Percy Islands to Yeppoon- The Bonding Experience

The passage from Percy Islands to Yeppoon was epic.

A couple of hours into battling the wind and a very choppy seas under motor we ran out of fuel and had to load from reserve fuel stock in jerry cans whilst bouncing around like a cork.  Difficult task indeed.

We have been having a battery issue and had been using the motor generator to top up regularly whilst at Percy island and we had not figured this into our calculations of our fuel reserves for fuel to get us to Yeppoon, if we were required to motor due to weather conditions not in our favour.

The house battery runs all the electronic devices for navigation as well as the pumps and refrigeration, lighting and every other necessary things you need to keep a yacht functional for passage making.

This situation meant that we had to shut down non essential equipment requiring power and taking stock of our situation which was hardly enough fuel to get us to Yeppoon and topping up a failing battery to power of the navigation devices when the motor is not running.

We had to sail even if the wind and seas were not in our favour.  This  meant that we were going to have a long passage tacking back a forward to make passage to our destination under the light winds that were southeast.

Capt Teza's excellent navigation skills and plotting our course on the hour ensured we were heading in the right direction to get to our overnight anchorage of Pearl Bay

We arrived at 9pm at Pearl Bay under sail  into a cove completed shrouded in the dark and that is notorious for coral reefs that are unchartered.

Indeed we hit a coral reef as we left anchorage the next morning that was not on the chart, no damage but once again I got anxious before we even started on what was going to be a long day. 
A beautiful spot but we had no time to enjoy our surroundings with a full day ahead day chasing wind.

Thankfully the seas had calmed to just a large rolling swell which made for a good sail but at 5 knots tacking back and forward along the coast we were looking at an ETA of Midnight due to no wind in our favour to make any headway to our destination.


The wind by 3pm turned to the EAST AT LAST and we arrived into Yeppoon late in the evening about 9pm with a storm and bitterly cold wind that required the skipper to have a rum just to warm him up.  It is indeed a beautiful experience to sail on sunset despite the challenges.

Terry remains unfazed, completely capable and always with a plan and directive in all situations plan. I guess that what makes him so successful in his job and why I trust him to keep me safe. 

I was getting very anxious of all the "what ifs" of a disaster on the sea without navigation lights, navigation equipment, no fuel and running into a reef to name just a few challenges to overcome.

It was a very testing sail today for both of us but we both know this is all part of the experience of sailing which will challenge and test your weaknesses  and strengths. Sometimes in a most confronting of circumstances.





















Safe in Yeppoon, yet another day of Terry working on the boat to get it back into operational order to complete our passage home.

On reflection of our shake down cruise.  We both agreed that 5 weeks was not enough time to go to the Whitsundays and back home that would give us rest days in between passages with allowances for times when we had operational failures and poor sailing conditions. 






This is the shake down cruise to test both the boat and ourselves.  The yacht in general performs well and has no major problems that has stopped our passage just annoying interruptions that are frustrating and tiresome particularly for Terry who perhaps really needed a holiday with less physical and mental effort.
That said we remain in good spirits with the help of a lot of cocktails and rum.

With a new mega house battery, fuel and the prospect of wind and seas in our favour we will make passage to Lady Musgrave tomorrow which hopefully will only take 10 hours, with no breakdowns along the way, so we can have a stay over on the island that will be restful and relaxing

 

 

 

 

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Percy Islands- Percy Pesty Peacock in a Pot

Percy Islands- Middle Percy Island offers a haven for yotties enroute with legendary hospitality.
We decided to stay over a couple of days to have a rest whilst the winds and seas were not in our favour.

On our passage to the island we came across rivers of what looked like chocolate quick on the ocean.  This is a natural phenomena of coral algae bloom which stretched far to the horizon for about 10 nautical miles, amazing to witness.





We arrived at sundown into the cove and greeted by a whale.  Apparently it went in to the cove and brushed against some of the yachts anchored.  Unusual behaviour perhaps.  Once again we are busy coming into anchor so getting a really good photo was difficult.







That night we meet up with Robin from Joshua C-  The square rigged tall ship (photos below) and was welcomed by Marty who lives in the tree house.

Usual sundowners on shore and the Percy island residents cooked up a meal of goat stew and what I like to call the "Percy Pesty Peacock in a Pot".  A peacock had somehow become a resident on the island but was described as being a nuisance, loud and a pest and lost its resident status.  It tasted like sweet chicken.......delicious.

The goats are plentiful on the island and yes I was giving a cuddle to a relative of what was also on the menu that night. 
This is real life for the island inhabitants who are self sufficient on this beautiful island.





The next day Terry helped with some chores on the Percy Hilton fixing a water pipe in the tank on the roof of the yacht club and donating a LED flood light for the BBQ pit area.

In the meantime I fished and caught a beautiful sweet lip to share for tonights meal.






The resident host Marty went along the shore line at sunset with a net to catch whiting and garfish to cook up for the evening meal. 

 

 In a small lagoon just past the cove  Robin and Annie have been mored for over 2 months at the island on their wonderful square rigged yacht Joshua C.  I have made a deal to get a passage in the future on the Tall ship yacht in exchange for an old Brass porthole I have a home. The scene of this Tall ship and the little makeship moring and walkway was something out of a pirate movie.  I loved it!




We stayed another night and joined the yacht club for a small fee which entitled us to make a sign of our yachts name and proudly hang it along side all the others that adorned the Percy Hilton shack, some dating back over 30 years or more.

 

Capt Tez being crafty

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We really love this little cove and the hospitality of the residents.
It remains my favourite place along the Queensland Coast on this journey.

Naked Lady Beach- Thomas Island and Scawfell Island

Sailing Log Thomas Island

Passage today was most challenging.  Cold southerly on the nose and stand up short swells which we rode full on the bow with a clatter and bang. Sens de la Vie handles well and despite the uncomfortable conditions we made head way to our destination of Thomas Island. 

 

 

 

We dropped anchor had a leisurely late lunch then went  ashore for a couple of hours to enjoy not being tossed about and get out of the wind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like the sign says, “Naked Lady beach”, it is the Captains favourite place to relax.

 

Naked lady Beach Thomas Island

 

The night was very rollie with a strong swell and the wind did night let up even though we were reasonably protected , strong bullets would bear down on us over the next 2 days, swaying the boat around in circles on the anchor.  Capt. Teza did not get much sleep as we needed to check bearings and anchor holding constantly.  We have an alarm on the GPS but in these conditions it is best to be diligent as we are very close to a fringing reef.

The Cove did not offer much in fishing but the scenery was complete with the usual turtle circling our boat, dam I just cannot seem to get a photo of these turtles and  bird life.

We spent another day at Thomas Island relaxing with some good books, doing some housework, washing and cooking up some meals in the Thermo Pot waiting for the winds to drop.

The next morning we battle the elements again to Scawfell Island off the coast of Mackay.  We are now out of the Whitsundays Group of Islands. 

 

To our surprise this little known Island off Mackay is lovely and I want to return to explore more.  We arrived around 3pm had a late lunch and much needed rest. We had not slept well the last 2 nights.  Conditions were calm and wind appeared to be dropping and the swell in the bay was minimal.

 

 

Tomorrow we head for Percy Islands this will be a long day sail 8 to 10 hours so an early start with winds predicted to be in our favour we should have a good day sail.