Bundaberg on The Burnett River

Early morning Town Reach Bundaberg on the Burnett River

One of the best things about having a boat is that we can get to places other people can't easily go.  It's often a challenge, there's always a reward.

Sights along the way

Without the benefit of local knowledge, it's safe to say the guide books are just that - a guide - and can't always be trusted to be accurate for current conditions.  Even latest editions can be wildly optomistic so the Captain has to make his or her own decisions.  Markers along the way can disappear; either they've been hit by something or dislodged due to cyclonic conditions.  Shoals come and go and nothing changes the characteristics of a river like a flood, as in the case of the Burnett.

Nice new boardwalk along the riverbank

Poor Bundaberg has suffered two devastating floods, 2011 and 2013.  We expect that the river has changed but we don't know to what extent.  Our guide book is two editions out of date so we do some checking online and we find a website confirming there is indeed a fuel dock up the Burnett River in Bundaberg.  We could refuel at the Port Marina but we'd like to wind our way the ten miles upriver to spend a day or two in the town itself and get our fuel while there.  We will see if the website is up to date.

We need to be constantly vigilant, carefully following navigation markers.

We're following the chart plotter at the helm, plus our paper chart, using binoculars to pinpoint navigation markers far upriver and looking for floating debris which is always a possibility.  As we motor upriver we're finding it's very shallow.  At one point we register only eight feet and although it's not the ideal top of the tide, we still have a few hours before dead low so we should be fine for depth.  There's great advantage having a shallow keel, 4ft 9in (1.45m).

Along the way we pass obvious signs of the floods; the occasional washed up boat, wrecked docks, dead trees, eroded riverbanks and destroyed retaining walls.  There are also signs of recovery and some large new homes alongside tired old ones. Once we've anchored at Town Reach we see a great new boardwalk with sturdy new docks.  There's no sign of the fuel dock or the Midtown Marina.  No, they don't exist anymore having been destroyed in the last flood.  There are no services for boats at the town end of the river, apart from the public dock.  We'll time our departure to buy fuel at the mouth of the Burnett.
  

Sugar cane design. Representing Bundaberg's past and present. 

It's Robert's birthday.  He's had a look through the online reviews of local restaurants and decided on Indulge Bistro Cafe for "linner"; late lunch/early dinner.  Maybe I've been on the boat too long but I've fallen in love with this place at first glance.  From the wildly botanical wallpaper to the exciting array of unique desserts presented in the case, they are really speaking my language!  Even the menu itself is written like an enticing, beguiling guide to local produce.  I can't get enough of this.  It might be Robert's birthday but I'm having all the treats.

St Andrew's Seventh Day Adventist Church foundation stone laid 1931

Bundaberg is a beautiful city to walk around because so much of it's history has been preserved in its architecture.  If the grandeur of the city's churches are an indication of Bundagerg's significance as a rural centre then there's no denying sugar has historically been good to the region.  In fact Bundaberg Sugar is the largest sugar grower in Australia and Bundaberg is of course home to the famous Bundaberg Rum.  We passed the distillary and the sugar processing mill on the river just a short distance from town. 

 

 

Charming Bundaberg Railway Station

We've enjoyed our time in this charming rural city, population around 100,000.  Strong winds are forecast for the next couple of days.  We need to move on towards Fraser Island but first we'll anchor overnight close to the mouth, keeping an eye on weather conditions, and fuel up in the morning at the Port.

This boat isn't going anywhere in the 30 knot winds.  She's well-anchored and stuck in the mud with her back to the mangroves.  

Breakfast at Pancake Creek

A catamaran at Pancake Creek

We hadn't planned to spend a week at Pancake Creek but because we were already delayed, missing some important dates, and we liked it so much we decided we may as well stay and enjoy the experience.

This is one of those special places you can only get to by boat.  The few campers we met on the beach had carried everything up the creek by tinny.  The amphibious LARC tours operate out of 1770, quite a distance away, and bring tourists up to the lighthouse we can see from our anchorage.

It's a well-marked channel through the sandy shoals and we've anchored well into the creek in about 20 feet at high tide. The water is beautifully clean and clear.  We can see flathead, stingrays, sharks and crabs easily against the sandy bottom.  There are turtles, a dolphin and a dugong in the anchorage.  We've spent our time exploring, walking to the Bustard Head Lighthouse and fishing each day.  At Aircraft Beach we saw four or five sharks, about 6 feet in length,  just behind the beach break in very shallow water.

Each evening we're awed by the magnificent sunsets, made even more intense by the smoke of bushfires that have been burning for days in the National Park a few miles away.  Rarely do we see the occupants of the boats that come and go.  The weather has been cold so we can only assume they are resting, staying warm below decks, before sailing north again to the Whitsundays.  They are missing something special right under their noses.  It's so relaxing here but eventually we need to move south and head south for Bundaberg.

Leaf and charcoal dust creates a landscape on the sand.

Rosslyn Bay to Pancake Creek via The Narrows

It's an easy exit from the marina, in darkness but with no wind to speak of.  The waters all around Yeppoon are shallow (about 30 feet) for miles and miles and a few boats with deeper drafts are anchored just outside the marina at Rosslyn Bay.  Sunrise won't be for another three hours.

First light in a very dim fog.

Today will be a motorboat ride.  We're immediately steaming into a thick fog, a real pea souper.  We don't see fog like this very often when we're sailing.  If we want to make it through The Narrows today we'll need to motor at around 5 knots to time our entry and exit in line with the tides.  The Narrows is shallow, shoaly and of course the current can either help or hinder.

Fog is wet!  Water droplets are raining down from the spreaders and rigging.  All the lines are dripping wet and soon so are we.  I've put an old canvas hatch cover over Daisie and we snuggle close.  We're feeling the cold despite Robert and I wearing our wet weather gear.

Our visibility is down to one boat length.  With one eye on the radar we sound the air horn to alert any vessel that is close by.  There's one brief moment of clarity around 6:00am with the first hint of sunrise.  Then we enter another wall of dense dark fog.  We're still in good time but we won't be able to enter and navigate The Narrows in these conditions.

The Captain thinks otherwise!  We're keeping a constant look out for anything in our path, me on the foredeck and Robert at the helm.  Just at the most opportune time the fog lifts.  We're picking up the markers now by sight as we enter The Narrows.

There are a couple of sailboats motoring well behind us and we can see some others anchored along the way, probably waiting for the tide to turn in the other direction.  Most of the boats we see are powerboats heading north.  As we get closer to Gladstone Harbour we see just one or two sailboats motoring north.  They may have to anchor along The Narrows and complete their passage in two days if the current runs against them.

Our timing is actually perfect today, in line with tides and currents. We had a 3 knot current with us going in and only a slight adverse current going out.  It is very shallow and there's very little room to move, not much room for error.  We've maintained the speed needed to get through to Gladstone Harbour around midday.  We didn't get breakfast because we needed all eyes on deck so I'm preparing a salad for lunch while we are still on an even keel.  Robert has some prawns he picked up yesterday at the seafood shop over near the fuel dock.

I'm kind of excited to enter Gladstone Harbour.  I find the industrial landscape very interesting and photogenic.

While the couple of sailboats following us through The Narrows have peeled off to anchor, we carry on towards Pancake Creek.  We don't want to waste the favourable wind (NE) and current we have going for us this afternoon.

As we leave the busy part of Gladstone Harbour behind, we have 12 kts of wind.  We hoist the sails, turn off the engine and we are making 9.7 kts speed over ground.  Our maximum hull speed is 8 kts, so this is good.  As the wind picks up to 17 kts we peak at the magic 10.1 kts SOG with 4 kts of current assisting us.  Woohoo!  We might just make it to Pancake Creek before dark.

Courtesy Car Goes A Long Way

When we make land we always have a long list of gotta dos; re-provisioning, laundry, buying boat stuff, etc.  Marinas are typically far from town, supermarkets, etc. and rarely is there a good bus service.  The Kepple Bay Marina at Rosslyn Bay takes our award for the best we've visited.

Their courtesy car goes a long way to making the cruising life a lot easier when on land. Thanks Kepple Bay Marina, you're a smart and super-friendly business.  We can feel the love!

The Cruising Life

We couldn't have timed our arrival in Rosslyn Bay yesterday any better.  Boats are arriving in the Brisbane to Kepple Tropical Race and the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron's Kepple Cruise Rally.  We've found some of our RQ friends here.  The Kepple Bay Marina does a great job hosting the party.  We're enjoyed the live music although we retired early, around 9pm, cruisers' midnight.

Today has been non-stop getting all our jobs completed before we take off in the morning. We made an early dash for the supermarket, took BR over to the fuel dock to fill our 3 tanks, topped up our 3 water tanks, etc. etc.   Daisie even got her shampoo and trim in the cockpit.  Good girl, she never complains about my lack of dog grooming skills.

I've also given the decks of Bristol Rose a good scrub and put a piece of beef and vegies in the oven.  Robert needs to run to make the 5:15pm bus into Yeppoon to pick up some wine and beer from the bottle shop.  It's been a dry ship these past couple of weeks and I fear the Captain may himself mutiny if he can't have a nice red with his dinner.

The alarm is set for 3am.  Time to get some sleep.  Ahh, the Cruising Life!

Port Clinton to Rosslyn Bay

Wake me when it's over.

This morning we had coffee at 5:30am and motor sailed out through the Port Clinton bar shortly after.  The blue moon is setting on one side of the bay and the sun is rising on the other.  What a sight!

Soon we're sailing close hauled for Cape Manifold with the wind from the east and a knot of current against us.  From Cape Manifold we set our course due south for Rosslyn Bay which puts the wind on our beam.  Our boat speed is 7-8 knots in 15 knots of easterly wind.  A ketch loves to sail on a beam reach and it feels good.

It's all fun until the wind turns southerly.  Now we're heading for New Zealand.  Noooo!  At this rate it will be a late afternoon or perhaps an evening arrival at Rosslyn Bay.

We will spend a couple of nights at the Kepple Bay Marina.  We need to do laundry, dispose of trash, take on fuel and water, re-stock the food lockers. We will be busy.  Daisie needs a bath and she probably thinks we stink too for dragging her on this watery ride.  She'd like a nice patch of dirt right now.

It's a low low tide when we reach the marina.  It's a typically narrow entrance however there are few marinas we have entered wondering whether there is enough water under our keel.  One boat ahead of us turned back out exclaiming "it's shallow".  It's late afternoon, there's no wind.  We see 6 feet on our depth sounder at the entrance.  Our draft is almost 1.5m (5 feet) so we take it slowly knowing it's soft mud/sand on the bottom.  The other boat has followed us in, encouraged by our bravado and offering us up as a sacrifice.   In our slip on the blue dock we are resting on the bottom, 4.5 feet!  It makes tying up easy!  We're happy.  Robert goes to check us in and I go straight to the laundry and walk Daisie.  We have a busy day tomorrow.

Island Head Creek to Port Clinton Once in a Blue Moon

Approaching Port Clinton

This morning the winds are below 10 knots at Island Head Creek.  They will be higher outside and there will still be swell that's whipped up over the past few days.  We've been here five days, it's a good day to leave.

As expected it's a bumpy ride, wind from the southeast, in our face, and we're motoring.  It could always be worse so there's no complaining.

The calmness of the Port Clinton anchorage is a welcome relief this afternoon.  I've made an easy lunch of fried rice which we enjoy sitting in the sun in the cockpit.  We can hear the turtles breathing on the surface close by.

Tonight we watch the blue moon rise over the mangroves in a calm, peaceful anchorage.  A blue moon happens when two full moons occur in one month.  It's positively blissful.

Shag Islet Cruising Yacht Club

Thursday arrives and it's not a good day to sail.  Gusty winds, rain, chop; it's a good day to polish some stainless steel fittings in the main cabin.  Satisfied I've achieved something we accept an invitation to a get together on the beach.

We're all getting cabin fever.

Our new acquaintenances tell us they are members of the "Shaggers Club".  Mercifully, before I embarrass myself by asking if the club is inspired by Austin Powers, it's explained that the club is supporting the Prostrate Cancer Foundation.  The proper name is Shag Islet Cruising Yacht Club.  They are all headed up to Gloucester Island for the club's annual rendezvous.  Warwick tells us we are heading in the wrong direction and should be sailing north with them.  Yes we know, but we've had our fun early in the cruising season and need to get back home and pay for our sins.  I'm thinking about how tall the weeds will be by the time we get there!

Wind and Waves

Island Head Creek

Overnight we registered 32 knots here in the creek where it's protected.  We felt it!  Just have to wonder about the conditions out on the ocean.  The forward berth was too uncomfortable with the hobby horse, sometimes bucking horse, action as waves rolled up the arm of the creek, current in the opposite direction, putting us broadside to the waves.  We each took up a seaberth in the main cabin and slept quite well, waking occasionally to check on how we were holding.  It's sand and mud here.  All good!

I'm grateful for small mercies.  With the wind in the high 20's all day the bouncing has been nothing compared to what it would be outside.  We will wait and see how things look tomorrow morning before deciding when we leave for Rosslyn Bay.  Hopefully we can get a weather update from someone as boats continue to come into the creek.  Once the wind dies it will be another couple of tides before the sea calms down.

I Surrender

Sunrise at Island Head Creek

It's a windy old day today and I've surrendered to my lazy bones.  Just hanging out aboard Bristol Rose reading, writing and taking photographs.

Cut Off and Part of the Island Head Creek Crowd

We are thanking our lucky stars we got to Island Head Creek early enough yesterday to find a great spot to anchor.  Through the day we've seen around 20 boats heading up creek.  This is a very remote area, part of the Dept of Defence Shoalwater Bay Military Training Area .  Talisman Sabre, the joint US and Australian exercises finished a couple of weeks ago so we are able to be here.  It's a good idea to check the defence.gov.au site before thinking about passing through this area.

We have no connection by phone and also no weather updates by radio but we've learned from another boat the Bureau of Meteorology has this morning issued a strong wind warning, winds expected to reach 35 knots.  The winds have picked up from nothing to 19 knots since this morning.  We will be here another 4 days, till Thursday or Friday.

We have a good little "hole" here to wait it out and there's time to explore a little and do some fishing before the winds really kick in.

Island Head Creek Soundings

At 10am we enter Island Head Creek.  Low tide is 11:30am.  I have to keep a look out, watching the depth closely as Robert steers his way around the shoals.  It's so clear I can see the sand ripples under 15-20 feet of water.  The Lucas guide "Cruising the Coral Coast" provides soundings for anchoraes along the creek but our copy is old and shoals may have shifted over the years.  We can't take anything for granted just because it appears in print.

There are three boats anchored just inside but we want more protection than that.  The most promising arm we think is much further up the creek.  Slowly motoring Bristol Rose in from the main channel we find 8 feet of water under the keel.  No, that won't work at low tide.

Daisie waits patiently.

We drop the anchor back down the creek near an arm we had earlier dismissed as too difficult to navigate and Robert takes the dinghy through to take soundings.  He's found a way in to a "hole" with sufficient depth and enough swing room.  We are confident this will work for us to ride out the high winds we're expecting to arrive either late Monday or early Tuesday.

Overnighting to Island Head Creek

Foggy morning Keswick and St. Bees

The decision is made.  We will overnight heading SE to Middle Percy Island to avoid adverse currents and continue on to Island Head Creek expecting to reach the bar on high tide in the morning, Sunday.  While we have a connection I send text messages to update family and friends of our plan.

It's slow going through the day but we are making progress motor sailing.  We are joined by pods of dolphins which race over to ride our bow wave, weaving from starboard to port side, back and forth, back and forth.  I can't think of anything more delightful!  The sailor's companions.  They bring an instant smile and seem to smile back as they turn their heads skyward.  Are they looking at me?  I feel they accept our presence in their world and want to have some fun with us for a while.

We've seen quite a few Humpback whales since we started this ourney over a month ago.  They are calving in these northern waters at this time of year.

Through the night we get a few hours of north easterlies which compensate for the earlier slow speeds we've been making.  That was a nice surprise and could help put our arrival at a good time for the tide.

South Molle Island to Keswick Island

Approaching South Molle Island from Airlie Beach

We are away at 4am, with very little wind to sail.  We have to motor to Keswick and hope to make it in daylight to pick up a mooring ball.  It won't be a long stay.  We want to be back home in a couple of weeks.

We're in luck, we make good time and we settle in for the night at Keswick.  We are constantly monitoring weather forecasts on Windyty.com, windguru.com and the Bureau of meteorology site and we're aware that strong winds 25-30 knots SE are expected to hit late Monday 27th, lasting three or four days.  We can't sail or motor directly into those kinds of winds and need to find a safe anchorage to wait it out.

Considering all our options we decide that Island Head Creek will be our best option, about 110 nautical miles to the southeast.  In favourable conditions we could sail 6-8 knots/hr, making it a 14 hour passage at best.  We could do it in stages leaving tomorrow, Saturday, sailing only in daylight hours and arrive on Monday morning.

Light winds are forecast for Saturday, Sunday and most of Monday, reducing our chances of making good time.  Motoring and adverse currents could reduce our speed to 3 or 4 knots per hour, or worse. We'll sleep on it.

Airlie Beach to South Molle Island Out of Sync

The time with Elliot went by much too fast.  We didn't get to explore all the islands we would have liked to but we did travel a lot of miles and do a lot more than most.  It's time for Robert and I to get moving south again.

The season is really only beginning for many cruisers to the Whitsundays who take advantage of the south easterly winds through winter to travel north.  The northerlies kick in around October/November so we are a bit out of sync with the prevailing winds but we have a chance of picking up an occasional northerly or south westerly that could help us.  The Coastal Cruising Club of Australia has a helpful rundown of weather patterns by Roger Smith on coastalcruising.org 

Leaving Airlee Beach late in the day we made it to South Molle Island as the sun set.  

South Molle is one of the Queensland Resort islands I remember seeing so beautifully and romantically advertised many years ago.  The resort is still operating and the friendly people there confirmed we could indeed anchor safely in the bay for a very early morning departure.

Airlie Beach

"Resonance" by Bonnie Bombach

During the past week or so we have picked up our sail from the sail loft in Airlie Beach, hired a car to return Elliot to Mackay to pick up the car for his drive back to Townsville and done some provisioning and re-fueling.

We found that our propeller should be replaced, a legacy of the damage back in Panama.

With Bristol Rose waiting in Airlie Beach, our good friend Roger provided us a welcome reprive from boat jobs.  He hosted us at his home for a couple of days and also picked up Daisie from the kennel.  You can bet  Daisie is happy to be with us again and all is forgiven.

While in Airlie Beach I've done quite a bit of polishing and cleaning.  And you thought it was all cocktails at sunset!

Great Barrier Reef

Bristol Rose anchored at Line Reef, Great Barrier Reef

Waking up on the reef is pretty special when conditions are as calm as we have had.  We heave anchor at Line and motor the five miles or so over to Bait Reef for a snorkel.  The Steppings Stones are clearly visible above the water at low tide.  The fish and coral truly are beautiful and the water clear enough to see from the dinghy.  It seems important to many of us to think we have the best of the world here in Australia.  At about 2300 kilometres long the Great Barrier Reef is the largest reef system.  Is it the best?  It is always safe to say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Great Barrier Reef Fish On

Elliot dinghies around the reef looking for the entrance to the lagoon.

The winds have dropped to below 10 knots, perfect for an overnight trip to the outer reefs, Hook, Hardy, Line and Bait Reefs.

From Hook Island to Bait Reef is about 17 miles and although we left early in the morning we just missed out on one of the five mooring balls at The Stepping Stones.

Anchoring even in the designated areas is tricky among the coral bommies but here it's absolutely out of the question as much for protection of the coral reef as for preservation of boat and crew.  Bareboat  charterers are not permitted to sail themselves to the outer reef.

We find a suitable sand patch to anchor off Hook Reef for some fishing.  Fishing is allowed in a (yellow) Conservation Park Zone, under certain restrictions.  The sight of the coral and large reef fish was some consolation for the fact we caught nothing we could keep.

In very calm conditions and with the latest edition (2014) of the cruising guide "100 Magic Miles" in hand we otor over to Hardy Reef intending to anchr inside the lagoon for the night.  The guide indicates that with our draft (1.5m) we could enter at a gap in the reef aptly named "The Waterfall".  We don't know how long it has been since the author hs tried it himself but we would not dare!

We have navigated some challenging waters in the "Dangerous Archipelago", the Tuamotus but this lagoon "entrance" has to be seen to be believed.  We would not risk taking our inflatable dinghy through the narrow gap at high tide.  The marker pole can be clearly seen below the surface, lying atop a bommie.

The anchorage at Line Reef is our best bet for the night with the bonus being that we can fish the less restricted blue "Habitat Protection Zone" classification.

It's a perfectly calm, magic night, disturbed only by the call "fish on"!

Broad Horizons

Whitehaven Beach

It's a glorious morning so we motor across Whitehaven Bay and anchor Bristol Rose off the northern end and dinghy to the southern corner of Whitehaven Beach where we see some kayakers preparing to leave.  We strike up a conversation with a couple from the Marquesas.  Their business is Kayak Polynesia.  Their companion is Zack Kruzins.  Yep that really is his name, pretty easy to remember as he's cruizin around in his kayak!

Crossing an ocean in a sailboat is one thing.  Paddling a kayak across the ocean, even island to island in the Whitsundays, is entirely different.  These adventurers have my utmost respect.  I wonder about the little things such as comfort levels, energy levels, keeping well hydrated and managing basic bodily functions over long periods of time.  Best not to think too much about it!

We can check the boxes from one exotic location to the next but travel is more than the sights.  For me it's about the people we meet along the way and the experiences shared.  Spending even a short time with someone who looks at life and the life around us from a different perspective can broaden our horizons.  I love how travel presents opportunities to meet some amazing people along the way.

Chalkies Beach and a Classic View of Whitehaven Beach

Bristol Rose anchored off Whitehaven.  Note the rock & roll, pretty typical around these islands.

Chalkies Beach on Haslewood Island is an easy anchorage in white sand.  We can see the bottom in crystal clear water 20 feet (6 metres) below us.  It feels like we've really arrived in the idyllic tropical Whitsundays.  There's the long white sand beach, the over-powering scent of flowering melaleuca trees in the air, the screeching of Rainbow Lorikeets and Cockatoos, people paddle boarding just off the shore, sailors relaxing onboard, and across the bay, an equally inviting but somewhat longer, more crowded white sand beach.

In any other place Chalkies would be deemed magnificent but here, this special spot plays second fiddle to another.  We are watching the tourist boats spill hordes of day trippers on the opposite shore.  Everyone wants to walk along this iconic beach, to check it off their list of gotta sees.  I can't say we are any different.  The fine, powdery silica sand beach stretches seven kilometres along the South East of Whitsunday Island.  It's the truly magnificent Whitehaven Beach.  Soon the white sand is littered with people walking, lying, playing.  It's the classic picture of a fun day at the beach.  But this is the beach dreams of made of; reputed to be the most photographed beach in Australia.   The sand really is that white, the water that blue and that clear.

Tonight we pay the price of anchoring in such natural beauty.  Bristol Rose rocks and rolls all night as the currents move around with the change of tides.  Small price to pay really.
                                                          

Shaw Island

We anchored off Shaw Island and took the dinghy ashore to explore Burning Point.  It's obviously the thing to do.  Earlier visitors have tested their artistic balancing skills on the red granite rocks.  Set against the blue seas and the tall flower spikes of the native grass trees, the effect is beautiful.

Linne and Goldsmith Islands

Enroute to Goldsmith Island we put the anchor down at Linne Island.  I had to see this island on Australia's East Coast, named after Swedish botanist, physician, zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy and modern ecology, Carl Von Linne (Linnaeus).   He formulated the Latin system of naming all living things.   I have read that at the age of five he had his own garden about which he later said "inflamed my soul with an unquenchable love of plants".  I can identify with this man in that regard.

In 1802 Lieutenant John Murray and crew of the Lady Nelson were assisting Matthew Flinders in his coastal explorations.  "They made several landings and found evidence of Aboriginal visitation" (according to the cruising guide "One Hundred Magic Miles" by David Colfelt, in which the author cites his source, Historian Ray Blackwood).  I'm tempted to find out more but this reference is just a teaser.

The island's vegetation seems typical of others in the Whitsundays with pandanus at the high water mark, craggy points supporting tall Hoop Pines, often oddly bent by the wind, and sandy beaches interrupted by rocky shorelines.

Most interesting are the rocks, conglomerate and Coquina with bits of shell, coral, pebbles, etc. all held together by sandy, muddy "glue" that over time (thousands, millions of years?) becomes rock.  I could search for hours finding odd shapes and colours to photograph.

But this is not an overnight stop and we dinghy back aboard and sail on to Goldsmith Island.  We're easily entertained by the naming of many of the islands and reefs in The Whitsundays.  Close by Goldsmith is Silversmith, Coppersmith Rock, Tinsmith, Ingot Islets, Farrier Island, the Anchor Islands (Anchorsmith, Blacksmith, Hammer, Bellows Islet and Ladysmith Islet).  Could there be buried treasure in these parts?  Doubtful, I decided to stay aboard while Robert and Elliot explored Goldsmith Island.