Pancake Creek to Hamilton Island (15th June)

Foredeck Macrame

Last we left you we were making our way into Pancake Creek which was back at the end of May.  Pancake Creek was really busy when we arrived and for some reason the mooring's in there didn't seem all that popular so we decided we would have a go at one.  We quickly found out that they come with their own set of problems when you have a lot of current and wind especially when they are opposing each other.  This meant at certain times the mooring line would go under the boat and the ball would sit about half way down the boat which wasn't all that bad however it did mean that Sally ended up lying at all sorts of angles to the wind and current which wasn't always that pleasant. 
After a night of this we decided to shorten up the mooring line which is a feat in itself as the ropes are more suitable for small ships than cruising yachts.  This is what we ended up with which looks like macrame all over the foredeck.


We did a couple of nice walks one was the low tide beach walk to clew point where there was a crew trying to remove a boat that had come to grief on the beach.  The next day we did the walk up to the Bustard Head Light which has recently been restored.  You can arrange to have the light house tour by the caretakers which was very informative and well worth the $10 each - definitely worth it if you ever stop at Pancake Creek.

Bit breezy at the top of the Bustard Head Light

Heron Island & Wistari Reef

Luckily we have some good weather coming up so on the 1st June we departed from our troublesome mooring and had a lovely broad reach sail out to Wistari Reef which is right next door to Heron Island.  Parks have been very busy up this way and there is now a mooring at Wistari and luckily it was free.  We had some company at Wistari as there was a small super yacht anchored right next door called Neorion...  There was also a research vessel that was getting ready to head north - we never did quite find out what they were researching but probably something to do with the reef.



Neorion

We took little Sally for a trip over to Heron Island and had a wander around. It seemed quite busy and would certainly be a nice spot for some R&R.  We also went for a snorkel on the old wharf site which is just in front of the mooring and again were really pleased to see a very healthy reef system and plenty of medium size fishes.  Sure if we looked harder there would also be a good range of sharks there too as there is plenty of current running through the passage between Heron and Wistari.





Heron Island Harbour

On the 3rd June we are on our way again and sailed for most of the way to the Leekes Beach anchorage on Great Keppel arrival.  Again the anchorage is pretty busy.  We only stopped for the night and headed into the Keppel Bay Marina for a few nights as there is some strong wind forecast.





Amazing who you find in marinas - we managed to catch up with all sorts of people including our old friend Oscar from Zenitude.  Hopefully we will cross paths with him further up the cruising track.
We also had a fantastic steak dinner at the Waterline Restaurant at the marina as well as a few sun-downers at the Capricornia Coast YC.

After getting all the jobs done in Keppel including the 1000H service on the main motor we continue the journey north in search of warmer weather on Saturday 8th June.  There was lots of good news on the 8th.  Firstly we were lucky enough to get enough internet coverage in at Port Clinton which is where we spent the night.  This meant I could watch Carlton win a game against the Lions and we also found out that Ash Barty won the French Open.  There was  bit of bubbles flowing on Mustang Sally that night for sure :)

On Sunday the 9th we had a fairly short sail to Hexham Island.  We were expecting to have the anchorage to ourselves as it is not a common stop over but had a fishing boat and multi hull for company.  Our next stop was to South Percy Island where we enjoyed a lovely beach walk.




Mustang Sally at South Percy

We have come to the conclusion that it is really hard to find good anchorages that are not rolly through this area of the coast.  Even if the sea state is low the current just seems to always make things a bit bumpy and uncomfortable.  This trip we have decided to go wide so on the 11th we are up really early for 70NM trip to Scawfell Island.  Again we have some nice breeze so are able to sail all the way and had the anchor down right on dusk. 






We are now at the southern end of the Whitsundays and are happy to back in this part of the world especially as the passages are much shorter and there is plenty of stuff to see and do. 

View South from Shaw Island

Our next night stops were at Brampton Island then to Shaw and we are now tied up in a marina berth at Hamilton Island for a couple of days of decadence and indulgence.  I have also booked in for a much needed hair cut this afternoon so very much looking forward to that and we are going out to a flash restaurant to celebrate my birthday tomorrow - it is not often I get taken out for my birthday as the last few years we have been anchored off some tropical island somewhere!!




Some advantages of not having a fixed keel!! - Shaw Island


So far for the season we have had some great sailing conditions. Not too windy but enough to sail.  We have covered approx 680NM since leaving Manly around 1 month ago and still have around 100ltrs or half tank of diesel left so travelling well.