2018- February to June

Now I'm back at home I seem to have countless other things to do, so K'Gari has only had a few runs.

One in February to Garrys anchorage and return.
Then a couple of marina visits only in March, one for a night on board when a low pressure system  was looking a tad ominous.
Another when I had noticed another battery appeared to be warmer than the rest-.....'.hmmmm'! Took the battery into Gympie for a load test, I was told it was within the parameters , and probably just need a good charge,' hmmm' I say again. Peter the wonder leccy came up and battery was reinstalled with a change in the circuit ,so that the warmer battery was not first in line and taking all the load. Not much changed, it just held a steady 10 degrees hotter than the other two.

April, great few days with Jo up through the Great Sandy Straits and into the southern end of Hervey Bay. The battery didn't misbehave.

May: Sailed the boat to Coomera to see the wonderful Craig and his team at Signature Yachts , to finally put paid to an issue that had been plaguing me for some considerable time.
We left the marina at 0900 and crossed the Wide Bay Bar- a crossing undoubtedly well known to many yachties in Australia as it the entrance to take one through the protected waters of the Great Sandy Straits (GSS) into Hervey Bay and thence northwards. Or of course, you can just sail up outside Fraser Is rounding Breaksea spit and thence northwards, but that way is passage with nowhere to stop, hence most yachts take the inside route, unless they can't get through the very shallow Sheridan Flats in the GSS.
I have only once before crossed the bar and that was many years ago on the South Passage - I was not the skipper on that occasion.
Easy crossing in benign conditions, and hence we were motor sailing.

Positively balmy

At 1300hrs that rotten egg gas smell  reappeared and this time quick as a flash, the now second troublesome battery was disconnected and we continued on our way. Another job to be added to the list in Coomera was dump all of these batteries and replace them with another brand.
All I can say is that having had two go and knowing that I wouldn't be able to mix n match brands, the new one replaced in Gladstone was now an expensive misjudgement.On the upside, thankfully none of these battery issues had surfaced in Indonesia on the way home.At least the failures had occurred where the fix was relatively easy, albeit bloody expensive.
We tootled to Coomera over 4 days ,stopping for at night in Laguna Bay, about halfway down Bribie Island,Raby Bay and finally off Boatworks. We did get some good sailing in , mixed with motor sailing. This is as far south as K'Gari has been and at the end of May , as you can see by the photo it wasn't warm!

Almost forgot- finally got my HF radio back. The keen reader may recall that I parted company with it way back in October '17 when in Darwin. From that time until the end of April '18, its whereabouts seemed a mystery to the agent who had  taken it. I eventually gave up even trying to contact him as he rarely returned my calls after the first couple of months.The last time I conversed with him he said my HF was in Dili- yes that's correct Dili East Timor. It was at that point that I started dealing directly with ICOM in Melbourne, initially to enquire if this guy was in fact really an ICOM approved agent! Eventually the HF did make its way to Melbourne , where the entire motherboard was replaced. As the thing had never worked properly since I picked up the boat, I was not entirely surprised.I was miffed that the warranty had expired, but I had not wanted to part with it for an extended period of time in SE Asia , in case it got lost/mislaid- which ironically is exactly what ended up happening in good old Oz!! However its back , it is reinstalled  in place and it bloodywell works- hooray!

Anchored off Boatworks 

June : The required work, which I wont bore you with as it was warranty stuff , was carried out incredibly efficiently and apart from all the facilities available at the Boatworks yard, (my only comparison being SE Asia to date), my lasting impression of Craig and his team,(who are just one of the businesses in the yard) is that no question I asked was too stupid, an explanation was always cheerfully forthcoming. The 'how do I do  things',that I need demonstrating were demonstrated, and then with things like applying the prop speed to the props, they were happy to keep a watchful eye on me whilst I tried it myself  after watching the first one being done. I can't recommend them highly enough. I will return!
Whilst there I also had the seacocks replaced on the engines.Why on earth Yanmar supply the ones they do, which after 12months (of use , ie opening and shutting) are so clogged up with verdigris internally they can no longer  be opened or shut fully, is beyond me. I now have far more simple to operate ball valve variety.
A dodgy stay was spotted and replaced.
Three new batteries installed,and the alternator checked, hopefully these will give me closer to the expected 7 years of life than the gazillion dollar ones did!
All in all , definitely well worth the trip.

Emerging from the shed

Great antifoul job.

On the way home, a stop over off Scarborough, so that  Peter could help me with installing a new bilge pump, as the port side one seemed to have a mind of its own of late.It would pump only occasionally when activating  the remotely located switch. Not much use really! I had purchased a new replacement  bilge pump , which of course was a slightly newer shaped model and I needed help to install it, because equally 'of course'  it wasn't exactly the same dimensions - nothing ever is I have found! What seemed like umpteen hours later, and with needles having been stuck in every wire  connected to the bilge and tested for current , the search moved to the fuse. Yes I had checked the fuse - days ago and yes it was in tact. As it turns out the fuse was in tact ,but the fuse holder was no longer making contact with whatever it is  a fuse holder need to contact! Well that would be an easy fix, just replace that part of the panel instead....
The nearest chandlery, which I tactfully wont name, seemed to think, that asking for the "equivalent of an average down payment on a house" , would have us interested in purchasing- instead Peter elected to drive 45 mins to Brisbane and return, to pick up exactly the same fitting for an economical and realistic price.
Guess what - it wasn't an exact fit either- surprise surprise , but a few drill holes later, and the new bilge switch panel was installed. Thanks again Peter.

Overnight stop (both directions) off Noosa in  Laguna Bay

Next day an early start to catch the tide out of the bay , an overnight stop off  Noosa in Laguna Bay again, followed by an early start to ride the morning offshore breeze north. About 5nm south of Double Island Point , we saw our first pod of whales, which were also making their way north for calving . the presence of these magnificent creatures making their way north was why i was only doing day hops up the coast as I didn't want to have to worry about them at night.

Back in the marina  K'Gari was put through her shut down for a couple of months routine , as my next voyage of excitement was going to a spot of sailing around the Turkish coast, with Steve and Jo, on Steve's catamaran..

The perils of international shopping when you don't speak the language.

As this blog is detailing both the victories and the less than stunning moments and other screw ups, I must reveal that it came to light  between Cairns and Gladstone ,when Jo asked for some moisturiser, that my "moisturiser", bought in Vietnam , is in fact not!

Needed some moisturiser before we departed Vietnam. Not being fluent in Vietnamese it was obviously a simple  matter of perusing the supermarket shelf until we found the toiletries and then by deduction, ( a picture tells a thousand words -they say) figuring the obvious shampoo from other bottles and “systematically” eliminating the obvious non starters.

Mission accomplished by finding an internationally branded anti dandruff shampoo and working our way down the row until we came to other things that looked like skin care products.

My selection, made by looking at the picture of the lovely looking coconut, seemed ok.

Back on the boat, I gave it a test run and was not so certain, seemed a tad greasy to me for moisturiser, but hey, foreign country, who knows!

Still I thought I would check with the Vietnamese boys where assisting us with things. Using what  I thought was unambiguous international sign language, I asked if the bottle was for hair,  motioning with hands an action akin to hair washing , or for hands, signing with the obvious rubbing of hands together.
They took the bottle and read the label and indicated the latter- it was for hands, not hair. Excellent, my powers of deduction had been correct....or not!

Slow forward two and half years and Jo asked me if I had any moisturiser. Of course I did , but I did warn her it seemed a bit greasier than what she would normally  be used to.

Instantly suspicious , like most of my friends,who have apparent misgivings  about my eyesight and familiarity with the concept of  best  by dates, she closely perused the proffered 'moisturiser'.

As we were cruising in the Whitsundays at that moment, we had some internet connection. I thought she was looking up a translation site, but no, she merely googled the brand name.

Turns out that the product I had bought, was in fact shower gel- with an outside chance that it may contain some vague hint of hydration substance..... no wonder it felt greasy. I had barely used it in the two and half years, as it really didn't seem that effective.

I leave it to your  imagination,  the sight of two women the other side of 'half way', one definitely menopausal and the other having given birth to a child, creased double with mirth at the ineptitude of the deductions, that a 20 second google search had revealed. Barely able to speak for laughter, it just had all the makings of a blog post.

So thinking back , and as Jo indicated, perhaps the plan went astray  with the way I rubbed my hands together. Merely rubbing my hands obviously indicated washing , when I should have used the slower and obviously more  luxuriant hand rubbing motion, indicating the difference between shower gel and moisturiser . I however,  having actually been in Vietnam , don't think it would have made much difference.

Can't remember the last time my ineptitude cause so much mirth for both of us. Sure it won't be the last time either
 You have to laugh, it releases all those good endorphins.

FADs, (BADs and CADs)

Before leaving the SE Asia section of the blog, two more posts.

The first being a photographic exposé of  FADs : Fish Attracting(or Aggregation) Devices, which I have further  christened  as,  BADs (Boat Attracting Devices)  and CADs (Catamaran Attracting Devices).

These little,  (or not so little actually) darlings float free range (generally) on the ocean currents, their location obviously known to the local fishermen but a complete mystery to a transiting yachtie.
Mysteriously and annoyingly, they seem to regularly appear around dusk, then of course you have no idea all night, where they are, as of course they are totally unlit.
Using our best David Attenborough skills, we did manage to sneak up on a few during daylight hours , displayed here.
Not shown is the "St George cross" of bamboo which I failed to photograph in the middle of the night after we found it across the bows.

basic polystrene blocks,netted, lashed and clad with tyres

Beautifully wrapped in green -guaranteed to stand out on the ocean-not!

Bamboo raft with palm leaf sail

Scale:local fisherman vs FAD

Visible in daylight, if one is keeping an excellent lookout, as we did -invisible at night 

Spears 6-10m of bamboo pole weighted with concrete below the water

solid little number that would tend to stop you dead.

For the record, I never noticed any of these when I was at work, ploughing along at 10+ knots on 30000 tonnes of steel!

Departure Gladstone -Take two

I returned to Gladstone on the fourth January and the new battery was fitted. All was in order.The new battery was duly marked with the installation date. None of the originals had been dated in any way, so the new one was differentiated, as they weigh 60kgs each and it would have been a shame to confuse them in the future, as fitting them into place is not easy.

The 5th January , marked my official retirement from the paid workforce after 40 years in the Australian Maritime industry. A career that gave me much and I hope I have been able to, in various different ways give back a little to it. It was a career and definitely not a job, however  I knew about 18 months earlier ,when anchored on K'Gari one morning off  Port Klang in Malaysia , watching the ships arriving and departing, that I wasn't actually suffering withdrawal symptoms from work and it was time to go.

My trusty crew for the final leg ,my personal  long range electrician and friend  Peter, arrived on the 6th and we departed for Tin Can Bay on the morning of the 7th.

Flying along off Bundaberg

An easy and pleasant sail had us in the marina at Tin Can Bay at 1746/9th January.
Having logged 10618nm, via Borneo,Singapore,Peninsula Malaysia,Thailand and Indonesia, (also don't forget the 4 fish, from my sustainable fishing regime) after taking delivery of  her in Vietnam, K'Gari was in her new home berth, having sailed the final leg down the  Great Sandy Straits, past her namesake landmark.

The first sunrise over the island K'Gari to be  taken from the deck of K'Gari
and yes, I think it is Paradise.

Yes, its been a steep learning curve  at times, which I strongly suspect will be an ongoing theme. Yes I've made some mistakes.Yes there have been some issues. Yes, there was some vile weather, but only a tiny bit , probably no more than two weeks in total, yes, K'Gari has withstood it easily, and yes ,yes,yes  it's been such an adventure ,with some great friends and with the bonus of  making  some more friends along the way.

We are "at home"

Regrets- absolutely none,its been so much fun, and now there is all of Australia to play in and around.

Trust your nose, it may reveal .......a bubbling battery.......

We departed at 0730 on a flood tide, not the best idea but  as time and tide wait for no man, the alternative was to  sit around for 6 hours.

We motored down the harbour for the first 6 miles, taking in all the familiar sights  and smells  of  Gladstone Harbour. At Boyne Smelter wharf  enough wind had arrived to set sail and make our way down the South Channel. The nagging feeling in my head was that the usual  smells around there, which are usually bauxite, or perhaps a waft of caustic, were apparently intermittently continuing. Odd! We were now upwind of all the industry , and with the light breeze on the nose, we had all the forward windows open , well and truely blowing through the cabin- thankfully.

The smell was only intermittent , and I just couldn't place it.
We had a pleasant if not speedy voyage down the harbour and cleared the channel ,called my departure into Gladstone VTS and got yet another strange waft of that something vaguely familiar smell. Just as I was asking Jo if it was my imagination, or had she been getting the odd waft of - and verbalising the words, rotten egg gas, suddenly had me diving for the battery locker, which is in the saloon.

Oh dear, yet another missed photo opportunity- a fizzing battery- and boy was it was fizzing!

When in doubt and its electrical, my motto is, call Peter, he will guide me through it, and he did. Another long distance telephone consultation, although Gladstone is much closer  to Brisbane than Borneo or mainland Malaysia, where other electrical issues have been solved via the medium of skype and talking me through things.

This lesson  was how to disconnect the offending failure from the battery bank and then reconnect the remaining two batteries to the system.

We turned and headed back to Gladstone- just for the record, the tide had just turned as well, so we were pushing back into again , but at least with the breeze astern.

Whilst I disconnected the battery , Jo hand steered us back towards Gladstone. Everything was off and isolated, the chart plotter, depth sounder, auto pilot . We  did have the hand held VHF  switched on. I loathe electricity when it doesn't work and I have to "do" something- I can't see it and it scares me, so everything was isolated so I could not possibly give myself even a 12 volt zap.

Having disconnected the fizzing battery and allowing the maximum time for any evil gases to dissipate, I eventually restarted the engines and we berthed again at 1600, in prime position- nobody else had had time to get the berth!

With 5 days until Christmas, I decided that it was unlikely that a replacement battery would be sourced in time to get us to Tin Can Bay, (TCB) so booked in to the marina until the New Year. Organised  lift for Jo back to TCB, where we had left a car, and I stayed in Gladstone to try to source the battery.

Gladstone Batteries were great, they sourced an exact replacement and put me in touch with the Australian Technical manager for the brand , because of course, these weren't just any old battery- theses were apparently, judging  from the price, made of "solid gold" . It shouldn't have failed it wasn't even 30 months old and they had been meticulously looked after , never allowing them to get below 12.4v. I did ask the question - "do I need to replace them all, now that one has failed". I was assured it was so odd that wouldn't be necessary (thankfully, looking at the price...) but dear reader, do keep that sentence in mind as the blog continues.

 Ethan from Gladstone Batteries organised to get it shipped up from Sydney, for the first working day after the Christmas /New Year break .

I left K'Gari there and went home too, my plan to be in TCB for Christmas foiled.

Removing the mainsail- another learning experience

A small hiatus of about 12 months seems to have occurred, life thankfully has continued apace, it's just the blog that stopped, so  I shall take to  the keyboard and continue.


 Having berthed a the Gladstone  Marina- in prime position, Jo returned home, as we had, courtesy of the weather forecast, at least  a five day interlude coming.

Prime position- Gladstone Marina.

In the end it was an 8 day break, during which time , thankfully assisted by one of my colleagues from work , who actually knew how to, the mainsail was removed.

The keen reader may remember It needed to be removed to be repaired in Brisbane (warranty reasons) and I didn't have a clue how this actually occurred. I do now! Thanks Jordi!

So with the mainsail off, I transported it down to Brisbane, where it was as promised repaired  , in fact faster than promised, as both the warranty job and  a  repair to 3rd reef point, which had just developed as a potential issue, were done and the sail was ready for pick up 24 hours after I dropped it off. Thank you to Northsail Brisbane, especially at the time of year, two weeks before the festive season!

Eight days after she left , Jo and I returned to Gladstone, and went through the exercise of bending the mainsail back on. Just for fun (hmmm) we did it at dawn, which was the most windless part of the day.Good for bending on the mainsail, but not so good for any exposed skin, as the sandflies were vicious.

Job done, marina fees paid, and we were off at 0730, ironically as it eventuated I had said to the marina staff that I would return....

Gladstone

My aim had been to transit down to Gladstone via the Narrows.
This is the waterway which dries at low tide- almost Secret Water stuff, for those familiar with my favourite childhood series of books by Arthur Ransome ,which passes between Curtis Island and the mainland.

On the north west end of the island is Sea Hill Light, and it is from here that ships enter for the port of Port Alma. Beyond Port Alma, the now, defunct for commercial shipping,  port of Rockhampton lies further up the Fitzroy River.

Cape Capricorn

On the NE side lies Cape Capricorn, a light once manned, as recently as the early eighties by light house keepers.I know, as it is one of the many that I went to when on board the Cape Moreton, servicing and resupplying the lights and the lighthouse keepers and their families.
Cape Capricorn light  lies on the Tropic of Capricorn.


Soon K'Gari would be leaving the tropics.

The tide was right for a transit through the narrows in daylight, and that was my plan.

On the day in question, the wind however started to back around and so instead of motoring down through the narrows, we decided to sail down the eastern side of Curtis Island.

K'Gari was unstoppable once she rounded Cape Capricorn.

Flying towards Gladstone- who ever would have thought it?

We entered  the harbour via the East channel, after dark. Having never been in or out of the North Channel, between Curtis and Facing Island ,now was not the time to try, in the dark and at low water.
Instead we took  the old tried and tested route and then anchored off Manning Reef until the morning when we could shift across to the marina, where the plan was to sit out the next 5 or so days of   SE'ly winds which was the forecast. Hardly a trial from my point of view as Gladstone was my place of employment for the last 12 years , so plenty of friends to catch up with.

Keppel Islands

A night at Pearl Bay, well half a night, as we didn't tuck right inside, an early start at 0200,when the wind swung and the anchorage became choppy- well if you awake you may as well go somewhere.....

Dropped the sails again about 0400 as the small amount of  wind , was right astern and the main was flogging. As soon as it was sunrise, I was eager to get the mighty pretty sail out again, much to Jo's disdain- she doesn't find it relaxing at all when the MPS is up. Apparently  I make her tense, something about not wrapping it around the cross trees! To help her get over this 'fear', the breeze was perfect so we sailed, without incident,from 0600 -1400 with the MPS. Yee ha! The longest run so far with the MPS.

Cape Manifold  in the distance in the early morning sun

Arrived at Great Keppel Island- one look at the 'crowds' anchored off the main beach and we hightailed it round to Long Beach, which was much more to our taste with only half a dozen others , well spread out, in the available anchorages in the bay.

Long Bay anchorage in the evening

Middle Percy Island

Motoring on a windless morning through the Hay Point anchorages enroute to Middle Percy Island

Next destination, Middle Percy Island and home of the Percy Island Yacht Club.

It's a must stop for every cruising yacht  in Queensland waters. The names on the plaques displayed at the Percy Hilton, atWest Bay record the history and creativness of generations of passing yachts and their crews.

Proof positive 6.1kts in bugger all breeze

We had a good sail once the afternoon zephyr kicked in- even managing to get up that M(ighty) P(retty) S(ail), as one of Jo's friends refers to it .
The MPS  had to go up, as the friends I met in Cairns, Bill and Frances, tsked tsked my theory that the wind would swing enough to get it out and flying! Hence the photo opportunity- not to mention the 6kts it produced  in bugger all breeze!

Yes that is Percy Island off the port bow

PIYC  'totem'

The Percy Hilton- early morning

I will have to return and find a space for K'Gari to exist at the Percy Hilton amongst all the others.

Haul out number three.

Went across to the yard first thing in the morning to see what was what, and talk to the very affable Greg at Mackay Shipyard and of course sign my life away with regard to the lift which was to take place.

Mine would be the last lift of the day, so we waited until getting the call to shift over to the hoist at 1315.

Out she came, beautifully and I had arranged to be left hanging in the sling and go back in the water first lift in the morning all being well, and if not, if I had encountered any problems be shifted further into the yard.

Apart from the usual stumbling block of not having the right strength, or perhaps more to the point correct tool for the job, it went well.

as usual sitting down on the job!

The antifoul is holding up fine. 36 barnacles in total after 11 months and most of them were in the difficult to antifoul spot on the top of the rudder blades, the rubber boots and  the very bottom of the keels, which got antifouled last, just before the refloat in Thailand.

As for the right tool, I managed the port saildrive oil change just fine, but struggled to undo the plug on the starboard side. A quick visit to the lovely Yanmar people in the yard and I returned with a borrowed impact screwdriver. Q.E.D! I now have purchased  my own, for future use.
Oil change and anodes change and all was done before dark- just as well as it bucketed down about 7pm.

Hanging about on the descent

Back in the water first thing in the morning, at low water and yes it looked a long way down to the water!
Everything checked out as ok when I restarted the engines, so it was over to the fuel berth, to refuel.
We had to wait for the fuel berth to open at 0830 and then having finished that needed to wash the boat as it was without doubt the dirtiest  diesel hose  so far, and despite being incredibly careful, anywhere it had touched needed a soogee to clean off the diesel.

safe'n' sound back in the water

By the time that was done, we departed at 1050, ostensibly heading south. That idea was quickly changed to returning to St Bees for the night, as the speed we were making wasn't going to get us anywhere handy to anchor for the night if we carried on to the south.

Anchored for the night in the now almost empty Homestead Bay at St Bees. Interestingly in the intervening three days since we were last here, someone had unfortunately come a cropper in the NE corner of the bay. A couple of masts at a "rakish" angle on a monohull were clearly visible, but not much else. I guess the proximity of the reef to the anchorages was as bad as we had thought. Some body's dream had come to a watery end.

Has the coral spawned?

From Keswick to Mackay is only a 15 mile run and I planned to use the morning flooding tide to run down from Keswick Island. Another brilliant idea, as there was absolutely no wind.
The surface of the water gave every impression that the coral may have indeed spawned, even though the full moon was in fact this very night.

https://youtu.be/4wfpn7R7Rtw

Aced it into my allotted berth, the tightest manoeuvre yet, and of course not a single observer to note the effortless (apparently) berthing. It is a well acknowledged truism, that it  will only be  when the manoeuvre is turning to custard  (quicker than it sets in a microwave)  that there is an audience on hand- NEVER when its perfect!! 

Spent the rest of the afternoon sorting out the anodes and saildrive oil, tools and things needed for the haul out tomorrow.

Enjoyed a delightfully tender steak at the old yacht club.

First rubbish run since Cairns producing the  evidence  of our totally balanced diet for the last fortnight, and I wont put my hand for either the coke or the milk!

 

Whitsunday wanderings and my first manta ray encounter.

We set off for no particular destination in the Whitsundays, my only timetable commitment being in five days time, for a haulout at Mackay.

The SE'ly was  by now decreasing and would allow an easy passage across to Hook Island, so that was as good a plan as any. The wind faded  away to a glassy nothing, and we motored the last couple of miles and picked up a mooring in South Stonehaven Bay. Water was again  less than clear, but at LW, having watched boat after boat of snorkellers splashing about at the southern end of the bay, we ventured in for a snorkel, as most of the boats had by now  departed. We drifted down towing the dinghy and sure enough there was some respectable coral and even a giant clam or two.
Note to self- it turns out Optus reception was precisely one mooring further to seaward from the one we had selected!

Over the next few days we meandered from Stonehaven to St Bees Island,firstly  sailing down through Cid Harbour, noting the MV Banks, a fishing vessel from Ulladulla which went ashore during Cyclone Debbie in May 17, was till there - high and dry on Daniel Point.

MV Banks 

 Passing out  through Hunt Channel under sail, we encountered 3 motor vessels,2 of  which easily met the criteria to be pronounced as Hullabaloos. The term comes from my favourite childrens book series- Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome . The  "Hullabaloos" are  a party of noisy holidaymakers on the river who are damaging the riverbanks and wildlife.
Although we were not on a river, these ghastly power cruisers slow down for no one, ignore the simple rules of the road, about who gives way to who and don't give a damn about the wake they cause, as they for some reason (known only to themselves) must at all costs , including deviating from their course, cross ahead of a yacht under sail. Guess it just shows, you don't need manners or brains to own a stink boat.

https://youtu.be/YDTMSK7YAFE

For the first time in my life since the resort was opened  on it,  I ventured within a stones throw of  Hamo, as it seems to be universally referred to by boaties. Not sure I have missed anything and we certainly didn't stop there. Opposite Hamilton Island is Dent Island- somewhere I have been, when replenishing the lighthouse which stands on its western side. Dent Island leased under the same arrangement as Hamilton, is now the golf course for Hamilton Island.

A lovely and for the first time in days , solo anchorage , was found at the northern end of Lindeman Island , when we anchored off Boat Port beach . Going ashore in the late afternoon for a spot of exploration, revealed a campsite is available here, b.y.o everything. There were masses of shells piled up on the NW tip of Lindeman- to us it didn't look as though anybody has been here for many months, perhaps since TC Debbie last year? Overwhelming and very obviously, it occurred to both of us, that here ankle deep in shells, the thing that was missing that has been so constant over the last two and a bit years was the complete absence of several feet of plastic detritus. Not a single plastic drink bottle, fishing buoy, piece of footware, nothing but driftwood and shells!

All alone off  Boat Port beach Lindeman Island 

Another anchorage which we tried was Brampton Island- yet another now closed resort, can be found on the North side of the island. This southern  end of the Whitsundays is far less crowded than the islands to the north when it comes to finding anchorages and solitude.

Well that was solitude until we arrived at  the pair of islands, Keswick and St Bees. The wind now being from the north, the southern ends of the islands were the go. We sailed there comfortably until in the lee of Keswick and the wind died, then  it appeared as though we had arrived into a major traffic system, monohulls motoring past at full tilt, towards Homestead Bay.
For obvious reasons as it turned out, as the anchorage is relatively limited really. On our way we checked out the bays on Keswick, which had a small swell rolling into them despite the now northerly wind. Continuing on to Homestead Bay, we decided it was way to crowded for us and went to inspect the next bay to the north in Egremont Pass, which seemed bereft of boats, despite having an apparently similar look to it on the charts, depth wise and on the google earth (GE) photo we had available. Current flow was the issue, as well as a rather sudden rise from 10m to 2m depth over potentially crunchy stuff, so we left the bay to itself and after one drop of the anchor in another bay to the south which resulted in grinding noises , which had me heaving the anchor home , before the weight even came on to it, we elected to go back to one of the bays on Keswick.
The swell stopped rolling around the point as soon as the tide stopped ebbing and it was a very pleasant anchorage which we shared with only one other catamaran, who was anchored in the diametrically opposed corner to us.
Went for a snorkel at about 1600 which was LW, but water was relatively murky, with visibility  when once in the water, of only a couple of meters. I think on neap tides and when the sun is at its zenith, this might be worth another look, as the coral looked ok.

 What didn't look ok, was my first encounter with a manta ray. It loomed out of the murk to my right and as I was still trying to  remember to breathe and as  my brain was now telling me  it was ok as it wasn't a shark, it swept past me. Its 'wing' span, to I imagine what were  my saucerlike eyes, was wider than I am tall.
Enough!
 I have it on my list to swim with manta rays, but I have long envisaged this would be in clear water, so I could clearly see them gliding past, rather like slow motion David Attenborough footage, not a murky sweep past, that left my heart thumping.

Cape Gloucester

Following a very peaceful nights snooze  in Queens Bay, we assessed the options and with the third reef in the mainsail still, used the prevailing wind to shoot across to the Eco Lodge , Cape Gloucester, 11nm away, to sit out the rest of the SE'ly, which was forecast for next couple of days.

 Lost sunglasses pair number two on the way, as they blew clean off  the top of my head in a 26kt gust, as we tacked our way into the anchorage.  We took up a mooring as there were many to chose from and went ashore for lunch.

Gloucester Island

https://youtu.be/ANg2AHmS3gE

The relatively unoccupied anchorage/moorings -unlike in August when it is the final rendezvous for the Shag Islet Cruising Yacht Club

Using the tide the next morning we passed through the Gloucester Passage and Jo anchored us in Jonah Bay. Her first time not being in at the pointy end for a let go. Decisions, decisions! Its always an experience when you take up  a new challenge and try executing a routine job from another perspective, but 'regular crew' need to be able to do many roles  with confidence and the only way to get that confidence, is have a go. First command mission successful, having safely shifted us through the  passage and anchored us again, as it was still too windy to venture further.

The drizzle which arrived as we were anchoring  began to lift and the late afternoon was beautiful. Also managed to have phone reception and confirmed my haul out in Mackay, was still ok.

Forecast, what forecast?

Shortly after dropping the pick in Horseshoe Bay we had a couple of visitors from another yacht, enquiring about the conditions, which had been lovely for sailing in, and bemoaning the fact that they had been waiting several days and could see no break within the next week.

The Bureau of Meteorology in Oz does an amazing job, and now that I am so much closer to the elements,only a couple of feet above the seasurface , and having spent time in SE Asia with forecasts that are laughable in comparison, I appreciate the Bureau  even more. The radar weather pictures  that are available,  the updated marine forecast,all excellent stuff, and a large percentage of it is absolutely accurate, however it is just that, a forecast.

Needless to say having just read all that, we awoke the next morning and there was no howling SE'ly, so we decided to poke around the corner and see what lay beyond the protection of the bay.
Plan A was to have look, plan B- turn tail and retreat if necessary, plan C , carry on.

We set off  after doing the washing, as the indication was for the wind to swing from the SE to the E or NE in the afternoon.

Nine hours later , having motored for only 3 of those, when the wind died completely before coming in from the East, we dropped the pick in the lee of Cape Bowling Green. Not a huge run (only 41 miles covered , but definitely not in a straight line) as we had gone east on the SE'ly wind and then used the change of wind to the East to make our southerly leg component.

We saw nobody else venturing out and yet  the conditions were in fact, quite pleasant. Sailing along and listening to the  first of the Ashes Test, series. Alas no fish!

Similarly the next morning the forecast was still pretty much the same . SE'ly in the morning swinging  E-NE before becoming  SE'ly again in the early hours of the following morning- by which time, we would ,of course, with my executive planning ability, be tucked up in a nice anchorage inside Upstart Bay!

So we headed East waiting for the wind change.This took us pretty well smack over the site of the SS Yongala -at 109m long, Australia's biggest and still the most intact, historical shipwreck. She was a passenger ship which sank during a cyclone in 1911.
Jo has dived on her, however it's still on my list of things to do, 'one day', when I have time, and that is despite living in FNQ for 11 years and it then being, "just down the road".

After the Easterly arrived, we were having a great sail, so good in fact, that when we intercepted by QWPS (Qld Water Police Service) just NE of Cape Upstart, it was too lumpy for them to board, so they tagged along off the aft quarter , whilst asking their questions, asking to see our flares,EPIRB and lifejackets.
As it was only 1400 it was too early to stop and only a few more hours (at the current speed) to Cape Edgecumbe , so I decided to carry on, we would be there just after 1900hrs at the latest after all, and there we could tuck up and wait for the SEly due in the early hours of the morning to blow through.

Wrong ,wrong ,wrong, oh how wrong that decision was!

Having gone past Cape Upstart , the wind started to die a little by little and by 1800 instead of being almost at Cape Edgecumbe, we were still north of Abbot Point and now being battered by 20-23 knots on the nose (of course) in sea conditions that although not uncomfortable , were certainly not pleasant.Wind versus current made for a very quick build up of a sea sate of a couple of meters. We were reefed right down and just continued to beat our way slowly southwards. Finally arriving in the bay in the lee of Cape Edgecumbe at 0115, after a record making, as opposed to breaking, 7 hours to get past Abbot Point.

Those last four tacks took 7 hours. What a breeze-literally!

Orpheus Island to Magnetic Island

We took up a buoy mooring in Pioneer Bay, and went ashore to -not much really. A sandy bay with coral edges around the foreshore.There is a toilet ashore and it is a designated self sufficient camping site, as it is part of the National Park.
Just around the small headland to the south from the mooring, but still within Pioneer Bay, there is a research station.Part of James Cook University. They are much more welcoming than the resort in the  next big bay to the south about halfway down the Island ,Hazard Bay , at which non paying/staying visitors are persona non grata .
The afternoon we arrived, it was 1530 when we took up the mooring and went ashore, to the nearest beach.We decided the water was too turbid to be inviting and so after a brief explore we returned to K'Gari.
Next morning, it then being a rising tide, we went to the research station to check if t was ok to snorkel over the Giant Clam garden. We not only wanted to get the ok , but directions as to where exactly it lay within the bay.

I have to tell you my  arrival at the beach, thankfully unobserved, was spectacular. Picture this , flat calm, not a ripple on the glassy clear water. We used the outboard until we deemed it too shallow and then paddled the dinghy towards the shore, being careful to approach without touching any of the coral. Finally passing clear over the coral, the sandy bottom looked fine, just the odd stingray lurking.Of course, we really only spotted the stingrays when they decided to swim away, causing the sand to swirl and thus giving away their positions. Eventually with the dinghy just afloat, so we are in a max of about 6-8 inches of water, we decide to alight and wade, (in barely ankle deep water) the rest of the distance ashore.I was going to hold the dinghy, whilst Jo wandered off to find someone,anyone. Jo hopped out and at the very instant that I was one foot in and the other out of the  dinghy,it  sort of took a "mysterious" lurch and in less than 8 inches of water, I managed to go from vertical to horizontal. Yep, belly flop, face plant, in 6 " of water. Jo naturally found my morning "splattered explorer" yoga interpretation, hysterically funny. As I regained the vertical, the head of the station appeared, and assured us it was fine to go for a snorkel and pointed us in the right direction. The Giant Clam garden is in fact basically full of baby giant clams,  1140,  we were told. There were some larger ones, but the vast majority we saw were 'junior clams'.
My second swim for the morning was more enjoyable than the first.

We then sailed, beautifully taking advantage of the ever backing breeze, as it shifted from the S to the NE, to Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island.

Orpheous Island to Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island

The anchorage was in Horseshoe Bay was pretty full- in our experience, meaning it had about 25 yachts,all apparently waiting for the forecast SEly wind to pass. Based on the forecast we thought we too would be at anchor for a couple of days, so we didn't rush ashore that evening.

For the historically minded, apparently Magnetic Island was so named after James Cook on his journey north in 1770, when he noticed the effect on his compass in the general vicinity of the island. Guess if had been using his GPS he  probably wouldn't have noticed.............

Fitzroy Island to Orpheus Island via Hinchinbrook Channel

Having spent a glorious afternoon at Fitzroy Island,the inclement weather shifted from Cairns  to settle over us during the early hours of the morning.

Awaking to drizzle and slightly more than that, as we got underway, we set sail for Mourilyan Harbour.  The wind being ok for a while then dying to nothing and then as the rain decreased to showers and finally disappeared altogether, a great breeze set in.

Never thought I would be sailing into here,when I left in 2005

o yes beautiful Mourilyan Harbour

Sailing into Mourilyan was brilliant fun.Inside the two headlands there is a wonderfully protected harbour and we anchored just clear of the swing basin on the shoaling mud bottom.

Those tugs look a little more powerful than the ones that used to be here .

Mourilyan to Cape Hinchinbrook

Again the next morning dawned drizzly, but with wind from the right direction. Approaching Dunk Island, the wind was in the right quarter to set the MPS, ahead of us the black wall of an approaching front precluded that idea, and  it  soon bucketed down again, before clearing into a rather stunning , but ultimately windless afternoon, which left us motoring into the Hinchinbrook Channel.

At the top of the Hinchinbrook Channel.

I suspect that it's not only a soft drink in that glass.
Lookout duties? ,Hmmm?

Awakening to more low cloud, which actually made Hinchinbrook look stunningly akin to somewhere in the Scottish Highlands , as its towering height disappeared into the clouds, as did the Cardwell Range on the mainland. We motored through the Hinchinbrook Channel, on a rising  tide so no chance to see the 'mud lizards' on the banks at low tide.Mind you it wasn't overly sunny ,so even at low water it is unlikely there would ave been many crocodiles sunning themselves.
I must return to this neck of the woods, and explore.

pot of gold?

a different view of Hinchinbrook Island

rainbow from port to starboard

Beautiful

Passage through the Hinchinbrook Channel

Scale: Jo at 1m distance ,Fw Buoy at 100m perhaps- it's still a toy FW By!

We motored out past the Lucinda Bulk Sugar wharf, which at close to 6km in length is the longest in the Southern Hemisphere, and which I have driven many times to and from the vessels I piloted at Lucinda.We cleared the Lucinda  Fairway Buoy, goodness knows how small it must look from a ship these days, as the current buoy  looks pretty small from a yacht at close range, and had a really great sail across to Pioneer Bay at Orpheus Island