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| Love those sunrises. Keppel Bay Marina |
We have decided to spend a week in the Keppel Bay Marina to do some repairs to the gen-set and as a bonus avoid some fairly ordinary weather that is predicted for the next few days. The raw water pump on the gen-set has worn out and a new one has been ordered through a local boat engineering company, but will not be delivered until Tuesday. We arrived here a 2pm on Friday afternoon and Yeppoon is a small place where parts etc., need to ordered from elsewhere. It is often better to book in for a week as marinas do specials of seven days for the price of five. At $265 for seven days this marina is reasonably cheap compared to Abel Point at Airlie Beach which is $86 per day for 4 days if you are in the Shag Island Cruising Yacht Club (we are) and over $100 p/n if you are not.
We are going to have the big clean up here and then move over to Great Keppel Island for a day or two before continuing our journey south again. From now on we should be in range for mobile coverage etc., so the blog may be kept up to date more often. The Broad Sound and Shoalwater Bay area is very isolated and even radio is out of reach. We did manage to get a weather forecast every day from Thirsty Sound VMR, channel 81 on our VHF radio from an old guy (at least he sounded like an old guy) who apparently has been providing forecasts for the boating community for years. Every day at 6.33am and 4.45pm we tuned in for our one connection to civilisation - the weather forecast. We have had magnificent weather since we left Airlie Beach with light winds and sunshine and mostly just enough wind to sail south close hauled. On a couple of days we had to use the engine most of the day, but the scenery; mountains, islands, ocean, whales, dolphins, white sandy beaches and blue sky a pleasure to behold.
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| It doesn't get much better than this. West Bay, Middle Percy Island |
This weekend the Brisbane to Keppel Ocean Yacht Race is being held and Peter has been following the race on the IPad and so far three of the yachts have finished here in the bay. Wild Oats was first by miles and then Alive (66') and Celestial (TP 52') and Showtime is the next one to come in shortly. There will be a big event here tonight at the marina with bands and lots of carousing, no doubt.
This morning we went for a walk along the beach southwards to Bluff Point. Bluff Point is an ancient volcanic core as is Double Point next to us here at the marina. They are very steep rocky hills where the rock strata is aligned in rows a little like columns lying on their side. There are other hills and islands in the vicinity that have been formed in the same way. It is quite a scenic spot. The walk around Bluff Point is worth the effort as it winds up through thick bushland to the grassy top and the magnificent view for miles in every direction. The walk is easy on a well constructed bitumen pathway of 2.3kms. We walked the beach first and I recon that was about 3kms from the marina so we did about 9-10km altogether.
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| On top of Bluff Point, Double Head and Roslyn Bay in the background |
However, I am jumping ahead of myself and now I had better go back to 26th July when we were still at Abel Point Marina.
Abel Point Martina to Brampton Island
Our stay at Abel Point Marina turned out to be a very expensive little exercise. Apart from the marina fees we had an unfortunate mishap while exiting our pen. This boat, like most of her type, do not reverse very well and have a mind of their own. Add wind and it is very difficult to get them to reverse where you want them to. Our pen in the marina was very tight with almost no room to manoeuvre between us and the next boat and a cross wind was picking up by the minute. We requested some help getting out, but the boat next to us had a dinghy hanging out beyond its pen and Olivia was blown onto the dinghy breaking a bracket which held the motor in place. The man who owned the boat yelled at us in his French accent, "You will pay for zis!" a few times until I was ready to give him a mouthful as well. Maybe if he had helped it would not have been so bad. Anyway the quote for repairs is $320 and yes you turd we will pay for the damage we caused. We contacted the marina and questioned them about the dinghy hanging well out of the pen and they told us they have a rule that the charter boats are allowed to have their dinghies 30% out. Well, a one night stand really can't argue against a charter boat owner who probably pays for more than one boat here for the whole year. We will have to wear that one!!!
After our bingle in the marina we sailed over to Cid Harbour where we sat licking our wounds for the rest of the day. A walk to Dugong Bay helped put us in a better frame of mind. While there we met an old fella on the beach who is the Unofficial Mayor of Cid Harbour. We have heard of this old guy before. He likes to make sure everyone does the right thing, eg., no dogs on the beach, and our doggy friends don't like him. He was chatty though and told us some stories about cyclone Debbie and kept us entertained for half an hour. Another night at Cid and we were ready to move south.
We motored out of Cid Harbour at 6.30am and into the light breeze, east along Fitzalan Pass between Whitsunday Island and Hamilton Island before turning south towards Shaw Island where we thought we would spend the night. Tacking into the light SE wind had us arriving at Shaw Island at midday so we decided to go on to Thomas Island, 9nm further on. In the end we continued on past Goldsmith Island and ended up at Brampton Island just before the sun began to set, some 52nm covered for the day.
Scawfell Island
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| Lush bush at Scawfell Island |
Scawfell Island is a mountainous crescent shaped island to the SE of Brampton Island which we thought might give us a better angle on which to sail further south to the Percy Islands. The sail to Scawfell was delightful, light SE winds and only 20nm away. We arrived at lunch time and anchored in the western part of the bay then spent the afternoon walking the beaches and watching the 15 or so other boats arriving for the night.
Magic Middle Percy Island
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| Admiring the totem pole in West Bay |
Once again we pulled the anchor at 6.30am and decided to make for Curlew Island for a night or two. The weather forecast has been for light winds and sunny days for a week now and it looks like continuing for another week or so. We can't believe our luck. With neap tides as well, it is the perfect time to traverse this part of the Queensland Coast. The tides are huge here, up to 9m in some places and the tidal streams are strong causing some very ordinary, even 'dangerous sea conditions' according to our cruising guide. Again we had a lovely sail south in light winds from the E/SE which meant we changed course and aimed for West Bay on Middle Percy Island.
On the way we saw two ships leaving the coal loader at Hay Point so I looked on the chart plotter at the anchorage area. We sailed through the outer anchorage and I counted 32 ships at anchor, 3 loading and the two leaving. Still seems to be a bit of action there.
Since leaving Cid Harbour we have seen numerous pods of whales cavorting, tail slapping and cruising past. Some are close and some in the distance. There are so many they hardly crack a mention now. However, when Peter called me out of the cabin to see some that were very close I abandoned my book for a look. They had disappeared! Peter says "I don't know where they went." "But I do," I said, "They are under the boat!" I could hear them calling, sounding just like they do on TV documentaries. They were accompanied by a group of short, stubby dolphins who swam with us for a while.
It was another long day, but we had covered 61.7nm. West Bay looked inviting in the late afternoon light and we anchored with eight other craft in the bay. The whole time we were at Middle Percy the weather was perfect. In the morning we dinghied ashore to take a look around. We inspected the A frame building which houses memorabilia from many of the boats that have journeyed this way. We discovered Argos from Albany 2014, so we are not the first.
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| The A Frame at Middle Percy Island |
Part of Middle Percy has a private lease on it and the people there welcome boaties and invite them to visit the homestead to view the books, photos and other paraphernalia outlining the history of the early lessees. Kate gave us a cool homemade lime drink on the upper floor verandah whilst regaling us with stories of the past. At times when they have excess fruit or veges, they are able to be purchased as is honey from their hives. I must say the drink was very welcome after the long slog up the steep hill to the homestead. The walk winds up the hill via a sandy track through open bushland and near the top even rainforest areas. Along the way little plaques displaying encouraging rhymes or messages help to keep you going. Thank you Kate for your welcome and sharing your stories with us.
It was a wonderful spot to spend a few lazy days.
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| Encouragement to keep going |
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| The track to the homestead |
We met another yachty is the bay, Daniel, who told us he was born in Fremantle. He had quite a Scottish accent and Peter and I wondered where that had come from. Later we invitied him over for a cup of tea and he had spent many years on fishing boats in the North Sea fishing for crabs and lobsters. What an interesting story. Some of the storms he described were amazing. I don't ever want to be caught in one of those.
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| Signing the visitor's book at the homestead |
Pearl Bay
This time we left for a days sail with several destinations in mind. Again we had light winds and we motor sailed all the way to Pearl Bay a beautiful anchorage on the mainland south of Island Head Creek. When we arrived an irritating NE swell was sweeping into the bay and that caught us side on all night and had us rolling all over the place. Not a very comfortable night, but still quite safe. Luckily the next day the swell subsided and we enjoyed a much less lively anchorage. Pearl Bay is very pretty with white sandy beaches and clear water. There are many small islands nearby that look like something that comes out of a muffin tin. Again we met some interesting people who came over in their dinghy to see Olivia. They had inspected her and almost bought her before we did. I think they almost wish they had. Anyway we had a good natter about the pros and cons of our two boats.
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| Admiring Olivia anchored in Pearl Bay |
Roslyn Bay and Yeppoon
Now here we are back at Keppel Bay Marina. We have discovered an excellent bus service that operates between here, Rockhampton and Emu Park. Yesterday we caught the 11.20am bus to Yeppoon to do a little fresh food shopping. With our Seniors Card the fare is $1.30 each, each way. We asked the driver about going to Rockhampton. It takes about 45mins and the fare is $3.60 each one way. Tomorrow we are looking forward to the bus trip to Rockhampton for the day. That will take us to Tuesday when hopefully our new water pump will arrive and Peter will be able to get on with the repairs.
While creating this blog I have been listening to some nostalgic music on Capricorn Coast Community Radio. What a great radio station. At the moment 'Polyester Girl' is playing. This tune takes me straight back to Karin's modelling days as a teenager in Geraldton. Now we have John Denver - 'Country Road'. They must be digging deep for some of these!!
The End
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| An interesting rock formation, West Bay Middle Percy Island |
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| Resting after a walk to Rescue Bay, Middle Percy Island |
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