Airlie Beach to 7th August. Pearl Bay Beach
06 August 2019 | Airlie Beach
Phillip Bowman
On Monday [22nd July] we were away at 0645 for the sail across to Curlew Island. This was one of our better sails with gentle winds, the tide with the wind and a low general swell. I arrived at noon in company of Lewie and Third Man. A lunch of pasta on Third man was enjoyed by all. We also found Sylphide was still here but with her furler now back up. Turns out Catherine had manage a temporary repair to her furler but now had problems with her engine. Other at Curlew had had a look at the engine but had not found out what was wrong so Greg and I had a look and discovered that a bolt hole had been stripped on the fuel return to the fuel filter. The whole unit was replaced in Mackay. Just on evening Greg and I saw 2 metre Mackerel jumping high in the air as they chased bait fish.
Tuesday [23rd July] saw a daylight start and once clear of the sandbar and rocks around Curlew Island the light winds required the use of the iron sail if we were ever to get to MacKay today. Conditions were very good with the light wind but later in the day with the flood tide being against what wind there was the seas built slightly. As I approached the Hay Point anchorage with some 37 large ships anchored there, I could see this one ship moving and then it swung west to point straight at my proposed course. With no change in its bearing and the AIS plotter saying we are going to collide it was time to call her up. At first I got no response and checking her full details on the AIS, realized I had her name incorrectly. Once I called her with the correct name they came straight back, unfortunately it wasn’t the pilot speaking and I was only understanding the odd word. What I worked out was that he wanted Seaka to pass her stern. I was in complete agreement with that and now he knew that was what I would do. After half an hour stuffing around I was final clear and once again on-way to MacKay where we arrived at 1630 hours. I had a shower and then with the crews from Lewie and Third Man we went and had fish n’ chips and a beer for tea.
We spent two days in MacKay during which I did an oil and filter change and took on water and fuel. I threw away the last of that meat from home and found a butcher where I got meat that they vacuum packed for me. The three yachts hired the marina car for one afternoon and we went and had a look at the northern suburbs of MacKay and completed our shopping.
On Friday [26th July] we tried to exit the harbour but got caught by a fuel ship entering and ended up tied to a marina arm while waiting for the docking to be completed. Once clear we headed for Brampton Island which was a downwind sail. Later in the day we had to add the motor after the tide change to arrive at 1500 hours. I inflated the dinghy as it will be stored on the foredeck from now on while we are in the Whitsunday Islands. I went for a trawl but didn’t get anything.
We spent the next day [27th July] at Brampton Island. Greg and I went ashore in my dinghy and spoke to the caretaker. Seems the whole resort is condemned but to rebuild the owners of the lease have to barge off all the present building materials. It would be a huge job as I could see heaps of asbestos sheets in the buildings which is probably why nothing is happening. By the time we departed the shore the tide had dropped to the point where we had to walk the dinghy out over the shallow bar.
Sunday [28th July] with a late start we sailed up to Goldsmith Island and anchored in Rosslyn Bay. Went for a trawl but didn’t get anything so when the tide had come in a bit so I could get over the reef I went ashore and made a few phone calls. The weather reports do not look from Wednesday this week with 30 plus knots predicted.
Monday [29th July] we sailed the 9 nautical miles to Thomas Island and anchored in behind Young Tom’s Island. No fish again but later that afternoon the crews from seven yachts went ashore for drinks during which we caught up with a few yachts we had been seeing on the odd occasion. The following night can be rated as amongst the worst I have spent onboard Seaka and by daylight I was over it and decided to bolt north, remember we do have extreme weather coming, where I would decide once around Burning Point on Shaw Island. Before I left I managed to ring Greg and tell him of my change in plans. Greg said he would stay another day, which he told me later he regretted as it was worse than the first night, then go to anchor behind Burning Point.
Leaving just after daylight [30th July] I by chance got the tides right and sailed up to Burning point doing 5 knots. Once I got to Platypus Rock, off Shaw Island, I saw that the Whitsunday Passage was relatively calm and it was an easy decision to head across to Long Island which I reached as the tide turned to an ebbing tide and as a result we surged through The Narrows at 9 plus Knots. This continued until our speed had dropped off to 6 knots just north of Shute Harbour. So the 30 nautical mile trip was done at over 5 knots average, our best run yet. On arrival at Airlie Beach we anchored in our normal location off the western entrance to the Able Point Marina, now called the Coral Seas Marina, at Cannonvale.
So on Wednesday [31st July] and over the next few days [to 7th August] we started to prepare for the coming high winds by getting shore jobs done and food onboard. During this time I fitted an automatic float switch to the bilge pump, fixed a broken fishing rod and brought fuel so we have all containers full. I also baked a cake for my birthday. Over these last few days we have had high winds, up to 33 knots and periods of heavy rain.
Tomorrow [8th August] after eight days here we will sail towards Whitehaven Beach to take advantage of a two day period of little wind. After that we will head north to the top of Hook and down the western side of the island before coming back into Airlie Beach to reprovision before the Shaggers get together at Gloucester Passage during 22-25th August.
After that we will return to Airlie Beach for a final reprovision before heading south for home.