Well that isn’t our experience so far. We seem to have had more grey, overcast days than I can remember in a long time.
At the moment we’re anchored up a creek waiting out 3 days of 25-30kt winds,
gusting 35+. It’s overcast and rains from time to time. There isn’t enough sun to
excite the solar panels much so we’re topping up with the generator too.
The place is called Port Clinton but there’s nothing ‘port’ about it. There isn’t a
single building, or road, or pole anywhere. Not even navigation beacons to get
you in. It’s really just a good size bay and quite picturesque. Bush all around, hills, water and of course big tides and tidal currents, and sand banks. To the south there
is an arm that eventually narrows down to a creek.
We crept in late yesterday (Sunday) after an awful sail up from Great Keppel Island. We had a big rolling sea and corkscrewed our way up the coast. From time to time we motorsailed if the wind dropped off because we needed to be in and anchored before dark. The entry was quite straight forward and it was more difficult finding a good
spot to anchor where the 3 meter tides wouldn’t matter.
Coming into remote places is always special. There were a couple of pelicans on the rocks along with cormorants and a few seagulls. The tide was running and I saw a large fish jump, much like pictures of salmon going upstream.
We hardly had the anchor down and Sandy was trying her luck. It was so peaceful with very little wind. We had passed one boat right against the shore as we came in but it was way back out of sight now, and there was another yacht we could see much further in. Crackers and cheese for dinner! She did catch a few this morning, but one is bait and the other got freedom.
During the night the wind picked up and Wind Wanderer rode uncomfortably with tide and wind in different directions. Instead of pointing into the wind we had it coming side on and we had to go up on deck sometime after midnight to secure lines that were slapping and booms that needed to be tied into their cradles.
But I’ve jumped ahead.
After a great sail from Lady Musgrave back to the mainland the anchorage in Pancake Creek was a delight. Even though the river flows in and out quite rapidly with the tides the holding was good and free of swell. We ended up with two other deep draft vessels anchored in our area, but further upstream there must have been at least half a dozen.
In the morning we got the anchor up fairly early, around 7:30am with a 45 mile run to Cape Capricorn ahead of us. The Cape enjoys the distinction of being virtually right on the Tropic of Capricorn. At 5 knots we would get there in 9 hours and we’d have the anchor down before dark.
The wind picked up late morning and we could at last kill the engine and sit on a very
comfortable 6 knots with yankee, main and mizzen.
As we approached the entrance channel to Gladstone the AIS started going berserk. Ships were appearing everywhere. It turned out only 2 ships were on the move, with another 21 at anchor right in our path. We switched on the radar and it made quite a spectacle with yellow dashes all over the screen. We heard a helicopter on the radio seeking clearance to land on the Ark Royal but it was still too far ahead to see anything. We eventually sailed past her and she had her quarantine flag up.
The anchorage area behind Cape Capricorn is small but has a good reputation for its lack of swell in south easterlies. As we drew abreast of it we could see a mast and we’d picked up a vessel there on the AIS too. In fact there were three boats anchored and they looked cramped. It meant we’d have to anchor further out and lose the protection of the cape itself.
Plan B was to press on another 7 miles and tuck in behind Hummocky Island, offering similar protection from the wind and swell. It turned out to be a pretty island with high cliffs, a couple of caves at sea level just begging to be explored and interesting rock formations high above the anchorage. We picked our way in as close as we dared but the rolling continued all night. We had it to ourselves apart from one small speedboat out for a fishing weekend.
We only had a short run to Great Keppel Island and with the wind still strong we had a great sail the whole way. We chose to approach from the western side and sailed past the resort and a second island before turning into the northern shore and Leekes Beach.
The bottom slopes away from the shore quite gradually and is just sand. We approached as close as we felt would be safe and set the anchor. The roll was as bad
as Hummocky Island had been.
It was already after 2pm and we decided we’d take a walk on the rather beautiful beach, and follow a walking track over the island to the resort side where there is a shop selling milk, newspapers etc. We were getting low on milk anyway.
We pulled the dinghy up high on the sand to give us plenty of time to get back, and started walking. Initially it was easy and pleasant walking through low forest. Then the track started to climb, and climb, and climb some more. We were eventually stopping to catch our breath every few minutes. No sooner would the track level out than it would head for new heights.
Eventually we reached the highest point. The view was good, but hardly spectacular. The bigger concern was that we had to get back again.
As we descended the other side we walked through the not so great part of Great Keppel. There were old buildings that had once been the resort, now in ruins and eerily
overgrown. A tractor at the side of the road that hadn’t been started in years. Old fuel bowsers that hadn’t pumped fuel in decades. An airfield and hangars, all fenced off and overgrown. Even the signs on the walking track were long overdue for a lick of paint. It all looked like there had been a golden era that was now a distant memory.
Eventually we got to the area that most people would know as Great Keppel Island.
The main beach is beautiful and as we walked along the palm fringed walkway we realized there are quite a few private homes and rentable holiday homes apart from
the resort.
The shop eventually showed up, and was closed! Not only closed, but with a For Sale board out the front. There wasn’t even anyone to abuse.
We had already decided we’d done enough mountaineering for one day and would walk back around the coastline, even though it would be quite a bit further. With the sound of a guitar player singing soulfully into his microphone for someone’s 50th birthday in the background, we set off up the beach.
The sand was fine and white but they have a problem with erosion on that part of the island and large plastic tarpaulin type bags had been filled with sand to make some kind of stacked retaining wall. It wasn’t a very successful idea because now many of the bags have split so there are all these bits of plastic sticking up through the sand where they’ve washed down.
Further along the beach we came to a rocky outcrop, the first of many as we picked our way around the coastline. The walk back was difficult and rocky and a lot further than we expected. It was getting dark by the time we got back to the dinghy. We had only just pulled it high enough and the water was lapping the transom.
The swell was breaking on the shore and we had to wrestle the dinghy out into waist deep water before hauling our tired old bodies over the side, dropping the engine down and getting it started before being washed back onto the shore. We just made it.
Wind Wanderer was rolling awfully in the side-on swell and as Sandy was rustling up something to eat and heating water for showers, I got the dinghy back on the davits and looked for a spot to move to.
Looking across the bay many of the other yachts had their anchor lights on at the top of their masts and they looked like concert fans with no sense of rhythm waving their arms in the air, each to their own silent music. There was nowhere to go so we just had to face another night of uncomfortable, broken sleep.
So, back to our ‘refuge’ here in Port Clinton. We knew after the first night that we were going to have to move to deeper water. Each day this week the low tide is progressively lower and while our hastily chosen spot was fine for the first 2 nights there was a sandbank closer than we like. The wind is very strong and was blowing us away from it but should we get a wind shift (unlikely), we’ve got a lot of chain out and could swing in an arc across it. We really have had enough of nudging sandbanks for awhile.
Just on midday we had the wind and falling tide holding us in the same direction so the timing was right to get the anchor up and look for deeper water.
We picked our way further in watching our depth sounder and chart closely. The creek is wide and curves so we wanted to get a spot on the inside of the bend where the tidal stream should be slower than on the other side.
With the tide nearly out we picked a spot with 5 meters of water under our keel so there is no way we will touch bottom. So far we haven’t had the wind and tide working against each other like before so it looks like the rest of our captivity here will be more comfortable. The wind is still howling and the surrounding hills are low so there is nowhere to escape from it. But we are protected completely from the 3 meter seas off shore so we’re in good shape.
It looks like we’ll be here for 2 more nights with and early Thursday departure. By this time next week we'll be in the Whitsundays!
Until next time…