MARBLE ISLAND TGO CURLEW ISLAND

Second leg of our journey to Mackay was from Marble Island to Curlew Island. As the winds had been consistently blowing from the south the swell was starting to get a bit bigger which made the sailing not as pleasant. However the consistent 15-18 knot breeze made for some good reaching at 8 knots.

We had a small drama as we were approaching Curlew Island, the jib was pushing against the halyard for the reacher, and with no warning the big head sail unfurled, not something you want to happen in 18-20 knot winds. To make matters worse the sail got wrapped around the jib so it was impossible to re-furl the sail. A few anxious moments with David on the fordeck pulling down the reacher and tying it on to the lifelines to allow us to head in Curlew Island. Luckily no damage.

 

The sail north from Shoalwater had been in company with two other boats from RPAYC. The good winds and early start meant we arrived at Curlew Island mid afternoon. The women decided to rise to the challenge of "wipping up afternoon tea". As usual they excelled in the challenge.



Even better the afternoon tea continued on to sundowners

Our second toilet challenge of the trip, the toilet in the main bathroom refused to flush. So the evening was spent pulling apart the motor to try and identify the problem. The joker valve was encrusted with build up so this was suspected to be the issue. Plan was to use the other toilets and get a replacement part in Mackay. Note no pictures of the issue are posted to keep the G rating for this blog.

We had a secure anchorage but as the wind picked up it was a restless night so we made an early start to sail up to Mackay

We had to be out of the Shoalwater area by 23:00 hours on the 22nd of June as the military were closing the area for live firing exercises and the weather later on in the week was not looking good.

Rather that complete the 109 nautical mile journey to Mackay in one very long day we decided to break it into three legs.

We departed Island Head Creek at 7:30 am and had a great sail up to Hunter Island.

 

 

Our plan was to anchor on the north western side of the island as it was recommended as a good anchorage. But after dropping anchor we realised that it was going to be a very unpleasant night with the wind and the swell so we raised our anchor and went around to the north side of Marble Island which was a much more comfortable anchorage.

Marble Islands is part of the Duke Islands group which is a cattle and deer farm so you can only walk along the beach. The sign made it very clear "Trespassing and Shooting not allowed". Note the deer bones to re-inforce the message.

The tides in this area are significant (more than 2 metres) so by the time we had gone for a walk along the beach the dinghy's were high and dry. Luckily we had some friends on hand to carry the dinghy back to the water.

 

 

After a couple of long sails we headed around the corner to Island Head Creek. The creek is a great sheltered anchorage the only issue being the sand flies.

We were originally going to anchor in one of the off-shoots of the creek but then realised that at low tide the following morning we would not be able to get out to the main channel as the tide range was more than 3 metres.

Anchored in the main part of the creek and had a relaxing day on the boat.

We had been warned about the sand flies on Fraser Island but had been lucky enough to not encounter any. The same could not be said for Island Head Creek, despite lighting mosquito coils we woke up in the morning to find the boat covered in little black dots. Luckily the washdown pump I had installed did a great job to remove all the dead bodies.

Left Keppel Island to head north towards Mackay.

First we sailed across Keppel Bay to Keppel Bay Marina at Rosslyn Bay to get fuel for our trip north.
Actually you go to the Fishing Wharf and get your fuel there. As the fuel bowser is for re-fuelling fishing trawlers the high flow diesel filling does not take long.
 
We had a great sail across doing 7-8 knots with a 16 knot breeze.

 

We were advised to sail past Port Clinton and head straight for Pearl Bay. On the chart it looks like just another bay but when you pass through the gap between the mainland and the small islands at the entrance you encounter the most wonderful calm anchorage. Well worth the stop.

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