Hervey Bay area is made up of 3 separate settlements, Urangan, Pialba & Torquay. A good stopover for anyone wanting to get to Kingfisher Bay Resort on Fraser Island or into the Sandy Straits to watch the whales.
At left is the marina complex with 3 separate marinas and a hardstand with a 300 ton travel lift.
Whilst there I caught up with a life long friend,
Grip (Ross Wright) and his friend Angie.
Grip lives aboard his yacht and is studying to become a nurse -
I believe that he is almost completed the degree and
will soon be wearing a nice blue skirt to work . . .
Good to catch up again mate - see you on the way back.
Friday 12th may 2017:
With preparations having been completed, we intend
to leave around sun up tomorrow around 0600hrs.
This time I will be on Fete by myself with no crew,
so Rob & Kerry came over to give me a hand to leave the
mooring and they will follow me out.
Saturday 13th May 2017:
As we leave Urangan , up past the Urangan Pier this rainbow
appeared just as the sun was rising to the east. Destination
for today is Bundaberg, some 35nm north. It should
be an easy day with seas predicted to be around .5-1m with gentle 5-10knt SE winds, we should be at anchor at around 1500hrs this afternoon.
Sure enough, we were anchored and having
a Buddie or two before sunset . . . and I guess the Rainbow decided to follow us all the way.
A great days motor sail and I was extremely happy with the day and having Fete to myself.
Sunday 14th May 2017 - Destination Pancake Creek - 63nm north:
Awoke early to get ready for the long haul up the coast. It
was anticipated that it would take at least 12 hours, at an average
of 5 knots to reach our destination before dark.
It was cold and pitch black, due to the cloud cover, when we set
off at 0300hrs even though it was almost a full moon.
I had been to Pancake Creek before with Zom aboard sv Upstart
when we ducked in there to get away from a front on the way back to
the Gold Coast.
(Pic at left, & 2 above, courtesy of Kerry Black)
Arrived Pancake Cr around 1500 hrs
after 12 hrs of motor sailing. Had the Headsail up for approx. 5hrs before the winds turned NE again.
We anchored in the mouth of the
creek as we were leaving early the
next morning for Cape Capricorn.
Monday 15th May 2017 - Pancake
Cr to cape Capricorn
As we left pancake Cr, we could see the bulk carrier ships up ahead awaiting entry into Gladstone. Bob & Kerry whistled for me to get a pic of them sailing under autopilot.
Arrived and tucked ourselves in behind the cape as you can
see above. We had to anchor a long way out due to the shallow
depth, but we didn't want to go all the way to Keppel Is
as we would have got there in the dark - something we are
trying to avoid as much as possible. It was a roll type of a night
and I didn't get much sleep and was glad when the sun hit the horizon.
Tuesday 16th may 2017 - Cape Capricorn to Great Keppel Is.
0700hrs - upped the anchor to head for GKI (Great Keppel Is), but
looked over to the cape and as you can see above, fog was just streaming off the point and covered the lighthouse. The fog moved out to sea, a long way out, and didn't diminish for a couple of hours.
GKI is only 25.5nm away, as you can see from the pic at right, so we were in for a leisurely 4-5 hr run.
Arrived at GKI around noon and anchored in Svenden's
Beach (pic at left). Bob & Kerry were keen to catch up with Paul
off sv Cobwing whom they had been travelling with prior to
catching up with me in Urangan. That afternoon we had
sundowners on Fete and Paul bought Jackie over. She had just started out on a round the world cruise and we enjoyed the interaction and the drinks.
With this storm front approaching,
we decided to head into Yeppoon,
Rosslyn Bay Marina for a couple of days to let it pass before heading further up north.
Saturday 20thMay 2017 - Rosslyn Bay to Pearl Bay
With the passing of the front, Paul and
Rob are keen to get going so we decide
to have our last meal & sundowners at
the Rosslyn Bay yacht Club. Tomorrow
we intend to leave 0500hrs so an early
night was planned by all. Sundown at Rosslyn Bay Yacht Club with Bob silhouetted at left.
Pearl Bay, some 43nm north of 
Yeppoon, is a pretty bay and good
protection from the S/E's. It is situated at the bottom end of the Military area in Shoalwater Bay & just above Port Clinton.
Just as when thought that we would get a
clear run with the weather, the radio and a couple of local divers warned us to expect strong winds for the next couple of days. Winds of 25-30+ knts S/E were expected, so we decided to stay in this beautiful bay for the time, but as Rob & Kerry are under a time restraint due to them looking after the grand kids up at Mackay, time is of the essence and we need to keep moving . . .
Wednesday 24rd May 2017 - Pearl
Bay to Middle Percy Island
Decided today was the day so awoke
early, Paul having left at around 0330hrs, to start the 55nm leg to West Bay, Middle Percy Island.
We are expecting choppy conditions with 10-15knts+ S/E winds.
Arrived at middle Percy only to find many other travelers anchored here, so we had to
anchor out a bit. During the trip, I had snapped off
the engine "Kill Switch' from the cockpit bulkhead, so I was perplexed
as to how I would shut the engine down once anchored. Once again,
Bob, came to the rescue and we dismantled the cable to enable me to
shut down by using a set of plyers.
Thursday 25th May 2017
Today we start our run to Mackay as I
think Kerry was starting to get a little bit
nervous as to whether they would make
it in time. So headed off around 0700hrs
for the 26nm trip over to a little island called
Digby Is, part of the Beverley Group.
5 Hours later we anchored in a beautiful
little bay, well protected from the S/E and
in plenty of water. I say this as we were
expecting 7m+ tides for the night.
Digby Is approach, as you can see
here, is spectacular. Although both Bob & I were both stressing as to where the entrance to the little bay was. Eventually we found our way in and anchored as you will see below.
Pristine Digby Is. . . .
This was our 1st impression on entering the bay and my impression of that time will last me a long time.
Cobwing, Errant & Fete enjoying Digby Island 
and as you will see below, Kerry caught and
amazing Queen fish. actually it has been Kerry doing all the fishing up to this stage. Only then did Bob get out his rod and have a go, but Kerry was the champion angler today.
So as the sunsets on beautiful Digby
Island, and as Paul is leaving us tomorrow to continue his trip north, and we are heading to Mackay, sundowners are called for onboard Fete, to say our farewells.
Digby Is, a GEM - will be back!!!
Friday 26th May 2017 0- Digby Is to Mackay
Awoke early and left Digby around
0600 for the 44nm run to Mackay
marina where we will spend the next couple of weeks, whilst Bob & Kerry look after the grand kids.
I have to say that the Marina was in
a worst state than I had imagined
after Cyclone Debbie, which was
a couple of months ago. As you can see from these pics, some arms are
still missing, with much repair work still needing to be done and in some cases, totally replaced.
It's fantastic mate, stay safe love the blog great for a light house keeper like me
ReplyDeleteGreat pics Shaun, sail safe - Shaz
ReplyDelete