At Roslyn Bay Marina, Yeppoon wE stocked up
on water and fuel at Roslyn Bay Marina, did laundry, had a wonderful dinner at
the award-winning Waterline Restaurant finishing the night with fellowship with
the owner of a luxury Motor Yacht berthed next to us, OH how the other half
live. Bob, Self-made multimillionaire who is enjoying the fruits of his business
success, has been cruising in his huge Rivera for the past 4 months, very
generous man who has offered us a mooring in Pittwater when we do our journey
down South. Bob, I think enjoyed my company as he has been hosting man friends
for the past 4 months with wife back in Sydney doing grandmother duties. Lively conversations and in a very short time
we became foodie and sailing chums. I paid him off a bit with all the mod cons
and luxury items he had on board his boat in “Monty Python Style” skit “in My Day” except
in “in my boat”. Bob enjoyed the humor and light banter and was delighted I
could supply a few ice cubes out of plastic tray as his ice machine was all
iced up and not working…………………Ah some things in life just need to be simple a
good Ice breaker(excuse the pun)
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| Sand Banks at Island Head Creek |
No matter how
fancy or not your boating experience when a whale breaches or you go snorkeling in amazing coral gardens, catch a fish, or you are sitting off a
pristine island with a sunset view we all feel the same joy of the moment being
out to sea.
In the morning Bob and I shared the marinas loan car into Yeppoon for a couple of essentials to see us through for the
next 15 days and Bob for a 3 day passage travelling south. His grog bill for
his mates flying in to join him on a passage to Lady Musgrave was $700 but I guess
when you are spending $200 an hour on fuel to cruise, the alcohol supplies for
3 days is insignificant.
We departed for
passage to Port Clinton at 11am, seas were clam and we got in a small sail but
time and tide were against us and we needed to get into port Clinton before the
sunset.
We are now in
the military Zone managed by the Australian defence Force and the most
uninhabited coastline south of Cairns on the Queensland Coast.
We have missed
been able to spend time in these waters previously as regular Military exercises
in this area prohibit boats to enter bay. This is a no-go zone to public by foot or
vehicle and is only accessible by boat and even then you are restricted not to
walk pass the high tide mark due to risk of un-exploded ammunition.
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| Sens de la Vie safe at anchorage Island Head Creek |
A very special
experience in this remote wilderness area surround by mountains and wonderful deep
water protected anchorages. The fact this bay gets blown up every 4 months or
when hosting international war games seems a little severe for this pristine environment,
but I have seen little evidence of impact to the environment, I trust it is
managed well to not interfere with echo systems.
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| Capt Teza Island Head Creek |
The sail to
Port Clinton was long and arduous and I was ever so pleased to drop anchor
before the sunset in calm waters. Body
is constantly moving and adjusting to the tilt of the waves and boat, so I am
getting some sort of Cardio workout. However, I am now covered in what I have
nicknamed my “Blue Berries”.
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| Sand Banks Island Head Creek |
We departed in
the morning to make way to Island Head Creek, just a short sail of 12 nautical
miles, A Poor description name for this spectacular
water way. The expanse of this bay is
massive, not a building, road or any other man-made structure. Remote and
isolated with an abundance of bird life and sea turtles.
We are
currently anchored in a small bay in good holding surrounded by rocky outcrops,
mangroves and sand bars. In the cradle of beautiful mountain ranges
Turtles swim by
and pop their heads up………………..Hey Dude.
Explored the
sand banks one of which has currently a Catamaran grounded. I went for a
shallow swim only to be joined by some stingrays and a small shark.
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| Blue lagoon in a Blue Lagoon |
 |
| Sails Up |
I decided a
walk around the mangroves to get some photo opportunities was a better idea…………………EEK.
A swarm of every insect that lives in Mangroves attacked me………….in my hair,
ears, nose mouth and all over my body.
Like a woman possessed I ran madly waving my arms back into the
water……………I will take my chances with stingrays and small sharks over been
bitten by a swarm of midges and other unidentified bugs.
Back on board I
take delight in being able to watch the parenting of the sea Eagles as they
fish for their young who are squawking in a huge nest on the rocky outcrop just
above where we are anchored. The mother
hunts with precision and as she is returning to the nest lets her chicks know
dinner has arrived with and incredible load hunting call. I wish I had one of those
footlong lenses with me but alas salt air environment is no place for expensive
camera equipment.
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| Island Head Creek Bays are surrounded by Mountains |
The crab pot is
down and we have Fishing lines out but only small baby fish in this bay so far.
This has been a
good couple of days for us reading and resting, no internet or phones so we
have had a complete disconnect from the outside world. And wonderful reconnect
with each other cracking jokes and Terry amusing me with his usual antics. We have eaten well over the last couple of
days on salads and fresh fruit as these
are the first provisions to be used before resorting to can,frozen and dried
foods. We have plenty of meat in the freezer but fresh fish will be needed over
the next 12 days
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| Sunsets to soothe the soul |
Tonight, a big
southerly buster comes in so we are well protected in the bay, tomorrow it will
change to an Easterly giving us perfect conditions to sail to Percy Islands
which is about 40 nautical miles.
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| Exploring the sand Banks |
Restoration of
my body and soul is certainly improving and I feel stronger every day.
PS
The departure
was delayed due to us leaving it a tad late to beat the tide which resulted us
getting stuck on a sandbank until high tide.
We left around
Midday which means will be sailing into the evening and expect to drop anchor
at Percy Is around 9.30pm.
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