26th Hazard Bay to Haycock Island – Hinchinbrook Channel 19nm

It was time to leave our beautiful Orpheus Island and head further up the coast to our turn around destination of Dunk Island. We go through the Hinchinbrook Channel which is one of the world’s largest mangrove wilderness areas in the world. It is a haven for mud crabs and crocodiles.

The entry into the channel is not easy and goes past the sugar port of Lucinda at the mouth of the channel. It is very shallow water and for yachts with deep keels it can only be entered on a rising tide. High tide was not until approx 1pm so we left Orpheus at 10.30 for the bar crossing at approx midday. It was only a short run and I put the lines out not expecting to catch any fish as it was during the day and mackerel like to feed early morning or in the evening. It was not long before the first fish was on. I landed that and then the second fish was landed and then the third and then the fourth. It all happened in the space of 30 minutes. 

I guess you could call that a school of mackerel

We now have fish for a week and good carcasses for mud crabs.

The bar crossing at the mouth of the channel was fairly easy and it is a long way in alongside the longest jetty in the southern hemisphere. The sugar terminal is built way out into the sea and stretches 5.6km. It follows the curvature of the earth and dips 1.2m over its length. Two years ago it was battered by Cyclone Yasi and the conveyor belt protection was ripped off in many places by the large waves. It is hard to see anything like this being built in today’s environment with the huge cost of labour. It just would not be economical.

 The sugar loading terminal at Lucinda - Mouth of the Hinchinbrook  Channel

We arrived at Haycock Island just after lunch and had to clean and fillet the fish. I gave two of the fish to Graham on Echo Beach to help their provisioning of fish for the next week. We set off shortly after and set the crab traps for the evening.

My friend Bob “Chalkey” Gray arrived from Cairns in his yacht which is a Bavaria 42. They are on their way to Magnetic Island Race Week. It was fantastic to catch up with him on the water and enjoy an evening of drinks and chats and tall stories from our PNG days which just get better with age.

 Sunset at Haycock Island - Hinchinbrook Channel