Eight Days to Yorkeys Knob 19th - 26th July

Horseshoe Bay to Mourilyan Harbour

Although the weather at Magnetic Island looked misty and dull, with visibility of  only a couple of miles, we thought that the wind was favourable for us to begin our trip north. We made good time across The Paddock to the Palm Islands, with the help of the motor, so we decided to continue on by taking the route up the Hinchinbrook Passage and anchor for the night behind Haycock Island. A quick look at the tide table informed us that the tide was two hours above low.  As we had a rising tide we decided to give the bar a go as the sun was sinking lower in the sky and we didn't want to be arriving in the dark. The shallowest area is not far beyond a line from the end of the sugar loading jetty which is about three nm long. We lined up the leads and carefully followed them realising that there would not be much water under the keel. My hawk eyes were glued to the echo sounder.  Alarmingly it went into the low 2m zone then shortly afterwards had trouble sounding anything as the stirred up muddy water sent it into meltdown. A second or two later we felt the jolt of mother earth contacting the keel. Rene almost came to a halt, but then freed herself and then touched briefly twice more before entering deeper water. We were touching sand and the tide was rising, but it is not a good feeling bumping the bottom in any circumstances. Next time we will wait at least three or four hours after low tide before entering, especially if the tidal range is large.

A 'Misty Moisty Morning' at Haycock Island

It rained most of the night at Haycock Island and once again we were not able to see the majesty of the mountains on Hinchinbrook Island. A still, rain misted morning saw us motoring north up the channel to our destination at Dunk Island. We arrived at Dunk Island just after lunch to find Arkaydes and three other boats anchored south of the sand spit. We dropped anchor there as well because of the reported uncomfortable swell rolling into Brammo Bay. The weather was showery but calm, so we had a reasonably comfortable night. Large earth moving machinery, diggers, trucks etc were digging and carting huge loads of sand from the sand spit back to the jetty area where constant erosion washes away the sand leaving the jetty disconnected from the island. This seems to be a never ending job as every time we visit they have either just dumped more sand there or are about to do so. We caught up with Ric and Val and joined Andrew and Trish for sundowners on their beautiful catamaran, Sengo.

The never ending job at Dunk Island

The next morning Rene and Arkaydes left Dunk early for the short trip of 20nm to Mourilyan Harbour. On approach to Kent Island, which we rounded to the east, we had a radio message from Ric that we had whales between the island and us and to keep a lookout. We did! Suddenly not more than 10m from Rene was the huge black bulk of a whale body almost submerged in the water beside us. I noticed it first when it took a breath. Peter shot out from below as he heard my exclamation. 'It's dead!' he said. 'NO it's NOT!' I said and at that point it took another breath and disappeared below the surface.  I suppose we interfered with it's peaceful afternoon nap.


Fitzroy Island to Yorkeys Knob

Fizroy Island   The view from Rene

Last year, when we sailed past Fitzroy Island, the wind was howling and we decided to sail onto Trinity Inlet, Cairns for shelter. This year the weather was perfect for a stop over and as the weather stayed perfect we remained anchored in the bay for three nights. Years ago when we borrowed Clive's Border Riever, a Cavalier 32, we anchored here for a couple of nights with Greg and Karin and my sister Linda. At certain stages of the tide we found we rolled unremittingly causing all the contents of cupboards to clatter and clang which allowed none of us to sleep. Considering this we thought any sign of rolling and we would make haste for Yorkeys Knob Marina. The calm weather continued and we did not have to escape. Fitzroy is another beautiful Queensland tourist island which appears to have a thriving resort and a lovely day tripper bar where you can get food, coffee and drinks. There are several short walks and  two much longer steep walks to the lighthouse and The Summit. We did both and enjoyed the view from above looking both north and south along the coast. We snorkled over the reef near the shore. (the thought of crocodiles and sharks keep me close to other people - better chance on someone else being picked off!!!) The coral and fish were interesting, although not as lovely as some other places we have seen.




Near The Summit, Fitzroy Island

On the way to The Summit

 

We anchored in 10m of water as there is little room in less depth and that was already taken by other boats. Although the bottom looked flat on the echo sounder there must have been coral or rock down there as it took some manoeuvring to get the anchor out to leave. At last we were free and then we had a quiet sail to Yorkeys Knob. We have decided to book in here for a week as strong winds are forecast for a few days and we need to reprovision for our trip north to Lizard Island.

Ric, Val and Liz enjoying a pre-dinner drink, Fitzroy Island