Another challenge has been communications and especially access to the internet and weather forecasts, as Marcelle mentioned in the last blog post from Island Head Creek. We were stuck for two days without communication, not much to do as we could not go ashore, too much wind and no idea of when it would calm down and no idea of when we would next be able to get more water.
From there it was a short sail to Cape Townshend, another beautiful wild anchorage with superb beaches backed with densely forested hills. And no internet! Once again we couldn't go ashore because we were still in the huge restricted military zone. Occasionally the Australians invites soldiers from America and other allies to come here in their tens of thousands for huge military exercises. If there is ever an invasion of North Korea or some other jungle country this is where they would have done the dress rehearsals.
From there it was a short sail to Cape Townshend, another beautiful wild anchorage with superb beaches backed with densely forested hills. And no internet! Once again we couldn't go ashore because we were still in the huge restricted military zone. Occasionally the Australians invites soldiers from America and other allies to come here in their tens of thousands for huge military exercises. If there is ever an invasion of North Korea or some other jungle country this is where they would have done the dress rehearsals.
The next day we left early and sailed to South Percy Island, another stunningly beautiful remote and densely forested unspoiled island. This should have been our second proper tropical island visit with long walks along the beach, but that didn't happen. On the way the repairs that I had made on the propshaft coupling to the gearbox wore out and rattled apart. Not being able to use the engine, we had to drop anchor further offshore hoping the drift with sail wouldn't pull us onto the beach. When we arrived at the anchorage I had my head in the engine compartment until it was too late to go ashore. The biting midges come out at about 4pm and then it's best to be off the beaches. Another boat, Katarina III arrived shortly after us and we were the only 2 boats anchored.
Marcelle looking on towards the beach where once again she can't go for a walk. 5th day of being confined to the boat and cabin fever sets in.
South Percy is not a very comfortable anchorage and so we only spent one night and headed off early the next day to sail the 30 nautical miles to Curlew Island. Katarina III left at the same time and we gratefully accepted their kind offer to tow us to the channel where we were able to put up the sails. The forecast was for south east winds but we got south west winds instead and as we were sailing to the west this meant that instead of sailing comfortably and quickly with the wind behind us we were beating into the wind, and Pegasos doesn't like that. Along this stretch of the Queensland coast there is a gap in the offshore barrier reef and so it is exposed to the BIG swells rolling across from the open ocean. It was a rough ride.
On the way we passed a few small but spectacular rocky islands.
Our destination, Curlew Island is another super island with an uncomfortable anchorage. Once again the propshaft had rattled apart and required another desperate repair. Hose clamps, a few bolts, epoxy putty, meters of nylon cord, all sorts of things got jammed into and around and over the shaft coupling. This time it worked and lasted all the way to Mackay, where a bewildered mechanic finally got to take it all apart. We don't know the extent of the damage yet. Not going to be cheap ...
At Curlew Island we did at last get to go ashore and swim in the warm clear water and walk along pristine wild beaches.
At Curlew Island we did at last get to go ashore and swim in the warm clear water and walk along pristine wild beaches.
We spent three nights here waiting for the weather to improve. The wind was howling and the next stretch would be our longest yet at about 45 nautical miles. Six other boats were also anchored here waiting for the wind to drop a bit for the long ride to Mackay. Generally when we went ashore at Curlew we were the only people on the whole island, which is quite special, but we did get to meet a few people from the other boats.
The wind calmed a bit but it was still strong, gusting over 20 knots with big swells lifting us up to about 4m in the sky at times. It was a roller-coaster ride. And fast! Adding to the excitement was all the shipping as we passed Hay Point, the worlds biggest coal export terminal. This diagram gives an idea of just how much coal Australia exports, and coal gets exported in really huge bulk-carrier ships.
These huge ships were scattered about in all directions. We counted 28 but there were probably more. They were all anchored waiting to go to the loading berth one at a time but it's quite stressful not knowing which one of them might suddenly come bounding over the waves towards us.
When we got to Mackay harbour, we had to wait before entering the harbour while two tugs slowly pushed a big ship into the harbour. With our fingers crossed, we switched on the engine and circled on a rough sea hoping that the engine would last until the big ship was berthed and we could enter. We were not alone, circling with 2 other yachts from Curlew Island, one being Phil on Kite Runner who kept an eye on our predicament until we were safely in the marina. That evening we met up with the people from the other boats who had sailed from Curlew Island. We went to a sports pub for beer and supper and to watch a big screen TV rivalry match of a strange variant of rugby that only Australians care about. And boy do they care about it!
Tomorrow we'll get Pegasos lifted out of the water to get the propshaft properly fixed so that we can have a reliable engine again. That's what we most care about right now.
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