John and I have decided to sail up to Airlie Beach and book into the marina for a couple of nights as the forecast is for strong easterlies to 25 knts then rain on Tuesday. We figured we may as well get some office work done, replace the belts on the motors have internet service and go out for a meal.

The other two cats have gone to Gulnare Inlet north of Hamilton to hide from the weather. Most likely they will catch crabs.

Nyeki disappearing up Dent Passage

The sail across to the Whitsunday Passage from Shaw island was fast, with only the jib up we averaged 7.5 knts getting up to 9 and more.

Sailing through Unsafe passge between South and North Molle was a little hairy as we had 27knts of wind which was trying to push us towards the shallow coral covered ground. I guess that’s why is called Unsafe Passage.

Coming out Unsafe Passage , Daydream Island ahead.

We arrived outside the marina entrance at 1.30 and called them up on CH 9 for our berth, we were booked into N 19 which had another boat in the same pen on the next pontoon.

Getting into the berth aft first was tricky with the strong winds threatening to blow us sideways. On the second attempt a gust blew us across and close to the boat on the next pontoon where we unfortunately made contact with his tender. His tender was tied at the back off his boat at right angles to his big boat with its large motors up and tilted outwards. We connected with the propellers sticking out and gouged marks and holes along the side of Ovive. With the wind pushing us onto him we were continuing to damage the starboard hull as John tried to pull us out, so I climbed off and stood on his motors and pushed us off enough for John to manoeuvrer Ovive out of the pen.

Photo taken a couple of days later when both us and the weather had calmed down.

In all this commotion the people on board hadnt come out to look until we were almost off. They didn’t even bother to lend a hand. We were fairly shaken and annoyed and let the marina know that the berth was not wide enough for us to get into in strong winds. They put us on the superyacht berth until they could find somewhere else for us to tie up.

After tying behind a massive yacht  we lowered the dinghy and inspected the damage, we would have to get it fixed as soon as possible so we wouldn’t get water in the core foam.

The marina office gave us an incident form to fill in and one nights free stay which I thought was good of them. We booked in for another three nights at $226 per night. Fees have gone up a lot since 2015 however we did get the Shaggers 10 % discount which brought the rate down slightly. For those who don’t know what a Shagger is , we belong to the Shag Island Cruising Yacht club which we joined in 2007.

Some beers, Kahlua and pizza at  Sorrentos at the northern end of the marina eased the thoughts of the afternoon nasty.

Not Ovives fuel bill, thank goodness, someone on our finger though.

Day 39 of the trip broke with 8 knots of wind in the anchorage so after bacon and canned tomatoes we pulled the anchor and hoisted the main in the lee of Scawfell. John tightened the belts on the motors as they are slipping again. When next in port we may need to replace them. There is always wear and tear on some part of the boat and something needs replacing, ah well that’s the life of a sailor, cant always be sundowners and beaches.

The sail was pleasant with speeds between 6 and 10 knts.

Morgan taking it easy with her Meerkat , she sleeps anywhwere.

Two dolphins surfed the bows making Morgan whine with excitement. The three of us sat up on the bows and marvelled at their agility and speed.

We arrived at Shaw Island just behind Nyeki and dropped anchor in 3 metres.

John dinghied Morgan and I to shore giving Morgan a quick stretch of her four legs and me to see if there were any shells worth collecting but the shore was barren with brown clumps of coral as the tide was low.

I cooked fish pies for dinner although I couldn’t be bothered to make puff pastry so I topped them with  mashed potoato and cheese and served them with steamed vegies. The crew of Nyeki and Eva Louise came over and we celebrated making it to the Whitsundays.

PS the pies were delicious.

Another uncomfortable night where it seemed I got up every hour as I thought we were dragging – we weren’t and the anchor alarm hadn’t gone off either so I was just imagining things.

It was good to get going, it seemed like everyone had the same idea and an armada of boats all left about the same time taking advantage of the winds. They all had had enough of the rolly anchorage. With the swell behind us the wind was quite strong, up to 18 knts most of the day.

We hoisted the main and jib and hooted along all morning getting up to 14.9 knts at one stage. The waves looked high behind Ovive washing the duckboard and the bottom of the dinghy at times.

The sail and it was a sail for a change was quite boisterous. I could only manage cooking porridge for breakfast, nothing fancy as even with a seasick tablet it was rough down below.

Small black dolphins surfed our bows and had a super time. You think we would hit them, but they are very fast and nimble.

The weather was overcast and the wind made it quite cool in the cockpit. Morgan and I snuggled under a blanket.

We came into the lee of Scawfell at 2:30, it was a much quicker trip than expected but getting the sail down in changing gusts of wind was challenging. Finding a place to anchor was also tricky as all the spots close in were occupied with other boats who had either left earlier or were there from the day before. In the end we anchored of the coral on the eastern side of the bay.

After tidying the ropes etc we dropped a line over and being close to the coral were expecting fish however we only had weed coming up on our hooks so we gave up. Wayne over the other side of the bay caught a giant trevally.

We dined that evening on coral trout, wedges and salad, very tasty.

Todays weather forecast was for sunny skies and a nor easter so no good for heading in the direction we needed to go. The night was uncomfortable with a swell rolling into the bay, I was feeling a little green. We thought if we up anchored and headed round to the south of the island to Rescue Bay, conditions might be calmer. It was only a half hour sail, even so we put the lure out but weren’t lucky.

We anchored in about 7 metres of water just before we got to the coral. As I lowered the anchor, the chain jumped off the gypsy and all 50 metres ran out with its own weight until it got to the rope which luckily caught on the feeder ring inside the chain box.  All our chain was sitting on the bottom, luckily we hadn’t anchored too close to the coral or we may had had trouble. We manually hauled up the first few metres and settled it back onto the gypsy and brought it up. I am not sure why it jumped of in the first place but it was a bit scary watching it roll off into the depths on its own with no way of stopping it.

This anchorage was calmer than around the other side. John got out his trolling lure and after taking Morgan and I ashore went for a troll along the edge of the coral hoping to catch a trout. He said he had a couple of hits but no luck.

The beach was beautiful with crystal clear water and only Eva Louise and Nyeki crew. Wayne was cast netting for live bait but he only managed to trap 3 hardy heads as the mullet kept eluding him. It didn’t help that Morgan kept following him in the shallows and scaring them away.

When Wayne sat his bucket on the sand Morgan was fascinated and eventually grabbed a fish out of the bucket and tossed it around then left it on the sand. We fed it to Roxy who quickly devoured it.

Back on Ovive the temperature had risen and it was rather hot so I jumped off the back of the boat to cool down. The water was so refreshing and clear .

After drying off I attempted to catch some small squid that were hanging around the anchor chain. They weren’t interested in my squid jig and they were too small anyway.

Wayne went for a dive and speared two decent size coral trout. We were really lucky when he delivered a large fillet to us for dinner.

After downloading emails and text messages (better reception here) we headed back round to West Bay where we anchored and went ashore for the usual, happy hour. More yachts had arrived in the day so new faces, we caught up with Geoff of Swell who we last had dinner with in Rosslyn Bay.

Coral trout in panko breadcrumbs with salad for dinner whilke the real captain slept after a big day.

John got up at 1:30 am to listen to the cricket on his radio. He is dedicated to beating those poms.

The day dawned with no wind in a quiet anchorage. After completing a few boat chores and a sleep in for Morgan and John we dinghied ashore to explore  the new place.

For years Middle Percy has had a lease on it run by caretakers. They farm goats, tend beehives and fruit trees. The current residents sell honey and other goodies to cover part of their public liability that National Parks have forced them to take out to cover visiting yachties. They were told if they didn’t take out PL the parks would bulldoze the A frame down.

The A frame has a huge history of visiting yacht names some dating back to the 90s. We found our much faded and weathered OzziWandra sign we left there in 2009.

There were literally hundreds of names in all different materials and forms. Its fascinating to read the names and see the creativity of sailors with limited resources. We spent quite a lot of time in this unique structure.

Both us and Eva Louise left current boat signs as neither boat had visited previously.

And here is a boat we recognise.

Ozzi

We have improved on our signage since 2009

Later I walked up the hill along the track towards the homestead  to Ring Ring Rocks to call the office, the only spot for phone service as there is none down in the bay.

The track was dry and sandy and frequently used by the homestead 4wd to come down to the A frame to top up supplies of honey, eggs and chutney for sale.

The walk to Ring Ring Rocks was only 15 minutes passing some wild goats along the way. I threw them my apple core but they were more interested in scratching themselves.

Service was fairly good at Ring Ring Rocks. The view along the western coast of Middle Percy was magnificent with crystal clear water. What a place to do office work!

As usual one phone call generates another, so I was up on the rocks for an hour. Doug arrived to download the upcoming weather which appeared to be an extremely slow process.

The exact place to stand for reception.

John cooked us up mackerel in white sauce for lunch, its my favourite and soo delicious, while Sandra and Doug went for a paddle board around to the next bay.

After lunch he tried to sort out the water maker as we haven’t used it since 2012 and his memory has dimmed. Things were going well until it blew a hose as a relief valve was left on. Water went everywhere so we shelved that project until we get to civilisation where this is calm waters, and we can source parts.

The A frame was the place to congregate for happy hour or hours. Roughly 19 people from all types of boats anchored in the bay sat around on various tables chairs and stone blocks enjoying the last hour before sunset. Most were waiting for some wind to depart Percy. We chatted with a mix of folk from sailing couples to single handed fellows. Its great to mix with others who have a similar zest for life. John was particularly interested and jealous of a fellow with a brand  new stink boat who had satellite TV and was watching the Ashes with a  perfect  picture, whereas on Ovive we can only get telly close to a port.

Two salty sailors

Wayne smoked some of the mackerel over the coconut husks he had smoking in the fireplace. It was delicious.

Back on Ovive we weren’t overly hungry, so we baked a potato and had vegies in cheese sauce topper with bacon and extra cheese on the potato. No TV reception, once again John had to resort to his transistor radio to listen to Australia play England. I don’t think the Aussies are going very well by the sounds of the cursing.

PS If you want to see the photos close up you can click on them and they will enlarge.

Port Clinton was a great stop over, peaceful calm and good fishing. Can’t stay here forever so the anchor was retreived at 7:30 and we all headed off to the Percys.

The wind so far was not as predicted, blowing from the NNE and on the nose. The jib was pulled but that only gave us half a knot more so we motor sailed at 5 knots. Its a long way to go at 5 knts. Conditions were calm so I served up a very tasty ham and cheese omelette for breakfast and another cup of tea for John. (He gets it way too easy.)

The first waypoints for the exclusion zone were passed at 9 am and we were able to change course slightly. I dont think this helped, as per usual the wind forecast was way off, the winds didn’t materialise at all. The ocean was flat and calm and very easy to spot objects on the surface.

View from hatch in starboard hull, its was sooooo flat.

Even Morgan was super relaxed.

On my watch I saw dolphins and a very large sea snake. It looked like a striped beaked sea snake but by the time I grabbed my camera it had disappeared.

Cameras ready in anticipation of whales

Travelling past low rock 10 nm south of the Percy Islands, John said ‘the rock looks barren but we may catch something hanging around as we go past.

Sure enough, not long after I had taken this photo I glanced at the rod and noticed the line spooling off almost down to no line left. Motors were put in neutral and we went into fish mode, even Morgan.

It was a big strong fish and John slowly got some line back on the reel. We were all waiting with anticipation to see what it was then when it neared the surface we could see the stripes of a Spanish Mackeral definately a large fish.

John gaffed him and we had our metre long spaniard on the transom. With a bit of vodka to subdue him he was out for the count.

It took a fair while to fillet and clean him as there was a lot of fish.

We had lost a bit of time whilst fishing so we upped the revs on the motors and headed north. We had one extremely happy skipper.

Below are the steps we need to go through for bringing a fish onboard when motoring, its even more complicated when we have the sails up as we need to drop them and slow the boat down to play the fish:

• John go and reel in fish
• Jenny, slow the boat put motors in neutral
• Get the gaff and vodka
• Keep an eye ahead for boats and obstructions
• Bring the fish to the back of the boat without letting him dive down under the keels or props
• Yell at Morgan to move out of the fishermans way
• Hand rod to Jenny while John gaffs fish
• Squirt vodka down his gills to quieten him
• Tie up his tail so he cant escape
• Remove lure and gaff
• fillet fish and package
• dispose of carcass or keep for crab traps
• clean blood from transom
• Eat for breakfast lunch and dinner

Continuing on we sighted a large log over to our port, we called up Nyeki and Eva Louise who were over that way to warn them however when they got close it blew a spray of water. We only saw whales breaching in the distance. At one stage the others sailed past mother and calf floating. Most likely feeding.

We arrived at West Percy island at 4 pm and anchored amongst 16 other boats. The anchorages are getting more crowded these days.

After delivering mackeral to Nyeki and Eva Louise followed by happy hour on Eva Louise we dined on Spanish Mackeral for with a lime pepper sauce. Early to bed after all that excitement.

John and I got up in preparation for heading north. The forecast was for very light north west winds looking like we would  be motoring a lot. Had breaky , plotted a course and were ready to leave. I rang Debra to see when she was leaving, no they had decided to stay for the day as the wind would be on the nose. Glad we rang instead of just heading off!

Oh well, the fish were calling so a fishing expedition was prepared. We were disappointed when we checked the marine zone chart as the best fishing spots were in a green zone. The Queensland coast is divided into marine zones – blue is for general use, basically we can do anything, yellow only one rod and hook each and green – no fishing or collecting at all.

The green zones starts half way to the little island.

We lowered the dinghy and fished outside the green zone catching several long finned cod, some small blue face whiptail that were extremely pretty and a tusk fish.

Blue faced whiptail

All of them were thrown back except one long finned cod which we ate for lunch. The fishing was great fun, Morgan constantly whined and panted in excitement so much that she wore herself out.

Unfortunately, the fish went off the bite making it an easy decision to head over to a patch of rocks in the middle of the bay. John hooked something large which took him under a ledge and snagged him. He was not a happy fisher. A lot of small brown cod kept taking our bait and we got sick of hauling them in and letting them go so we headed to the beach to let Morgan cool down after all that excitement.

Deb and Wayne were doing as well as us.

The beach was stunning with fine white sand and crystal clear water.

I wandered along and found two shells for Riley and Charli while John sat in the shade at the bottom of a cliff. The Hoop pines towered above with their root systems precariously gripping onto the rocks. I don’t know how they manage to cling so well to the rocks and loose ground.

These two look knackered!

We were all worn out after the mornings activities and back on Ovive lunch was welcome followed by some Mulligan Geo work (not so welcome).

The others  summoned us to happy hour on the beach at 4, had to go couldn’t let the them down so we packed our drinks and nibbles and headed towards the beach. The six of us plus Roxy and Morgan sat on the sand and enjoyed sundowners topped off by fresh coconut that Wayne had brought from Great Keppel Island. It was an excellent end to the day.

Morgan satisfied her puppy memories and tossed a coconut husk around.

Darkness arrived too fast as it does this far north , it was off to our big boats where John and I had scotch fillet and vegies in cheese sauce for dinner.

Up anchor at 7:30 for what most likely would be a slow day of mostly motoring into the little wind forecast. There was a slight swell to start the day but as the day grew longer the ocean was a flat as a shit carters hat or so the saying goes. ( Cant speak from experience as when we were kids in the south of Sydney our shit carter never wore a hat).

Conditions were calm, at one stage we had a sea fog for a while,felt like something out of Pirates of the Carribean.

Nothing to report until about 10 am when a Mackeral Tuna grabbed the the trolling lure. John reeled it in and took a couple of fillets off it for bait. We kept the carcass for the next crabbing trip.

We had to head out on a bearing of 355° to avoid the Talisman Sabre Exersise, the military exclusion zone. Talisman Sabre is conducted biannually. Traditionally it was a training activity between the Australian defence force and the USA, however over the years it has got bigger and this year 13 nations including forces from Canada, Fiji, France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Republic of Korea, Tonga and the United Kingdom, participate in high-end warfighting across sea, land, air, cyber and space. 2023 is the largest exercise Talisman Sabre, it involves more than 30,000 military personnel deploying across Queensland, Western Australia, the Northern Territory and New South Wales.

The exclusion areas up the coast of Queensland are designated for certain dates and we are not allowed to sail in thes areas. We were advised that live firing activities will be conducted in the area from the 17th June to the 10th July.

Luckily this time they have left a couple of safe harbours where they won’t bomb us and where we can’t see whats going on in their war games.

It wasnt too much out of our way just a dog leg around the exclusion zone. According to the Notice to Mariners if we go inside the exclusion zone we will be prosecuted. We kept an eye out but didn’t see any military vessels,however just when we anchored at Port Clinton three large helicopters flew over.

The trip was fairly uneventful for the rest of the day with the jib and motors pushing us towards our destination. Towards the afternoon we found a litle wind and managed 5 knts. We were even able to have a conversation with Nyeki at one stage.

Arriving at Port Clinton we dropped the anchor in 3.7 metres water on the northern bay near Perforated Point.

John and I lowered the dinghy and headed along the rocky outcrops at the end of the beach to fish, We were using the Tuna Mac for bait and pulled in a long finned cod, not quite large enough to keep. Jenny caught another decent size cod a blue tuskfish and a Spanish flag which we took home for dinner. The fishing was very entertaining with one of us pulling in fish every few minutes.

One good thing about Port Clinton is beacause its in the Shaolwater Bay military area no roads lead to it so the area is not all fished out.

Blue Tuskfish

Back on Ovive it was fish in lime pepper sauce cooked by John and fried potatoes with grapefruit salad. We couldn’t get any TV reception for John to watch the cricket so he listened to it on his transistor radio.

Nyeki and Eva Louise are leaving early in the morning and heading for Hexham Island. We have decided to stay and and try some more fishing.

After dinner we changed our mind as we’d had a good afternoon of fishing and decided to follow the others north.

Eva Louise at dusk

Sandras foot didn’t improve overnight so her and Doug thought it prudent to get a doctors opinion prior to heading off. We waited for them to get back from hospital before departing for the Kepples.

The prognosis was either a badly bruised heel or slightly fractured. The medico couldnt be more precise as they dont ahave an x ray machine at Yeppoon hospital they send you to Rockhampton. He said the treatment is the same anyway crutches, rest and a boot.

After motoring over to North Keppel we dropped anchor in Carsadine Bay in 3mts of water. The bottom looked barren with areas of green weed.

We cooked up the King Snapper fillets that I had purchased from the fish co op along from the marina then lowered the dinghy for a spot of afternoon fishing.

John, Morgan and I headed towards the rocky outcrops at the northern end of North Keppel however fishing was dissapointing,

John pulled in a small fusilear which we kept for bait and a couple of small cod, nothing big enough to keep. Still it was fun. then headed over to the beach for sunset drinks with Nyeki and Eva Louise and Friz and Tracey.

After fishing with no good results we headed over to the beach for sunset drinks with Nyeki and Eva Louise and Friz and Tracey.

Curried chicken for tea instead of fish. We have to have some variety, especially if we dont catch anything worth keeping.

Thurs

Breakfast at Waterline café to start the day before boat chores and Mulligan Geo pricing of quotes.

The marina courtesy car was booked for 2:45 for 2 hours so we could restock on groceries and other essentials like red wine, beer and Kaluaha. It was a mad rush to get everything done in the two hours allowed for the car as we had several places to stop at. We found another great butcher and a French bakery that had no bread ( a shame ) then the newsagent for a paper.

Once back at the marina we unloaded the groceries into a trolley and as the tide was low. gingerly rolled it down the very steep gangway to the pontoon.

That evening we couldn’t resist and had another fabulous meal at the at the Waterline café. Can’t help ourselves when we get into port.

Fri 23rd

Eva Louise and Nyeki ghosted into their marina berths early in the morning. They had left Great Keppel Island early and motored due to no wind.

After a breakfast get together at the Waterline, we all completed various boat chores with us continuing with Mulligan Geo work. I hope someday soon the Mulligan work will end.

I caught a lift to town in the others courtesy car and grabbed the last few items we needed for the next legs up to the Whitsundays.

The taxi ride back after waiting for half an hour was annoying as I was bombarded with a tirade on how the opposition taxi service were basically ripping people off for a poor service.

Sandra and Doug on Eva Louise motored over to the fuel wharf to fill up and Sandra jumped from the boat to the dock landing very hard. She damaged her heel or ankle and was unable to walk unaided.

The Capricorn yacht club over the other side of the marina was having its usual Friday night get together and this week it was Massaman curry and rice with black forest torte for desert. At $19.50 it was a pretty good meal. The crew of the other two cats with Sandra arrived for dinner in the dinghy as she couldn’t walk, she looked to be in pain.

Kepple Bay Marina

We sat round a large table with Nyeki and Eva Louise crew and Friz and Tracey from Carlotta who have been long friends to all of us . They introduced us to a solo sailor Geoff from Swell who we were to meet further along the way. Even though the wind was quite cool we had a great night with lots of laughter aand a few tall yarns.

John Morgan and I strolled back to the marina while the others caught Nutt’s dinghy transport back to their boats.