percy island

We are southward bound!

What a great run of weather we have had. Northerly winds and gentle seas have made it an enjoyable and quick trip south.  

After our short visit to Townsville where the Captain cheered at getting an all clear from the doc, we jumped overnight down to the Whitsundays. We dropped by a few islands in the southern Whitsundays before enduring a long, hot and frustrating motor sail passage to Middle Percy Island where we planned on a rendezvous with Waterfront and Skedaddle.

It was worth it.

Middle Percy is an off-grid island, approximately 65 nautical miles (120 kms) from Mackay. It’s a tropical island offering walks and hiking trails, a welcoming Homestead to visit up the hill, the Treehouse for an overnight stay (I think this may be getting some TLC at the moment), sensational views, local honey to purchase, West Bay’s palm trees and A-frame and mangrove lined lagoon, and of course, the numerous picturesque bays for we sailors to drop anchor in.

I have written about the Percy Islands previously, but I thought this visit required a bit more attention.

There are caretakers who live on the island and a not-for-profit foundation has been set up to assist with the island’s upkeep and for the preservation of what the island has to offer. Volunteers often kick in too. There’s also an opportunity for yachties to assist by purchasing a Percy Membership which contributes to cost of their Public Liability Insurance.

These maps are courtesy of Alan Lucas’s Cruising The Coral Coast (one of the many ‘bibles’ on The Bossa). Love the West Bay reference … “a delightful and sand-bottomed anchorage whose popularity contradicts its discomfort”.

West Bay is the home of the A-frame Percy Yacht Club. It’s a ‘must-see’ destination when you cruise through the islands between Great Keppel Island and the Whitsundays. Yachties gather at the A-frame for sundowners, a BBQ and maybe even a goat stew if it’s on offer (there are wild goats aplenty on Percy). The A-frame is adorned with yachtie memorabilia and together with the palm trees alongside, this makes it a much photographed location.

These photos were taken in July at West Bay

We have stopped at Middle Percy Island many times over the years, often both on our southern and northern passages. This season, back in July, we were lucky enough with the weather to spend a night at South Percy, followed by two nights in West Bay on Middle Percy. Here’s a few pics from my archives …

Top – South Percy Island Below – West Bay’s lagoon

While West Bay is the ‘must see’ destination on Percy Island, it is also known for its rolly seas. It can very uncomfortable when the swell rolls in (as per Alan Lucas’s description above).  We know!  So, on our trips south, we usually drop in to Whites Bay on the southern side of Percy, which is much more protected from the northerly winds. Maybe because we are always on a ‘mission’ when we return south, we have never spent more than one night in White’s Bay when sailing through the Percy islands.  On this visit we took advantage of the forecasted light winds and hot sunny days and spent a lovely four days between Rescue and White’s Bays with Waterfront and Skedaddle.

Rescue Bay

We anchored in Rescue Bay the first night. As we approached the bay we realised we had no depth reading. Arghhh! Bugger! (Our depth transducer was only just two years old. Fortunately, it is being replaced under warranty.) We motored up to another yacht to get a guide from their depth reading (a yacht with a name we could not pronounce, so a VHF call wasn’t a chance and then they had their music blaring so loudly they didn’t know we were there). We anchored and found out later when Waterfront and Skedaddle wandered in, we were anchored in 13 metres of water! It’s quite disconcerting not knowing how much water is under the boat.

My drone seems to be behaving itself at the moment so capturing Rescue Bay’s sandhill and beautiful water from the air was a must.

Just around the corner is White’s Bay.

The sandhills with their array of ochre colours, browns through to almost orange tones, through to lighter tones of creams, are quite stunning. Against the turquoise of the sea, these bays are beautiful, especially from above.

We had a lovely relaxing time at Percy Island with a few swims and paddles, along with some socialising onshore at sunset.

Leaving Percy Island at 5 am for Port Clinton with Waterfront.

After a brief GKI and Yeppoon stopover, we are now anchored in Pancake Creek waiting for some northerly winds.