Cid Harbour
Vega
Hugh and Annie
Thu 30 May 2019 08:09
The weather forecast had consistently predicted stronger wind further offshore and so we elected to head for Outer Newry Island which is, despite its name, close to the coast and a sheltered anchorage. After a boisterous genoa run of 23nm we anchored in little wind on muddy sand that took three or four attempts to get the anchor to set. Our Bruce, magic in soft sand, can be difficult to set in hard mud or shingle. After the lessons of the previous season we now have twin snubbing lines spliced onto a new chain hook that, although a bit more fiddly to attach and remove, seemed to be just the job.
The islands further offshore are steep granite features and heavily wooded. They offer sheltered anchorages, white sand beaches and walking tracks and are mostly within heavily protected areas of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. They should be a joy to visit but strong winds and swell can be an issue. After a peaceful night at Outer Newry we decided to head out to Thomas Island and left in a 10kt breeze that soon rose to 20+kts. It was quite boisterous and rolly on a genoa beam reach and in the shallow waters of the Australian east coast wind against tide can make for rough conditions. After four hours we entered the island chain, the sea state decreased and the wind dropped a little. With great relief we entered what looked like a very sheltered anchorage only to find strong “bullets” of wind rolling down from the adjoining hillside at over 20kts. There was a catamaran in the anchorage and after swinging too close to it for comfort we moved a short distance further away. Veering wildly in the blustery conditions with the bullets firing from all sides we dithered about launching the dinghy and going ashore before finally deciding it was too windy to safely launch. A sleepless night ensued as I fretted about the holding. There was a small island and shallow reef not far behind us and we wouldn’t have much time to sort things if the anchor dragged. At one point the anchor alarm sounded and it showed us moving backwards with the wind gusts. In the bright moonlight we could see the adjoining island and also our position in relation to the nearby catamaran. We seemed to be in the same location and the boat position on the anchor alarm stabilised around 20 metres back from where it had been. No more alarms and we got some fitful sleep interspersed with frequent checks of position and the noise of the new snubbing lines rubbing up and down the anchor chain guardplates every time the boat swung and one line was pulled across the bow. Clearly our snubbing arrangements were still work in progress.
The following morning we gave up on Thomas Island, forsaking a trip ashore for what we hoped would be a more settled anchorage at Shaw Island. It turned out to be much better with Shaw Island providing shelter to a wide area from the prevailing south easterly wind and sea. The sea in the anchorage is flat and even when it blew in gusts it was from a consistent direction and with much less swinging. Nevertheless I had determined to go back to our original single snubbing line arrangement and rigged a block under the bowsprit to act as a bow roller and hold the line forward of the bow. A length of thinner polyester line through the block runs from the chain hook back to a thicker, more stretchy mooring line that is attached to the midship cleat. I will feel more confident when I can replace the thinner line with Dyneema which is the strongest flexible line I am aware of. Nevertheless the arrangement seems to work well (as it did originally before we had the problem of twisting around the anchor chain) and with the new double line arrangement left cleated on to be used as a backup if required I feel much happier. The downside was that by the time I had done this we were running out of time to go ashore. As we set out to launch the dinghy the wind rose and then the heavens opened (after all it is the dry season) much to Annie’s despair and I had to promise that a trip ashore would be a priority for the following day.
The following day we did get ashore and had a lovely walk along the white sand beach and into the mangrove. Australian friends Marina and Mike arrived at the anchorage in Te Mana and came ashore also. Relieved to have spent some time off the boat we resolved to leave reasonably early the following morning and head up to Whitsunday Island. Whitsunday and its adjoining islands is bit of a Mecca for east coast yachties although the Bundaberg locals think it overrated and overrun with holiday charter yachts. Many of the anchorages do look lovely and we have chosen Cid Harbour to start with, expecting to have to fight for anchoring space but in fact finding it very quiet. Maybe it is too early for the charter boats or maybe the fact that there have been four recent shark attacks has put people off. Before we arrived we were aware that three attacks had resulted in the loss of an arm, a leg and a life respectively. Annie Googled the site on the way up and we learned of the fourth attack but not of the consequences. Apparently unless it is crystal clear water and within a few minutes of midday you should not swim. Personally I don't care how clear the water is, I am not entering it even for a second on either side of midday, never mind any other time of day.