Sailing adventure on RENE 2013 and beyond: Palm Islands & Hinchinbrook Islands 20th

Orpheus Island

Little Pioneer Bay

We departed Magnetic Island after breakfast and sailed in light SE winds and sloppy seas across the paddock to the Palm Island group. There are five larger islands in this group and a few smaller islands, mainly off Great Palm, at the south end. In Casement Bay on Great Palm Island there is a large Aboriginal community where permission is required to land. We decided to bypass Great Palm and make our way further north to one of the other acknowledged anchorages. Little Pioneer Bay, on Orpheus Island was our destination and as we approached we saw that all the courtesy moorings were already taken. There are four courtesy moorings here, three in the northern end of the bay and one in the southern end. In the SE winds of about 15 - 20 kn we thought the southern one had the most protection and least slop. The moorings have a time limit of 2 hours, but once late afternoon is reached most people stay for the night. Two hours seems too short from our point of view as that leaves little time for exploration, especially when there are walks ashore. You get 24 hours on courtesy moorings in NSW. We motored slowly around the bay to enable us to survey the bottom on the echo sounder. There was a large bommie outside the white reef markers and special marker in the centre of the bay which we avoided. Tangling the anchor chain around one of those is not much fun. We eventually anchored near the southern courtesy mooring in 11m. The ocean floor there seemed flat and fairly clear of obstructions.

Early next morning one of the yachts left a mooring so we motored over to claim it. Peter wanted to do a little maintenance on the anchor warp. It had been looking worn near where the chain joins it and Peter cut a worn section out and respliced it. Later in the morning we rowed ashore and wandered along the beach, then walked up the rough track to the old ruins of a pioneers stone hut. The hut is fast becoming overgrown as is the track which used to lead up to the hilltop beyond for a view to the eastern side of Orpheus Island. We gave up the walk as the bush and grass was so thick that it was difficult to see which way the track went and we were worried about encountering snakes. No quick fix for snake bite here!! Eight boats anchored in the bay that night. Quite a crowd!

Pioneer's hut, Little Pioneer Bay

Hinchinbrook Island

We felt we had done Little Pioneer Bay justice so decided to sail over to Lucinda on the mainland at the southern end of the Hinchinbrook Channel. There is a 5km long jetty here where ships load bulk sugar from the surrounding agricultural area. In a nasty choppy little sea we lowered the main sail (we still fold it the old way - no lazy jacks here!!) in the drizzly rain which we had seen from Little Pioneer Bay, covering Hinchinbrook for the last two days. Motoring along this seriously long jetty we began to reach calmer water and eventually found ourselves in flat water in the southern end of the channel. Hinchinbrook Channel is a 26km waterway between the mainland and Hinchinbrook Island. It is very protected with many navigable mangrove creeks and peaceful anchorages along its length. The township of Cardwell is located at the northern end of the channel.

Once we reached the calm water we decided to erect the canopy as the weather appeared to be closing in with more rain. The mountains of Hinchinbrook were completely shrouded in clouds and rain obliterated any view in the distance. A huge waterfall cascaded out of the clouds on the western side of the mountains on the island. There has been a serious amount of rain here.

Haycock Island is about a quarter of the way up the channel and we thought it a good spot to spend the night along with two other boats. This is a truly scenic spot, especially if the clouds and mist allow a view. Unfortunately sandflies and mozzies inhabit this area in numbers unlikely to be seen anywhere else in Australia. Mangrove creeks are not my favourite environment. It is my summation that they are best left to the creepy crawlies and human eating creatures that inhabit them. Two mosquito coils placed at each end of the boat barely kept the mozzies at bay and did little to deter the sandflies, which means I am now a spotted, lumpy itching mess. Aaarrrgghhh!!!!

Cardwell

The morning dawned, if not clear, at least with the potential of fine weather. Soon we had a better view of the hills and we motored north in the channel towards Cardwell. The wind had dropped out and by the time Cardwell came in to sight the sea remained calm and we decided to go ashore there for lunch and to restock with some fresh veges, fruit and meat. Rockingham Bay is very shallow for a long way out and calm weather is needed here to go ashore, it being an exposed anchorage. We anchored well off the end of the jetty in 2.8m of water. We had an enjoyable lunch at a café on the main street and I won $25 on my scratchy. Things are looking up.

Waiting for fish and chips. Cardwell

Macushla

After our quick trip ashore at Cardwell we decided to motor to Macushla in Missionary Bay on the northern end of Hinchinbrook Island for a couple of days of bushwalking and fishing (Peter, not me. I don't fish!) Like the channel, the water here is muddy and the signs ashore at the National Park camp site warn of crocodiles, so swimming is not an option. Peter fished and caught a Javelin and a Trevally. The hunter and gatherer reins supreme! They made a very tasty evening meal.

After the success with the fishing we thought a bush walk to South Shepherd's Bay would do us good. The track is well marked, but in fact has not been maintained and is overgrown and to my mind a very unpleasant walk. I am not your intrepid bushwalker and need a reasonably cleared track in order to feel comfortable. Bush ticks (which walk over hot coals to get at me), snakes, hidden holes, rocks and stakes etc are not my idea of a good time. We gave up on this walk and returned to the track to Shepherd's Bay which was better, but is also fast becoming overgrown due to lack of maintenance.

I have a suggestion for the 'Sparks and Wildfires' - instead of setting fire to these beautiful, uninhabited islands using helicopters etc (we know how much they cost, re the Bronwyn Bishop saga!!) perhaps it would be better to keep the tracks maintained so that people would be motivated to use them and therefore be able to appreciate and value this pristine environment. I have no issue with controlled burning to reduce the probability of wildfires in populated areas, but it seems to me that on these National Park islands deliberately lit fires simply destroy animals and plants for no real value. The tracks that are being neglected have originally been well built, with levelling, stonework steps, gutters and stream crossings etc and it is disappointing to see this work gradually disappearing into the undergrowth. As our society becomes more urbanised every opportunity for people to appreciate the natural environment needs to be encouraged.