08 - August 2006

Tuesday, 1st August 2006  -  Day 521  -  Rosslyn Bay, Yeppoon to North Keppel Island

My back is very sore this morning...such a pain...literally!  I slowly hobbled my way to the showers and played really hot water on it for a while to try to loosen it up.  Geoff took the bus into Yeppoon to get a few things we didn’t manage to get yesterday in all the rush.  I spent the morning with a heat pad on my back and that, along with voltarin, and it was soon easing up and I was able to function again.  I then got the boat ready to leave and once Geoff was back we headed off at midday for North Keppel Island, which was one and a half hours away.  After we anchored we went ashore and met up with a few other cruisers.  The only names I remember were Greg and Therese from the cat ‘Tropicali’ and that was only because ‘Tropicali’ was for sale when we bought 2AB. 

North Keppel has bush camping, good composting bush toilets, cold bore water showers, Cabbage palms and Mozi’s and sand flies to share round.  I got bitten quite a bit but didn’t itch due to the fact I am still taking that wonder drug B1.  They’re great for any of you people who itch like mad when they get bitten but you have to keep taking them.

Back to 2AB for an easy tea as Geoff had bought a cooked chook whilst in Yeppoon which we had with baked potato and salad.    S23° 03.8  E150° 53.3

Wednesday, 2nd August 2006  -  Day 521  -  North Keppel Island to Pearl Bay

Up at 06:30 and leave at 07:00.  Nice bit of wind to start with but it didn’t last and what there was, was right up our bum so we motored sailed most of the way with a poled out Genoa and the Main gull winged.  We toyed with the idea of putting up the Finnaker (MPS) but, looking at other yachts who had their Spinnakers up, there wasn’t enough wind to keep them filled.  At one point we stopped when the fish finder said lots of fish were underneath but we didn’t catch any and it was very swelly.  Tried to anchor in Pearl Bay near the head but the anchor kept dragging as it was sand over rock, so we had to move out a bit.  Once anchored securely, Geoff went back round to the rocks in the tender to do a spot of fishing.  Whilst he was out a single hander (from Wangi Wangi) came in and offered me some Cobia which he had just caught and there was too much for him and he didn’t have a freezer.  He said it was 5/5 as far as fish goes.  When Geoff came back (he caught one small Red Emperor which was too badly damaged to put back and three small Honeycomb cod which all went back) he went over and came back with a humungous piece of fish.  It was one complete side that we got six fillets from and the flesh looks very white and firm.  They went into the freezer for another day as I had defrosted meat that I had to cook up.   S22° 26.7  E150° 43.9

Thursday, 3rd August 2006  -  Day 522  -  Pearl Bay

We were late getting up, nearly 9am!  After our ablutions and brekky we headed off to shore.  Geoff had a quick dip but said it was still too cold for him.  Our depth sounder has a feature that shows you the temperature of the water and it said 20°C.  Geoff likes it around 25°C.  We had a nice wander up the beach on nice, firm sand.  We caught up with the couple off of the sloop ‘Third Man’ who we had previously met at North Keppel and had a long chat.  Then it was off around one of the nearby little islands in the tender for a tour.  Geoff then took me back to 2AB and he was off to do some more fishing.  I fished from the back of 2AB and there were a lot of Garfish hanging around but I couldn’t catch them.  It was such a beautiful day and I just lazed around in bathers and a sarong (as long as nobody can see me).  Geoff returned just on dusk and he had caught a 60cm Spotted Mackerel (we had him for tea and he was yum) by trolling from the tender.  A first for him. 

After Geoff had prepared the Mackerel, he put the hammock up on the front of the boat and relaxed.  At one point we had a slight side swell coming in and he was rocking madly from side to side.  At one time he thought he might swing out and go...splash...right over the side.

Friday, 4th August 2006  -  Day 523  -   Pearl Bay to Island Head Creek

Woke up at 06:10 to listen to the weather.  It is supposed to be 15/20 but at the moment there is no wind whatsoever so we have decided to head for Island Head Creek which is a short two and a half hours away rather than the nine hour trip to the Percy Islands.  We decided this because there are supposed to be some really strong winds coming through over the next few days and the Percie’s can get quite uncomfortable (albeit not dangerous) in strong trade winds.  Plus, we had never been to Island Head Creek before so it was somewhere new and very secure.  It is another beautiful day, so far and I caught a bit of colour from the sun yesterday.  

We got into Island Head Creek just after low tide and it is quite shallow but, being low tide, you can see where the deeper channels are.  We anchored in the fist creek but some yachts are anchored in the main channel as well.  Once anchored, in went the rods and lots of bites but not catching anything.  Lots of turtles and some dolphins here.  Lots of bites but the line on my reel is getting old and keeps breaking so Geoff replaced it for me.  Since then, zilch! 

Geoff then went over to check out the sand flats at low tide as he has decided to beach 2AB  tomorrow and do a few chores on her underbelly.  He found a good spot and put out a float so we know the exact spot tomorrow morning.  He also put up his hammock..  At the moment it is quite peaceful and pretty here with two other boats (Lee on the 38’ sloop Aphrodite 3 and Dave on the 50’ Motor Sailor Mandalay), plenty of sand flies too.  The sand flies must have been put on this earth for a reason but I can’t think of one.  Just to pester humans, probably.  No internet, TV, phone reception here and no towns.  A very desolate area.  We’re in the Shoalhaven Bay Defence Force Training area so no one lives nearby.  There are only two areas we have to avoid, at present.  One is Rayham Island (2nm radius) that has unexploded ordinance and is closed until Feb 2007 and Triangular Island (3nm radius) where the navy is doing demolition exercises. 

After tea we treated ourselves to a DVD and watched “And Along came Polly”  with Ben Stiller and Jennifer Anniston.  Light and amusing.  S22° 21.9   E150° 38.1

Saturday, 5th August 2006  -  Day 524  -  Island Head Creek

Up at 06:30 and Geoff went over in the tender to check the depths where he had located his buoy.  There was just over one metre with the tide ebbing so it was now or never.  It was now!  We got, hopefully, right over the spot and were soon aground and waited for the tide to go out and leave us high and dry.  Once this happened it was off to work!  We have around 5 hours to get everything done we want but could stay here longer as the low tides are getting lower and the high tides are getting higher as we go towards a full moon and, therefore, a Spring Tide.  Work, work, work and it was all done by the allotted time and with 30 minutes to spare.  In this time we were able to scrub the waterline, antifouled the spots that had flaked, antifouled the propellers with lanolin (after heating them first) repaint some of the blue and purple lines above the water line and repaint the rubbing strip.  We worked hard, especially Geoff, as after the initial scrubbing I was mainly the ‘gopher and go getter’ for Geoff. 

Late lunch and at 15:45 we were, once again, surrounded by water and were just waiting to float again.  At 16:40 we were safely anchored back in the channel and Geoff went off to pick up our stern anchor that he had left with a buoy to show where it was.  He came back ages later as he had been visiting Lee on the sloop next door and to invite him over for sundowners tomorrow. 

Sunday, 6th August 2006  -  Day 525  -  Island Head Creek

Very long sleep in  -  nice.  Once we had got up Geoff changed the impellers on both engine water pumps and I cleaned the back deck up from the mess we had made yesterday.  We then had bacon and eggs but by this time it was midday so it was more like lunch.  I then cooked up some pikelets and Geoff went over to also invite David from Mandalay over for sundowners.   More cleaning up so she looks nice and clean for them.  They both came at 4pm and stayed till 6:30 pm and they were both very interesting to talk to.  After that it was just a light tea for us.

Monday, 7th August 2006  -  Day 526  -  Island Head Creek

The winds are here and supposed to get stronger.  There is a bit of a side swell when we have wind on tide but it doesn’t last too long.  Made a jelly, yoghurt and chicken curry whilst Geoff backed up the laptop.  Plenty of power coming in with this wind.  We have winds of 23 knots at present here in the anchorage.  Later we decided to go in the tender to explore but it was too rough and all that happened was that we got very wet so we came back.  Then it was off to Mandalay for sundowners and look round his lovely boat.  AND very nice it was too!  He had bought it as an unfinished project (basically just a hull) and fitted it out himself.  He ran out of money so cashed in all his superannuation etc to finish it off and he has done it beautifully.  It cost him over $800,000 but the boat is now worth $1,500,000.  He now wants to sell it and buy something that would suit him better around $200,000 and invest the profit to live off of.  Good luck to him.  Geoff found the engine room most impressive.  I think it made him a little green with envy.  (Boy’s toys).

Tuesday, 8th August 2006  -  Day 527  -  Island Head Creek

It was really bad for about four hours last night at the top of the fastest part of the tide against the wind.  The worst yet and quite worrying.  We were getting well over 30 knots of wind in the anchorage and we had to get the tender in as we were worried that it might turn over.  Especially that it now has a new outboard.  For most of that time we were just doing 360’s and when we got to side on to the waves we were really thrown about.  We noticed that Aphrodite was also going round and round and that Mandalay was nowhere to be seen.  We eventually managed to get some sleep when it settled down a bit and when we got up in the morning Dave on Mandalay was seen re-anchoring back in his old spot.  Anyway, at high tide, we decided to move round the corner a bit out of the fetch as there was limited depth there which we could use, being a shallow draft.  Even so, at low tide we went aground so waited until we re-floated and moved out a bit.  Geoff waded through thick mud to move the anchor out a bit and, in the process, strained his back.  So now it’s Voltarin tablets and cream and a heat pad to try and ease him up.  It is quite sheltered here and we are glad we moved.  We will now stay here until the strong winds go by.  All the anchorages from here to McKay are off shore islands and not too great in developed strong trade winds and there are no mainland anchorages to speak of. 

Spoke to Dave on Mandalay and found he had dragged into the main channel last night and then got his anchor caught so stayed out there all night.  So even experienced sailors drag their anchors. Good to know.  He also went aground this afternoon for a couple of hours and he may have dragged again.  What fun!

I then decided to do some fishing and the fish were definitely taking my bait but I couldn’t catch them.  Geoff caught a very small Estuary Cod so he lived to see another day.  Not bored yet but have finished one of my new crossword books.  Geoff went off to bed early, dosed up with a hot water bottle for his back.

Wednesday, 9th August 2006  -  Day 528  -  Island Head Creek

Quiet night, thank goodness.  I got up at 2 am (1.5 hours before low tide) to check on our status and we were still in 3.8 metres of water so all was well.  Later I took Geoff a cuppa and he thinks his back is manageable this morning.  It is his 60th birthday today so he was able to unwrap his new reel and play with it.  The wind has picked up a bit after a reasonable day yesterday.  After a shower we went ashore to the sand spit that separates this creek from the main bay area.  We went at high tide so we didn’t have to drag the tender too far, what with Geoff’s back being bad.  Unfortunately, it was very soft sand where we came in so was hard walking.  We walked over the sand spit and the main bay area is, what we call, a “Flotsam and Jetsam” beach and Geoff picked up a newish looking stubby holder with a scantily clad young lady on it.  We walked the length of the beach looking at the plastic containers that had washed up with the tide and discussed whether we thought they had been dumped overboard or had blow overboard.  We like to think they must have blown overboard as cruisers, on a whole, are very particular about their rubbish, especially plastic.  When we got back to the tender, an hour later, it was still close to the waters edge due to the fact that the tide doesn’t do much in the last hour, so we didn’t have to drag it far at all.  Thank goodness, as Geoff was grunting and groaning with his back as it was.

 Back to 2AB and Geoff went off trolling with his new reel and I fished from the back of 2AB.  Lots of bites but no takers so I changed my hook to a smaller one and bought in four small striped fish that I put in a bucket of water to identify later.  Never did find them in either of our books so they all lived to see another day.  Geoff didn’t get anything either.

I then spent the rest of the afternoon down in my tiny galley making Geoff a Jaffa Cake, from scratch I might add, for his birthday.  Not easy when you don’t have an electric mixer but it cooked up ok….well ….it looks ok.  I then iced it and bought it up after tea with candles burning.  They were special candles.  No odour (phew), no smoke (cough, cough), no dripping (everywhere) no toxins (who knows).  I believe they were on the boat when we bought it.  If so, Baza and Helen, what are you doing to us?  PS...Later I read the instructions and found the candles weren’t actually candles but little liquid fuel operated candles (they just looked like normal candles) and I had put them in upside down and lit the plastic.  DUH!   Baza and Helen  -  apologies. 

He beat me at Scrabble later and I didn’t let him win.

Thursday, 10th August 2006  -  Day 529  -  Island Head Creek to Hexham Island

We didn’t get up early enough to head to Hunter Island today so we’re off to Hexham Island instead and left at 08:30.  We had the flood tide with us for a couple of hours and then had a 2 knot current against us but the wind was reasonable and we sailed all the way until an hour out of Hexham when we put on the motors to recharge the batteries.  Got into the anchorage and thought we were going to be the only ones here but we have now been joined by the sloop ‘Mishka’.   Rods in and zilch! 

Geoff has gone off fishing in the tender.  I rang Sue on the Telstra Seaphone as we had been out of touch since 2nd August and nobody knows if we are still in the land of the living or not.  Tried to ring Sally but her phone was switched off and I got Martin’s message bank but did ring Sammy who was going to relay a message for us.  It is quite calm in the anchorage at present and hope it stays that way as anchorages in this whole area are swell prone.  It is a pretty little island and the anchorage is tiny...well the whole island is tiny.  It is completely tree covered so I doubt if you would be able to get from one side of the island to the other.  Geoff came back empty handed...what good is that? 

S22° 00.8   E150° 21.8

 Friday, 11th August 2006  -  Day 530  -  Hexham to Hunter Island

Not a bad night.  We left around 08:00 to catch the flood tide.  We are actually going across the trade winds today so we are on a beam reach and she is sailing beautifully with the speed between 6.5—8 knots…..nice.  Got into the anchorage at Hunter Island at 10:10 so it only took us just over 2 hours to complete the passage.  It is reasonably calm here at present but it is a funny anchorage as you have to anchor quite a way out and you are not very protected and you swing with the tide rather than the wind.  Not the sort of place you would probably visit twice. 

After a little fish….zilch again, we went ashore to explore.  It is a private island used for cattle grazing and there is a big sign telling you not to trespass so it was a beach wander only.  It was a very steep sloping beach with soft sand so was hard going.  Met up with a couple from the sloop ‘Night Owl’ and they are on their way to the Hamilton Race Week where he is going to compete.  Had a really long chat with them and will probably catch up with them up the ways a bit.  Back to 2AB and it is a little more bouncy than it was but its not so bad.  Suddenly my phone started beeping and for about 10 minutes I got mobile reception and had eight voice messages that I managed to listen to.  Most of the messages were from Sally asking where we were.  Then the signal was gone so I was unable to reply.  Later I did manage to phone Martin on the seaphone and they had just anchored off Cairns.

S21° 58.6  E150° 08.3

Saturday,  12th August 2006  -  Day  531  -  Hunter Island to Middle Percy Island

A little swelly last night but not too bad.  The wind blew most of the night around 15 knots.  Got the weather and set off around 9am for Middle Percy.  The seas were very lumpy and choppy and we were banging into the swell so it was a bit of a rough ride.  There are quite a few shoals around this whole area which wouldn’t help matters.  But, the sailing was fast.  About two hours into the passage I was looking out the back and suddenly a large Humpback Whale surfaced no less than 30 foot off our port side.  A very close encounter of the “Whale Kind”.  He followed us for a good 15 minutes, keeping up with us and putting on a fine show.  He kept showing us his speckled white belly and for the finale treated us to a breach display.  Of course, the only thing we caught on the camera was the big splash so I have included that photo and you can use your imagination.  He is the first whale we have seen since Ballina in NSW.  He then headed north. 

We heard La’Boheme on the radio and they were heading for Digby Island so we told them to look out for him.  It just shows you…..how often do you get really close to them and don’t even know it.

After this display the seas got much rougher and we had quite a few waves come right over the cabin and sides.  The winds are around the 15/18 knots so no problem there, its just the seas that are bad.  I think it is the fast cross currents and the side swell that is causing all the discomfit.  Its not scary just horribly uncomfortable. 

We got into Middle Percy around 13:00 and there was only one boat in the anchorage but another couple followed us in.  We were surprised that there weren’t many boast here but another two yachts and a large cat came in later.  It was then off to shore to update our shingle and put our donation in the Coast Guard Thirsty Sound donation box.  The donation box had a sign saying that since July 2005 they had raised $595 for the coast guard.  That’s over a year and, personally, we thought that was pretty poor and $25 of that $595 came from us.  When you consider that there are normally at least 10 to 15 boats a day in this anchorage from May through to December, that equates to about 240 days and 2400 boats (based on the 10 a day) so $595 equates to each boat contributing 25 cents per boat per day.  Not good enough I say! 

After looking around the “A Frame” and checking out the new shingles (there’s always something new to look at) we motored into the lagoon to see who was in there.  There was a derelict yacht on its side, two yachts having work done on them and a large cat.  Back to 2AB.  We were just relaxing when we had visitors.  It was Paul and his son, Tyson, from the large cat that had come in asking if we had a pop rivet gun...of course.  He has gone off with it and is going to fix his lazy jack tomorrow which has come away from the spreader.  He will be doing it early as we will be heading off to Digby Island tomorrow and then onto McKay to fill up on water and re-provision. 

Sunday, 13th August 2006  -  Day 532  -  Middle Percy Island

Not a bad night.  Woken at 07:30 by noise from ‘Magical’ who were anchored in front of us and were nearly aground and all crew were in the water pushing her around so they could move to deeper water.  After they had moved Paul and Tyson came back with the pop rivet gun and said the rivets were not the right size and Paul really didn’t want to go back up the mast as it had made him feel quite ill.  Geoff offered to go up the mast with the correct sized rivets and fix the lazy jack for him, an offer Paul accepted with alacrity.  We then both went over to ‘Magical’ for a pancake breakfast which we ate after Geoff had been up the mast and fixed the lazy jack.  So easy to go up their mast, just push a button and up you go.  The joy of electric winches! 

Back to 2AB where Geoff tried to recover  all their photos that had been accidentally deleted from the photo card but no go...they were gone for ever.  Sad. 

After lunch Geoff decided to go off in the tender and do some trolling with his new reel.  He hadn’t been gone half an hour when he came back calling for the ‘fish booze’ as he had landed a humungous fish.  We couldn’t identify it so he went to the power cat (Double Base) next to us and they told him it was a Queenfish and told him how to prepare it.  Geoff then went to ‘Magical’ and showed it off to them.  It was 85cm and much too big to clean on the back deck so off we went to the front with my largest chopping board and knives (Geoff’s good fishing knife had gone over the side a few days ago).  Messy job…..Yuk…. And I said 2AB now looked like a whaling boat. 

Geoff went off in the dinghy, all enthused, and whilst he was away Paul and Anne Marie from Magical came by trolling and had also caught a Queenfish but much smaller.  They said it was the first fish they had caught and were very pleased. 

Towards dusk we headed for the “A Frame” and got the fire for the BBQ going and about 30 minutes later more people arrived.  We cooked 2 fillets of the Queenfish in Cajun seasoning and it was very nice plus we had snags.  We cooked our fish on our little portable cooker top but Paul cooked his on the BBQ plate and his was rubbery.  Hmmm!  We had a good night.  One of the keel boats was on its side at low tide as they had misjudged the tide depths.  They had a draught of 2.7 metres and were a long way inshore from us and we only draw .9 metres.  Its amazing how many cruisers don’t understand the rules of twelfths when it comes to tides.  Its especially important in these areas of high tide ranges.

Monday, 14th August 2006  -  Day 533  -  Middle Percy to Digby Island

Up and have the bacon and eggs we missed out on yesterday due to the fact that we had pancakes on ‘Magical’ instead.  Up anchor at 09:00 for Digby.  On our way out of the anchorage we saw Lee from Aphrodite 3 anchored.  I didn’t realize he had come in yesterday.  Not much wind, probably 6 knots and right up our tail.  So….at 11:00 we put up the MPS (Finnacker) with the Genoa in a gull winged configuration to stop the MPS wrapping around the headsail.  Geoff had to hand steer occasionally as the wind was a touch variable.  An hour later and the MPS is back in as the wind was just too light and we motor sailed for the rest of the way.  The batteries needed charging anyway.  On the way the Whitsunday’s “red slick” (plankton) started appearing once again.  Anchored at Digby around 14:30 and on dusk there are three boats here.  Geoff went of fishing in the tender and actually saw a whale blow quite close by to the tender.  We are starting to see a few more whales again.  I relaxed on the back deck with a good book and my fishing rod in.  Glorious day, glorious sunset and a nice chat to Sally on the seaphone.  S21° 29.6  E149° 54.8

Tuesday, 15th August 2006  -  Day 534  -  Digby Island

A very nice and quiet night and a glorious day, once again.  We read in bed until 10am and then after brekky we had a little shuffle around of where we keep things to try to utilize the space better.  Then it was ashore along with the mobile phones.  A quick, short climb to the top of the hill and “Eureka” 2 bars on the phones.  Grabbed our messages and sent off a few text messages and rang Sally.  They are still in Cairns with strong winds and are even getting about 25 knots on the beach where they are.  The strong winds are with them for the next few days.  Here at Digby we have a slight puff now and again.  They are not having a good trot this year!  Watched another cat come into the anchorage and she has similar lines as 2AB so we thought it was, perhaps, an Elite 11.  Back down the hill in the long grass with just Teva open sandals on our feet so watched out for snakes.  Geoff stopped on the way to look at the many butterflies which we think are Blue Admirals???? 

Quick dip in the wonderful aqua but chilly water (we are well off shore so it’s bound to be cold).  Head back to 2AB but passing the new cat on route and she was indeed an Elite 11 and we were invited onboard for a cuppa.  Her name was ‘Shalimar’ and the owners names were Peter and Sharon.  They are also heading for McKay tomorrow and then the Whitsunday’s so I expect we will see more of them.  Back to 2AB for a very late lunch, hair shampoo and relax..  Geoff  went off fishing and didn’t catch anything but said it was beautiful out there.

Wednesday, 16th August 2006  -  Day 535  -  Digby Island to McKay

Up at 06:15 to get the weather.  Winds SE/NE 10/15 tending SE 15/20 in the afternoon so we are going with the hope of sailing this afternoon but probably motoring or motor sailing this morning.  Looks like another glorious day and we noticed Shalimar is just behind us.  They will probably overtake us as they have two 18 hp diesels up against our two 10 hp diesels.  Yep...they did!  We motored for about three hours and then we put up the Main and Genoa and cut one engine and motor sailed the rest of the way.  More whales but from a distance but, even so, I clearly saw one breach.  Then it was, once again, through the super tanker parking lot and onto McKay.  Berthed on Z arm and logged on and booked in.  Shower, get emails and off to the yacht club for dinner where we ran into Peter and Sharon off of Shalimar.  They had arriv3ed only one hour before us so it wasn’t so bad and they saw whales close up on the way over.  A mother and her calf. 

Note:  We are now in McKay to get a few jobs done before heading to the Whitsunday’s to pick up our best man and his wife who are coming from the UK on their first trip.

Thursday, 17th August 2006  -  Day 536  -  MacKay

Up reasonably early to catch the bus at 08:35 into Canelands Shopping Centre in MacKay.  Suzanne and Elliot from La’Boheme were also catching the bus to do some schoolwork at the library.  They are adding more berths at the marina and they have had the pile driver operating right next to them since they arrived.  Poor Spice is not liking it at all and Suzanne was finding it impossible to do Elliot’s schooling with the noise going on.  As we came into the marina we thought the noise was coming from our engines until we saw what was happening.  It is noise with a capital “N”. 

We got to Canelands around 09:00 am and had brekky at Macca’s and did a heap of shopping (not food).  We had a very long list and only half the items got ticked off.  I bought myself a new CDMA phone and got it transferred over to the capped plan I already have.  It’s a nice little Samsung but doesn’t have half of the extras my Nokia had.  The old Nokia phone keys were starting to stick badly and was driving me nuts, especially when I was ringing the UK or texting.  We caught the bus back at 13:30 with my ears lowered and my feet sore.  We still have to get all the rest of the items on the list plus stores yet!  Then off to the laundry to get all the clothes washed plus a few other jobs.  Wandered up to the yacht club for dinner.  Apart from that, nothing much to report. 

 Friday, 18th August 2006  -  Day 537  -  MacKay

Brekky, shower and, once again, catch the bus at 08:45 to Canelands and to BigW to exchange a faulty item we had bought yesterday.  Then back on the bus to go to the Mt Pleasant Shopping Centre which has the big boys such as Bunnings, Spotlight, Supercheap Auto, Clarke Rubber etc.  Spent heaps at Bunnings, bought a green egg shell overlay from Clark Rubber plus a lot of other odds and ends.  Back on the bus to Canelands and Geoff went to Office Works.  I looked at the bus timetable and realized I had read it wrong and we had missed the bus back to the marina and there wasn’t another for two hours.  Even though we were already shattered we decided to do all the food shopping and grab a taxi back to the marina.  On the way to IGA we decided to treat ourselves to a new digital camera with a really good telephoto zoom.  We used a little of the money that Geoff’s dad had left him. Thanks Dad… hope you are having a good time up there !  Did the shopping and grabbed a taxi back and back to 2AB with everything in two marina trolley thingies.  Put away the perishables and leave the rest for the morning.  Geoff played with the new camera and is very impressed with it.   Nice surprise when we got back as ‘Magical’ is in the berth opposite us and came in at 01:00 this morning.  Found out that we had, once again, missed all the noise from the pole banging barge.

Saturday, 19th August 2006  -  Day 538  -  MacKay

Slept well with the green eggshell overlay and up around 08:30 and strip the beds and grab all the towels plus a few dirty clothes and back up to the laundry.  Whilst I was there I got a nice call from Martin and they are still at the Low Isles and hope to catch up with us on the way back south.  Back to the boat which is an absolute pig sty at the moment with tools strewn everywhere as Geoff had been putting dedicated wiring in for the freezer.  Then there were tools, stores to put away, linen to put away and more chores to do.  Geoff was on the top of the cabin looking at where he was going to put the new internet antenna which had just arrived, but the mail from Sue is still on route.  Whilst the boat was in this complete mess Glen and Elliot arrived from La’Boheme (isn’t that always the case) and we have  been invited for sundowners tonight.  Then Geoff temporarily hoisted the antenna up the mast and it gave us an extra 2—3 bars on the CDMA coverage so he is quite pleased.  Then it was thoroughly clean the galley, fridge, head, saloon and Geoff had a go at the mould which seems to be non stop. 

At 17:30 we headed off to ‘La’Boheme’ for sundowners and ended up staying for dinner, which was nice of them.  Their son, Elliot, seems to have taken a real shine to us and especially Geoff.  One little kid and one big kid together. 

Sunday,  20th August 2006  -  Day 539  -  MacKay

Another lovely day. Did some more odd jobs whilst Geoff serviced the engines.  Elliot came round to say that a large wooden ship had come in and you could go onboard for a gold coin donation so off we all went. 

 It was named the Duyfken and was a replica of the 1606 Dutch scout ship that was with the spice trading ships.  They believe it was the first European ship to discover Australia.  It was 28 metres long and weighed 110 tones and had a crew of around 16—20.  It was a reasonably authentic replica with the sheets tarred.  I say reasonably authentic as this crew did have cabins whereas the original crew in the 1600’s had to sleep on deck, this one had a proper galley and head. 

Back to 2AB where Glen, Suzanne and Elliot arrived for sundowners but didn’t stay too long as they were leaving early in the morning.

Rang my sister Glynn and then Chris and Shoo to arrange where we would meet them and what we would do when they arrive. 

Monday, 21 August 2006  -  Day 540  -  MacKay to Keswick Island

Woken up to bang, bang, bang!  They are right next to us putting rubber sheathes onto the poles they had installed earlier.  Not as loud as actually putting the poles in, I might add.  We were hoping to leave today but it all depended on whether the mail from Sue arrived and the mail didn’t arrive at the marina until noon.  We spent this time doing the first service on the outboard.  Well….Geoff did the servicing ….  I just held the outboard upright.  Then I went up to the marina office and the mail had arrived so I had a shower and back to 2AB where Geoff was washing her down.  He then went for his shower whilst I took down the side and back panels ready for the off.  We were only going as far as Keswick Island, 16 nm away, as by this time it was 14:00 and we had left our run too late to go further.  The anchorage can be swelly so we will have to wait and see and then on to Brampton Island tomorrow. On route we encountered another whale but still no good photo!  On route went to pump out from the holding tank and it is not working so Geoff will have to look at it tomorrow. 

Got in just before dusk and found that there is a large amount of coral and bommies between us and the beach so had to anchor out quite a way.  Calm as here...no wind!  It is a pretty little spot and when we were laying in bed we could hear the whales singing to each other.  How much better can it get?

Checking for bommies

  Tuesday, 22nd August 2006  -  Day 541  -  St Bees/Keswick Island

It was a very calm night and light winds forecast for today so we have decided to stay another day and explore.  Before we headed off Geoff temporarily fixed the pump out.  Brekky and we headed out in the tender with the bathescope to have a look at the coral here, at St Bees, and opposite at Keswick Island.  Unfortunately, it was high tide so not so good for looking so we went for an explore up Edgemont Passage where we discovered that Keswick Island has 6 public moorings and then onto the nearest beach which was on the Cumberland Islands National Park.  There were a couple of magnificent Sea Eagles perched in a tree plus a little oyster catcher with a red beak that gave us a fair scolding as we walked up the beach.  We then found out why …. She had two chicks on the beach and they we sitting so, so still pretending to be rocks.  They were so cute.  On the way back they were gone and we saw them scuttling up the beach towards mum who was calling out to them  We out paced them, of course, so once again they became rocks until we had passed them. 

Back to 2AB for a bite of lunch and then I decided to do a bit of fishing whilst Geoff went trolling in the tender.  I caught about six Parrot Fish, 4 the same and 2 different ones.  They were mainly good eating size and they are not bad eating but they all went back as we had plenty of exceptional table fish in the freezer.  Are we getting fussy, or what?  Still….it’s nice to know we wouldn’t have starved if we were short on food.  Geoff came back empty handed and then did a bit of touch up painting around the outside of his cabin window.  At low tide we thought we were closer to the coral than previously so Geoff went in the tender and looked at our anchor through the bathescope.  He said it was in a U shape and around a bommie and didn’t look too secure so we thought we would move while we still had the time.  It was about 16:30 so we up anchored and picked up one of the buoys further up the Edgemont Passage on the Keswick Island side.  We have a northerly wind and it is a little bouncy here but ok at present.  Rods in and this time Geoff caught a beautifully coloured Trigger Fish which we put back in but he wasn’t well and got taken by a magnificent Sea Eagle.  At least it wasn’t a waste.   For tea we had the last fillets of the Queenfish done in a South African Chilli batter and chips.  It was delicious.

Wednesday, 23rd August 2006  -  Day 542  -  St Bees/Keswick to Brampton Island

Where did that wind come from during the night?  A very strong NE wind blew from around 21:00 to 06:00 and we bounced around quite a bit.  Geoff, of course, slept through it all.  Two of the other yachts had gone when we got up and the last one has also just left.  We left around 10:30 to catch the tide to Brampton Island.  The wind was against us most of the way but we did manage to get a little sailing in.  The sea was a calm, beautiful aqua colour and the sun had a strong bite to it.  It was an uneventful, short trip apart from a pod of dolphins.  We arrived at Dinghy Bay, Brampton Island around 14:00.  There is no fishing allowed in the bay...it’s a green area...but you can fish off the rocks at the point.  It is blowing a strong NE at present but the anchorage feels snug and secure.  At low tide there was a lot of coral exposed so we wouldn’t have wanted to be in any further.

Thursday, 24th August 2006  -  day 543  -  Dinghy Bay, Brampton Island

Nice quiet night and a lovely day.  We didn’t do much at all in the morning apart from organizing a berth at Laguna Quays Marina from the 8th September for a week and organize the Greyhound Bus from Proserpine to Cairns to meet up with Chris and Shoo.  The bus coast $97 each and the Tilt Train was going to cost $146 each and a hire car was going to cost $300 due to a one way drop off fee of $200,  Sally rang as did Wade and we had a good natter.  Saw a Sailfish type fish jump twice off of the point.  Another cat ‘Sasha’ has come in and anchored further in than us so hope they miss all the coral bommies at low tide. 

Geoff has been spending his time getting his messages ready to put into bottles and he will drop one over the side when we are next further out.  It will be interesting to see if we ever get any replies.  He then cooked lunch of minced prawns in the South African batter I mentioned before.  Then he spent the afternoon preparing the back swim steps for painting.  I got out my paints and did a bit more of my folk art painting.  It’s a very warm day so maybe winter is on its last legs or, perhaps, its because of the northerly winds we have been having.

 Friday, 25th August 2006  -  Day 544  -  Brampton Island

What a lazy day today.  Another lovely day but a reasonably strong NE wind.  Geoff painted the back swim steps and did a few odds and ends.  I, basically, did hardly anything to speak of.  Read, did crosswords, cleaned, cooked tea.  How slack….Oh, we did order some bits from Glascraft in Brisbane to be delivered to the Laguna Quays Marina.  Sally rang  -  and that was it.

 Saturday, 26th August 2006  -  Day 545  -  Brampton Island

It blew all night but not enough to keep the batteries topped up.  Now there is no wind at all but it is supposed to be NE 15/20 today.  Yep...as soon as I wrote that it started blowing again.  Geoff gave the back swim steps a second coat of paint while we waited for high tide to go ashore.  Once ashore we wandered up the beach track to join the Island Circuit Track which we had last done over 25 years ago with my cousin John from the UK.  This track took us over to Oaks Bay (we didn’t have time to do the whole island circuit) which was a pebbly beach....a surprise….we called it Eastbourne Beach (our home town in the UK) and then onto Dinghy Bay East and then a rock scramble back to Dinghy Bay where the tender awaited us. 

Whilst scrambling across the rocks we had a call from Christine on Pure Magic to see when we were due in Laguna.  Geoff thinks they may have been going to invite us on a reef trip that weekend but we had a bus to catch on the Sunday.  Bumma!  Its another beautiful day, warm and Geoff says I am getting quite brown.  The water is still cool but it is still winter.  Winter…..and here I am just wearing a sarong! We had a lovely dip in the sea but it was quite shallow so I spent the rest of the afternoon getting sand out of my bathers and various parts of my body.  Back to 2AB and, after lunch, we had a game of boat darts and HE won!  Still I have to let him win at something as I usually beat him at Scrabble.

Sunday, 27th August 2006  -  Day 546  -  Brampton Island

No wind overnight and very still so a lovely sleep although I must admit to being a little warm.  Another great day and bacon and eggs, of course.  Geoff painted, well, touched up some spots on the front deck.  I cooked a bread pudding.  Then Geoff went off to fish over near the rocks where it was a Marine National Park ‘A’ zone….one line and one hook area.  I did a bit more painting.  Later I rang my dad and Glyn as he was up with her for the weekend on Humbug.

The wind has changed a touch so it is a touch more bouncy but ok if it stays like this.

Monday, 28th August 2006  -  Day 546  -  Brampton Island to Goldsmith

Another quiet night.  The weather forecast is for E/NE winds 10/15 still.  We have decided to head to another bay to get in some fishing whilst we are waiting for the tide to assist us in going north.  We anchored in 10 metres of water off of Finger and Thumb Island and spent a couple of hours with the rods in.  Geoff caught two largish Parrot Fish (they lived) whilst I lost my rig and then fed the fish.  It wasn’t as good as we had expected so we were a little disappointed.  We got into Goldsmith Island about 15:00 and we were the only ones in this bay.  Did some more fishing but zilch.  Played dominos and he beat me! 

S20° 40.28   E149° 09.00

 Tuesday, 29th August 2006  -  Day 547  -  Goldsmith Island

Quiet night again.  This is such a pretty spot...pity there seems to be no fish.  They are there because we can see them jump, plus turtles of course.  Turtles go without saying...they are everywhere.  We will have to see how swelly it becomes when the strong winds arrive during the night.

Geoff has now painted the saloon canvas hatch cover with the navy Tautflex and we now only need to do the edges of the headsail which will be a marina job as we will need to take it down and lay it out.  When we were at Brampton we had two Swallows come and try to take over the boat (when we last charted in this area some Swallows even tried to build a nest in the mainsail).  I thought we would leave them behind at Brampton, and we probably did, but I have decided that each bay on each island has its resident Swallows as they’re back!  They are very cute but we don’t like them making a mess on 2AB.  Unfortunately, they are not boat trained. 

It’s not so warm today and a bit more cloudier due to southerly winds bringing the colder weather from down south.  Still...it is quite pleasant at the moment.  We went ashore and explored the beach.  I picked up a few pieces of small, interesting pieces of washed up coral to see how they paint up, if at all.  We went for a lovely dip and then laid on the beach to dry out. 

Back to 2AB for lunch and we are no longer alone.  We have a charter yacht from ‘Whitsunday Private Yacht Charters’ (Sally and Martin had Acropora chartered with this company and this was the first company we chartered with).  There is also a cat named Quasimodo which I believe is a Fastback cat and another cat ‘Stella’ that looks like us so it is probably an Elite 11 again.  Plus a smaller mono with the name of Room2go. 

It is getting a little more blowy but the strong winds have now been put back to tomorrow with stronger winds again on Thursday and Friday. 

Geoff had another go at fixing the handheld VHF radio that Sally and Martin gave us and seems to have fixed it this time as it seams to work a treat.  All we need to do now is buy a slide on battery for it and, perhaps, a waterproof  bag.  Rippa!  They are worth over $300 new so a good win….thanks S&M.  Played ‘boat darts’ on the back deck and he won AGAIN!  But I beat him at Scrabble after dinner….so there! 

Wednesday, 30th August 2006  -  Day 548  -  Goldsmith Island

Well, the strong winds still have not arrived although we had some reasonably strong bullets during the night.  Still a nice day but with some cloud cover.  The strong winds are now forecast for this afternoon and evening.  We were trying to decide whether to stay or leave for Shaw Island.  Decided to stay here and hope for the best as the wind would have been right up our bum.  So…..we went ashore as suddenly Geoff gets this crazy, mad idea that Chris and Shoo would probably never have drunk fresh coconut milk from a green coconut.  The only problem is that green coconuts are only found clinging to the top of coconut palms.  This meant a climbing job.  Now remember, Geoff had completed a Tree Climbing Course to rescue paraglider pilots who had landed in trees (in fact, he was even invited to the Bright SES (State Emergency Services) to teach them in the specifics of rescuing paraglider pilots in a tree landing situation.  Now remember, once again, that he completed this course in our Noonameena days  -  circa 1991  -  which meant he was then an agile 45 year old and not the old bugger he is now at 60!  But, with his usual stubborn tenacity,  and a few gear changes to work out the safest and best system, he was off!  Not quite like a monkey up a tree but more like a Sloth on steroids.  AND he  made it and we are now the proud owners of 3 large and 3 small coconuts.  Bleh!  (I don’t like coconut).  A slight disaster happened when one of the smaller coconuts didn’t bounce and split thus losing its sweet, milky contents. 

Later I rang Sally on the seaphone as the mobile reception is nearly useless here to wish Temara ‘bon voyage’.  I had missed her by seconds as she had just walked through the security gate at the airport.  Never mind as Sally will let her know we called.  S&M are sitting out the blow at Townsville at the yacht club.

Time for ‘boat darts’ and he beat me again!   My excuse is that I can’t concentrate as I have to keep score!  Oh yeah!

Thursday, 31st August 2006  -  Day 549  -  Goldsmith Island

Quite windy before we went to bed but it quietened down overnight.  Now it’s windy again but still not as windy as forecast.  The strong wind warning is for Bowen to Sandy Cape so we are either just catching the tail end of it or it hasn’t reached us yet.  Hopefully, we are just getting the tail end of it…..touch wood!  It is a grey, drizzly day today.  Yesterday I sent and email to a friend, Pauline, in Bright saying the weather had been glorious for the last three weeks so I should have kept my lips sealed.  It will probably be a day for games, DVD’s, crosswords and reading. 

Geoff spent most of the morning wiring two 6 volt batteries together and installing them in a plastic box to use with the hand held VHF radio he fixed yesterday.  We will still try to get a slide on battery for it but it needs to come from the U.S.  I caught up on emails and my journal etc.  It is now bucketing down with rain and we should really be collecting it but we know we can get away with it as we are off to Laguna Quays Marina tomorrow week and can fill up then. 

So quite an uneventful day apart for the fun and games of playing ‘boat darts’ on the back deck with the boat rolling underneath us, which led to interesting throwing conditions.  Believe it or not I actually won but it was more pure luck than judgement, I can tell you!   It has rained, on and off, most of the day and the winds have gusted to 25 knots at times but it is still reasonably comfortable here.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed it stays that way.  So……..nothing else to report so will sign off.