Pancake Creek 30th May - 1st June

The 67nm trip to Pancake Creek began at 4am from Port Bundaberg Marina and after some rolly, downwind sailing and motoring we arrived just before dark at the entrance to the creek. During the late afternoon the black bank of cloud behind us caught up and we found ourselves pulling down the main sail in the pouring rain and diminishing daylight. We decided to anchor in the outer creek for the night as the tide was going out and the channel into the inner creek, although lit, is lined with rocky outcrops and sandbanks. The wind was light and in the SE so we had a comfortable night there. In the morning we decided to relocate to the inner creek where we tucked in with several other boats for a quiet two days.

This is a secure, pretty anchorage. We spent the time exploring the sandy beaches and sandbanks in the middle of the inlet. We also took an overgrown, bushy, walk track from the anchorage, 2.6km up the hill to the Bustard Head lighthouse. The view up there would have been wonderful except that it was threatening to rain again so visibility was poor. Near the lighthouse is a little cemetery and it was interesting to see that several of the deceased were there because they had drowned in or around Pancake Creek.

On our second night in the creek we met up with Tom and Nancy from Go Back (Catalina) and Phil and Sally from Amaris (Roberts built by Phil and Sally) on the sandbank in the middle of the inlet for sundowners. I thought this was a strange venue at first, but realised later that there were no mozzies or sandflies there. We have found that since the Great Sandy Strait we have been constantly besieged by biting bugs and they were certainly present on the shore nearby.

 

The Anchorage Pancake Creek

 

I thought this poor little tree perfectly illustrated the saying - 'When the going gets tough, the tough get going.'

Master Hunter Gatherer

 During the afternoon Peter took himself off for a walk on the sandbanks. He had just begun exploring the shallow pools when he spotted dinner in the form of a huge mud crab. He quickly bolted back to the dinghy and grabbed the bucket. Being the true hunter he followed his footsteps back to the spot just in time to see the crab, still in the same spot, but almost buried in the sand. There was no fooling our intrepid gatherer and he scooped up the unlucky creature with his bare hands. No crab pot required!

 

 

Hummocky Island  2nd May

 The weather forecast promised good sailing so we decided to make the break for Hummocky Island. As left we saw our friends Rick, Val and Tiger on Arkaydes anchored in the outer creek. Not long afterwards they overtook us and we caught up with them later in the day anchored at Hummocky Island. This is a small, high island with a beautiful little beach in the northern bay. The beach is the only place accessible for walking, the island being too rocky, bushy, steep and rugged for walking elsewhere. The wind was light and the swell low so the anchorage was reasonably comfortable for the night, but this is not the place to spend the night in less than quiet conditions as the swell curls around the headland and enters the bay.

Crossing the Tropic of  Capricorn