Queensland Coast – November 2013
Friday, November 1st – We are about to start our final trip of the year, going south along the Queensland coast from Mackay to Brisbane, but the weather is not cooperating. The prior two days, spent here in Mackay, were sunny with northerlies and would have been ideal for heading south. However, now that we are ready to leave, we are greeted with a very rainy morning and wind from the southeast. We have additional crew onboard, as The First Mate’s childhood friend, Jane Minor, has joined us. This is Jane’s fifth time with us, and she will go as far as Bundaberg. Last year, Jane was on Avante when we cruised down the Queensland coast from Bundaberg to her home in Mooloolaba.
This will be Avante’s third trip along this coast. We made this trip last year going south after we arrived in Australia from New Caledonia. We also cruised through this region last June when we went north to position the boat for the trip to the Louisiades. This means that we will be returning to a lot of familiar anchorages. Our plan is to reach Brisbane by mid-November, and we will leave Avante there while we fly home for the Holidays. Mackay is about 600nm north of Brisbane so we have a lot of distance to cover in the next two weeks.
A break in the weather in the early afternoon gives us the opportunity to get underway, and we take it. Leaving later in the day, we have few options for destinations, but it’s not far to Scawfell Island where we can spend the night in Refuge Bay. It’s mostly cloudy and conditions appear to be improving when we leave Mackay, however, we still get wet on the way when we are caught by rain and wind.
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Our next day’s trip is a long motorboat ride for over 60nm into the wind going to Middle Percy Island. There are 5 other boats at anchor here when we arrive, and we head ashore to the informal Percy Island Yacht Club to socialize.
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With our evening cocktails in hand, it is pleasant sitting in the A-frame looking around us at all the yachting memorabilia and at the boats at anchor in the bay.
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Sunday, November 3rd – With only 25nm to travel today, we have time for a morning hike to the Homestead at the top of the hill on Middle Percy Island.
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Later in the afternoon after we have anchored off Hunter Islands, we have time for another short hike. This is a lovely anchorage, yet we have never seen many other boats here.
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The next day is a real “Nordhaven* Day” on Avante. The sun is shining, seas are calm, the wind gauge is just spinning around in circles, the engine is running, and two grandmothers are knitting in the shade on the rear deck. (*Nordhaven is a motor yacht that The First Mate admires.)
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We reach Island Head Creek in the early afternoon and head ashore for a hike along this long beach. Note how far we have pulled up the dinghy from the water at low tide.
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This is the time of the month that the tidal range is the largest, and low tide is very low today.
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Tuesday, November 5th – After our beautiful clear day yesterday, a front comes through and wind blows 25 – 30 knots from SE. We are well sheltered from the swell, but with all the flat land around, wind from the SE blows right through this anchorage. The tidal current is also very strong, strong enough that it turns the boat sideways to the wind. We stay put on the boat all day because, between the current and the wind, we would never get the dinghy with three people in it back to Avante if our outboard failed.
We leave Island Head Creek on Wednesday morning and continue down the coast, making overnight stops at Pearl Bay and Great Keppel Island before reaching Pancake Creek on Friday afternoon.
Approaching Pancake Creek, we can see the Bustard Head lighthouse on the top of the island. Pancake Creek is a popular anchorage, and we share it with 10 other boats.
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Saturday, November 9th – On a gorgeous sunny day, we go ashore and hike out to the Bustard Head lighthouse. This historic structure dates from 1868 and was the first lighthouse in Queensland. The nearby buildings were where the lighthouse keepers and their families used to live.
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The buildings have been restored, and for a nominal donation, we are able to tour through them and go inside of the lighthouse and climb up to the light at the top where the view across the land is impressive. There are some good exhibits, and we are reminded about what a remote life the lighthouse keepers had.
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Afterwards, we continue our hike down the coast to a small inlet.
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The hike along the rock-strewn shore is interesting with the surf pounding its way in toward land.
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Sunday, November 10th – Lady Musgrave Island is a small island at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef. It is surrounded by a reef and has a large protected lagoon. We sail the 35nm out there and drop the sails just off the reef passage.
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The small passage in the northwest corner of this reef is straight and well marked. Lady Musgrave Island is a popular location, and there are about 15 other boats here as well as a daytime tourist boat. We expect this will be our last tropical anchorage for a while, and we spend two nights here. The water is clear, and we find decent snorkeling on some of the bommies and reef edges.
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One afternoon, we go ashore and hike on the island where the trees are full of nesting Black Noody Terns.
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Silver Gulls are nesting on the ground and keep well-trained eyes on us as we walk past.
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Unfortunately, we are a month too early for the shearwaters which also nest here. They are a most interesting bird, as they dig underground burrows to nest in. One has to be careful not to step off the paths during their nesting season. The most fascinating thing about them is that the adults depart on a several thousand mile migration before the chicks can even fly. The young birds are left to fend for themselves and supposedly learn to fly prior to following the adults’ migration on their own.
Wednesday, November 13th – Yesterday we motorsailed from Lady Musgrave Island over to Bundaberg and tied up in the marina. We have said good bye to Jane Minor who took a taxi to the train station for her return to Mooloolaba, and now, we are off for Brisbane. This time, we will sail outside of Fraser Island because it is quicker to make the offshore passage rather than the inside route which entails several overnight stops. Also, the tides for Great Sandy Straits would not be optimal for Avante’s transit right now, as high tide occurs very late in the afternoon.
Friday, November 15th – After an uneventful trip from Bundaberg, we are tied up at Stephen Everett’s dock in Raby Bay. We had one night offshore as we sailed down the length of Fraser Island, and we reached the Brisbane shipping channel by Thursday afternoon. Last night was spent anchored not far away in Moreton Bay. We entered the Raby Bay canals this morning when we had sufficient tide. Stephen and Salacia had started south right at the end of the Louisiades rally, and they have been home for a while.
We have several days before we fly back to the States for the Holidays, and we spend them cleaning up the boat and arranging some maintenance work. The biggest project is to pull the mast and replace our rod rigging. We have had no issues with our rigging, but it is recommended that rod rigging be replaced after a certain amount of time which we have exceeded. We are heading next to Tasmania then New Zealand and we will cross both the Bass Strait and the Tasman Sea. Each of those waters have a reputation for testing boats and crews. In Brisbane, we have a rigger who did the same work on Salacia not long ago, so he knows what he is doing. Thus, we have decided to get the work done now.
As usual, Stephen is a great host, and we thoroughly enjoy our time with him. Once again, he has found space on a neighbor’s dock, so Avante will spend the Holidays in Raby Bay. We will be returning in January because we are planning to sail south to Tasmania, and the southern hemisphere summer is the best time to do that.