Hi all,

 

Last update saw us at Mackay marina ready to leave for Gladstone.  We did not get there as Gladstone is a large industrial port, is dirty and is a long way in from the coast so we went to Yeppoon instead.  Rosslyn Bay marina is a pleasant stop a short bus ride from Yeppoon.  Also we started our Honeymoon from here 36 years ago when we boarded a light plane to fly to Great Keppel Island.  Both Yeppoon and GK Island have changed dramatically since that day many years ago; Yeppoon had grown from a sleepy country town and the resort on the island has become a huge resort, which then closed.  We believe there is a backpackers hostel there but not the luxury place that was dreamt of.  Of course, it was not a huge luxury resort when we visited back then, just a line of fibro and cinder brick huts strung along the beach.

 

The huge dust storm that many of you enjoyed arrived in the islands along with a lot of smoke from several fires along the coast.  While we did not have the problems that Sydney had, it did interfere severely with our navigation.  We had to navigate as we would at night (but without the benefit of light houses), not being able to rely on the coastal features that we usually do.  So, GPS courses and regular position plotting all the way.  Visibility varied from half a mile to a couple of miles, but it was all irrelevant as the features we wanted were all more than five miles away.

 

Our first stop after leaving Mackay was Curlew Island, a pretty place with rugged and dramatic rock formations, but a terrible anchorage as we rolled all night.  We moved on next morning in little wind and motor sailed (that means we had the motor on and sails up giving some benefit from the wind we made by moving forward) to Percy Island.  This is a pretty place with a large A-frame hut on the beach surrounded by coconut palms an idealised tropical “paradise” beach.  The A-frame has however a lot of yachting memorabilia.  Each visiting boat has left a plaque or similar with the name of the boat carved painted or engraved on it with the year of visiting.  We left ours along side those of friends of ours.  We also visited the farmhouse on the top of the island and met Kate and John the two people who hold the least to the island.  They are farmers, but do not have any security of tenure on the land as the Queensland government want to return it to National Park.  It has been farmed and occupied for many years and has a rich history of occupation, but little pristine native bush left so the value of this is marginal, but they live in hope of maintaining their idyllic (and unique) life style.  This anchorage was a little rocky but nothing like we have experienced before, but in any case it was sheltered to the southerly change that blasted in early next morning.

 

Next stop was the Duke Island group where we stopped for a night and met up with friends Paul and Margaret Clarence on their boat “while ya down there”.  Next morning we left and motored for the next stop at Island Head Creek.  This is another sheltered place on the mainland but about as remote as we can be on this part of the coast.  It is close to the military training and bombing range of Shoal water Bay and so is not always available to yachties.  Next day onto Rosslyn Bay.  We had one of the best sails of the trip and arrived at the marina about 4:30 in the afternoon.  Since then we have been doing the marina flurry; buying fuel, filling with water, going to town to buy fresh food, do the laundry etc., etc.  We will move on next to Cape Capricorn then Pancake Creek hopefully getting to Bundaberg in about three or four days time.  We have another strong northerly (which we like as we get a fast run) followed immediately by a strong southerly change (which we do not like as they are uncomfortable), so we have bought enough food to allow us to wait it out if needed.  We had a minor electrical failure that stopped our steering GPS and auto pilot from working, but the sea was too rough for John to want to climb inside the boat to find the problem.  This was fixed at the next stop while it was calm and cooler so all systems are working again and we can laze around instead of having to stand at the steering wheel all day.

 

Until next time

All the best

John and Patsy