Homeward Bound

With Penzance already in Mackay we were all set for a quick getaway. For the trip home Jen and I are hopping our way down the coast. We left Mackay before dawn, as we cleared the leads we were quickly woken up with a short sharp swell from the east causing our bow to crash on every other set. Nothing like a salt spray shower to wake you up and the new dodger paid for it’s self in a few short hours. Leaving Mackay means dodging the bulk carriers, you feel very small up close to these giants.

Our destination for the first night was the Percy Islands with West Bay the best option in the easterly winds. Mid morning the seas moderated and a change of course meant we were no longer driving into the easterly swell which was a welcome change. With the sun shining and 7 hours to run it was time to try my shinny new lure the guy in the tackle shot guaranteed would hook our first fish. With the Percy's in sight and an uneventful day sail, I pulled in the hand line expecting to find noting. I  quickly realised it was much harder then expected. To both our surprise we had hooked a really nice spotted Mackerel, looks like fish is on the menu tonight.

The Percy Islands are a regular for any cruising boat going north. With the mainland 60 miles away you can only image the challenges the White family faced back in the 1920s when they developed the island as a wool producing operation. Today Whites Bay on Middle Percy Island is home to the Percy Hilton a rather ramshackle A frame structure decorated by passing sailors over the last 50 years. This was our first visit to Whites Bay and we were taken back with the beauty of the anchorage. With the anchor down it was time to relax and enjoy the last few hours of the afternoon with a quiet G&T. We were super fortunate to have an amazing still evening and a magical sunset, its not often you have the sun setting over the water on the east coast.

On this trip we had something special along for the ride, the Bellman expresso "our new best friend" with the promise of cafe quality brew out here in the big blue. Our friends from Eumundi Coffee Co set us up with the Bellman, barista training 101 and a bag of mother earth.  The jury is in after a few days of our new DIY barista, while it takes a little love the results are fantastic and we can get our coffee fix anywhere.

Next stop Port Clinton, we woke to a beautiful morning with flat seas and blue skies. The winds were a little light so another day of motor sailing as we had another 60 mile hop back to the coast. With the ocean like glass we were treated to something special, out of the blue a pod of 15 dolphins crossed our bow. They then dived and resurfaced all around us, racing along our hull and diving through the bow wave, no time for photos you can only see nature in all her glory by stepping outside the comforts of home.

 

Next stop Port Clinton, from the Percy’s we head back into the coast entering the Shoal Water Bay military live fire range. It’s always a little concerning when the coastguard announces live firing while you transit this area in a slow moving white target. We spent a settled night at anchor and Port Clinton turned on another amazing sunset.

Our final few hops were down to the Keppel Islands then on to Bundy, our luck had to run out sooner or later on the weather front. None of this part trip was photo worthy, we had an atrocious night at anchor in the Keppel with the NE swell rounding much of the island. With weather closing in and talk of tornadoes on the NSW coast we decided to take a few days break on land in Yepoon. Well rested we continued south, Keppel Island to Pancake Creek is the longest leg of our trip. From Pancake Creek we then headed for Bundaberg, we had a beautiful sail south until noon that day. All of that changed in a heartbeat with the early arrival of a forecast change, by 1 pm we were surfing 1.5-2m swell with a reef in the main. The wind continued to build so a very challenging few hours, we had more fun to come attempting to tie up in 20 knots of wind and cross tide in the Bundaberg Port Marina.

Our final leg was a short hop down into Hervey Bay and an overnight stay inside Fraser Island. Nature saved the best for last, we were blown away with the sunset. Up on deck we were treated to a rare encounter with a dugong, he porpoised next to the boat and grabbed a big breath before gliding back below the surface.

TBC