Island Hop Stop #3 - Thomas Island, Queensland, Australia
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Fri 21 May 2010 04:58
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20:32.63S 149:06.37E
Another day, another island. Is this
starting to get repetitious?
May 13th we sailed another 20ish miles northwest
under a completely clear sky and with the wind mostly behind us to Thomas
Island. As the Aussies would say, lovely.
Picture 1 - Rocky Thomas Island beach at low
tide. That's John and Sue gazing upon our two boats riding quietly at
anchor. We had the place to ourselves. Not too bad.
You might wonder why we are always taking beach
walks at low tide. It's not just because it makes for a better
picture. Oh no, there is science and seamanship involved. With the
giant tidal range in this area, there are also strong currents. We like to
time our island hops so we are always riding the tide in the proper
direction - with the current. During this string of island hops, we found
that if we left in the morning just after high tide, we could ride the ebb
current which runs to the northwest all the way to our next destination.
Then, poof! We arrive just in time for lunch and go for a dinghy
outing to the beach in the afternoon at low tide. Yup, this is what we
think about. Tides, currents, beach walks and lunch.
Anne
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