored on the south end of Hunter Island at 2:42pm. I took the kids ashore and we played around for an hour. I took my phone with me and had hit and miss reception, so we will have to go for a walk up a hill to have any hope of wishing family friends a Merry Christmas tomorrow.
Unfortunately, as the sun went down the wind decided to swing back SE. It blew up a chop and caused us to rock and roll a bit. We can't move though, or Santa might not find us!
End Loc: Hunter Island, Duke Islands (21o 58.95'S, 150o 08.66'E)
Distance run: 43nm (cumulative: 2641nm)
Engine hours: 4 hr, 13 min (cumulative: 89 hr, 33 min)
Narrative: We spent the last two days sheltering at Curlew Island. Thankfully, TC Fina behaved as forecast and died quite quickly.
Having got into Curlew Island well after dark on Wednesday night, we raised the anchor on Thursday morning and moved around the bay to see if there was a better spot to anchor. We ended up dropping the anchor back in much the same spot. With the moving around and running the engine later in the day for hot water and power, we ran the engine for a total of 54 minutes.
The Friday afternoon forecast told us the winds for Saturday were expected to be SE at 15-20kts. Given that, we decided we would leave the next morning for the Duke Islands. We ran the engine on Friday for a total 1 hour 30 minutes, mainly for power given the overcast skies.
Heather didn't sleep well overnight. I was woken just after 4:00am to her swinging her book at a mosquito! Given we were both wide awake we decided to get an early start. We left the kids in bed, prepared to sail, raised the anchor at 4:47am and motored out of the bay. Once we were clear of the islands and had some clean wind, we set sail. Contrary to the forecast the winds were S at 20-25kts, with short steep waves at 2.5-3m. With two reefs in the main and the head sail reduced to 100% we sailed close hauled in a SE direction. It was rougher than we expected but at least we were able to sail in a straight line to where we wanted to go!
By 7:00am the wind had increased to 25-30kts and the waves were at 3m+. We had reduced the head sail to about 75%, but the sailing wasn't much fun.
Around 8:00am the winds dropped to 15-20kts and the seas were down to around 2m. We let the head sail out to 100% again. An hour later the winds were down to around 10kts with seas at 1.5m. With the wind down and the seas flattened out a bit, we unfurled the head sail to the full 130%. This was actually a couple of hours of enjoyable sailing.
By 10:15am wind had dropped slightly further again to around 8kts. We had shaken both reefs out of the main but even under full sail we still only made 3.5kts over ground, so we started motor sailing to bring SOG up to 5kts.
We were thinking we would anchor on the north side or Marble Island, but with the wind right down decided to have a look at the west side of Hunter Island which is more picturesque. We dropped sail, changed course to the south and motored around the reefs and shallows at Bamborough Island before approaching the bay on the west side of Hunter Island around 11:45am. Unfortunately, being spring tides with a 6m+ tidal range, we had to anchor too far off shore to be protected from the swell. We decided we would motor around to have a look at the southern end of Hunter Island. It was calm, but we also wanted to have a look at Marble Island, so we motored through Lola Montes Passage to the Bay at the east end of the north side of Marble. Somehow it had NE breezes and swell so was exposed. We dropped anchor at 1:15pm, had lunch and pondered where we would spend the night.
The SE winds were due to swing to the NE tomorrow afternoon, but looked like they might have swung 24 hours early. The bottom end of Hunter was calm, so we motored back through the passage and anchored on the south end of Hunter Island at 2:42pm. I took the kids ashore and we played around for an hour. I took my phone with me and had hit and miss reception, so we will have to go for a walk up a hill to have any hope of wishing family friends a Merry Christmas tomorrow.
Unfortunately, as the sun went down the wind decided to swing back SE. It blew up a chop and caused us to rock and roll a bit. We can't move though, or Santa might not find us!
End Loc: Hunter Island, Duke Islands (21o 58.95'S, 150o 08.66'E)
Distance run: 43nm (cumulative: 2641nm)
Engine hours: 4 hr, 13 min (cumulative: 89 hr, 33 min)
Thursday, 22 December 2011
21st December, 2011
Start Loc: Mackay (21o 06.84'S, 149o 13.49'E)
Narrative: It was a hard fought 45nm to Curlew Island. We dropped the lines at Mackay at 8:35am and motored out of the marina and the harbour. We motored east to the south of Slade Island before setting sail. Seas were about 2.5m and the waves were close together, so it was nice and rough. The wind was blowing from 120 degrees magnetic (a bit north of SE) and at around 20kts. Curlew Island was on a bearing of 125 degrees magnetic; straight into wind. We knew from the outset it wasn't going to be a fun day.
We had to sail out to be clear of the mainland before we could sail south. We set two reefs in the main and the head sail reduced to 100% and sailed as close to the wind as we could and made 5.8kts over ground. We sailed on a compass heading of around 075 degrees with the apparent wind 40 degrees off the starboard bow (true wind about 45 degrees); close hauled for Seasprint. With a bit of leeway as well as the outgoing tide helping to push us north, our course made good averaged around 060 degrees magnetic; 60 degrees off the true wind.
At 11:00am we altered course and sailed south for an hour. We were sailing into the tide now, so speed over ground for this hour averaged only 4.1kts. At 12:00pm, we had been going for over three hours and only just made it back to same latitude as Mackay. We had sailed 17nm and all we had managed to do was get to a point 11nm due east of Mackay! Our destination was 45nm SE and we had to make some headway, so we put the sails away and motored into wind and waves for a bit. With the seas still around 2.5m and close together, our speed over ground was still only 3.5kts, but at least we were going in the right direction.
We looked at other anchorages but there was nothing suitable. I really didn't want to go back to Mackay or further north to St Bees and Keswick Islands. The tropical low well to our NE is dug in and not going away. We are keeping a close eye on it as it may become a small cyclone, but at the moment all it means for us is that for the next week we have SE winds around 20-25kts. We don't have the time to sit near Mackay for a week and wait for a weather window to continue south. We (read "I") decided we just had to bite the bullet and continue on to Curlew Island, even though we would be getting in well after dark.
At 2:30pm, well clear of all the shipping anchorages off Hay Point, we set sail again. The wind was still from 120 degrees at around 20kts, but seas were maybe a bit smaller at around 2.2m. We still had two reefs in the main and 100% head sail, sailing close hauled on a port tack. By 4:00pm the wind had moved more easterly and was blowing from 100 degrees, still around 20kts.
By 6:00pm we were right in close to the mainland near Cape Palmerston. We put the sails away just before it got dark and started motoring east towards Curlew Island. The wind was still blowing from 100 degrees, but had picked up to 25-30kts. We had apparent wind gusts to 35kts. We slogged into the strong winds and steep waves, averaging only 3.2kts over ground. We crossed Yaralla Shoal at a safe depth and the shape of Curlew Island slowly appeared against the night sky. Our heading was 10 degrees north of Curlew Island to counter the southerly run of the incoming tide, and then changed to south of Curlew once the tide turned and began its northerly run out.
Just north of Curlew Island, Tinonee Bank runs ENE to Hirst Islet. At the north west corner of Curlew, there is a deep but narrow passage between the rocks and the Tinonee bank. There are no navigation lights (the only light we could see was what appeared to be the mooring light of a yacht anchored at Curlew) so we weren't going to risk that passage in the dark. Instead we motored to the north of Tinonee Banks and crossed them between the drying patch and Hirst Islet. We had 4m of tide still and crossed in 4.5m of water. We could then motor back SE into the anchorage, and we dropped anchor at 10:18pm.
We had strong winds and rough seas all day. It was a long hard slog to get where we needed to go, and not our best day.
Note: At 7:00am on Thursday 22nd December, the tropical low was upgraded to Category 1 Tropical Cyclone Fina and was located 800km ENE of Mackay. It is expected to maintain a S/SW track for Thursday and weaken to a low again on Thursday night. We will remain in the shelter of Curlew Island for Thursday and see what she does.
End Loc: Curlew Island (21o 35.62'S, 149o 47.98'E)
Distance run: 65nm (cumulative: 2598nm)
Engine hours: 7 hr, 33 min (cumulative: 82 hr, 56 min)
Narrative: It was a hard fought 45nm to Curlew Island. We dropped the lines at Mackay at 8:35am and motored out of the marina and the harbour. We motored east to the south of Slade Island before setting sail. Seas were about 2.5m and the waves were close together, so it was nice and rough. The wind was blowing from 120 degrees magnetic (a bit north of SE) and at around 20kts. Curlew Island was on a bearing of 125 degrees magnetic; straight into wind. We knew from the outset it wasn't going to be a fun day.
We had to sail out to be clear of the mainland before we could sail south. We set two reefs in the main and the head sail reduced to 100% and sailed as close to the wind as we could and made 5.8kts over ground. We sailed on a compass heading of around 075 degrees with the apparent wind 40 degrees off the starboard bow (true wind about 45 degrees); close hauled for Seasprint. With a bit of leeway as well as the outgoing tide helping to push us north, our course made good averaged around 060 degrees magnetic; 60 degrees off the true wind.
At 11:00am we altered course and sailed south for an hour. We were sailing into the tide now, so speed over ground for this hour averaged only 4.1kts. At 12:00pm, we had been going for over three hours and only just made it back to same latitude as Mackay. We had sailed 17nm and all we had managed to do was get to a point 11nm due east of Mackay! Our destination was 45nm SE and we had to make some headway, so we put the sails away and motored into wind and waves for a bit. With the seas still around 2.5m and close together, our speed over ground was still only 3.5kts, but at least we were going in the right direction.
We looked at other anchorages but there was nothing suitable. I really didn't want to go back to Mackay or further north to St Bees and Keswick Islands. The tropical low well to our NE is dug in and not going away. We are keeping a close eye on it as it may become a small cyclone, but at the moment all it means for us is that for the next week we have SE winds around 20-25kts. We don't have the time to sit near Mackay for a week and wait for a weather window to continue south. We (read "I") decided we just had to bite the bullet and continue on to Curlew Island, even though we would be getting in well after dark.
At 2:30pm, well clear of all the shipping anchorages off Hay Point, we set sail again. The wind was still from 120 degrees at around 20kts, but seas were maybe a bit smaller at around 2.2m. We still had two reefs in the main and 100% head sail, sailing close hauled on a port tack. By 4:00pm the wind had moved more easterly and was blowing from 100 degrees, still around 20kts.
By 6:00pm we were right in close to the mainland near Cape Palmerston. We put the sails away just before it got dark and started motoring east towards Curlew Island. The wind was still blowing from 100 degrees, but had picked up to 25-30kts. We had apparent wind gusts to 35kts. We slogged into the strong winds and steep waves, averaging only 3.2kts over ground. We crossed Yaralla Shoal at a safe depth and the shape of Curlew Island slowly appeared against the night sky. Our heading was 10 degrees north of Curlew Island to counter the southerly run of the incoming tide, and then changed to south of Curlew once the tide turned and began its northerly run out.
Just north of Curlew Island, Tinonee Bank runs ENE to Hirst Islet. At the north west corner of Curlew, there is a deep but narrow passage between the rocks and the Tinonee bank. There are no navigation lights (the only light we could see was what appeared to be the mooring light of a yacht anchored at Curlew) so we weren't going to risk that passage in the dark. Instead we motored to the north of Tinonee Banks and crossed them between the drying patch and Hirst Islet. We had 4m of tide still and crossed in 4.5m of water. We could then motor back SE into the anchorage, and we dropped anchor at 10:18pm.
We had strong winds and rough seas all day. It was a long hard slog to get where we needed to go, and not our best day.
Note: At 7:00am on Thursday 22nd December, the tropical low was upgraded to Category 1 Tropical Cyclone Fina and was located 800km ENE of Mackay. It is expected to maintain a S/SW track for Thursday and weaken to a low again on Thursday night. We will remain in the shelter of Curlew Island for Thursday and see what she does.
End Loc: Curlew Island (21o 35.62'S, 149o 47.98'E)
Distance run: 65nm (cumulative: 2598nm)
Engine hours: 7 hr, 33 min (cumulative: 82 hr, 56 min)
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