Tuesday 17th June - Mackay Marina

We had a full day of shopping ahead of us.

Kristie had booked the “Rent a wreck” from the marina, hire car for the day.

We both went up to do the paperwork, and Kristie went off shopping and jobs while I did school with the girls and got in some work.

Kristie went to:

• pick up a new wireless anchor remote
• get her dive prescription lens put in her new mask
• hair
• bottleshop
• Woolies pickup
• Coles (for eggs & sourdough that Woolies was unable to supply)

Back up for lunch - hot chook (seems to be our regular lunch when ever we stop in a marina for shopping).

Once lunch was done, my turn to head off. I had a reasonable list to get through, and Pete from Nauti Kitty needed to visit most of the same places so he tagged along.

• Yamaha yard - I picked up some spectra to replace the furling line on our smaller jib.
• BBQ Galore to pickup a wok.
• BCF - new fish rod and squid light
• Anaconda - picked up some new sailing jackets - mine is probably 15yrs old and in need of replacement.

Got back to the marina after 4:30 or so - dropped the car keys into the box.

Back on the boat to put the shopping away and vacuum seal the meat/ham/salami.

The week ahead:

Dinner onboard.

Wednesday 18th

We had to check out today, but there wasn’t a rush - technically we didn’t have to be out until midnight ;)

Did the usual boat jobs, water, engine checks.

We only had a quick sail across to Keswick, so we didn’t have to leave too early.

I removed the old wireless anchor remote (the buttons on the remote were no longer working).
New remote was easy enough to install. It’s a generic remote (~$100, vs the Lofrans $800 version!). It works!

With the boat ready, we motored over to the fuel dock to top up.
Tied up and put in about 90L of diesel, for 27hrs of motoring since we left Gladstone.

Not the smoothest exit off the fuel dock, and then out into the main harbour to do a few laps while we pulled up fenders and lines and get ready to sail.
We put the mainsail up while in the protection of the harbour (much nicer than doing it in 1-2m swell!).

Our the marina and over to Keswick Island. It was a good 15-20kt SE. One of the crew from a pilot boat that was fueling up at the same time mentioned it was a bit messy out there!
With 2nd reef in, but full head sail out we were making quite good time, 8-10knts.

The seas started to pick up a bit, along with the wind. We had a good 2-3m swell.
It was starting to get a bit wild so pulled in the head sail, and that made things much easier.
Still going along at 7knts or so.

Once we got past the headland of St Bees it calmed down a lot. We dropped the sails and motored around to find somewhere to stop.
The moorings at the bottom of St Bees were bobbing around too much, so went around the corner.
The area just north of the runway was ok. Wind chop but no swell.

Settled in for the night.

Thursday 19th

School and Work.

Eventually we had to get off the boat. The girls were happy onboard so just Kristie and I jumped in the tender.
Tried landing just at the end of the runway, but a “no access / keep out” sign suggested we landed elsewhere.

Went down the end of the bay there the walk across to Connie Bay starts.
Tender up on the beach and walked up and over the headland.
Steep walk up a dirt/grass road.
Kristie scared off a snake with her scream after nearly stepping on it.
It was 600m up the top of the hill, then another 600m down to the beach.

Not much on the beach, but it was nice and calm.
On the way back we spotted Nauti Kitty arriving. Their first impressions of our chosen anchorage wasn’t the best, so they went to check out the other two options off the top of St Bees & Keswick.

Back to the tender, then went across to check out Turtle Beach. Also calm there when your standing on the beach out of the wind, but too much swell coming around from both sides out on the water.
It wasn’t long before Nauti Kitty circled back and dropped anchor where we were.

Back to the boat, we got the girls and went straight across to the beach on St Bees.

We’d told the other boats we’d be heading over, so it wasn’t long until the crew from Margot and Nauti Kitty were on the beach.
Drinks and nibbles and good fun.

Dinner onboard.

Friday 20th

School and Work for the morning.

Dropped Kristie into the beach at the airport. I went back to the boat.

Not long after Kristie stepped foot on the sand, she was approached by airport security.
The were a couple of trainee pilots practicing landings and take offs and the runway (only access to the island) was closed.
About 1/2 an hour later, they were finished with their training and Kristie was able to set off and walk every track on the island - steep tracks, some good views and not too sociable residents.

Late arvo I got a call over the VHF. The caller was checking in just to see if anyone had been trying to contact her.
I let Jess know that it was possibly Kristie as she was off wandering the island.
After some confusion, the caller identified herself as Kristie.
This gave our boat friends (who were listening on VHF) a good chuckle.

James jumped on the VHF call and invited everyone around to Connie Beach for a quick fire.
Kristie had a quick walk down from Horseshoe Bay Lookout to join them.
I couldn’t convince Emma to make the effort for 1/2 an hour, but Kristina was keen to head over for a quick play on the beach with the boys.
Marshmallows on the fire, a 0 beer from James, then back to Lazuli before the sun set.
Kristie got a ride back with James & family so Kristina and I could get back quicker in the rough conditions.
It was a wet tender ride home!

Saturday 21st

Very wet/windy day.

School and work.

Didn’t get off the boat.

Sunday 22nd

Another wet day.

School and work.

Put on the wetsuits and got to Turtle Beach for some shell collecting. Made a quick dash to the trees a couple of times, to hide from squalls coming through.

Got the call late afternoon from Nauti Kitty that the boys were going to watch A Minecraft Movie and invited us to come over.
Got the girls geared up for the tender ride across.

Jess was cooking popcorn - salted and caramel.

Movie was enjoyable - the kids really enjoyed it. Our girls had watch lots of previews and other Youtubes about it and gave a good running commentary!

Monday 23rd

Time to move on today. The wind has been howling the last few days and was supposed to be dropping off today.

We were pulling up anchor the same time as Nauti Kitty. They were off to Scawfell, we were heading north.

We got to Brampton but it was too rolly there, so we kept heading up to Goldsmith. It was much better up there.
We ended up picking up a mooring at the northern end of the bay.
We had occasional small swell wrapping around the top, but manageable.

We were the only boat when we go there, but ended up with 4 other boats in the bay by the time we left.

Tuesday 24th

After a bit of a rolly night I dropped Kristie into the beach for the morning.
Blue skies, warm sand and 2 40cm reef sharks cruising through the bait fish in knee deep water.
Back on the boat I helped the girls with their schooling, then got busy with work.

Picked up Kristie for lunch.

Bit of time on the boat then took the tender ride to check out the snorkeling options and the bay.
Water was cloudy, and not too much of interest to entice us into the water.
Saw a couple of reef sharks swimming around in the shallows.

Got the squid light out, but no squid came along.

Wednesday 25th

School and then motored across to Thomas Island.

It was still really foggy, cloud down to sea level.

Generator on as our batteries were a bit low after a few days or rain and bad weather.
Into the beach to go exploring.

Collected shells, explored the rocks, went for a swim.
Kristie had a quick snorkel. Cloudy water, lots of weed, little bit of coral and a few fish.

First time in a few weeks that we’ve had no wind, calm water & blue skies. So Kristie set off for a SUP.

Thursday 26th

Woke up to blue skies for the first time in a while.
There is a walking track from our side of the beach across to the other side.
The girls geared up for the short trip across to the beach.
On the beach we had to walk up and down a bit to find the start of the track.
The boating app said follow a dry creek bed.. The only creek was quite wet!

I didn’t go quite far enough the first time, and after pushing a little bit further found signs of the track.
Plastic (thongs, oil bottles) etc as trail markers.

Quite a bit of the track was overgrown and had to carry the girls a little bit.

We got to the other side and it was super windy. The girls both declared it wasn’t worth the walk!

Back to the boat and got Lazuli ready to sail across to Shaw.
Given it was still blowing 20knts+, we sailed across on just our #2 jib. Easy downwind sailing at 6-7knts speed.
Got to the end of Shaw and gybed to sail back across into the bay.
There were already half a dozen boats there hiding from the wind.

We motored up to “The Neck” to see if was any better there but turned out worse, a much longer fetch and more swell coming into the bay.
Back down the other end to drop anchor with everyone else.

Lunch.

Very very windy.

Didn’t leave the boat.

Friday 27th

School, no work today (already done this week and next weeks as well!).

With guests coming onboard tomorrow I needed some time to clean up the boat and make room for guests.

I had bought a bunch of down lights when we were at Gladstone and hadn’t had time (or inclination) to install them.
I got them all installed. They are also push button on/off, which will be helpful.

With the wind gusting up to 30knts I ended up with a few straps around the mainsail to lash it down for the night.

Saturday 28th

No particular rush this morning as we don’t have too far to go, and we can’t get into our berth until 12.

It was still windy and overcast.

Breakfast and then getting ready to sail.

Anchor up and got going by 8:45. It didn’t seem as windy or swelly as we expected.

Went with our #2 jib only, the main will still lashed down from the day before. Still going along at 6knts or so.

Until we hit the main Whitsunday passage, and we started fighting the flooding tide heading south :(

Once we dropped to about 4knts it was time to fire up the engine and start motor sailing.

A bit rolly at times, but I called in at around 12:30 to get our assigned berth.
Half an hour later I called on the VHF to give them the 30min heads up, and again called in when we got to the channel markers just outside the marina wall.

We had someone to catch our lines. My first attempt I got the angle wrong, but 2nd time nailed it.

All tied up and secure.

We had a bunch of jobs to do before our first guests turned up:

• Cleaning both bathrooms (and emptying the composting toilet)
• Filling up the water
• Two loads of washing+drying
• Offloading all the rubbish
• Charging batteries (for my squid light!)
• Showering!

Justin, Jo and the kids turned up just after 4pm, and once unloaded Justin took Kristie to collect our Woolies order (and more drinks!).

Back on board was a bit of chaos, bags of cloths, gear, shopping everywhere.

Got it mostly stowed away, and then we walked up to Hogs Breath for dinner. Curley fries FTW.

Kids needed a quick run around in the park to burn off the ice cream.

Tomorrow we’re off exploring the Whitsundays.

We’ll be around here for at least the next month and a half!

Sunday 8th June - Pearl Bay

After a bit of a rolly night it was time to head to the beach for a walk. The girls opted to stay inside, so just Kristie and I for a walk.

There had been maybe 8 or so other boats in Pearl Bay for the night, but by the time our walk was done only us and one other remained.

Back to Lazuli and then up anchor to motor up to Island Head Creek (about 6nm or so north of us).

The wind forecast for today/tonight was to swing around to the north, then north-west, then south-west, with a south-east swell!
There aren’t many places that can provide reasonable protection from that range of wind!
Island Head Creek had been closed for the last week due to some live firing action in the Shoal Water Bay area, but from 8am today it was open.
The guide book we have shows several places to stop, but down the creek at #4 has protection from ALL wind directions - perfect!

There were maybe 5 or so other boats (mostly cats) tucked in close to the norther end not far inside the entrance.
We passed them and kept going.

We had a few attempts at setting the anchor. At one point we dragged up a lump of rock/oysters, and I had to use the boat hook to leaver it off the anchor and back to where it belongs.

Tried our luck at fishing, but as usual nothing happened.

Sushi/sashimi (our Mac Tuna) for dinner. Except for Kristina who won’t eat raw fish ;)

We had a calm night in with the mozzies.

Monday 9th

No School today as we have a big’ish sailing day.

With the winds currently (and still forecast for the rest of the day/night) from the SW, we were looking for options.
Originally we wanted to stay at Hexham Island, but that wouldn’t be too good with SW winds and W swell.

The Duke Islands (Bamborough) were the next option - good anchorage there for the SW.

Before we’d left I got a message from Pete on Nauti Kitty asking where we were heading next and that they were still in the Percys.
Same distance to South Percy as to Bamborough, so off to the Percy’s we go.

I had a morning of meetings, so Kristie kept watch while the autopilot did its thing.

We had good wind and made pretty good time to the island. We came around the Eastern side of South Percy and dropped sails in the calmer waters.

The SW side (other end of the island from us) looked to offer the best protection from the SW winds, so motored across the bay.
Dropped anchor then jumped straight onto another work call. I had to cut it short as our anchor was dragging a little.
Got it reset, and it was then fine for the next two nights.

Nauti Kitty had been over at Middle Percy but were now on the way over to where we were.

As soon as they arrived it was time to head into the beach for a catch-up.

It was great to see Pete and Jess and the two boys again.
We’d last seen them nearly a month ago during our first stop in Gladstone.
They’d been a few steps/stops ahead of us the whole time (yes we’d been stalking them on AIS).

We stayed on the beach for quite a while, and didn’t get back to Lazuli until quite late.
Then had to cook up dinner - Mac Tuna for us (except Kristina).

Tuesday 10th

School and Work.

After a late lunch we got a call from the others that they were going to head for a snorkle/swim/play at the beach.

Geared up and off we went. The snorkeling was ok, nothing compared to Musgrave/Heron. Didn’t last too long.

Pete then offered to take me fishing, so back to the boats to get ready.

We dropped the girls over to Nauti Kitty to play with Sniffy, and we went off. Got a few bites but nothing substantial to keep.

We got the call over the VHF asking how late we’d be, and that Jess was hungry and so were the kids.
By the time we got back she’d cooked fish and rice for them and herself. They then invited Kristie and I over for dinner.
We supplied potatoes (they were out) and they supplied some red throat they’d caught earlier. Delicious fish, and salty fried potatoes were also smashed quickly.

With the wind going more SE, we made a plan to head over to Middle Percy tomorrow.

Wednesday 11th

We figured a bunch of other boats would also have the same idea, so we left reasonably early to move around.

I just had time for a very quick work call before we dropped anchor. There were already quite a few boats there, so we had to stand out a bit (as usual).

Got some more work done, and the girls did school.

Early lunch and then into the beach to check out the A-Frame that Middle Percy is famous for.

The A-Frame has a collection of boating bits and memorabilia left by cruisers over the last 50 or so years.
Contributions range from stubby coolers to t-shirts, blocks of wood with names chiseled out, to intricately carved and polished boards.
Lots of history.

There’s two levels, and every bit is full of memorabilia:

The Nauti Kitty crew were in, and Pete had his coconut pole-saw working overtime to relieve the trees of their goods.
He also chopped them up and offered them around. These were proper nice coconuts - the milk was tasty and the flesh inside was next level.
On their recommendation we tried it with other accompaniments such as honey, pineapple, and soy sauce (in various combinations of each).

We also met a few other boat crews that were in at the beach/hut as well, and invited them all back in for bbq/dinner tonight.

The kids enjoyed a swim/wrestle on the mat, and the water was really quite lovely to swim in.

Pete was off for another fish, so I jumped in with them for a quick trip out. I managed to land a fish, but nothing of note to brag about.

Back to the beach to get the girls and get ready for the night.

Pete and Jess were going to cook some Lamb in their camp oven. We had a bag of frozen carrots, a sweet potato, and some damper to offer (also sausages for the kids).

We had the usual nibbles and drinks, and also got chatting to Marty (current care taker), and Wayne (one of the board members and out there dropping off supplies and helping Marty out).

We also bought some honey. The caretaker sells it there - happy to support them. It’s good bush honey, but the girls don’t like the taste that much (it’s quite different from the processed honey you buy in the supermarkets).

The damper was great, lamb delicious, and the carrots a bit cold (they needed just a bit longer in the fire!).

Also had a chat with some lads up from Port Stephens on their annual reef fishing trip (they’d just spent a few nights out at the Swains on their 5-6m fishing boat).
One of them offered around some fish they’d just caught and cooked. Fresh reef fish is so good.

The girls were also having a sleepover on Nauti Kitty. The other night when we’d been there they’d seen that the boys had a swag on the front and had slept in that.
Emma ended up just sleeping down in one of the cabins, but the Kristina and the two boys slept the night in the swag.

Thursday 12th

We could hear a bit of commotion on NC in the morning, and the kids were up on deck fishing.
One of the boys caught a squid, then Kristina had a go and pulled one in. No ink on any boats.

Pete dropped the girls (and a fresh coffee for me!) over. These boat friends are next level!

Nauti Kitty then left to head over to Curlew Island for the night.

Emma had missed out on a squid over there, so she had a quick go with her rod, but there weren’t any about.

The rest of the morning was school and work.

Bit of rain/drizzle.

I jumped in the tender with my fishing gear to try my luck, but didn’t even get a nibble; I also managed to break my rod after I caught a rock :(

George, from one of the other cats came over and offered a Queenfish he’d caught and couldn’t offload. We happily accepted it (was at least 60cm or so!).
Quick fillet and into the fridge.

Fish for dinner. Not as tasty as the reef fish, but still nice.

Rolly night :(

Friday 13th

No school this morning - we needed to get off the boat.

Kristie had devised a plan of what we could craft to leave behind in the A-Frame.
With the drill, sandpaper, glue, and cord in hand we headed in and setup at the table to make our sign.

We all got to help and do the finger knitting, but Kristie was in charge of gluing/positioning!
The girls collected shells to decorate the rest of the wood.

With the sign done we had a quick swim. Emma did some painting while we were getting wet:

There’s a swing at the A-Frame, and the girls are always up for a swing :)

We were almost ready to leave when another couple walked past and mentioned they’d collected a few passion fruit.
So off we went to see what we could scavenge. We got back to the tender with 9 :)

Early lunch and then onto Digby Island (Nauti Kitty had headed there this morning).

It’s only about 20nm (and I forgot to record the track). We sailed for quite a bit of it, but eventually with the wind and sun dropping we had to use the motor otherwise it’d be dark when we anchored.
As it was, it was about 5pm before we got the anchor down.

Kristie whipped up her asparagus dip, and then we were off to the beach to meet up with the others.

We enjoyed a fire and drinks on the beach.

The others had brought their dinner in, we had to cook it when we got back to Lazuli at around 8pm!
Left over Queenfish for us (Kristina is happy to eat this since I haven’t served it up raw :)

Very rolly (probably the most rolly we’ve had) night - Kristie moved upstairs to sleep on the deck during the night, it was that bad :(

The following is Kristina’s Percy Island Top 5

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At Middle Percy Island there were lots of fun things to do (for me anyways) 
but there were five things that I liked more than others.

My favourite thing was the passion fruit vines that were on the sides of the path. 
I really loved that because passion fruit is so good we we got to pick it ourselves for once instead of buying it.

My second favourite thing was having a sleepover on our friends boat Nauti Kitty. 
I really enjoyed that because it was the first proper sleepover I'd been to plus 
it was with the sniffys who always make me laugh.

The next thing on my list of favourites is the swing that was hanging from the A-frame. 
I was really excited about the swing because I think swinging is so much fun and I haven't done it in over a year.

The fourth thing that I really liked was the fire pit that was out the back of the A-frame.
This meant that we could get warm and make some delicious damper both of which I really liked.

The last thing on my list of favourites was when Mum and Dad decided we were going to do some craft to hang up in the A-frame.
So we did some finger knitting and Mum and Dad glued it on.
Me and Emma also went for a swim to find some shells to glue on as well.

The following is Emma’s Percy Island Top 5

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1. At the A Frame there was a wooden swing. I enjoyed swinging and jumping off it
2. When Kristina, mum and dad were swimming I painted a coconut with water colours.
3. Mum had the idea to finger knit our name Lazuli for the A Frame
4. We had a fire on the beach and I helped mum bake delicious damper
5. Mum, dad and Kristina picked some yummy passion fruit but I stayed behind 
(the passion fruit was a bit sour though).

Saturday 14th

Breakfast then dropped Kristie into the beach and I went back to the boat to get the girls breakfast.

I came back in with Kristina while Emma stayed on Lazuli. We couldn’t find Kristie, and I assumed she was off exploring.
Pete dropped the two boys into the beach and then went back to do some boat jobs.

Kristie turned up - she’d been having a nap on the beach behind a rock.

We (Kristie, Kristina, the two boys, and I) set off exploring around the headland. Good views over the islands to the north/north west.

A quick trip back to Lazuli for lunch and then the kids (and Kristie) had to get ready for the sleepover on the beach.

I dropped the girls back to shore with all their gear, and went back to the boat to get dinner ready.

While I was cooking the beef stir-fry the girls and the other two boys got the fire prepared.

I brought dinner back to the beach in our Billy-Boil (it’s been so handy!). I picked up the camp-oven from Nauti Kitty and went in.

We got the fire going, and Kristie had the kids help her make the damper - we’d run out of lemonade, so had to resort to two of the Bundy Passionfruit cans that Kristina has.

Jess and the kids had brought in some cream and homemade jam to have with the damper. Delicious.

Post damper swing

They’d also had provided the rice for the dinner.

We had fun around the fire, and eventually managed to get the kids in their swag at about 8-8:30pm.

Kristie was sleeping on (and under) a tarp on the beach, with one of our boat cushions and a sleeping bag.

We put the fire out, then left Kristie and the kids on the beach. I went back to Lazuli to do the washing up and watch a bit of tv.

We’d left a handheld VHF on the beach, but thankfully no late night trips were needed :)

Another rolly night for me - I believe the sand was nice and stationary.

The following is Emma’s recount of our time at Digby Island:

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We anchored at Digby Island for two nights.
At sunset we had a fire on the beach.
Kristina, Argie, and Kyan make a fire pit out of rocks and cuttle fish cement.
Mummy made some damper and Jess brought in some cream to put on it when it was ready.
Argie found a rope and a stick then dad used them to make a swing!
I love swings.
We had a sleep over on the beach that night.
All the kids slept in a swag but mum slept under a tarp.

The following is Kristina’s recount of our time at Digby Island:

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When we left the Percys our next stop was Dibgy Island which has been my favourite place so far.
During the day me, the Sniffys and my Mum and Dad went exploring over the rocks.
We had a look in some rock pools and we got a great view from the top of the rocks.
After we got back me and Sniffy started building a fire pit.
At first it was only going to be one layer of rocks but then I put on a second layer.
While I was doing that Sniffy collected some fire wood then started to make a bonfire in the fire pit.
I joined in to make the process go quicker and by the time we had finished Dad had got back from getting lunch.
Our process was worth it as by the end we had made a huge fire that was ready for the night.
Meanwhile Sniffy jr had re-lit one of the fires from last night so we could have some coals for tonight.
After we had all finished those tasks me and the Sniffys made some cuttlefish concrete.
Sniffy jr went up and down the beach collecting all the cuttlefish he could find.
He would then come back and give them to Sniffy who would soak them, crush them up with a rock, 
then mix them with sand in one of the sand castle buckets.
I would then come over, pick them up and reinforce the fire pit with it.
It was getting dark so Dad went to pick up Emma from the boat.
They came back to the beach and Sniffy's parents came just a bit after and with them came the swag.
Another thing we had done was choosing a spot for the swag to go.
We were planning to have a sleepover on the beach and it turned out great.
All of us kids were going to sleep in the swag and our Mum was going to sleep under a tarp.
When every thing was done us kids started to get a bit bored so we started to make a swing out of some rope
that Sniffy had found while looking for fire wood.
Then we bugged the Dads to use the chainsaw on some of the firewood we found for the base.
We then turned it into a swing.

Sunday 15th

I got a message around 6:30 to say that the beach party was awake and after some breakfast.

The kids were happy with the idea of some melted ham and cheese wraps (melted in the fire they had to get going again :)
Cocopops for Kristie and some of the kids as well (the wraps were a little too smoky for some)

We packed up the beach camping and tried to leave the beach in a good state for the next boaties.

Back to the boats and to get ready for setting off.

Nauti Kitty were off to Double Island (we’d looked at that on the map and with the given weather forecast decided it would not be good for us).

We left for Curlew Island. We had to motor out and bash our way south for a bit before we could get the sails up.

I had the 2nd reef in the main, and our smaller head sail out, and we were still hammering along at 9-10knts a lot of the time with apparent wind angle of about 50deg.

We would have had a 1-1.5m swell from the south.

Dropped the sails and went in the western channel. Dropped anchor in a nice calm spot.
We had followed one boat in, and not long after us another two turned up, making it 5 all up.

There was still a bit of swell, but nothing like we’d had the last two days.

Tender down, then Kristie and I went in for a walk on the beach, leaving the girls on their iPads.

Back to Lazuli for lunch, then I dropped Kristie back to the beach while I went back to Lazuli to prep the boat for the sail to Mackay tomorrow.

• Cooked Sausages
• Baked Brownies
• Cut up oranges
• boiled the pasta
• made rice and dinner for tonight.

At about 4pm I took the girls back into the beach for sip’s ‘n dips and dinner on the beach.

We had fun playing on the beach - cricket - throwing/catching - frisbee. On our earlier walk, Kristie and I had found the big rock at the end that people leave shells and other interesting things on.

We took the girls back there, via another group of boaties from two other boats.

Found some more shells, and left them on the rock shelf for others to enjoy.

We wanted to get back to our food before the sun went down!

Walked back down the beach to enjoy dinner with the sun going down (hot dinner thanks to the Billy Boil).

Back to Lazuli.

Monday 16th

Big’ish day sail today - somewhere around 45nm or so to get to Mackay.

We were up early and had ourselves and Lazuli ready for departure not long after 7am. We left via the western channel, and there was a lot of action on the surface, with the seabirds and fish both going nuts all around us.

The wind was more or less SE, and we needed to go NE. Choosing not to go dead down wind we angled into the coast a bit.
Again we had 2nd reef in the main, but full head sail out. We had some fast sailing into the coast, but probably went a bit further off course than desired.
Another boat had left Curlew not long after us, a 50ft X-Yacht, also bound for Mackay.
They ended up getting into the marina about 1.6nm ahead of us. We travelled 50nm, whereas if travelling by Crow it’d be about 43nm.

Dropped sails before we got into the main harbour; after crossing an unexpected “bar” at the entrance we did a few circles while I got the fenders and lines ready.

We had got organised for someone to help us, but with a good 15knt blow-off it wasn’t going to be fun.
I ended up with one foot on the boat next to us keeping Lazuli away from it :(
No damage done, just increased heart rates all around.

We were in the area of the marina for the larger boats.
I noticed a racing boat opposite to us, and realised it was Merit, the Volvo 60 I’d sailed on with Craig two years ago when we helped deliver it from Airlie to Southport.
Michael (the owner) was just leaving, so had a quick catchup/chat with him. Craig (who’ll be on Lazuli in a few weeks) had just recently sailed it up from Brisbane with Michael.

We were still getting settled when we noticed Nauti Kitty had just come around the corner and was heading into a pen just down from us.
Kristie and I walked down to catch their lines. Much less eventful than our entry :)

Kristie walked up to check in, and to get a trolly or two. We had few weeks of rubbish to get rid of, and a few weeks worth of washing to do.

After one trip to drop off the rubbish, we all went up for a shower and to put the washing on.
Good facilities, though showers aren’t as nice as Gladstone Marina, and the washing machines were small.

Back on Lazuli with clean cloths, we walked back up to the marina precinct for dinner.
The sports bar didn’t have any real GF options, so we went to the Deck Steakhouse, which did have lots of options.
Pete and Jess and the boys were their with his mum. We ended up at a table near them and the kids chatted for a bit.
We enjoyed the ribs and a few tasty beverages.

We’ll have tonight and tomorrow night at the marina. We’ve booked the “Rent a Wreck” ($69 to hire one of their cars for the day) for tomorrow as we’ve got lots of shopping / jobs to do.

Pearl Bay to Mackay is about 116nm (or 215km) in a straight line. We’ve made some good progress getting north.

Wednesday 4th June

School and work in the morning.

Early lunch, then into the beach with our swimming mat.

Kristie, Kristina and I walked up to the end of Leekes Beach to check out the headland/lagoon at the end. (Emma stayed and played in the sand).
A nice long walk, some good shells found.

Nic and Kenny were heading off for a snorkle, and dropped Charlee on the beach with Emma just before we got back to them.

The girls enjoyed a bit of time in the water and playing in the sand.

And some beach cricket with both girls:

Back to Lazuli to get dry and changed ready to come back for sips ‘n dips on the beach with everyone else.

A good spread of food as usual with Viv & Russ, Nic & Kenny, and Jana & Sebastian (a new boat Kristie stalked on FB - they have 4 kids!).

Back to Lazuli in the dark - our new solar sensor light works very well :)

Thursday 5th

School and Work.

We’d organised to have dinner on the beach over at Svendsons tonight, so we moved Lazuli over that side so we didn’t have as far to tender
(it was also a little bit more out of the wind). The other boats stayed where they were.

We had an early lunch then went into the beach for a swim.

The other two tenders and crew were on the beach. A quick chat with them before they all went back to their boats.

Water was a bit cool, but still got wet!

Back to Lazuli to get dry (and for a tiny bit more work), and then get prepared for an afternoon on the beach.

We met the others on the beach at about 3:30pm and got ready for the night. We ended up with 5 boats and 9 kids!
The kids all had a great time playing in the sand, running around and exploring the bush.

There’s a permanent fire area set up on the beach, with gazebo, table & chairs and a selection of cooking equipment.
They also have a stack of pre-cut firewood to help yourself too.

With the fire going it was time to bust out some food and drinks.

Usual platter:

• cheese
• chips
• olives
• asparagus dip

Kristie and the girls made some damper, and we got that cooking.

Sweet potatoes went in the fire wrapped in foil.

Marshmallows came out before dark. The kids enjoyed finding and sharpening sticks (our usual forks are still in the camper trailer!)

Always opportunities for sunset photos over the water.

There was a big grill to put over the fire, so we had

• fish
• chicken
• pumpkin
• more chicken
• steak
• cauliflower

There was also a salad. Plenty of food for everyone to share and enjoy!

More wine/cider, then the schnapps came out again (thanks Russ, very tasty!), and we alternated between that and the bottle of Port I brought along.

Gradually the others left until it was just the four of us with Viv and Russ, enjoying the fire on the beach.

What a great night.

Managed to find Lazuli without too much trouble :)

The following is Emma’s recount of our time on the beach:

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At the Great Keppels we had a fire on the beach.
There already an area set up which made things a lot easier.
We had five boats of friends of boats with us.
In those five boats there was nine kids and that, equals CHAOS!
We build a giant sand fortress in a race against the tide.
We build it for baby Mia, but she wasn't allowed out of the carrier so we basically built it for nothing!
We found and cleaned some stick for cooking marshmallows and sausages over the fire.
I helped mum make damper and Kristina helped me stir.
The damper took a while to cook but it was delicious when it was ready.

The following is Kristina’s recount of our time on the beach:

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Last night we went to Svendsons beach with out boat friends.
We started off with just four boats and that was fun but then another boat came and it had two more kids.
There were nine kids, lots of sand and lots more chaos.
All us kids (except for the two toddlers) started working on four Baby.
It was a giant sand castle that was hollow on the inside. 
It had walls and a big moat surrounding it.
Fort Baby was about two meters long and wide and we called it Fort Baby because it was for the two toddlers.
Although neither of them were allowed in so we made it Charlee/Fake Donald Trumps grave.

Friday 6th

Bella and Exhale left early to head around to Fishermans Bay.

We had school and work so didn’t move too early.

We figured we’d just move back to Leekes Beach and walk across to the resort (we needed an Ice Cream and to find an Echidna).

With Lazuli moved, we had a lunch then got ready to head into the beach. Jana & Sebastian and the 4 kids joined us for the walk.

We had to walk a bit back down the beach, then along the track up to the 1st Lookout (which has seen better days!).

Bit of an up hill walk, but once there it was easy down.

Walked to the pub on the corner.

One of the other kids had climbed up a few of the coconut trees and pulled down a collection which the kids carried down the road.

They set up and with the help of their trusty pocket knife had them opened up ok.

We got our ice creams and walked back to meet the others who’d stopped outside the resort.

We all tried the coconut water:

…some less impressed than others!

With twilight fast approaching we had to head back down the beach to walk over the headland.

Kristie came across an Echidna just on the top of the beach by the cabins. We all came back for some photos.
It was completely un-phased by any of us.

A quick stop for a swing along the beach on the way back:

The walk up the headland was ok. There’s a rope on the other side to help get down.

Some lovely sunset photos on the beach.

By the time we got back to our tender there were some fairly decent waves breaking on the beach! Didn’t look like a nice comfortable night.

We got back on and called across to Russ to check out what it was like there… still a bit of a roll but didn’t sound as bad as what we had here.

Quick anchor up, and we were off before the sun could set.

Most of Fisherman’s bay is a bit too shallow for us, so we were out just a bit behind the others.
Rolly, but not as bad as the other side.

The following is Emma’s recount of the walk we did:

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We went on a walk at the Great Keppel Island.
We waited for our friends on Leekes Beach.
When they arrived we started to walk along the sandy beach.
At first the path was rocky and sandy, and then it got steep.
When we got to the top the rocks turned into bitumen which made it easier to walk.
At the bottom on the other side, there were some coconut trees.
Yoshi climbed the coconut trees and tossed coconuts down.
Malo cut them open with his pocket knife so we could drink the milk!
I didn't like the taste but the others did.
We also bought some ice creams because we have a boat rule that we get an ice cream every place we visit.
We started to walk back then we saw an echidna.
The echidna was trying to find something to eat.
We stood still and the echidna walked 3cm away from my foot.
We named it Bobirina!

The following is Kristina’s recount of the walk we did:

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On Friday we did a walk at Leekes Beach. 
We beat our friends to the beach so we pulled our tender up and waited for them.
While we were waiting some other kids that we hadn't seen before (apparently they were on Keppel Island before got there)
came to the beach.
Mum and Dad did a bit of talking with their Dad and at the end out newest friends said they were going to tender over to the other side of the Island.
They left then some of our other friends came over.
(We have so many boat friends that it's getting hard to keep track of them.)
Since they got there we started walking up the beach.
We all found the start of the walk. 
The first bit was lovely, with soft dirt beneath our feet and lush trees above our head.
Then the trees got thinner and the dirt turned to gravel.
Emma started complaining about the fact that it was getting steeper.
None of us liked that bit but the rest of us kept it to ourselves.
After a bit the gravel turned into pavement and we were back under lush trees.
We got to the resort and we noticed all the coconut trees that were full of coconuts.
Yoshi was the first one to react, shimming upt the side of a tree.
It took him a couple tries but he managed to get down two big coconuts before coming back down the tree.
We continued walking and found thw shops, a good spot to sit near the shops and two small coconut trees.
This time both Yoshi and Malo climbed up.
One of the coconuts go me on the head but it didn't hurt too much.
After the boys had collected eleven coconuts Malo decided it was time to opn them with their own personal pocket knives.
Neither me nor Emma liked the coconut water but what we did like 
was the Ice creams we got to obey the rule we have on Lazuli: We must have at least one ice cream each place we go.
This was Mum and Dads way of bribing us onto the boat.
We were heading back along a different path then Mum told us she found one of the echidnas.
We came over to see it then she showed me where our new friends from earlier were.
I ran over to get them because they were just about to leave. 
I told them but although they didn't believe me they came anyways.
Amy, Yoshi, and Malo had seen an echidna last time they were here and Amy named it Bob.
This one was a different colour so we named it Boblina.
OVer all it was a good day and I'm glad that we went on the walk.

Saturday 7th

We had a reasonably big day today - about 45nm to get up to Pearl Bay. We’ve heard it’s nice.

With breakfast done and the boat ready, we dropped the tender so we could offload our rubbish to the bins at the beach.
We’ll be a bit more remote the next week or so with no option to drop rubbish anywhere.

We said our goodbyes to Exhale and Bella, they’re hanging around there a bit longer while we have to head north a bit quicker.
It’s been great travelling with them the last month (we met them the start of May at Fraser Island). Hope to see them again in the Whitsundays!

Motored out and around the islands. No wind sadly :(
Once out of the green zones the lures went in - one on my rod, another on the hand line the girls had given me last year (and I’d yet to catch anything on it).

We’d probably been motoring for an hour or so when my reel went nuts. We slowed down and tried to reel it in.
It put up a great fight, especially when it got close to Lazuli.

I got it to the surface, and with Kristie’s help got it in the net and onboard. I managed to get it across the other side before it splattered too much blood.

It was a 65cm Mackerel Tuna. A bit bigger than the last one I got that was 55cm.

Just as I’d got it off the hook and in the bucket I noticed the lure on the hand reel had hooked up another fish and was dragging it along the surface at high speed!
Glove back on, and started the lengthy process of bringing in the hand line.
The fish wasn’t fighting at all which did make it easier, no way I could have pulled in the last one by hand!
Again, got it close to the side and Kristie scooped it up. Another Mac Tuna, just a bit smaller than the first one.

Gave them time to bleed, then started the process of filleting and cleaning up. Got quite a haul of meat out of both.

Dinner sorted for a couple of nights.

The wind came up eventually (to maybe 10knts) so we put the sails up and enjoyed a nice 30min sail before having to drop them again.

Motored the rest of the way in to Pearl Bay.

Tried to find a less rolly spot, but not too many options for us.

Anchor down, and then cleaned up and put the infill back on.

Dinner.