Stardust on the Rocks

Sounds like a fancy cocktail, doesn’t it?

This isn’t really my story, but it is my perspective… 

On Monday we were anchored at Long Beach on Great Keppel Island when we checked the forecast and found the winds would be swinging around to the south so we decided to up anchor and head for the Svendsens Beach on the north of the island.

We left with Pete (Stardust) and took the long way around the island as it was better winds for sailing.  Stardust does not currently have a functioning motor so the wind is important to him.  We went up the east side of the island no problem but turning to the north brought us to a dead stop as we were nose on to the wind.  No problem for us… turn on the motor and use the steel sail to get to our destination.  Pete kept heading east trying to get as far as he could before tacking into the wind and it wasn’t long before he was out of sight. 

About an 1½ hours after we anchored we were starting to worry about Pete.  I tried him on the radio but go no answer.  I didn’t have his phone number so sent him a facebook message asking him to call me.  The phone reception where we were was pretty shitty so when Pete called, it went straight to voicemail.  I ended up with the garbled message… “mishap… bottom coral… rocks… rough swell… okay”.

What the hell?  I tried the radio and managed to get a crackled message to Pete to change to channel 72.  72 proved to be much friendlier and Pete explained that he’d had a bit of a problem with the wind, scraped his bottom on the coral, used his dinghy to move Stardust in to wreck beach to anchor and was swamped by the swell.  He was now anchored at Wreck Beach.  He was okay.  Phew!!!

On Tuesday morning at 8.00am, Pete called us to say he wasn’t happy with his position, had pulled up his anchor and tried using his dinghy to move further away from the rocks but the swell and the strength of the tide was too much and he was now on the rocks.

Stardust at low tide 

photo provided by Pete

We kept in contact throughout the course of the day and one of the island locals was going to see him at low tide to help prepare for a VMR rescue attempt at high tide.  I rallied the troops from the yachts around us so Michael and 3 other guys went round there in a nasty swell to lend a hand any way they could.

The Troops

Photo courtesy of Lyndie Malan

The boys worked hard and pulled the anchor up by hand and the VMR towed Stardust back to the little creek off Leeks Beach.  Stardust was taking on water and this new position would dry out completely so repairs could take place.

Pulling the anchor up by hand

Photo courtesy of Lyndie Malan

The VMR (and this time they're not towing us)

Photo courtesy of Lyndie Malan

On Wednesday during the low tide, Michael headed round to Pete’s new resting place and helped patch the leaks in Stardust.  Now they just had to wait for the water to rise to determine the success of the venture. 

The wind was coming from the north again and we were in an uncomfortable swell so headed back down to Resort Beach (yes, there’s a bloody lot of beaches on Great Keppel Island) for some respite.  We were no longer anywhere near Pete so were hoping the repairs would hold up.

At high tide we got the word from Pete that the water was not coming in.  Wooo hoooo! 

That was not the end of it though.  This morning Michael had to dinghy around to Pete, and again the swell was being less than friendly, to go back to Wreck Beach to retrieve Pete’s dinghies.  The water was rough so rather than risk bringing both, they only towed one dinghy back.  It had been swamped and the engine was no longer working.

Michael got back to Kidnapped, wet, sore and demanding coffee.  It has been a tough couple of days for everyone involved… but particularly for Pete and he could probably use that fancy cocktail!

Middle Percy Island to Great Keppel Island

We checked the weather for our departure from Middle Percy to head to Port Clinton and the conditions were perfect.

At 5am, before first light we left our anchorage at Middle Percy for the 14 hour trip south to Port Clinton (and internet coverage).  All started as planned.  An hour into the trip and the winds swirled in the wrong direction and the swell rose way above that predicted. 

We had waves crashing over the front of our bow and coming in through the hatches.  We were thrown about and lost quite a few things overboard.  The inside of the boat was a mess.  Everything we owned had been thrown around inside the cabin.  Outside, we were at an angle of about 20 degrees and our gunnels were in the water.  At one point, Michael was trying to save our canopy from going overboad and we almost lost him overboard.  I was holding on to the top of his shorts.  If he was going overboard, he was going without pants!!!

There is no doubt the boat can handle it… but the inexperienced crew are another matter completely (namely me).  The kids handled it quite well but the dog and I came apart at the seams.  Whilst questioning my sanity (and coming up with no answers), I decided we couldn’t continue in this vein and as navigator, looked to the maps for inspiration and answers.  I saw Duke Islands were the closest islands to us and the easiest to get to with the weather conditions in favour of that heading.  Three hours (and a very puckered sphincter) later we were dropping our anchor at Marble Island.  The anchorage was not great and it was a lumpy old time there but it was better than losing our pants-less skipper overboard.  We decided we’d sit until the conditions improved before heading further south.  The location was actually beautiful but undertaking repairs was a priority. 

The island is part of a cattle station and we could see cows as well as deer showing up on the beach in the morning.  

We got our repairs out of the way on Wednesday and just “sat” on Thursday waiting for better conditions for our trip down south.  Again, it was lumpy and the dog knows this can be fixed purely by running up and down the centre isle of the boat continuously.  You’d think after 3 hours and no change to the conditions, he’d give up.  But no!  He’s a true professional and continued on for at least 15 hours.  The occasional ripping of my skin in blind panic broke the monotony every now and then and kept him focussed.

Late Thursday, the swell died down and whilst sitting on deck, Michael and I witness mating turtles!  I got a pic of it but you can only see the top turtle as the other is underwater.  Just remember, I’m the place for all of your turtle porn (although obviously not good quality turtle porn).

Friday morning we had decent conditions and set out for Port Clinton.  Most of the 10 hour trip  was uneventful but 2 hours out from Port Clinton, we started getting hit with a swell from the side which made the end of our day another gunnel submerged, “dog pacing” event.  We anchored at Port Clinton and managed to get the much sought after internet access I was looking for… for about 30 mins until the tide dropped and my internet connection was severed.

5.00am Saturday morning saw us lift the anchor again and head for Great Keppel Island.  Familiar territory with friendly faces!  We had a slight wind and a helpful tide on our side.  8 hours and we were dropping our anchor at Long Beach.  My much sought internet access and a drink with our dear friend Pete was just what the doctor ordered!

Whitsundays

Due to limited internet connection I haven’t updated in a while so here’s a blanket post for our Whitsundays travels (some of which has already been covered)…

Our stops…

West Bay, Middle Percy Island

Refuge Bay, Scawfell Island

Burning Point, Shaw Island

Abel Point Marina, Airlie Beach

Double Bay East

Bona Bay, Gloucester Island

Bloodhorn Beach, Hook Island

Sawmill Bay, Whitsunday Island

Crayfish Bay, Whitsunday Island

Chance Bay, Whitsunday Island

Whitehaven Beach, Whitsunday Island

Mackerel Bay North, Whitsunday Island

Macona Inlet, Hook Island

Pioneer Bay, Airlie Beach

Nara Inlet, Hook Island

Pioneer Bay, Airlie Beach

Nara Inlet, Hook Island

Airlie Bay, Airlie Beach

Stonehaven, Hook Island

Butterfly Bay, Hook Island

Homestead Bay, Cid Island

Plantation Bay, Lindeman Island

Burning Point, Shaw Island

Roylen Bay, Goldsmith Island

Scawfell South, Scawfell Island

West Bay, Middle Percy Island

We covered 491.5 nautical miles and every one of them magnificent.

All of the islands looked like this…

All of the beaches looked like this…

All of the water looked like this…

Under water looked like this…

and this…

Sunrises looked like this…

and sunsets, like this…

We caught fish like this…

and this…

but threw them back.

When we caught fish like this…

we ate them.

We had temporary pet fish…

and saw an abundance of other marine life…

(turtles are very hard to get a photo of)

We even saw the occasional wedding….

We saw where travellers had built a monument as proof of their visit…

so we built our own…

We also left evidence of our visit in places like this…

but unfortunately weren’t as creative as others…

So in summary, “Wow… Amazing!”

Bloodhorn Bay, Hook Island to Sawmill Bay, Whitsunday Island

After breakfast we decided to go to Cid Harbour only 11nm away.  An easy trip and 2 hours later we were anchored in Sawmill Bay.  As it was still early and we couldn’t have been bothered with the fight to get the kids to do school work, we went ashore to find the Captain Cook Monument we’d seen marked on the map. 

We got to the beginning of the track and just started walking.  It was all up hill. After only 15 minutes I was doubled over and “sucking in the big ones” and wondering how far it would be to get there.  After 30 minutes, even my eyes were sweating and I was starting to think about heading back (let’s face it, I was now well overdue for a cigarette).  After 40 minutes, Grace was crying and stopping every 20 metres or so trying to catch her breath.  I’m sure I was suffering altitude sickness and was kicking myself for not bringing along an oxygen tank or two but the boys seemed to be doing okay.  Not to be outdone by the boys, Grace and I kept climbing up what seemed like Everest.  After 1 hour 15 minutes we’d finally made it to the top of Whitsunday Peak… 2.5kms of track and stone cut stairs into the mountainside and 440m above where we had started. 

Whitsunday Peak

The view was spectacular.  We sat at the peak, drank and ate and got attacked by flies so headed back down again.

The trip back down was a lot quicker and a lot easier but my shoes aren't made for trekking up mountains (they are made for prancing around on yacht decks) so I fell and twisted my ankle… but I’m tough, I rubbed some dirt on it and walked it off.  Jed did the last 20 minutes with 1 shoe due to a blister (the kids aren’t used to wearing shoes), Grace’s legs were like jelly and involuntarily shaking and Michael had one sunburnt leg.  But we had survived.

When we made it to the bottom the question was finally asked “where the hell was the Captain Cook Monument?”  We have no idea where it was, probably a different path but we certainly weren’t going looking for it.

We got back to the boat and Robin & Pam contacted me and let me know they were at Hook Island… we’d left there yesterday.  I told them where we were and they told us to stay put and they’d catch up with us tomorrow.

Bona Bay, Gloucester Island to Bloodhorn Beach, Hook Island

The winds have died down so we decided to head back to Airlie Beach as we’ve been having problems with the mounts for the header tank.  We’ve managed to break two welds and have (yet again) held it together with cable ties.

So heading south and about an hour in to the trip decided… bugger it… we’re not going back to Airlie, we’re hitting the islands.  The cable ties were holding up (and there’s a lot more where they came from) and the kids were stinging to do some snorkelling.  We changed course and headed for Hook Island.  So after 6 hours and 30nm we anchored at Bloodhorn Beach at Hook Island.  Jed, as usual, hadn’t even waited for the anchor to set before he was out on deck fishing, but came up empty.

Bloodhorn Beach

The following morning, after some school work was done, we put on our wetsuits (as we have seen some stingers floating around) and jumped in the dinghy and headed over to Langford Island, 2nm away.  We hadn’t even got the dinghy on the sand and the kids had their snorkels, goggles and flippers on and were headed in backwards (because it’s hard to walk forwards in flippers).

As a snorkelling beginner, I have learnt an important lesson.  If you’re watching something and it swims away under you, don’t keep watching it as it goes beneath you.  This means your head goes down, your snorkel fills with water, you get a lungful, start splashing around and choking and this will attract sharks as well as fits of laughter from supposed loved ones.

The snorkelling was great but the northerly wind stirs the silt up so it wasn’t terribly clear but that didn’t seem to bother anyone as we bumped into each other and kicked each other in the face.

We returned to the boat a couple of hours later and a hard earned afternoon nap was had.

Our friends Robin & Pam that we met at Great Keppel, contacted us letting us know they were in Airlie and checking where we were.  They said they would try to catch up with us over the next few days.  It will be nice to catch up with them again.

Double Bay East to Bona Bay, Gloucester Island

An early morning following Bruce and his boat Dancer out of Double Bay heading north towards Bowen.  We knew that one section in the Gloucester Passage was 1.4m at low tide (we draw 2.1m) so it was important to hit at the right tide. This is why we were following Bruce.  He is a seasoned sailor who has done this trip a number of times before.

We hoisted our sails and with 7kt winds we were sailing along beautifully and enjoying the morning sunshine.   On approach to Gloucester Passage, we started up the motor and lowered the sails as we wanted to have full control of the boat going through the narrow zig sagging markers.  Bruce continued to sail on!  We followed him through and there was never the thought of any trouble and 4 hours after our departure we were anchored in the absolutely beautiful Bona Bay.

Gloucester Island

The fishing proved expensive with three lost lures and no edible fish.  

We went ashore and met Bruce’s family.  His gorgeous wife Tanya and his lovely daughter Ruby.  Ruby is Grace’s age so that kept Grace happy for the couple of days we spent there. 

Over the next couple of days we walked, played cricket, had drinks and nibbles, the girls painted shells they found on the beach and just generally had a relaxing time with lovely new friends.

Bruce, Jed and Michael

Me, Tanya

Ruby & Grace

I also undertook some sail repairs in 15kt winds.  By the time I was done, I required some repairs.

Yes Mum, that's me sewing

All up we spent 7 days at Gloucester Island as it was beautiful and we were waiting out the 40kt winds that were belting the Whitsundays.

Airlie Beach to Double Bay East

The weather wasn’t the greatest to be taking off but we’d used up our week (and all our money) and had to make our way out of the marina.  We checked the maps and decided the short trip to Double Bay East would keep us out of the strong winds predicted to hit.  So 12nm north in just 2.5 hours and we were throwing our anchor down in a fairly sheltered area. 

I also managed to forget to return the marina key upon our departure.  Now I own a key that cost me $50 and opens nothing I own.

We’d only been anchored for about 10 minutes when a neighbouring yachty, Bruce, came up in his dinghy with a huuuuuge golden trevally and asked “Do you want this?  I just caught it and I don’t have enough room in my fridge for it.”  Needless to say, we wanted it.  That night we had a big feast of trevally.  For people who live on the water, we don’t eat a lot of seafood and it was lovely to have a big feed of fresh fish.

With limited internet, we were discussing our options with Bruce and he suggested Gloucester Island.  He would be heading up there the following morning and as it has a line of sight to Bowen, the internet connectivity should be good.  So the decision was made to follow Bruce the following morning.