Pearl Bay is on the mainland coast and another of those places that we missed on the way up due to the weather conditions. As it offers some protection in south east weather which we were expecting for a day, we elected to go here for Wednesday and possibly Thursday night.
It is a pretty place – long sandy beaches and a big expanse of water. All around this area there are miles of sandy beaches which have no development or sign of habitation – all presumably because it is smack bang in the middle of the massive Shoalwater Bay Army Exclusion and training zones. Skipper adds that it starts up near Cape Townshend (we passed this earlier in the day and its where the airforce do their strafing and bombing practice. At certain times anchorages in this part are not available to boats because of army or airforce training and ‘Notices to Mariners’ are issued telling you not to go near the place- there was some training happening over the hill in Island Head Creek, however the anchorages were OK to enter. It is also OK to go ashore to the beach, however danger signs forbid any entry to the bush highlighting risks of injury from laser lights and/or exploding bombs - and of course jail for trespassing.
We had a pleasant and calm sleep on the first night. The southerly came through in the morning as forecast and the holding was good. We enjoyed a walk along the beach with more ‘treasure hunting’ – amazing some of the corals, shells and driftwoods you find. My little bucket of treasures collected along the way is getting bigger! The boys went for a fish in the afternoon and Skipper caught two good sized parrot fish (yes those beautiful looking fish that I admire when snorkelling!). The wind and swell had come up quite significantly in the afternoon and since I always want my daily (at least) swim, regardless of the weather, I had a dip off the back of the boat. Well it was more like surf, hanging tightly on to the swim ladder, and watching a large swell roll through behind me. Here I was - hanging on to the ladder in the water - with me and the back of the boat rising almost 2 metres out of the water as the waves rolled in one after the other... pretty crazy when you think about it given Skipper wasn’t on the boat if I did get washed off... though he tells me he was watching from the dinghy. It was in fact huge fun! (Skipper advised they likewise had a wrestle in the dinghy with tides sweeping them one direction and the wind blowing in the other. Ummm.... not quite sure whether me or the fish would have been the priority in need...)
It set the scene really for what was looking like another rolly night at anchor. We did manage to enjoy a nice lamb roast meal on Echo Beach though as we discussed plans to leave at first light for Rosslyn Bay or Great Keppel – approx 7-8 hrs away.
We left around 6.30 am and had a reasonable trip south. It is still quite hot during the day and with no covers up when on journeys, a few buckets of water were used to cool us along the way! It was also great to have full phone/internet access back – so the journey passed relatively quickly as we caught up on various things. We also elected along the way to go to Rosslyn Bay marina one night early rather than stay at Great Keppel Island that night – so we had arrived safely, refuelled, tied up and washed down the boat by sunset. We then enjoyed a huge seafood meal of bugs and prawns with ‘Billabong’ before enjoying a very sound and calm sleep in the marina.
Coming in the night before allowed us the opportunity to reprovision and do all the chores on Friday to allow an early Saturday departure – there was good weekend weather coming and we did not want to be in the marina for this!. Friday was the planned CC13 rendezvous night so together with ‘Billabong’ and Jim and Greg from ‘Stressfree’, we enjoyed a pleasant rendezvous drink at the Capricornia Cruising Yacht Club and a meal at nearby Beaches restaurant.
The next week or so has mixed weather and our challenge will be to pick the changes at the right times. A few long trips are needed for the next stage of the journey south towards Hervey Bay/ Fraser Island. We are also still hopeful that we might get a bit of calm to enjoy a night or two at some of the area’s outer islands and reefs. Neil and Tamara will be heading south to Pancake Creek in the morning and we will spend a few days at Great Keppel Island.