Sunday 11/07/21 to Saturday 24/07/21 – Stonehaven Bay to Nara Inlet

Sunday

There was a strong south easterly blowing so after checking the charts we decided to go to Stonehaven Bay which was about 1 hour from Nara Inlet. We pulled up anchor, cleaning all the sausage mud off as we went. Once the anchor was secured, we motored out into Whitsunday Passage. Copping the choppy sea up the stern we rocked and rolled our way to Stonehaven Bay dropping 60 metres of chain in 12 metres of water at 1300 hours.

After a late lunch we jumped in the dinghy and carefully navigated our way through the bommies and reef into the beach. The beach was made up of small pieces of broken coral and rocks. Unfortunately, there were no walks on the island, so we wandered around climbing rocks and beach combing. We could not stay on the beach very long as the tide was going out and we would have to pull the dinghy across the coral and rocks back into deeper water.

Monday

We arranged to meet Simon, Dina and Harriett from SV-Fortuna to discuss the weather and the possibility of going to Bait Reef (part of the outer reef, about 17 nautical miles from Hayman Island). Mark was not feeling comfortable with the narrow weather window and the timing of the tides so we decided not to go and wait for a more favourable forecast.

After lunch we went across to Langford Island. Langford Island is small, but when the tides are low there is a huge sand bar that becomes part of the island. There is a nice short walk up a hill to a lookout. Mark and I made the most of the hill and ran up and down the track a few times for some exercise. The Island is popular with the tourist boats offloading 20+ people to snorkel, swim and do other water activities.

We had intentions of staying the night on a mooring but when the wind and tide went different directions the mooring buoy began knocking against the side of the boat, so we released the rope and motored back over to Stonehaven where we dropped the pick.

Tuesday

It was a lovely sunny day with the usual 20-25 knot trade winds blowing from the southeast. Making the most of the conditions we put up the main and genoa and sailed at 7-8 knots across Whitsunday Passage to Woodwark Bay. As we were nearing the bay the gearbox temperature alarm went off (Mark had set it to go off above 50 degrees). When Mark built the boat the information about the gearbox indicated that it was ok to have the propeller free wheel when under sail but with the gearbox heating up it appears we might have to install a shaft brake – more research required.

Wednesday

We spent the morning running the water maker, washing and cleaning. We took Lucy ashore for a run on the beach adjacent to the Paradise Cove Whitsunday Resort which is where the rich and famous come to get away from it all. We were sure that if we ran into anyone they would be very excited to meet a tan and white kelpie walking along their secluded beach!

After lunch we motored around the corner to Airlie Beach to reprovision and get some unleaded fuel for the dinghy. It is quite an expedition to do the shopping and normally takes a good couple of hours. We had completed our shopping and were returning to the boat in the dinghy when we were caught in a tropical shower. It was not so bad though as it was still 23 degrees and we dried off quickly.

Once the groceries were packed away we picked up anchor and motored across to Funnel Bay which is still on the mainland hoping for a good night sleep. It was not to be, as with Airlie Beach it was another rolly night.

Thursday

At 0800 we picked up anchor and motored across to Happy Bay on Long Island where would have internet access to get some jobs done and for Georgie to complete her schoolwork.

While I did some computer work, Mark put on the dive gear and wiped the slime off the hull of Escapade. The anti-fouling that we applied in Tasmania was doing a good job with no signs of hard barnacles.

It was a magic day, there was no wind and a sunny 23 degrees. I went for a SUP around the shore and under the Long Island jetty, scouting for fish. I talked to an older couple that were fishing from a tinny who said that years ago there used to be a lot of fish around, but they had noticed a decline in numbers over the last few years.

Much to Georgie’s excitement we went for a walk to the neighbouring Palm Beach resort in search of ice-creams, but had no luck.

Wind was forecast to blow from the north at 30 knots tomorrow morning, so we picked up anchor and motored 45 minutes to Schute Harbour.

Friday

We anchored in 7 metres with 60 metres of chain out. The current was strong and we found that we were bow into the current with the wind blowing from the opposite direction.

Mark took Lucy ashore for a walk while Georgie did school work and I prepared our tax for the accountant.
After lunch we took the dinghy to the beach and went for a walk along the Conway National Park track to Coral Beach. It was a nice undulating walk through bushland. From the lookout at the top of the hill we watched Escapade cut laps around our anchor, dreading what we would find when we pulled it up the next day.

Saturday

We picked up anchor at 0830 and motored across to South Molle Island. It was a gorgeous sunny day with no wind, the temperature was forecast to reach 23 degrees. To date we still had not seen any whales and were hoping that today would be the day. We were keeping a vigilant watch but no luck! We’d heard over the VHF radio that there’d been regular sightings so they are definitely around.

Our thoughts go out to all Victorians who went into lockdown No. 5, last night.

We feel guilty and self-indulgent writing about our adventures of sailing, sunshine, tropical islands, turtles, fish etc when you guys are enduring winter and another lockdown in Victoria. We just hope that it provides some sort of distraction for you.

Sunday

The South Molle Island Resort was destroyed by Cyclone Debbie in 2017. The remains of the old jetty were removed and a new multi-million dollar jetty was funded by the Government to help drive tourism in the Whitsundays again. South Molle resort was purchased by a Chinese company (CCIG) in 2016. The resort is on State owned land which has strict guidelines as to how the land is to be managed and maintained. Although no buildings have been rebuilt, the majority of the debris has been removed leaving derelict buildings and an overgrown golf course. I guess time will tell if the resort is rebuilt again.

We went for a great walk to the Spion Kop lookout which has fantastic views across the bay. It brought back memories when we went to the Whitsundays years ago with Mark’s brother Frank and his partner Phee. We’d anchored our rental yacht in the bay and were two thirds of the way up the same track when we looked down to find that our yacht was a lot further out than we remembered. We sprinted down the hill, Mark and Frank jumped in the dinghy and raced after our retreating yacht. It all ended well, but was a good lesson learnt – you can never have too much chain out!

Monday

There were a number of different walks on South Molle, not knowing how long it would be till we got another good walk in we took a track up to Mount Jeffreys which gave 360 degree views from Schute Harbour around to Whitsunday Passage. While at the lookout we finally spotted our first whales. YAY! On the return trip we came across two snakes crossing our track which was not as exciting.

We picked up anchor and sailed across Whitsunday Passage to Fitzalan Beach. Along the way we spotted several more hump back whales.

Tuesday

We sailed around to Whitehaven Beach and dropped anchor at 0930. We went for a walk to the Whitehaven Beach lookout. Georgie and I enjoyed the calm anchorage by paddling around on the SUP’s. Lucy jumped on my SUP so I took her for a paddle, she loved it when we came across a couple on a motor boat who had an Australian Cattle dog.

Wednesday

After a quick walk up to Solway Passage lookout, we pulled up anchor and sailed across to Cataran Bay on Border Island. We averaged 7 knots in 15-20 knots of wind from the south/south east with a following sea and tide. At Cataran Bay you are not allowed to drop your anchor so reluctantly we picked up a mooring. Our last experience with the mooring had it hitting the side of the boat when the wind was against tide, it also happens when there is no wind. Mark taking precautions this time around pulled the mooring buoy up so it was hanging just below the bow sprint so it wouldn’t cause any problems.

Cataran Bay has some excellent coral bommies. We went for a dinghy ride to check the best locations and then put on our wetsuits, grabbed our snorkel gear and drifted with the tide around the bay looking at the schools of fish and coral.

Thursday

At 0800 we took the dinghy ashore on the high tide and walked up the hill on Boundary Island to a lookout that looked back towards Whitehaven and Chalkies Beach. Once back at Escapade we dropped the mooring, unfurled the genoa and sailed to Butterfly Bay on Hook Island. The wind was forecast to swing around to the north and blow up to 20 knots, but we were still keen to do another snorkel if we had the opportunity. Mark took Lucy to check out the snorkel site and quickly realised that it was too choppy. So shortly after lunch we dropped the mooring and continued-on our way to Nara Inlet dropping anchor at 1500.

Friday

We were down to half a tank of water so Mark fired up the generator and the next 4 hours was spent filling the water tanks, washing, vacuuming and general cleaning.

Late in the afternoon, a steady stream of boats arrived at Nara Inlet. We counted over 50 boats at one stage. After the sun had gone down and all the anchor lights (and fancy blue lights) were turned on, the inlet looked like a Christmas tree.

Saturday

The wind is forecast to blow up to 20 knots from the north today so the plan is to stay at Nara Inlet for another night. First thing tomorrow we’ll cross Whitsunday passage to Woodwark Bay and then on Monday head north towards Townsville and Magnetic Island.