To the Tropics

The crew was back to one - Craig left us in Bundaberg. It was a luxury having an extra pair of hands to help do sailing stuff, which allowed the permanent crew to laze around in bed and watch videos on a rainy afternoon.

Spent a extra night in Bundaberg and headed….. northish. The trip took a little over 8 hrs and was the second time we had actually sailed all the way. 20+kts on the beam. The boat flew, the crew slept (on deck, ready to jump at a moment’s notice).

Pancake Creek was pretty as a picture – a bit of a haven, with a number of boats (that grew to 18) anchored. Celebrated our safe arrival and navigation of the channel and wondered how people did this without a fridge, freezer and hot water – the crew is working out how we can put in a washing machine and dishwasher.

If it’s not a low developing off the NSW coast, it’s a high moving across central Australia – either one will give you a lot of wind! And so it proved, with the wind outside getting to 25Kts + with large sea and swell, low cloud and on again, off again rain. So we took it easy. The cook made scones (a first) and we took the tinny for a run up the creek and caught up with “Easy Rider”. The next day wasn’t much better, though the rain cleared and we hiked up to the lighthouse – ‘bout an hour each way. The path was marked by bits of strategically placed litter – cans of Tooheys New (they have found a use for them), plastic and ribbon.

There”s a small grave yard at the top of the walk, with marked graves of the people who had come to grief in the area – it acted to humanise the history of the lighthouse (the first built by the QLD govt). The irony of one young bloke meeting his death in the creek while on duty as a linesman for the lighthouse, was not lost on us.

We left the creek, regretting that our visit hadn’t coincided with better weather – with a bit of luck it will be there on our return. Onwards, always north, but now with some west thrown in, we had a destination of Yeppoon, with an overnight stop at Cape Capricorn.

We are now officially in the tropics, having passed the requisite latitude at 1458 on the 16th June – not a palm tree in sight, it’s still windy and if not cold, then definitely cool – its not what was advertised. The Cape provides some protection from the south east wind and swell and we are the only ones there. hope that isn’t some local knowledge thing.

Rosslyn Bay (Yeppoon) was an easy trip – sun came out, the wind dropped off and at last it was definitely warmer. The only issue we're having with the boat is the lack of electricity. The options were solar panels, wind generator, more batteries or a petrol generator. All have their good and bad points and we opted for the generator (cost and portability) and had one sent up from Brisbane. It’ll get a run over the next 4 days as the plan is to take that long to get to Mackay – the first stop at Port Clinton and then a choice of some islands depending on the wind and weather. The Keppel group of islands will have to wait for our return leg.

The Marina at Rosslyn Bay was great, even gave you a car to go into town. The best spot was the Capricornia Yacht Club, about the size of a large shed, which faced west, and was the best spot to have a beer (no draught, cans or Crown) at the end of the day and meet other people doing the same thing…and there are quite a few.