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.

Rosslyn Bay to Mackay

Elliot after a hard night sailing.

The next pick up point for me is Mackay, almost 4 hours drive, where I will visit Deb and Roger while waiting for the sailors to catch up.  It should take Bristol Rose 3 days with overnight stops to reach Mackay.

Finding the currents against them off Port Clinton, Robert and Elliot decided to do an overnight and arrived in Mackay a day early, the morning of July 2nd.  We've all been looking froward to reaching Mackay.  If the weather is favourable Roger will show us some of his favourite anchorages off the coast.  Roger and Deb are helping us out by keeping the car safely at their place while we sail further north.

The weather has other plans and we won't be getting out to the islands this weekend.  So Roger and Deb drive us all up to Airlie Beach where we'd arranged for a sail loft to replace the sacrificial cover on our genoa.  We constantly use this sail so it's not surprising that although we'd had it re-stitched in Tahiti, the thread has perished.  The sail is in good shape though.  When we sail Bristol Rose north we'll pick it up, ready to fly again.  

We also made a stop at Proserpine and had a great day checking out some of Deb's favourite spots.  Thanks to Deb we discovered in Mackay one of the best farmers markets anywhere.  The market stalls sell the usual European and tropical vegies, plus local red papaya, sweet mandarines (it's winter here), avocados, and also a wide variety of Asian vegetables, some of which I've only seeen on a TV cooking program.  One of these is Pandan.  It's used to flavour rice.  The friendly Filipino grower went to pains to describe all its uses and looked through the bunches to find a piece with roots attached so I can try growing my own.  We came away with all the fresh fruits and vegies we need for the next stage of the journey north to The Whitsundays.

Because the islands of the Whitsundays are zoned conservation or national park dogs are not allowed.  We've taken Daisie to a "Canine Lodge" north of Mackay, or as Robert puts it (despite the best care of and attention to the canines) "jail".  It's hard to think of it as anything else.  The environment is so far removed from Daisie's usual accommodations.  A comfy cosy bed by the lounge, a dog futon in the sunroom, a soft warm fluffy thing by our bed, and a floor pillow on the boat are usually available for her sleeping comfort.  Spoilt?  Maybe just a bit spoilt for choice.

Daisie comes from a country with many outdoor dangers, bears, coyotes, porcupines, raccoons, rabies, severe cold.  Any of these could mean injury or death for a dog left outside.   Even in rural Australia the outdoors at night can present dangers for a small dog.  Daisie's routine is as regular as clockwork; out for a walk in the morning, helping with sailing or other activities with us, a walk last thing before the sun goes down and then it's in for the night.   She's well trained, well adjusted, gentle and loving.  If anything she may be too well socialised, approaching everyone and every living thing as a friend.  She's a perfect boat dog.

1770 to Rosslyn Bay

Daisie watches Bristol Rose leaving 1770

The next long leg for the crew of Bristol Rose is 1770 to Rosslyn Bay, Yeppoon, with stops at Pancake Creek and Cape Capricorn.  Robert and Elliot dinghy Daisie and I over to the dock.  

We jump in the car and drive up to Round Hill Head to see them safely out through the very narrow bar to the open ocean.  

By road it is an easy drive to Rockhampton.  The big challenge is finding a pet friendly place for Daisie and I to spend a couple of nights.  We spent one night in a rather unfortunate hotel in Rockhampton and moved on early the next morning to Yeppoon.  I found an accommodating Tourist/Caravan Park where we spent a peaceful night in a 1950's style fibro semi-detached "cabin".  When Daisie and I walked the next morning I was surprised to see a notice attached to the outside wall "DANGER ASBESTOS".  Do not drill or ....".  Luckily we had not expected to do any renovations and had left the tools at home.  The best of both accommodations was the genuinely friendly people we encountered.

We checked out early to get breakfast and a good look at the Kepple Bay Marina in Rosslyn Bay, where we'd meet Bristol Rose in a few hours.  So what is there to do while we wait?  There's only so much walking and coffee...  I could drive up to Byfield where there is a pottery artist's studio and giftshop.  Right up my alley, it's set in beautiful bushland and the owners encourage visitors to walk around the property.  Despite the owner's dog roaming the giftshop, visiting dogs are not welcome beyond the carpark, so my browsing was a lot shorter than it otherwise might have been.

Our stay at Kepple Bay Marina has been a little longer than planned but we had time to explore and get the usual jobs done like laundry, shopping, etc.  We had an unexpectedly excellent meal at the Marina.  The restaurant is first class, with a matching price tag - but what the heck!