Exiting the Keppel Bay Marina was somewhat problematic as spring tides were in place at the time and that meant that we would be kicking up the dust if we left too early, so to make sure we waited until the tide was right we decided to have breakfast at the marina restaurant. That was a great idea as the breakfast was excellent and set us up for a mid morning start for a motor sailing trip to Pearl Bay. The weather forecast was for little wind over the next three days and we ended up motor sailing most of the way to Scawfell Island in the southern end of the Whitsunday Islands. Here we anchored up for two nights as a strong southerly blustered through and made the idea of tackling the wind and seas very unappealing. We didn't even go ashore at Scawfell as the blustery, bullety, wind blown sea would have had us wet through by the time we made the beach.
Pearl Bay
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| Pearl Bay |
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| Sunrise, Pearl Bay |
The Best Whale Experience Ever
Sunday saw us out on the water at 4am for a long motor sail to Middle Percy Island. There was nearly all motor and very little sail. A quick glance of the fuel gauge a testament to the fact that there was no wind to be had. As we motored past Cape Townsend the Northumberland Islands began to present themselves across the ocean in a glassy, azure sea. The islands are everywhere and some of them are decent anchorages in this weather. We decided that we'd try for Middle Percy as that is halfway to Scawfell Island where we planned to sit out a blow forecast for two days time.
We were just driving along, adjacent to Hexham and Shields Islands, when Peter interrupted my novel with the news that there was a whale up in front. We could see it clapping its huge flippers from the distance and it kept this up, lying on its back and clapping its flippers, for 15 minutes or so until we came quite close. I couldn't believe how huge those flippers were. As we watched, from a safe distance, we realised that it was a mother and baby and she was probably feeding it. We could see a tiny tail slapping the water next to her. It was a very moving experience seeing this huge creature in the water nursing her little baby as we motored slowly past. She kept up this behaviour for as long as we could see her and until she disappeared in the distance behind us.
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| Look at that teeny, tiny, tail!! Wow!! |
Another interesting feature of our trip that day was the rafts of algae collecting on the surface of the ocean. Some people say it is coral spawn, but Peter's mate, 'Clarkeii', told him it was algae and that it collects in great swathes on the ocean when there is no wind to disperse it. I go with 'Clarkeii' as he is a biologist. Anyway, whatever it is, it made colourful, interesting patterns as we motored through it.
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| Colourful algae rafts on a glassy sea |
One thing we have noticed this year on our trip up the coast is that the Queensland Government has put courtesy moorings in some of the popular anchorages along the coast. Pancake outer creek has a couple now (Don't know about the inner creek as we didn't go in!) and there are four at Scawfell Island, two in each bay.
South Molle Island to Magnetic Island
Having spent two nights cowering from the wind at Scawfell we decided to use the strong tidal streams in this area to get as far as South Molle Island in one day. There are many islands that we could have stopped at on the way if we ran out of daylight. We also had a great day of sailing, with the tide, especially when we got to Whitsunday Passage where the tide roars through between Long Island and the mainland on the west side and Dent and Whitsunday Islands to the east. We made South Molle just on dark and noticed that the old jetty has been demolished, and no longer exists, since it was devastated by Cyclone Debbie.
Two nights at Airlie Beach had us stocked up with fresh food and we were ready to make the final push to Magnetic Island. We do this stretch in three days. First night Gloucester Passage, second night Cape Upstart and with an early (4am) start we manage to anchor in Horseshoe Bay well before dark on the third day.
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| Coffee at one of our favourite venues. Tamarind Tea House, Arcadia Magnetic Island |
So here we are in one of our very favourite anchorages, Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island. We are having a week here and then a week in the Breakwater Marina in Townsville where we can catch up with Peter's family before I go home to Albany. We will leave Olivia in the Breakwater this summer for the off season. Before that though Mike and Yvonne are coming for a visit, from Geraldton, and Peter is going to do some work on the boat before he comes home later in October.
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| $10 jugs at the Horseshoe Bay Pub. Incentive for the yachties to come ashore for evening sundowners and dinner. |
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