Yeppoon - Rosslyn Bay Marina

Our friends on Bardoo (Robert and Robyn) were already at anchor off Big Woody Island when we approached. They were off our Port side just off the beach. We headed over to join them but it wasn’t as easy as it looked after checking the GPS. We had to actually sail quite a way past them then turn to the shore and head back the way we had come as there was a long sand bar to pass before we could head in. Once safely at anchor our travelling companions turned up in their dinghy (which is slightly bigger than ours) and offered us a ride over to the beach. We had a lovely long walk along the shore which we thought was deserted until we came upon a few people just strolling around or sunbaking. However we did feel a bit out of place as everyone else was naked.

Next morning after consulting the weather and deciding we would head off to Bundaberg we left with a reefed main and full Genoa, and had a wonderful sail – with 25 knot following winds pushing us along at a cracking pace – we even beat the 52-foot Bardoo to Bundaberg!

It was one of the best sails of the trip and we all enjoyed it immensley. It was Robyns birthday and we were invited out with them for a meal on shore at the marina. We had a very lovely time talking and listening to the many fascinating tales of Bardoo on her world circumnavigation. I don’t know if Mike and I will get that far but our interest in going further afield has certainly been aroused!!

Jo

The following day we left Bardoo in Bundaberg and headed for Pancake Creek, a narrow inlet just south of Gladstone. What we didn’t realise was that this was to be a 71 NM trip, the last hour of which was in the dark.

Entering a narrow creek in the dark, with no lit buoys and knowing that there was little room under our keel was not a very pleasant experience. Add to this the knowledge that the tidal flows up and down the creek were reputed to be very strong and the bottom was not that good for holding anchors, meant that it was perhaps the most fraught hour of the whole trip so far (not counting, of course, the entry into Eden!).

Still we anchored safely, and settled down for a couple of easy days in this picturesque spot… That is, until the next morning, when we downloaded the weather forecast from our trusty CDMA modem. The forecast was for a day of almost no wind- great for staying at anchor, but this was followed by three days of 30knot winds! The prospect of a long day’s sail in strong winds and mounting seas was hardly a pleasant one, so up came the anchor and away we went.

While 30 knots were forecast for the following day, 10 knots were forecast for the day of our departure… so we knew it was going to be a long day on the motor to Yeppoon, our destination. But what we didn’t know was that, apart from the great distance we would need to cover across ground, we would also need to fight a current of up to two and a half knots. Result was that that day we did 87 nautical miles through the water, and only got to the Rosslyn Bay Marina off Yeppoon at 8.00 in the night.

The trip was quite eventful, though.

This was our first success with trolling a line behind the boat. We actually caught a 1m long wahoo, a fish like a mackerel, but with a beak. It was quite a fight pulling the line in hand over hand while the boat sped along, and we actually got it beside the boat, but we had no means of landing it – so the line broke and the fish got away. Wahoo is reputedly excellent eating… Needless to say, the top of our shopping list here in Yeppoon, was a gaff and a decent landing net!

The second event was the arrival of a cormorant, which first sat on the bimini and then moved to the dinghy on the back of the cockpit. It sat there for about half an hour, repeatedly tucking its head under a wing for a doze, and then looking around as if it owned the place. It finally flew off, showing an interest in the lure on the end of our fishing line as it went, but thankfully only a passing one.

We got into Yeppoon late at night, and wandered around in the boat with a hand-held spotlight, trying to find the berth we had been allocated.

Rosslyn Bay Marina

We were followed several hours later by Gary and Lorraine and their guests Tony and Jen on Somoya, who had been anchored off Great Keppel Island, but who were unwilling to spend a rollly night off shore when the marina was so close.

Gary and
Lorraine with
Tony and Jen

The next day the winds came in - and they’ve been in ever since, howling away day and night, making exploring the numerous islands around here all but impossible. We’ve had to resort to heavy drinking aboard Somoya… again…

Mike

Waves are
breaking even
in the marina!