Two weeks with the Walsh’s on board! And we are all still talking.
What’s that saying? “Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days!” Not the Walsh’s. We did let them shower of course and we had so much fun.
It’s been a while since my last post. We’ve just been too busy. This is a slightly different post too as it’s really all about our guests.
We talked, we fished, we snorkeled, we kayaked, we played cards and board games almost every night, we ate chocolate, we sailed everywhere, and we ate and drank our way through our very well stocked pantry and cellar … for 16 days from Bundaberg to Great Keppel Island.
Inviting guests on board can be tricky. We always want warm weather (especially for our fellow Victorians), appealing locations, gentle sailing breezes, and time. So, with these factors in mind, we picked a weather window at short notice (they were on the plane with three days’ notice … and with no return date booked) and a coastal passage that offered all the activities we knew Lynn and Greg would enjoy – Lady Musgrave Island, Pancake Creek, Yellow Patch and Great Keppel Island.
So, there’s lots of people photos in this post. Remember to click-on each photo for a larger view.
We left the Burnett Heads Marina at “stupid o’clock” bound for Lady Musgrave Island. I’m sure our guests would have preferred a sleep-in after their previous long day on planes and at airports (they copped a 4-hour delay at Brisbane so it was a long day from Melbourne), but it was a lively sail to Lady M instead. Too fast for the fish though. We did catch one fish quite quickly, but unfortunately, it escaped as we brought it the transom. (Little did we know that fish would be the one and only fish caught trawling during our 16 days.) Nonetheless, we did have a terrific quick spinnaker run all the way to Lady M. There’s a tick!
Our ‘plan’ was all about a weather window at Lady M. We are so pleased we took this as there have been no calm days since. While it wasn’t perfect Lady Musgrave weather, we stayed for four nights and we did snorkel (in very cold water), we taught Lynn how to kayak and we even saw the mantas on the western side of the island.
But it was all about the turtles on this visit!
Our next destination was Pancake Creek. A perfect destination for fishing, kayaking and of course a visit to the Bustard Head Lighthouse. And it would be a calm water anchorage. I think we were all looking forward to a quiet night’s sleep. It was certainly a quick but rather boisterous reaching sail to Pancake Creek!
I think we had as much fun finding the ‘one-armed bandits’ (yabbies the Queenslanders call them) as trying to catch fish. After talking to a neighbouring cat’ we finally found the yabbies. Our 40+ year old sand pump did its job yet again! We did catch a few whiting which provided whiting on toast for brekky, and Greg did hook Moby Dick from The Bossa, but MB was far too strong and thus returned to the deep sight unseen.
We enjoyed Greg’s guitar playing along with our evenings of cards, Monopoly Deal, Sequence and chocolate! And the 500 winners were?!
It was in Pancake Creek I discovered that my ten year old casting rod and reel were probably due for an upgrade. After watching Greg cast enormous distances and catch more fish than me, I was feeling rather inadequate. Lynn suggested I try Greg’s rod and after declining a few times, I did. Wow, the difference! Our next stop was the Gladstone Marina for fuel, supplies and washing … and a new rod and reel of course!
As we left Pancake Creek we had this surprise double rainbow! What a beauty.
Check out my new rod and our new rack. Greg brought three rods with him! We had to find somewhere to put them. It was a challenge designing this rack, but with three heads butting horns, we got there in the end!
“Plans are written in the sand at low tide”, they say. Our plan was to visit Yellow Patch next. We needed a rising high tide to enter the shallow entrance. Yellow Patch is not only a fishing spot but it’s one of my favourite locations along the coast with its big sand hill and scenic sand flats. The winds had been blowing strong for days and once again they were blowing stronger than forecast. It was another “stupid o’clock” departure to make the high tide and another brisk sail with a following sea. But unfortunately, with the strong winds whipping around Cape Capricorn and breaking waves across the Yellow Patch ‘entrance’ right on high tide, we couldn’t see a passage through so we detoured to The Narrows.
The Narrows are a calm waterway between Gladstone and Keppel Bay. Not a bad plan b. Fishing, games, a walk to Sea Hill and one of Lynn’s wicked Scone Rings was on the afternoon menu.
Great Keppel Island was next on the itinerary and we had a three day calm and sunny weather window coming up. Whoopeee!
We kayaked up Leeke’s Creek with the midges (sandflies), snorkeled at Monkey Beach, ate yummy hamburgers at Fisherman’s Beach and we all enjoyed some down time before our guests departed. We even had a leisurely (rather than ‘brisk’) sail back to the Keppel Bay Marina.
Monkey Bay was calm and sunny, perfect for a kayak and a snorkel.
The water was still COLD!
The clams at Monkey are always a treat. So many different colours. See my Slideshow below …
Our guests tell us, they had the best time. We did too. The fishing, the games, the cooking and the fun and laughter made our 16 days with the Walsh’s such a treat. We didn’t catch many fish, but we had lots of fun trying. We sailed everywhere with strong breezes and we were lucky to have shared several of our favourite anchorages on the Capricornia coast.
A big thank you to Lynn and Greg for their willingness to give everything a go. We loved seeing them enjoy it all. We also want to thank them for their generosity.
Here’s their feedback … “We had a great time, bit cool back here though. Just tell me where I can get another holiday :- [living] aboard a spotless yacht, with extensive bedrooms, our own bathroom, three meals a day, canapés on the aft deck, endless supply of beverages, exclusive use of a Zodiac, kayaks on call, a different game every evening and wake up to a different exotic location every day, all expenses included with great company & conversation. We are dreamin’ …”
We are now sitting out a blow at the Keppel Bay Marina. It is a bit quiet aboard but with some jobs on the go, along with friends nearby on Crazy Lil Thing, Chances and Vivacious, our time here seems to be flying by. We’ve also received news from home we now have another grandchild on the horizon. Exciting times ahead!