Sand Hill & Horseshoe Bay! Saturday, December 1, 2018
01 December 2018 | Horseshoe Bay off Peel Island, Queensland, Australia
Helen/Mark

Ended yesterday with another episode of Viking. We only have a couple more shows in this season for some reason. Headed to bed after 10 pm. Up before 6. We had breakfast and Mark added a route for today. Then took the dinghy to shore. There was a huge mountain of white sand to be climbed. As Mark was tying the dinghy line, we noticed a huge turtle on the beach. We went close to it and it was either tired out or not alive. Not sure which. We headed to the hill. It was difficult to walk up as we kept sinking into the soft layers of sand. Mark tried using a thin piece of paneling but he didn't go very far. Then he tried my yoga mat, but that didn't work either. So, we ended up just walking back down the hill and taking a lovely beach stroll. No one else around at that early hour. As we walked back to the dinghy, the tide had gone out further, so we had to push the dinghy back into the shallow waters. I pulled the dinghy until we were deep enough to drop the motor. Very shallow waters at low tide. Made it back to the boat. Helped Mark hoist the dinghy into the davits. Hauled anchor around 9 am and headed towards Horseshoe Bay on Peel Island. We were able to turn off the motors and sail for a while. The wind was light but we were making a speed over 4 knots. Then our course changed and the jib did nothing but flap. So, one motor was started. At different times we had a little wind to sail by so the sail was unfurled. Made it to Horseshoe Bay just at 1 pm. Had lunch along the way and made some phone calls. This is a very popular anchorage. I counted almost 100 boats, of every size and shape. Mark launched the dinghy and we headed to the beach. This is a huge anchorage. the wind was blowing and there were waves in the anchorage as we headed towards shore. Very shallow along the edge but there were some spaces in-between the anchored boats, if we wanted to move. We took the dinghy to shore and walked around. Met a family who sailed a McGregor. We enjoyed a lovely conversation with them. Then noticed a catamaran almost on shore and it was a charter boat. Talked to two of the guests who said they were part of real estate company in Cleveland and they who chartered the boat for their Christmas celebrations. What a great idea. Half a day on the water! Did some more beach walking and headed back to the dinghy. It was relatively flat water and the sun was hot with not much of a breeze. It was gradually rougher conditions as we got to Charabia. We decided to haul anchor and move in some to get out of the swells. We were happy that we moved as it's less rocky here. Mark has plotted our next destination. We will move about 8 miles tomorrow to Macleay Island. If we can believe the weather report for tomorrow's much stronger winds. We both enjoyed an SG&T as the sun was about to set. A very large red ball descended over Peel Island. The sky is painted in red as it gets a little darker out. We did notice a couple of bush fires along the main coast. Hope no homes were in harms' way. Thanks for the many emails and messages. So great to hear your news! We miss everyone. A special happy birthday to Peter Scala!