Friday 29 August
Engine Hours 1041
Total Fuel 317 Litres
Total Hours 251 hours

Up at 5.00 am to get ready to leave, this boating is getting to be hard work, Picked up my gas bottle that I’d left at a nearby service station to have filled and got told its got a leak in it but they filled it any way , am I stupid or something . So after forking out $20.00 for a leaking gas bottle I started in search of another one. Ended up getting the bus into Yeppoon again. Took time out to check out the military museum at the RSL. Matthew and Michelle have done a fantastic job with it. Matthew very kindly offered to drive me to pick up a new gas bottle and get it filled and then ran me back to the marina. Great guy, his dad “Slag “O’Keefe did 2 tours of Vietnam with the SAS . Finally got away at 1300hrs and had a 3 hour run up to Corio Bay. Bit iffy coming in with waves breaking everywhere but I took all necessary precautions and made it safely over. Moored by what looks like couple of car garages on water.

Thursday 28 August
Up early and had a good run from Keppel Island to Rosslyn Bay Marina .Very nice marina under the shadow of a large rock headland. Got the bus into Yeppoon, did the shopping mostly salad stuff. Bus back to to marina then bus back to town for beer then bus back to marina .Boy you notice when you don’t have a car ,thank goodness that they have a good bus service in Yeppoon. Had a meal at the marina and met a nice chap, Brian who was in Vietnam with 4 RAR in 1971. He’s sailing up the coast in a small sailing boat by himself, must be a veteran thing.

Wednesday 27 August
Absolute top day. Motored around the northern end of Keppel Island and anchored off a deserted beach that had white sands fringing coral ext. Went ashore and climbed up to the top of the headland .Fantastic. A charter boat then arrived in my peace of paradise, however nothing lasts forever. Talked to the deck hand who was bringing the tourists ashore and would you believe he came from Maleny, his father was the butcher there. Small world! Cruised back to my anchorage, off the empty resort.

Tuesday 26 August
Left Pacific Creek and headed towards Great Keppel Island. Had a good run, Mac in Gladstone had obtained some info about when to travel with the tides, I had a good 5 Knots all the way. Anchored off the resort but it is all fenced off waiting redevelopment. There is still a couple of shops open ,don’t know how they survive .Had a hot dog and a beer ,did my bit to keep them in business.

Monday 25 August
Decided to stay in Pacific Creek for another night as the wind was up a bit. Did some fishing and caught river Jew ,pike bream, steely salmon and grunter all within an hour ,spent the next 2 hours cleaning them. I had river dolphins around the boat all day.

Sunday 26 August
Went fishing with Nick and Fran, trolling for steely salmon, everyone was catching them and we got our fair share , one. Left after lunch to pacific Creek to have a beer with Pat but unfortunately he wasn’t home. Steely salmon for dinner.

Saturday 25 August
Quite day at the Narrows, had a fish, read a book, tided up the boat and entertained my visitors (Nick and Fran).One of the interesting things at the campsite was a collection of unique BBQ’s made by a chap called ‘the big fella’ . He works at the mines and the BBQ’s were masterpieces ,one even had an oven built into the back of it. Another was made out of the hub of a huge tyre rim Dinner was a BBQ ashore with many bottles of red wine and port. Staggered back to the boat—again.

Friday 24 August
Left Gladstone ----again---- hopefully for the last time.
Good run with the tide down through the narrows. met up with Nick and Fran who had set up their caravan on the bluff overlooking the boat ramp at the Narrows. Roast Lamb with homemade gravy and roast veggies and red wine.Staggered back to the boat.

Saturday 9 August
Returned to Maroochydore on the Tilt Train ---again....

Friday 8 August
Ran to Gladstone early in the morning, lots of nice houses on the islands, in the harbour. Cleaned up the boat and had dinner at the yacht club. Met Wayne and Helen Nitschke, Wayne used to be principal at Immanuel College at Maroochydore and is applying for a similar job in Gladstone.

Thursday 7 August
Left Pacific Creek early and did a low tide run through the narrows .Quite a navigation exercise. We only touched bottom once. Camped at the oaks overnight.

Wednesday 6 August
Gave Polly a good run and practised throwing the cast net, caught one suicidal herring. We fished the afternoon and went ashore for drinks with Pat. Fish fillets for dinner. Pat has the habit of taking the top off a can of beer with a can opener. Makes it into a big tin glass.

Tuesday 5 August
Ran down to near the mouth of the creek and went ashore to explore the Lighthouse and settlement. Met Pat who lives there. had a good yarn about the history of the place and received directions where to go. It used to be a quarantine station in the 1800’s.A couple of thousand people went through it when it was operating. It also had a pub ,school ,pilot station and cemetery where 38 people are buried. The lighthouse was built in the mid 1800’s an is still operating . We went for a walk along the beach and Nick picked up some nice shells for his grandkids. For dinner, I served Nick Holly’s Signature Dish –Beef Cheeks a la Holly-with 3 bottles of $2.40 red wine from Gladstone.

Monday 4 August
Crab pot missing but before we could mount a search, John from a sailing boat down the river came up and told us the pot was in the mangroves near him. Apparently, it had washed down during the night. Invited john onboard and we ha d a brew and a yarn. He had built his boat and launched it in the early eighties .He and his wife Pearl had travelled all through Asia and India and many interesting stories followed.

Retrieved the crab pot, only big Jennies. Spent the rest of the day putting in 2 meters on the control panel that would give me the exact voltage of the batteries.

Sunday 3 August
Headed down the Narrows to Pacific Creek. Went up a bit and anchored for the night .Put out the crab pots and had a bit of a fish without great success.

Saturday 2 August
Headed up to Targinie Creek and pumped some yabbies on the way. Settled in for the night and caught a swag of whiting for dinner.

Friday 1 August
Fuel
87.8 Litres Cost $158.71
Engine Hours 9871
Total Fuel 247 Litres
Total Hours 197 hours

Looks like running at ¾ revs about 1800 rpm is paying off in $$$$.
Finally, left Gladstone with Nick Wills on board, Nick comes with good credentials having served with artillery in Vietnam. Had a good run up to Graham Creek with the run in tide. Went close to Fishermans Wharves on the way ,it was interesting looking at the 2 big ships loading up there. It never ceases to amaze me the huge loading terminals in Gladstone. Had sausages ala Holly for dinner.

Monday 28 July
Back home for another rest.

Sunday 27 July
Fine. We left with the high tide to go back to Gladstone.
We left one of the jewels of the trip so far. The creek system consisted of long winding passageways fringed with mangroves. The beach was amazing; there is a strip of dead trees near the dune line. It runs for ages along the beach leading the eye to Cape Capricorn and the distinctive Yellowpatch Sand Blow. As one walks through the dead trees the twisted shapes take on the appearance of all kinds of creatures. A dog with 6 legs is followed by a ballerina with 4 arms followed by a 3 legged dragon the images are only limited to your imagination. Looking out to sea one sees the islands of the Capricorn Group and then to the north is the Keppel Islands. The fishing is good with Whiting, Silver and Pike bream, Salmon and Flathead .The mud crabs were elusive but the 2 bucks that we caught were whoppers. Gary who has crabbed for many years stated they were the biggest he had caught. It is a shame to leave such a paradise.

Saturday 26 July
Fine

Friday 25 July
Fine at last

Thursday 24 July
Rain

Wednesday 23 July
Rain

Tuesday 22 July
Rain-Our neighbours left, making a run for it back to the narrows. They kindly left us with water and provisions that they did not use as they were going back early. Sad to see them go, as they were good blokes, reminded me of when I took the boys fishing and camping on Fraser Island.

Monday 21 July
Fine
Fishing –Gary caught a fine flathead , had it for dinner.

Sunday 20 July
Headed off early and called in at Pacific Creek .At the entrance there is an old lighthouse and a row of 4 buildings – 3 of them showing different types of building styles of many years.
Continued around the front of Curtis Island to Ibbotson Creek. Thanks to the GPS marks Russ Charles had given me at Gladstone, we had no trouble entering the shallow bar. There was a camp set up just where we had to moor. We had no choice as the creek system is very shallow and drains out at low tide and that is where there is a small hole so we went ashore and introduced ourselves to Des and Dave with their sons. Friendships formed we put the crab pots out and checked out our new home

Saturday 19 July
Left with the run in tide and ended up with a convoy of catamarans and sailboats going through the narrows. A fascinating trip , in the centre are cattle yards where they drive cattle across from Curtis Island to the mainland. We made it safely through . We moored at Maria Creek and stayed the night there. Gary caught some live mullet in the bait net and that night he caught a good Salmon.

Friday 18 July
After exactly a month I am, finally underway .Gary has joined me for a fishing and crabbing trip on Curtis Island. The saga of the gearbox is finally over and I had a good sign as I walked down the finger at Gladstone Marina to cast off , I noticed a bottle floating in the water towards me. I stopped and waited until it blew beside the finger; it was a bottle of rum. Sometimes you just have to believe when GOD sends you a message.

We got away at 1500 hrs and headed to Graham Creek on Curtis Island. Graham Creek is a popular stop for yachts doing the Narrows. Put out the crab pots but no luck.