Thursday
When we first arrived at Pancake Creek it looked quite crowded further up the creek where we had planned to stop, so we dropped the anchor just inside the entrance with 2 other yachts for a few hours so we could have a rest and re-evaluate in a few hours’ time. Being at the northern end of the inlet there was a fair bit of fetch from the south making the anchorage quite uncomfortable. A few hours later the tide was rising so we weighed anchor and motored further up the creek to see if there would be room for one more. We were pleased to find that there was plenty of space to anchor and it was definitely more comfortable. Pancake Creek is shallow so it’s safer to navigate at or near high tide.
Unfortunately Pancake Creek is surrounded by National Park which means no dogs, but we noticed that boaties had found a workaround. They would wait until low water when the sandbanks were exposed and exercise their dogs there. We were surprised at how many people travel with dogs, close to 50% of the 22 boats in the anchorage had dogs. Lucy was a bit anti-social at first but soon relaxed and was running around having a great time.
Friday
Mark had checked the forecast for the week as our next destination would be Keppel Island. The trade winds had really kicked in with 20-25 knots from the south east forecast through till Wednesday so we decided we’d depart Pancake Creek on Monday, have a stop-over at the north end of Facing Island and arrive at Keppel Island on Wednesday when the wind was due to ease. Unfortunately, with developed south easterlies Keppel Island does not offer a lot of shelter from the swell which tends to wrap around the point into the anchorages on the Islands’ northern side.
It was good to get ashore out of the wind and walk up to the Bustard Head Lighthouse. In 1770 Captain James Cook named Bustard Head after a bustard (a bird) which was shot and eaten by the landing party. The lighthouse (built in 1868) was constructed using prefabricated cast iron segments, erected in England then disassembled and shipped to Australia where it was bolted together on site.
In 1986 the lighthouse was automated. Over the next 16 years vandals all but destroyed the surrounding lighthouse cottages. Then in 2002 the Bustard Head Lighthouse Association, a volunteer organization led by Stuart Buchanan obtained a lease to restore the National and State heritage listed site. The story of the light stations’ tragic history include murder, suicide and abduction. It was an amazing story to read.
Saturday and Sunday
We met a lot of lovely people with so many different stories to tell. Even though Georgie was the only child in most instances, she appreciated being included in the conversations and loved hearing about the different sailing adventures.
Kim from “Cat Magic” showed us how to pump for yabbies and gave Mark tips on how to store the yabbies to keep them alive until they went fishing. After 30 minutes of gathering yabbies, Mark and Georgie got their fishing gear together, jumped in the dinghy and motored further up the creek to try their luck. There was no luck, so we had chicken for dinner. At this point in time Tassie still has the best fishing.
Monday
We weighed anchor at 0700 (high tide) and slowly motored to the entrance of the creek where we waited until 1100 before departing. This would allow us to arrive at our next anchorage at high tide.
When sailing past the Gladstone approach channel we had an interesting encounter with a cargo ship. We counted 30 plus ships anchored waiting to enter the Port of Gladstone. Mark had been monitoring the AIS to see when the next ship was scheduled to enter the channel. As we neared the channel, we noticed a helicopter dropping off a pilot on one of the ships several miles away. Within a few minutes the 300-metre-long ship was steaming at 10 knots and heading our way. Mark called the pilot and nervously waited about 30 seconds until he responded. After confirming his intentions, we turned hard to port, allowing the cargo ship to pass down the channel in front of us before crossing behind him. A close encounter that certainly got the heart pumping.
We dropped anchor at North Point off Facing Island at 1600. It was a stressful evening as we were in 9 metres of water in a narrow channel with a strong current, so put out 50 metres of chain (with a rocky shore that was only 70 metres away). Happy Days!
Tuesday
We weighed anchor at 0800 at the top of the tide and slowly motored our way through the shallow channel out into the Coral Sea. At 1200 we passed the tropic of Capricorn, arriving at Svendsens Bay on Great Keppel Island (GKI) at 1415.
We went ashore and gave Lucy a big run. It was fantastic that we were able to take her ashore and she soon met two other dogs which helped wear her out as they chased each other up and down the beach. A lot of people that we’d met at Pancake Creek were also arriving to make the most of the good weather on GKI.
Unfortunately, it turned out to be an ordinary night with none of us getting much sleep. There was a nasty easterly swell wrapping around the point making the anchorage quite uncomfortable. It was so rolly that poor Georgie was seasick.