We departed Abell Point Marina before 8am and sailed in
windy conditions to Gloucester Island where we thought we'd make a decision
as to whether we anchor there for the strong wind warning for the next few days
or make for Cape Upstart or even continue on to Magnetic Island and hopefully
get there before the real wind arrived. Rain soon set in behind us and
continued to follow on our tail all day. As we passed Gloucester Island, on the
offshore side, we noticed that the rain appeared to be following the
mountainous terrain of the island and then begin to peter out as it went
inland. We thought it a good idea to keep going to Cape Upstart. The wind against tide
conditions kept us rolling and yawing along on a rough, uncomfortable sea for
the whole day. Sometimes the seas broke on the tops of the waves and sent us
bowling along in a cascade of foam and spray. We were doing so well, at times
8.2 knots, when the tide changed and the seas flattened out, that we decided to
do the overnight and go for Maggie. The
sky in front turned a beautiful clear blue and that helped us make up our minds.
Overnight sails are always the hardest. Both of us are on
deck and then tired at the same time. I tried to have a sleep after dinner at
about 7pm, but of course that didn’t happen. I did rest I suppose and then was
rudely shunted out of bed at 11pm by Peter wanting his turn in the bunk. By now
Rene was still charging along on a reefed main sail alone and Peter informed me
that we were frequently getting 30kn gusts. As I climbed out for my shift I
noticed that a dark cloud bank was just visible behind us. “Why do I always score the rain? “ As it happened the clouds sat there all night
and never did seem to get any closer. Just brooded there to boost my anxiety levels
as rain squalls are usually accompanied by stronger winds, at least for a while.
Cape Bowling Green is a long low sand spit that seems to go
on for ever, especially in the dark. I perched up there watching for what
seemed like hours as first the lighthouse and then the cardinal marker slowly
drifted past. “How long can a sand spit be?” We kept well outside of the shoals
as we didn’t want to risk even worse sea conditions as we rounded the cape,
however this put us on the edge of the shipping channel. A faint light appeared up ahead and as I
peered out into the dark I realised there was a ship in front of us. Luckily
for chart plotters and AIS systems it didn’t take long to work out we were on a
collision course. That little triangle on the screen had me shaking Peter out
of bed to negotiate a safer route. Not
long after a huge dark shape glided past and was soon lost in the inky
distance.
It took just 21 ½ hours to sail from Airlie Beach to
Horseshoe Bay on Magnetic Island. Not bad!
Magnetic Island Again
We arrived in Horseshoe Bay at 6.30am, just as the light
allowed enough visibility to find a good anchoring position amongst the 26
other vessels in the bay. After a bowl of hot porridge we fell into bed and
later woke at 11.30am ready to face the day. As it turned out we were glad we
did the overnight sail to Maggie as the weather deteriorated and strong winds
and rain showers dominated for the next few days.
Magnetic Island offers many activities and our favourite is
walking, which of course leads to eating and these we did for the week we spent
there. Even in the windy weather the bay
does not get overly choppy and it is easy to access the shore without getting
wet. (My pet hate!!!) We walked to all
the bays, had coffee at various cafes and bussed back for lunch. Noodies on the
Beach at Horseshoe Bay is a delightful place to eat – Mexican in orientation.
Our favourite café for coffee turned out to be Adele’s, in the bus stop corner
of Horseshoe Bay. The owner serves really nice coffee and ice-cream and as a bonus is a
friendly, cheerful man who likes a chat.
Ready for lunch at Noodies, Horseshoe Bay
A walk that neither of us had done for many years was the Forts
Walk, so we decided to start from Horseshoe Bay and continue on up to the
forts. This walk is probably the most popular on the island and is an easy climb
up a well maintained track to the old forts buildings. The views are stunning and plentiful signs explaining the
history make for an interesting walk. Not long after we left the top we came
across a group of young men who had found a koala in a tree. Our first
koala in the wild on this trip! He/she did not seem too worried about having
its photo taken, but it was hard to concentrate as the lightly tanned English
‘eye candy’ in their boardies kept getting in the way. Peter wondered what I
was on about. Well he would!!! Our next spotter project is a cassowary in the wild.
The Forts
On our final day for now, we decided to walk from Horseshoe
Bay to Picnic Bay, about 10kms. When we arrived back we found that Magnetic
Attraction (yacht) had anchored next to us in the bay. Later we had Milton and
Jenny on board for sundowners and a catch up on the news of the last nine
months.
We have now taken Rene around to Nelly Bay Harbour for ten
days while I go to WA for a break and Peter waits for his mate to arrive on 25th
June. They intend to travel north to the Palm Islands and probably Hinchinbrook
Island. Before Mike arrives Peter has to do a motor service on Rene and some
other small maintenance jobs. I suppose this blog will not be added to until
after the 13th July when I arrive back refreshed and ready for our
trip north to Lizard Island.
Forts Walk
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