Gypsy Cruising

7 September

Turtle Bay to Whitehaven Beach, via Chance Bay

Odd conditions today!

The day started typically enough – no wind, glassy, warm, perfect.  I took the dinghy out before sun up for what was going to be a short row but ended up being another 2 hour excursion.  This time I rowed out of Turtle Bay completely and went around to explore the surrounding area.  It’s a real thrill to be able to get to only a metre off the rocks, here they rose vertically out of the water to 30 odd meters then being topped by pine trees.  Saw a couple of turtles bobbing around, or maybe one turtle a couple of times.  

I’ve found that if I position myself to row with maximum power (with feet planted on the transom and with the rowlocks pretty much abeam of me) the stern digs in and drags, and if I sit with my weight further forward the boat feels and sounds more lively but my oar strokes become wussy.  Prefer the powerful, draggy strokes.

Back at the boat by 8 for another swim and fresh water shower and then breakfast.  I think I like this routine very much.  Sitting on deck afterwards I realised it was this ability to simply jump off the boat and go rowing, or swimming, or sailing, or bush walking, or just staring at the scenery at any time that I’ll miss when I get home.  Being stuck in suburbia and the daily grind doesn’t seem like much of a lifestyle in comparison.  I guess we do it just out of habit.

Such a gorgeous view looking south out of Turtle Bay

Leaving thew Turtle Bay anchorage

Pentecost Island.  I've always thought it was a majestic sight, and likened it to a Cathedral in its shape.  But then someone told me it looks like the profile of a gorilla's face, lying on its back, and now I can't avoid seeing it as such!

This was when the fun began.  The weather forecast for the rest of today and the first 12 hours of tomorrow has north easterly sea breezes building to 15-20 knots till early evening tonight, and then shifting to the west and dropping, before going south and strengthening again to 20 knots pre-dawn tomorrow.  It’s pretty uncommon for the wind to turn around so dramatically overnight.  We need an anchorage tonight that can cope with everything from strong nor-eastlies to strong southerlies, and there aren’t many around like that.  Nara Inlet will do, but it’s in the north and we’re due in Hammo tomorrow for a crew change.  I don’t want to go north and then spend hours in the morning bashing back into a southerly from Nara to Hammo. 

I rather enjoyed listening in to the Bareboat radio channels and hearing so many people radioing in essentially asking “Where the hell should I go?” and to have the bareboat companies not really having good answers.  

Of our group, Nirvana’s Kitchen is going to Nara, and then they’re due in Airlie tomorrow.  That’s a good plan.  I don’t know where the others are going.  I decided to head for Whitehaven, but when we got there at midday the nor-easter had built up substantial seas and the anchorage was a real washing machine.  In spite of that, the bareboat companies were still advising their boats to go there.  We retreated back to the south (leeward side) of Whitsunday Island and just went sailing for 90 minutes in flat water and then dropped the anchor in Chance Bay to wait for a couple more hours.  We headed back to Whitehaven before sunset, at which time the conditions were messy but bearable.  By sunset the wind had died away and by midnight the seas were just gently rolly. Our evening passed pretty comfortably.