29th June Curlew Island to Mackay 46nm

 Curlew Island - very picturesque

Waking with a seedy head is not good when the swell is rocking and rolling the yacht. The wind was reasonably strong so we would have a good sail into Mackay. We weighed anchor at 9am and with a good wind we poled the head sail out and with a full main we were making good headway. However with tide turning we had current on the nose at times up to 1.5 knots. While we were sailing at speeds through the water at 7 knots we were lucky to make 6 knots over the ground. Again we had to put the diesel on to get our average speed up over 7 knots to make the marina before 4.30pm when the marina office closed.

I had the fishing lines out not expecting to get anything as the water temp is quite cool – about 20 degrees – and bingo a nice spotted mackerel. We had enough food in the freezer for the next 2 days and I thought for just a moment about letting it go. Would I prefer fish over sausages or chicken? The fish one and it was slaughtered. We had enough fish to feed the crew of Billabong and Boomeroo twice over.

 Spotted Mackerel

We arrived at Mackay at 4pm after passing all the anchored empty coal ships waiting their turn to go to the coal loader.

We took possession of the marina key and promptly had a most enjoyable hot shower and cooked a up a great feed of fish and shared it with Steve and Maureen on Boomeroo.

30^th June  Mackay Marina

Billabong will have to stay at Mackay for 4 weeks while I travel south to be with Tamara for her operation. Tamara has been visiting her elderly mother in Russia who was not expected to live much longer but she managed to see Tamara off back to Australia.

We spent the day cleaning and tidying up the yacht.

I fly out on 1^st July with crew member Graham.  If all goes well with Tamara’s operation I will be back on 28^th July to resume the journey north on Billabong. Stay tuned in 4 weeks !!

28th June Hunter Island to Curlew Island 32nm

The yachts are not in the picture as we have to anchor a long way out because it is shallow. I woke in the morning and saw a coral head about 5 meters from the yacht. We were very lucky not to hit that during the night. The tide kept us away from it but if the wind came from the other direction it could have been a different story. When we arrived the previous day it was high tide and the tide rises and falls up to 5 meters. In the morning it was low tide. I must remember the location of the coral head for future reference. At first light I did a bit of fishing but the tide was too strong however when it became slack water we caught a nice spangled emperor for lunch. Actually Graham pulled it in.

At 9am it was time to make a move to head to Curlew Island. The tide was on its way in and this was supposed to give us a push north and an easy run for the 32nm required distance. The wind was blowing 10 to 12 knots and it was in the right direction to fly the spinnaker. We launched the spinnaker and it gave us good speed however the tide was taking us sideways back into the coast. By 1pm the wind died and we had to drop the spinnaker and motor sail the rest of the way.

 Billabong sailing with spinnaker - photo courtesy of crew of Boomeroo

Spinnaker poled out.

We learnt something about the tide. Mackay has the biggest range of tides on the East Coast. The saying goes - south of Mackay the tide floods north and ebbs south and north of Mackay the tide floods south and ebbs north. That is not quite true. It happens south of Mackay at the latitude between Hunter Island and Curlew Island.

The tide gave us no forward movement – just pushed us sideways. It was great to get the spinnaker up. I bought it many years ago and have only flown it 6 times. So far that’s $700 a time!!! Certainly has not saved me that much in fuel so would have to rethink my decision to get one again in future if I have my time over again.

We arrived into Curlew Island at 3.30pm and had a swim. There was another Bavaria and a cruising yacht anchored. That made 3 out of 4 yachts Bavaria’s. Goes to show they are well sought after as cruising yachts.

This was to be our last night at sea for a while as we will be going into Mackay tomorrow. This was cause for celebration. Unfortunately it was a bit too much indulgence and I woke feeling a bit worse for wear.

27th June Island Head Creek to Hunter Island 42nm

Waking up to the sound of thundering surf was a little disconcerting. I wondered if the swell had increased overnight. Island Head Creek is a very safe anchorage however where you anchor is quite close as the crow flies to the coast so you can hear the waves crashing.

We left Island Head Creek on the rising tide at 9am and when we arrived at the mouth of the creek there was very little swell. Of course I was surprised at the extent to the sound of the waves when we woke.

We had a beautiful motor sail along the coast to our destination of Hunter Island in full sun. We had the tide with us and we were assisted with up to 2 knots at times. With a light southerly blowing we had both sails up, motor sailing on a reach, and at times we were doing 9 plus knots across the ground. With the sun shining it was tee shirt and shorts weather and probably the warmest day of the trip. The water temperature was a bit cools so I did not expect to catch any fish – and I was right. With the tide assisting we made good time and arrived at Hunter Island just after 2.30pm.

Graham went to shore with the crew of Whimaway and took this great shot of Hunter Island beach where we anchored. The yachts are not in the picture as we have to anchor a long way out because it is shallow close to the beach and we have 5 meter tides here.

 Hunter Island Anchorage

26th June Port Clinton to Pearl Bay to Island Head Creek 24nm

We woke to an avalanche of sand flies. Bogart who was travelling in company with us had already left the anchorage at 6.30am. The whole yacht was covered in sand flies and they were buzzing everywhere. We had to cover up and had a hurried breakfast and weighed anchor and headed for Pearl Bay. The sand flies clung to the yacht. The wind was quite chilly and when we arrived at Pearl Bay, there were 4 yachts anchored. None seem to be rolling in the swell and it looks like we could have stayed there. We dropped anchor to have morning tea and take in the beautiful vista. We stayed and hour while the sun warmed us in the lee of the hills but we wanted to see Island Head Creek so we pushed on and arrived there after 1.30pm. Island Head Creek is a beautiful anchorage with a back drop of high hills but during the afternoon the cloud cover came back and it was chilly again and then around 4pm the sand flies came in droves. We had the citronella candles and the mosquito coils burning and that seemed to keep them at bay. Maureen and Steve from Boomeroo came over for 5 o’clock drinks and a roast lamb dinner. They were covered in sandflies on their yacht and they were not burning coils. I am now convinced they do work. The sky was cloudy and a drab grey and I did not expect a sunset. Then in a moment the sky lit up with a pink/red glow like a huge fire was lit and in minutes it was gone. But that made the drinks enjoyable.

 An amazing sunset in Island Head Creek with Boomeroo in the picture.

We had a great roast lamb dinner and an early night. We get lots of sleep after drinks and dinner! This has to be good for the soul.