Was anchored in the Susan River , off the Mary recently and saw this little Wharam sailing up the river. Gave a wave and then he dropped sail and rowed over.
Turns out he is a hawaiian fella, raced dinghies all his life and does deliveries and boat work back home.
Anyway he bought the Wharam on Russel Is and it came with an engine which he got rid off.
He has no motor, no toilet, no fridge, no GPS.
He only has paper charts and knows the coastline very well.
We overtook him yesterday as there wasnt much wind, but im guessing we will continue to see him up the coast.
He is one of these people not into tech which is really a breath of fresh air.
We cooked him some dinner and had a few beers after doing some work on another yacht that he found, which was totally his idea but interested me so i went along.
I took loads of tools, he took nearly nothing and had no shoes, yet clambered around this boat at low tide picking bits off which he actually just gave to me.
I was having trouble , weighted down with too many tools and in knee deep mud but he got all the sail slides for me which i really needed and he got the furler off which was a total score. Also got some really good clutches and the goose neck.
This is not something i would bother with but i guess this guy is used to this sort of thing as he is travelling around with minimal stuff and probably has to wait around a bit. Russel island had so many boats in the mangroves which i saw and he said he checked them all.
Weve met so many interesting people on this trip, but the most interesting is people like this guy using old school nav techniques and using basic human tools like EYES to get around.
Yesterday all our nav gear and the sounder decided to go tits up. 3 devices and the boats sounder. The handheld, ipad was flat - has no gps anyway , my samsung phone has decided it will not charge anymore(this has happened to EVERY samsung phone ive had) and the garmin gps has developed some disease also - i think since i tried to take the maps off the SD card to send onwards to someone, because now when i try to toggle to the map page, the whole unit powers off.
So it was binocs and marker spotting to travel between shoals to Burrum heads which we entered without issue. Actually this has been the main way to navigate through these shoals lately.
What a mad place Burrum Heads is. Got there at low tide and to the left of the entrance is like football fields of land where the water fills it at high tide. These tides are getting full on.
Levy - the hawaiian also gave me every chart for the Whole Australian East Coast as he had doubles of them. Some of them are old but theyre great to have as i dont have all.
In a nutshell this whole trip so far has taught me about my own anxiety which has certainly amplified while doing this trip.
There is so much to think about and it constantly changes in every place.
My abilities are there - this i know, but mentally is where i have trouble and this is the most important.
I constantly worry about EVERYTHING and am constantly checking the gear, the boat, cleaning etc that it leaves little time to relax.
This hasnt been the best experience for my partner, but she has been great at calming me down and im adapting.
Geez this stuff is hard. Its one thing to think about, plan this but doing it is another matter.
As much as we have seen some amazing places so far and will no doubt continue to do so, i cannot help but think how lucky we are in NSW actually for cruising.
We dont have to worry about massive tides and strong currents most places. Theres nice beaches and anchorages everywhere. Theres bolt holes and hidey holes everywhere. Theres not as much shoaling.
Im still YET to see some amazing beaches up here that are sheltered and awesome to hang out at which is really all i want. Im not into swimming around mud flats and so far that has been mostly what ive seen.
in 1500kms of coast ive seen or experienced nothing like beaches in JB, pittwater, syd harbour , central coast, port stephens etc. Magic places with clear water, nice beaches and beautiful anchorages. Normal tides and very little surprises regarding shallows.
Our little tophat has performed beautifully. We have 200L of water capacity and heaps of fuel and power onboard.. She sails well and always handles surprises well. we feel safe. Not comfortable sometimes but safe. Im grateful that we have a small boat for getting into places that many just cant go into as their boats are too big.

Im not complaining. Its good to experience this, but it really does make me appreciate what we've got down south.
It seems that to get to the good stuff up here, you need to travel pretty far, but once you get there - magic. BUT, youve got massive tides and currents to think of. The water is constantly moving - and fast. This means that for swimming, launching dinghies, even anchoring - things are a little more complex.
ahhh, the ponderings of the morning.
Plan to get to the kepples soon and hang for a few weeks, then come home. Looking forward to exploring the clarence and port stephens on the way home.

Great read! White sandy beaches up north? Head south to tassise or south oz! You can always sit on some white sand at Southbank in Brisbane if your missing it!

You're doing great. We've done Sydney to Whitsundays in our 28 foot compass. Some of it has been tough and sometimes it has seemed more like a maintenance trip than a cruise.

The Keppels and all the islands thereafter are lovely. Boy, those tides are something - we had a couple of nights when we just could not get the anchor to stick.

We've had to take a few recovery days after the more exciting / testing experiences.

Best wishes to you and enjoy chilling on a sandy beach with clear blue water.

Cheers

Bristle

Don't even think about going to musgrave and ladie Elliot! Just go now while your there on your own craft.it could be your only chance!

Yep, a few anchor issues - seems good now.

Anchored at sawmill beache on Whitsunday island - beautiful spot.

Bristle

You are just starting to get to the better areas. We always make a beeline to Keppel and then work our way north. We are currently at Orpheus Island and it is totally awesome. This area runs rings round the Whitsundays. Water's clean, warm, less boats .
Our tracker and blog is below.
my.yb.tl/jode7/#

Jode5 said..
You are just starting to get to the better areas. We always make a beeline to Keppel and then work our way north. We are currently at Orpheus Island and it is totally awesome. This area runs rings round the Whitsundays. Water's clean, warm, less boats .
Our tracker and blog is below.
my.yb.tl/jode7/#

Hey John, Bowden Island and then on to the Frankland Islands is highly recommended.

Bowden Island is very special place. The whole island with it's dry sand spit with National Parks pic nic shelter is probably less than 2 acres in area and not often visited.

It is a rock peak covered in lush,dense vegetation.

The anchorage is on the north side. Shell, sand and coral.

The facilities are ideally suited to Banyans, Splicing the Main Brace, beach BBQs and moonlight sonatas. Overnight camping is not permitted and flaking out on the beach is no excuse for misbehaviour.

WARNING:- All activities of visitors are subject to video and photo surveillance by the visitors and may even be published on the internet.
End of Rational Parks Bulletin...