Passage - The Keppels to the Whitsundays

6 – 17 June, 2021
On our quest to go north where it is warm in winter, John and I planned to travel directly to the Whitsundays missing out on Mackay. It is a fairly long stretch but there are a lot of anchorages on land and on islands good for south-easterly winds.

We left Great Keppel Island at dawn which is always a bit difficult for

us as we are not morning people. We had a pleasant 10-hour sail making an average of six knots. We put the fishing line out without any expectations of catching anything and we didn’t. Poor dog was yet again desperate to go ashore for a pee. He misses out if we start early and stubbornly refuses to go on the boat.

We anchored in the Shoalwater region. The military use the whole of the area for exercises and we have to leave within a week. Although Island Head Creek is safe and normally comfortable, we aren’t really fussed on this anchorage. No internet or TV either.

The following day eight boats left. We were a bit uncertain as the day was miserable but took a chance and had a lovely and quick sail to Hunter Island in the Duke group. Probably the best sail this trip. On a mission we moved onwards. This time to Curlew Island. Many of the same boats were doing the same passage as us. We like Curlew

and stayed a second day as there was TV reception so we could watch the NRL. Not sure why as NSW walloped Queensland. The weather was a bit dreary with rain on and off. We did a bit of cleaning and maintenance, ran the dog and later in the day had some cocktails on the back deck.

From Curlew we sailed to Scawfell Island. John was really excited as the sky was blue and the wind perfect for a spinnaker run. Of course, after a couple of days of overcast weather and the spinnaker now blocking the solar panels, the batteries were starting to run a bit low. We powered up with the generator – this would become a common event in the next few weeks. Scawfell is a lovely rocky and forested island just south east of Brampton Island. We sailed there the following day motoring most of the way due to the low wind. We thought we saw some whales in the distance.

Brampton Island is north east of Mackay. It is another of the many failed resorts on the Queensland coast which is a bit difficult to understand as if doesn’t directly compete with the Whitsunday Islands. I suppose Great Keppel and Dunk Islands are in the same category. It is a difficult island for boats as it is very shallow for a long way out the front. We stayed a few days and checked out the resort from the beach. There is a caretaker but otherwise empty. National Parks sort of manages the rest of the island.

After a week we finally arrived in the Whitsundays proper. Shaw Island is at the bottom of the Whitsundays just south of Lindeman Island (another failed resort). We anchored a Burning Point on the north west of the island and spent a few days there perfecting our relaxation techniques. We had a picnic on the beach, moved our bedding up to the saloon bed so we could see the beautiful scenery and the stars at night and watched the turtles and dolphins.

Curious about Lindeman Island we sailed across the bay and past the resort. We had walked through the resort a number of years previously with Clinton and Denise when we had our old charter boat. Denise scared everyone with stories about an axe-wielding caretaker. I have been scared of caretakers ever since. Despite a rumour that the Chinese had bought the resort there wasn't any evidence of work being done. We motored to Long Island via the inner channel and past an eco-resort to our anchorage for the night.

The anchorage at Happy Bay is one of our favourites. We got ourselves organised for the marina stop the following day, had a phone appointment with the doctors, did a little business and caught up with some of these damned travel diary stories.

In the afternoon we took a tender ride to see why the eco-resort, Palm Cove Resort, could charge $400 a night – however we couldn’t see why, and then to the beach where we saw tiny flathead like fish in the shallows. Our old charter boat was in the bay as well. We went over to see how the boat was running. I’m sure they thought we were some creepy old people.

In the evening we saw more dolphins, watched a beautiful sunset and were kept awake by jumping fish.

From a personal perspective Adam turned 25, Georgie got a new job at Royal Brisbane Hospital, we were retired for 18 months and Summer Breeze has done 2900 nautical miles.

Next: Passage – The Whitsundays to Magnetic Island