Left early (7:45) from Hummocky Island after a rolling night under the lee of the island across Keppel Bay, destination Great Keppel Island. Now we are really in the tropics

Sunrise at Hummocky (yes ABS)

We had a good S to SW wind at 15 knots so with the main sail and big reacher up we were sailing along at 7 knots on calm seas. You cannot get much better.

Now anchored on the northern side of Great Keppel in 5m of water but it is so clear you can see the bottom.

 

For those of you who do not know Great Keppel Island resort was a place we all grew up hearing about "I got wrecked on Keppel" was their catch phrase. The resort was severely damaged by cyclones and has been closed since 2008.

Not too early a start but still were able to get away by 7:45am. Did not realise how nice Pancake Creek was until we got up this morning and saw it in the early light. We chose to anchor at the second anchorage up the creek instead of at the mouth which made it a very pleasant night.

Had a great sail up past Galdstone and half way up Curtis Island with 10-15knots south westerly pushing us along on a flat sea.

You just have to be careful avoiding some rather large ships waiting to go into Gladstone. There are 15 of them anchored of Gladstone and at 230+ metres long you cannot mess with them.


Unfortunately the wind has now dropped and had to break out the iron sail again.

We were sorry to leave Lady Musgrave after two wonderful days but the weather was looking good to cross back to the mainland, destination Pancake Creek.

The weather was so benign that we motor sailed the whole way with flat seas and winds mostly around 5 knots from the NE.

Conditions were so good we were working from our new home office

Anchored in Pancake Creek ready to head north tomorrow

Swimming with the Turtles, Fish AND Sharks

We certainly are in paradise. Once the tide drops and the water stops coming over the reef, the cay at Lady Musgrave turns into an absolute millpond (at least while we were there).

We used the dinghy to go over to the reef where we found a pool with great coral, all the fish out of Finding Nemo, turtles and a reef shark. Sonia was the first to encounter the shark and she immediately found a piece of dead coral to stand on whilst she called for me. When I eventually surfaced from my snorkelling across the other side of the lagoon she ordered me back into the dinghy with the words "shark, there is a shark".

We spent a magic time watching the turtles swimming around and sunbaking. You hardly need to snorkel as the water is so clear you can see the bottom.

Sonia was even brave enough to go up the mast in the bosun's chair to take some panoramic photos of the lagoon and reef.

BUNDABERG TO LADY MUSGRAVE

An early start (up at 3:30am) for a 4:00am departure from the marina to ensure we made it out to Lady Musgrave in good conditions (most importantly in good light) so you can see the "bommies" which are submerged coral outposts.

The conditions were absolutely perfect for a motor out to Lady Musgrave with an absolutely flat sea

We set a course straight for the island and were there by 12:00 which was just before low tide which was a perfect time to go through the small entrance. As we were approaching the island we saw a lot of masts sticking up which we realised were inside the reef. We were starting to worry that there would be no room and we would have to turn around and motor back for another 8 hours. Should not have worried, the space inside the reef is 1.6 nautical miles long and 0.5 nm wide, enough for a lot of boats.

The entrance looks extremely narrow but we successfully navigated through the gap and dropped anchor in 5m of water. The water is so clear you can see your anchor and chain on the bottom. Hard to believe you are out in the ocean (so far out there is no mobile phone coverage).

In the afternoon as the tide had come in and covered the reef we went ashore and walked through the Pisonia forest on the island. The island is home to both turtles and migrating birds.
The forest is home to these little birds called Noddys. The only sad thing is that the seeds of the Pistonia tree are very sticky and a number of the birds get trapped in their own nest and then fall to the ground where they decompose to become food for the forest. Conclusion was that the island would not be such a nice place during breeding season.

Evening was spent with an idyllic tropical drink and BBQ

 

 

Official rendezvous day for our Cruise North with dinner planned for the evening.

We had always planned to travel out to Lady Musgrave Island (35 nautical miles off shore) and the weather was looking perfect for the next few days so thursday was spent cleaning the boat, doing some provisioning, and generally getting ready to depart.

The IGA at Burnett Heads will come and pick yo up in his van so the shopping was relatively painless (only problem was by the time that we had come out of the IGA at 3pm the bakery had shut. Clearly they go to bed early in Burnett Heads.

Had the plan to top up the fuel prior to setting off, so just before sunset with the help of some friends took the boat around the to the fuel wharf. Only problem was that there was a motor boat there. No problems, just circle around. After 30 minutes of us circling around and out friends standing on the dock we pull in close. "Only another 300 litres, should only be another 10 minutes".

Another 20 minutes, and he was finally finished and it was now after sunset. Turned out he was on his way to Hamilton Island and had used $3000 of diesel getting from the Gold Coast to Bundaberg.
My $200 was quickly put into the tanks and spare canisters.

Official Hawaiian shirts were adopted for the dinner. Luckily the restaurant at the Bundaberg Port Marina was not rocking so we were not too embarrassed.

Today was the day for our lift out to get the ball valve fitted. Due to the tides we had to be lifted out at 6:30am

Some great views of the marina from the top of the crane lift

Then the fun started, the old broken ball valve was removed and were ready to install the new one. But wait, then the drama starts
Step 1 - remove old valve, all good
Step 2 - prepare new valve
New valve provided by Bavaria is 1 1/2" and old valve is 2"
Already have hole in side of boat and paying by the hour to have the boat on the hardstand
Step 3 - Anxious wait for an hour until the chandlery opens at 8am
Step 4 - Go to shop and find out they have one (and only one in stock)
Step 5 - Give thanks to the sailing gods and hand over money
Step 6 - Replace valve
Step 7 - Lower boat back into water and anxiously check that no water pouring in.

Good news now all fixed.
Suspected reason for failure is electrolysis issue back at RPAYC

 

 

 

 

 

Celebrated successful return to water by visiting the Bundaberg Soft Drink Factory with friends from Alfreds Cruising to get supplies to mix with previously purchased products from Bundaberg Distillery.
Good value at $12 for the tour which includes sampling all 18 varieties of Bundaberg brewed soft drink and 6 bottles to take home.