Lady Musgrave and Back to the Mainland (30th May 2019)

Since the last report we made it to Bundaberg and stopped there for a couple of nights to get the usual boat jobs done and provision the boat while we waited for some calmer weather to get out to Lady Musgrave which is an absolute gem of a place to stop on the East Coast.

LADY MUSGRAVE

We departed from Bundaberg Marina very very early
(i.e. 4:30H) on the 25th May and headed out to
Lady Musgrave which is approx 52Nm almost due
north from Bundy. We safely navigated the entrance at around 14:00H and were quickly advised of a spare mooring by our sister ship Perseides 2 who we originally met in Broken Bay back in 2014!!!.  Last year Parks put in a large number of moorings at many of the popular anchorage spots along the Queensland coast which is fantastic and a great way to protect the coral from boats anchoring etc.
With the great weather forecast we were not the only ones with the great idea of stopping in at Lady Musgrave as we counted around 30boats at any one time in the anchorage in the lagoon.

We spent a wonderful 4 nights at Lady Musgrave and did plenty of snorkelling and we were lucky enough to have a large coral patch which was swimming distance from the boat.  We explored a few other recommended snorkelling spots and in one of them found some great coral and fish but also found a rather large White Tip Reef Shark which was just a bit too curious and friendly for out liking so decided that we should go and explore the reef elsewhere in the lagoon.  It was good to see the reef in great condition with a wide range of fish including sharks which make for a very healthy reef system.

OVERLY FRIENDLY WHITE TIPPED SHARK

As well as doing lots of snorkelling we had a couple of visits to the island which is still quite noisy with plenty of Noddy Terns present even though most of the sea birds have left after the nesting season.  There are also plenty of other birds to see.

SUNSET AT LADY MUSGRAVE



After a wonderful four days of calm weather at Lady Musgrave we figured it was time to head back to the coast so departed yesterday (29th May) and headed pretty much due West in to the very protected and much visited anchorage at Pancake Creek which is just south of Gladstone.  

 

It is a pretty convoluted and shallow entry into the main anchorage area at Pancake Creek and it becomes very obvious where the deep channel is when all the sand bars become exposed at low tide.

This is also a very busy spot and think we counted at least 27 boats in the anchorage last night.  From all reports there are a lot more cruisers wandering up and down the Queensland Coast since out last trip back in 2014.

 

SOME OF THE BOATS ANCHORED AT PANCAKE CK

This morning we went for a lovely coastal walk and then back to the boat via the inland track and tomorrow we are planning to walk to the Lighthouse at Bustard Head.  On the way back to the boat we stopped by the sand bar to check out the boat Australe who was careened this morning for a bit of a clean.  This Cruising Life is not always champagne and cocktails at sunset.

 



BIT OF HULL CLEANING ON AUSTRALE

After a couple of nights here at Pancake Creek not sure of our exact plans.  If the weather behaves itself we are hoping that we might get back out into the coral for a visit to Wistari Reef which is right next door to Heron Island - fingers crossed!! If not will take the more coastal road via Cape Capricorn (which means we have officially made it to the tropics) and then into the Keppels.