In the Tropics

Well all good things must come to an end and at Lady Musgrave this was sooner than we wanted. The wind was forecast to pick up and at high tide the anchorage here is exposed as the ocean swell can roll in over the reef. So we left at about lunch time for Pancake Creek, the closest all weather anchorage. Our departure time meant that we would be entering at night which was a bit of a worry for us as the entrance is narrow and unlit. As we got closer we could see other yacht anchored in the mouth which gave us some idea on where the sand banks weren't. We stayed here for two nights. It is national park and very attractive.


Pancake Creek

The winds had increased and we wanted to get moving before they strengthened more. So we pointed towards Cape Capricorn, a full days sail. It was named by cook because it lies nearly on the tropic of Capricorn, we are now in the tropics. It offers some protection from the swell but the night we stayed there it was pretty uncomfortable. Through the night the wind gusted to 40 knots and we dragged anchor a bit.In the morning we went ashore while we waited for the high tide to enter 'Yellow Patch', which is a creek that would have made our stay here a lot more comfortable, but as we approached the barred entrance to the creek we could only see surf on what we thought must have been the entrance.

Cape Capricorn, Curtis Island

The desire for a good nights sleep led us to Great Kepple Island, off the coast of Yepoon and Rockhampton. The wind was still 25 knots but the swell was barely noticeable and a couple of glasses of grog ensured a good nights sleep. In the morning we noticed that we had dragged again so Michael and I changed anchors to the larger spare and we are putting out more chain for the larger tidal range and we are holding tight now.

A bit of fishing on Great Kepple Island