By Fi
After a few days hiding from the wind in Rosslyn Bay, we made the short trip back to Great Keppel. As we were sailing the final 30 minutes towards the anchorage our friends on their large new motor boat rounded the point and had dropped their anchor before we even got our sails down (they left about an hour and a half after us – such a fast boat). We were back to the blue! Quick setup of the dingy and we were having fun runs on the beach with the dog, and a fantastic bush walk.
The bush walk is dedicated to a marine who lost his life at only 23 years of age in Afghanistan. It is maintained by his family and friends, and we followed the path up the hill enjoying beautiful vistas, seeing echidnas, lizards and snakes. Rounding the side of the hill, we were amazed to enter a grove filled with thousands of blue butterflies. It was like being in a dream with these beautiful creatures flying all around us. They are hard to photograph but I did manage this little pic (bottom left).
Once we reached the top, we could see over to the other side of the island, and made our way back towards the anchorage, ending up completing a loop up one side of the hill then down and across past another beach to the north of our anchorage. It was about here we saw a goat.
We were just as surprised as it was! It just stopped still and stared at us as we passed. Happily the dog didn’t notice (he was, of course, on lead).
After such a nice afternoon, we quickly caught up with our friends who invited us out for a day on their motorboat the next day. “YES!” we said!!!
The next day we were picked up and ferried over to our friends Riveria 505. Dingy stowed, engines on and we were off doing 25 knots for a loop around the island. This boat is so powerful and the wake was absolutely massive! I waved goodbye to little Addictive as we rounded the corner of the bay.
A very short while later, we pulled into the anchorage on the southern side of Keppel, at a small island called “Humpy Island”. Here we had some lunch, and decided to pop out in the dingy and go for some snorkelling. Bernie was a good boy and stayed put in the dingy waiting patiently for us to finish. The fish were abundant and colourful and the water was cool but fine. We stayed in the shallows as there had been multiple sightings of a bull shark and none of us wanted to tempt fate, although given it was the middle of the day on a bright sunny day, I’m sure there would have been no issue with a shark confusing us for big fish or seals.
After a lovely hot shower on the transom, we headed off back to the anchorage and our little Addictive (here you can see Addictive in the middle). We hosted our friends for some sundowners and roast coconut, and planned the next days travel. We were wanting to catch some wind north to get to a sheltered anchorage at the start of the Whitsundays, as some pretty strong winds were due to hit in about 5 days.
The next day we were up early to pack up and turn our little house back into a sailing boat. We upped anchor and headed out of the anchorage at Keppel, first stop Island Head Creek. After around 8 hours of motor sailing (we had no luck finding the forecasted wind), we arrived at the creek head just after low tide. We soon discovered that this was likely the worst time to be entering the creek as the tide and swell and wind were all competing as to which could throw us around more. Once we realised how rough it was, we were already committed to entering the creek and had to push through. We know that in these types of situations, turning around is more dangerous than committing to entering. It was like being in a washing machine. However as with most things like this, the boat handled it okay, and the excitement passed. We navigated slowly through the sometimes very shallow creek to get to the anchorage. Dinner and bed! We were to be off again early the next day.
After coffees the next morning, we upped anchor again. I hope we get to come back to this cool creek as there is supposedly good fishing and crabbing, but “north” was calling in this instance. We headed out the much calmer heads (high tide this time), and turned north tracking towards “The Dukes”. The Dukes are another little group of islands that are supposedly gorgeous, however we didn’t make it there…
Again, the wind didn’t fill in as forecast, so we were motor sailing north. We noticed that the seas were picking up and picking up and we remembered that a lot of our new sailing friends had said to us “watch out for the tides after Great Keppel and up to the Dukes” – oh… Apparently we had discovered the infamous tidal area off the coast of Shoalwater Bay, and we (of course) had picked the perfect moment for wind against tide. So for 3 hours we battled through some really bumpy and rolly conditions, all the while realising that the tide was pushing us away from our destination and out to sea.
We’ve learned throughout this journey not to be too hung up on plans. They can change very quickly and in this instance, I grabbed the cruising guides and looked for an alternative place for us to spend the night given we were not going to make it to the Dukes before bed time. Hexam Island! It was further out to sea than the Dukes, which was ideal as that is the way the tide was pushing us, and we would actually get there 2 hours sooner which would mean we could anchor while it was still light. Perfect. So a few hours later the seas calmed a little more, and we rounded Hexam Island to anchor on the north side, sheltered from the south east wind. Little bit rolly, but a gorgeous anchorage and we got some sleep.
But exploring the island wasn’t in our future, as we still wanted to go north – the blow was still coming! The next morning, it was coffees and what was turning into my morning exercise routine – pulling up the anchor (you may or may not be aware that we don’t have an anchor winch, its my job to pull up the 30m of chain and the oversized anchor), and we were off for a reasonably uneventful passage up to the “Percy Islands”. Oh no wait, I lie, I caught a FISH!! IT WAS A BIG ONE! YAY!
After 3 big days of sailing, we dropped anchor at Middle Percy Island, I processed the fish (it is an Albacore), we enjoyed some fresh sushi and sashimi and had an early night, keen to explore the next day.
A paradise to rival that of Great Keppel, Middle Percy Island is home to a national park and a conservation area, taken care of by a couple who are appointed to live there and look after everything. There is a large A frame structure where visiting boats traditionally hang up their boat names as signs, and where you can cook and eat and use the large fire to BBQ. Here you can see some of those boats who have gone before us. Its such a great social place to meet people and share stories.
We spent the morning on the beach. I got a swim, Bernie did his usual trick of finding the only bit of food on the whole beach and eating sand, and Adrian chatted to the other yachties who were chillin in the A frame about their plans and the weather (mindful that the blow was coming in the next few days). We husked some coconuts, and went exploring in the creek behind the beach. We threw the fishing line is as there was a tonne of garfish around (none near my line…) and also tried our luck at getting some crabs (no luck). It was all so idyllic.
That evening, we headed back to the A frame to meet all the other boats in the anchorage. Its so great to put peoples faces and names to the boats we are often seeing around. I’m glad we took the opportunity to meet some more people that evening, as we had agreed to leave the next day and so wouldn’t have had another opportunity (plus we put up our sign). The blow was still coming, and we needed to get to a more protected place. So after a gorgeous day, and then a lovely evening chatting with people, we headed back home, packed up the boat, fell into bed and set our alarms for 04:00. We had a BIG trip to do the next day up to the start of the Whitsundays, aiming for Scawfell Island which has a good protected anchorage. More on that trip to come!
