25th June Roslyn Bay to Port Clinton 44nm.

It was another early morning start departing the marina at 7.15am and heading out on quite a brisk morning. Not much wind but what there was, was very chilly. We had to motor sail all the way. Our original intention was to anchor in Pearl Bay but the swell was from the east and it would be a very rolly anchorage.

We arrived at Port Clinton at 2pm and ate the remains of the bugs and prawns for lunch. It was a feast so an afternoon nap was needed.

The anchorage is very calm with a strong tidal flow.  It was another beautiful sunset but no sundowners with it. We were saving ourselves for a glass of wine with dinner as we indulged a bit too much last night.

 

Sunset at Port Clinton

23rd June Great Kepple Island to Great Keppel Marina, Roslyn Bay – Yeppoon 10nm

I woke at 6am and heard the noise of outboard engines going past the yacht so I got up and jumped in the dinghy to go pull the crab trap. I did not want anyone stealing again. Up the creek at first light is not a good idea with the midgies and sand flies in full flight and taking an instant liking to me. I got the trap up quickly and sped back to the boat empty handed. Can’t blame anyone for no crabs this time!!

It was moving day so after a quick breakfast we hoisted the dinghy and made for Roslyn Bay where we will stay for two nights to do the washing, re provision and attend the CC2013 Rendezvous on Monday night.

The marina now claims to be the biggest on the East Coast as they have added new marina berths. However it is still silted up. You have to go in on the high tide and once in your allocated berth you still sink into the silt. The depth sounder showed 1.8m under the keel yet the tide had another 2.3m to fall!! That meant we were going into the silt by .5m. Everyone does it so no big drama.

24^th  June

We had the marina courtesy car booked for 10am to 12 noon so we could re provision. Steve and Maureen from Boomeroo had the car booked from 12 to 2. We did the grocery shopping in the first 2 hours and then the drinks and hardware and tackle shops in the second 2 hours. It is a great service having the courtesy car.

The rendezvous was held on the lawn in front of the restaurant. The restaurant provided a complementary drink and put on a plate of cooked seafood. Garlic prawns, squid and crumbed fish pieces. It was a great snack and we did not need to eat any more. However our leader of the Coral Coast cruise Ron Starkey had organized a seafood feast for after – not knowing how much food the restaurant was going to put on. We had all chipped in for the seafood so we went back to Bogart and everyone got a pack to take back to their boat. Steve and Maureen came back to Billabong so we ate bugs and prawns until we were full. There was enough left over for another feed tomorrow.

Pancake Creek to Great Keppel Island 20thJune 72nm

Another early morning departure! This time the tides lined up for us as you can only enter and depart the creek on the high tide. We were able to come into the creek on the high tide when we sailed from Lady Musgrave and now we are exiting on the high tide at first light.  It is a bit tricky entering and departing this anchorage.

We had reasonable winds to push us along but also had to use the motor to maintain a critical 7 knots to get to Great Keppel Island before sun down. The further we went north the more the wind died until eventually at around 3 o’clock we pulled all sails down and the sea became glassy. We towed the lines as far as we could before hitting the green zone marine parks and had to pull the lines in. We managed one tuna for sashimi for dinner.

We arrived at 4.30pm just in time to shoot up a little creek off Leakes beach and put a crab trap out with a tuna that Bogart caught and decided they had no use for it.

Drinks were on Boomeroo and it was another dinner of fish and salad and an early night. The anchorage was a little rollie but when the tide turned it was more bearable. It was surprising to find the swell here when the wind has been coming from the south for at least a week now.

21^st June

Had a nice sleep in but it is a cold and grey day with a hint of rain. After a cup of tea and breakfast I ducked into the creek and pulled the crab trap. Yes a nice big mud crab that will be nice for lunch.

 Mudcrab are very nice eating fresh

The rest of the day will be spent resting and perhaps an afternoon walk on the island.

We did go for a walk. The skies were very grey and the temperature was lucky to be 18 degrees. No rain which made walking conditions very good. We walked along the beach to the only shop on the island to have a coffee, which was not great. While there a couple of Kookaburras flew into the bar to demand some food. They looked like they were wanting a Bundaberg Rum.

"I'll have a Bundy and coke please"

We had a coffee at the shop and bought a walking map for $2 and set off up to the lookout and back down the beach. All up it was 2 hours which was better than staying on the yacht for the whole day. Lets hope tomorrow the sun shines.
We had drinks and dinner on Boomeroo.

22^nd June
It was a calm night and at first light all the clouds had disappeared and the sun rose.  I had breakfast and raced into the creek in the dinghy to find that someone had raided my crab trap yet again. Not happy. It was upside down with the trap opened. Cannot believe the rotten scoundrels would do it. But it is the weekend and the locals have come for the weekend.

It was a wonderful sunny day and so good after yesterday. Had breakfast a swim and lunch and then set off for a big walk around the island. We walked to Mt Wyndham which is the highest peak at 174 meters above sea level. The track was not easy to follow and at times we were wondering if we went the right way. Often referring to the map which is very basic but in the end we were on the right track.  The island had sheep grazing from the early 1920’s to around 1945 with the original homestead still standing. It is heritage listed but not maintained.

  Great Kepple Homestead built in 1922-24

The Leake family ran the sheep hence Leakes beach was named after them. There are no sign of sheep now but many wild goats. Not sure if the goats are farmed although some appeared in paddocks where the fences were falling down. We made it to the top along a track that was not greatly visible at times and made it to the top. The view was amazing and without a cloud in the sky it was great picture taking weather. 

 

Looking southeast from the top.

 Long Beach - Great Keppel Island

We trekked along the ridge to two more lookouts and then back down to the beach where the yachts were moored and had another swim.   

 Looking North to Leakes Beach where the yachts are anchored

The water temperature is dropping quite rapidly which is not great for catching pelagic fish. Hope it warms up along the way north.

It was our turn to cook dinner and we had a lamb stew with Maureen and Steve joining us.

Lady Musgrave to Pancake Creek 18thJune 40nm

Today is our grandson Ollie's birthday. He is two years old and was born in Sydney while we were anchored in Pancake Creek two years ago. Time flies and he is growing so fast. I miss him and will look forward to spending some time with him when I return in July. Mainly playing trains and cars. Funny that. The only difference between men and boys is the price of their toys!!!

 

Ollie enjoying his second birthday!!

 

We had intended to stay at Lady Musgrave another day but the wind strength was higher than the forecast of 15 knots. It was gusting to 20knots so the decision was made early in the morning to leave. That was disappointing as I know the wind would die in the afternoon and increase again in the evening. This time the forecast was for 20 knots tomorrow morning so if it was higher than that it would be a miserable night. We could have had another great day but we would have had a very bad night.

Decision made, we raised the anchor and departed the lagoon at 9.30am.

It was a good sail in a south wind into Pancake Creek. The closer to the coast we went the more the wind died and we eventually had to motor in. Sadly there were no fish caught on the way in. Not that it mattered we still had the reef fish for dinner.

Pancake Creek is a very calm anchorage in most conditions and tonight was no exception.

5 o’clock drinks were on Billabong and it was another early night.

19^th June

We had an amazing sleep in. We woke at 8.30am which is the latest I have slept for the entire trip. We must have been tired and the fact that Pancake Creek is such a wonderful anchorage. The sun was shining and not a ripple on the water. Billabong was completely still and silent.

After breakfast Graham and I went fishing. There is a good reef along the entrance to Panacake Creek and we caught 3 good reef fish. That’s dinner sorted.

At 12.30 I took the portable BBQ to the beach and Boomooroo and Whimaway joined us for a sausage sizzle lunch.

 Crew of Billabong, Whimaway and Boomeroo at the sausage sizzle

At 2pm the crew of Bogart came to the beach and we all set off to climb the hill to Bustard Head lighthouse.

 View of Aircraft Beach - Bustard Head Bay

It is 2.6km to the lighthouse so we got a good workout.

The crew of Billabong Whimaway and Bogart at Bustard Head Lighthouse

We were back onboard by 5pm for a shower and pre dinner drinks. Maureen and Steve off Boomeroo joined us for dinner. It was not a late night as we are setting off at 6am for Great Keppel Island.

Bundaberg to Lady Musgrave 16th June 56nm

 5am the alarm went off and it was quick out of bed in the cold, very cold morning. Bundaberg is having unseasonal low temps at this time of the year. Where is the global warming!!! Just enough time to attend to ablutions and drop the marina key in the box. We departed at 5.30am and it was a very chilly wind that took us out of the channel and a left turn north to Lady Musgrave. The fishing lines went out early hoping to get a mackerel that often feed early morning. No luck.

Good luck was yet to come. We managed a beautiful yellow fin tuna on the way into Lady Musgrave. It was very good to get this on board as I had lost a lure to a big fish. Bogart reported in they also landed a yellow fin. The fleet will eat well.

 Prize catch - Yellow Fin Tuna

We arrived at Lady Musgrave and entered the narrow channel into the lagoon just before high tide.

It is such a magnificent place to go in light winds. They say anything over 15 knots is unpleasant. Here we are in less than 10 knots and what a great picture it is. We ate mud crab and salad for lunch and had a swim. Water temp 21 degrees - heaven.

Time to fillet the tuna. Ian and Rob and Donna off Bogart brought their fish over for filleting and weighing. They were bragging theirs was bigger than ours. So the weigh off began. Theirs weighed 4.5kgs. Ours 5.8kgs. They were still sitting in the dinghy when I put my fish back in the water still attached to the towing line. We spotted a huge potato cod circling around the back of the yacht.

An extraordinary thing happened next.

The cod came up between the dinghy that Ian, Rob and Donna were sitting in and the back of Billabong and took the whole head of the tuna off. It was a very neat beheading as it left all the flesh that I could still fillet. Simply unbelievable, we were all stunned in amazement.

 Remains of the Tuna after the very large Potato Cod had devoured the head

Both fish were filleted and the scraps were fed to the big potato cod that stayed for awhile. We have no idea where it came from. It either followed us in from the outer reef or it has set up residency inside the lagoon.

It was great entertainment and loads to talk about for years to come.

Drinks on Bogart and what a magnificent sunset.

This place is magical in the right conditions and we were experiencing that right now. Yellow fin tuna cooked rare for dinner and it does not get any better than that. The night was equally good with very light winds and a gentle rocking that gave us a really deep sleep.

17^th June

The next day we swam, snorkelled and went fishing on the outside of the reef with Bogart crew in their dinghy and Graham and I in ours for safety.

We caught 3 really nice fish including a Sweetlip Emporer which Graham caught. These fish are very nice eating and rate up near the top of the scale.

More drinks on Whimaway with another great sunset as a back drop.

Surprisingly we ate another meal of tuna and kept the reef fish for tomorrow night’s meal. Not surprising was, we were in bed before 9pm after another exhausting day in paradise.

 Another great sunset

Urangun to Bundaberg 13th June 48nm

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Peter shouted a nice meal at the Urangun Boat Club and it was an early night. The plan was to set off at 8am and get into Bundaberg at a reasonable hour around 5pm. We were ready to depart at 8am but a massive downpour delayed us and we finally departed at 9am. The wind was light and we had to motor sail the whole way. No fish either so it was quite a boring day. We were on the radio to another RPAYC yacht Bogart who had stayed the night at Rooney Point. They caught 2 Big eye tuna on the way to Bundaberg. They let one go and filleted the other and gave me the flesh for the crab traps.

We arrived at 4pm into Bundaberg and I set the crab pot with the tuna.

14^th June

I woke at 6am and pulled the crab pot. I was very surprised to find 4 mud crabs in the pot.

That will make a great dinner tonight.

I hired a car from the Marina office and headed out to pick Graham up who flew in from Perth to join the crew. Peter is leaving us today. I will miss the great fruit cereal breakfasts that Peter painstakingly took 30 minutes a day preparing. These were resort quality cereal, fruit and yoghurt  breakfasts that set us up for the day.

A quick trip to the supermarket for more provisioning and the day was done.

We had a great dinner that night with Steve and Maureen off Boomaroo with a mud crab each and a generous helping of salad.

15^th June

After breakfast we headed off into Bundaberg for a tour of the Bundaberg Rum factory. That was a great hour with samples at the end of the tour. Very informative and I learned a lot about my favorite drink.  I purchased a bottle of their coffee liqueur rum which will go well with my favorite food – ice cream.

 The worlds largest bottle of rum - Neil Maureen and Steve

Another trip to the supermarket for last minute supplies and it was back to the marina to prepare the yacht for departure tomorrow to Lady Musgrave.

The RPAYC Coral Coast Bundaberg rendezvous was held at the marina restaurant with 5 yachts and 10 crew attending.  A great evening but everyone retired early as it is a 5am departure tomorrow morning.

Pulled the crab trap, and guess what - another muddy. Cooked that quickly and placed him in the fridge for lunch on arrival at Lady Musgrave.