Hi there,

My hubby and I are thinking of doing a sailing trip from Gladstone to Cairns in the next month or so.

Does anyone have any advise for this route, maybe you have sailed it before.

Your info is much appreciated.

Katie

Yes. I have done the trip Bundaberg to Cairns and back piloting my own boat once and a few more times on other people's boats.

For the most part the only things you can hit are things you can see in daylight.

It is too beautiful a coast to be doing overnight passages.

It can be done in easy bites of 50 to 70 miles per day.

Suggested itinary:-

Gladstone to Keppel, to Port Clinton, Delcomyn Bay or Blue Pearl Bay.
Then to Middle Percy Island, a virtually mandatory stop for all cruising yachts. You will know why when you get there.
From there to Digby Island or on to Mackay for replenishment or Scawfell Island.

From there you now enter the Whitsundays where the choices are multiple.

Whitsundays to Bowen via Gloucester Passage is worth the effort.

Next stop is Cape Upstart but get in early and tuck in close.

An early start is best from Upstart as you really don't want to HAVE to go in behind Cape Bowling Green. If you do it is not so bad as the bottom is all sand and if you get stuck in there for a couple of days because of a blow, all the loose and flakey paint on your topsides will be sand blasted off.

If you have started up early from Upstart you should be able to make Cape Cleveland at least if not Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island. No need to go into Townsville as Maggy has everything you might need as well as commuter ferries into T/Ville.

Magnetic Island to Orpheus Is. is better than to Palm Is. The anchorage is great and though the resort might not welcome you, at least they will not kill you which is definitely possible if you land on Palm Island which has a crap anchorage.

If you have gotten this far you deserve to be congratulated for now you are entering some of God's very interesting country with many choices.

Hinchinbrook Passage is plagued by things that bite like crocodiles and sand flies and would preclude a visit to Zoe Bay and the waterfall above it.

From there I suggest Dunk Is., Mourilyan Harbour (hole in the green wall), the Franklands, Fitzroy Is. then Cairns.

You have a great trip ahead of you. Enjoy!!

P.S. Stop thinking about it and just DO IT.

Thanks for all the info guys :)

We are still in the planing stage but we are very excited about bringing our boat up the coast.

It is going to be fantastic to have a yacht up here in FNQ, there will be lots to explore once it is here too.

Katie

Hey Guys,

So starting out from Gladstone, can a 28" yacht go through "the narrows" or will we have to go around Curtis Island?

Katie

I have no personal experience of The Narrows. I think Noel Patricks's book covers it.

I have done the Great Sandy Straits a few times which is a great trip because it is hard to hurt yourself or boat because it is all sand.

Obviously with both you have to work the tides. I think The Narrows would have bities like Hinchinbrook Channel. Crocs and sand flies.

By the time you do the tide things etc, I think it would be quicker going "round the outside" like four buffalo girls.

That is in normal times. What with all the dredging and construction work going on in the northern end of Gladstone Harbour right now, I would be staying right away from The Narrows.

KatieJay said...

Great info, thanks guys. We are starting to get pretty excited here with all our preparations. It is going to be a real adventure.

We have been working out which auto-helm to buy and which GPS to use and all that fun stuff as well as purchasing new life jackets and spare rope.

When we get off and running I will be sure to update you with our progress if you like.

Cheers
Katie

Yes we would like

I went up the narrows last may and woyld not go thru there again.
With only half a meter of draft i missed several spots by only a few inches and thought myself very lucky to get through, The east side of Curtis is pretty and you can sail rather than motor which is much nicer.
Good luck

I totally agree with the sail vs motor thing. Cary and I are both sailing mad and will sail as much as possible.

My grandfather was a Kiwi sailor who would get into trouble for sailing into the marina "too fast" and other such reckless behaviour. I figure that is where I get it from :)

Im so excited about this trip, I feel like a kid :D

Thanks Gypsy!

Its so exciting to be sailing again. My man and I have sailed quite a bit in NZ and down in Melbourne when we had a 20 foot cat down there. This is the first yacht that we have owned that we can actually go away on and take the kids.

We have never done a trip this big so we are really excited! Checking the weather every day and writing our lists, and checking them twice

I'll send you some pictures from Bowen when we go through.

Katie

Katie, no personal experiences myself, but a friend Phillip on the Tophatyachts.org website has a blog of his trip through some of your planned voyage. Go to the Top Hat forum and look under the voyages section.

Have a great time!

Michael

Nothing wrong with the Palm Islands (plural). It is just Palm Island itself. It is an aboriginal community.

If you have been living under a rock you would probably be unaware of the racial tensions and violence there over the last few years.

If you need to anchor there the western bay is not too bad. Just don't land on Palm Island.

Well come on Katiejay tell us about your boat..... You laid eyes on her for the first time today, Was there a smile on your face or a frown?

Hi KatieJay

if by chance you end up going up The Narrows, all is not lost if you have something out of the south or east pushing you along. In 2010, we had a great sail up from Gladdy to the top of Curtis Island in a nice 15-20knot. Our old girl loved it!! So did her old mistress hehehe!!

Sea Hill/Pacific Creek is a great little surprise package if you're into beachcombing. My kids and I wandered for hours and collected loads of specimens...sea urchins, nautilus shells, myriad species of shells, cetacean vertebrae, LOTS of treasure. We loved it!

Also, the walk up to the lighthouse is manageable for littlies and affords a good vista across to Yellow Patch and the islands in the paddock up to Gt Keppel. There's also the little cemetery to explore...if you can get to it through the thicket.

Great to know there's some other families out there living the life!! I really hope you enjoy and savour every moment of your journey!! I'm toying with the idea of pulling my daughters out of school and escaping one last time before my big girl starts high school next year and we miss our opportunity. Last big cruise was 2010 and my girls still talk about all the magic we experienced.

Cheers
Trace

So here we are in McKay.

We pulled an all nighter from Yellow patch to Middle Percy and then enjoyed a quiet day at Percy.

The all nighter was really full on but totally with it to get some miles under our belts. We hit a squall some time before midnight and at some point we managed to get our speed up to 12.4 kts. Not bad for a boat with barnacles on its bum.

So things were looking up, spirits were high and as we up anchor for Scawfell Island... We broke our prop shaft :(

We then diverted to Digby Island to check it out for repairs as there were people we had met at Percy who may have been able to help. But unfortunately to no avail. We were stuck without a motor.

We made the decision to take her to McKay for repairs. We contacted VMR McKay for assistance into the marina and set sail.

Couple if things have been interesting. The volunteer radio network has been super excellent and amazing. Also it was really great to learn to sail to the anchor and also sail out of the anchor.

Gotta go
More to come.

Yeah, suffering from a bit of exhaustion.

No pics yet and minimal updates?? Whats happenin katie and Cary?
You have an audience that is starving for updates............................?