Arrived Tin Can Bay
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Position: 25 48.964 S 153 02.819
E The winds have been fresher and not quite as pleasant as I was expecting. While conditions started off with a gentle NW breeze, by mid-afternoon they had increased to strong winds predominantly from the west. We went from a full main and code zero to jib and by 2000 were down to a double reefed main. On the plus side we made excellent time, our speed rarely dropping below six knots, such that we arrived off Wide Bay Bar much earlier then anticipated. Rounding Double Island Point at 0825 this morning, we came onto the wind in order to make for the channel through the sand bar that extends for several miles at the southern end of K'gari (previously known as Fraser Island). Fortunately as we closed the entrance the wind started to ease and the seas flatten out, so I was able to shake out a reef in the main, have breakfast and get Sylph prepared for the bar crossing. The Queensland Department of Transport had recently issued two relevant Notice to Mariners including a chartlet of a recent survey of the bar and advising of the installation of two directional lights to guide vessels over the bar. I found it interesting to note just how much the bar had shifted, with the current entrance approximately 1.5 miles north of the old entrance which I would have used back in 2000. As we approached I called the Tin Can Bay Coast Guard on VHF radio who advised that conditions across the bar were benign so, while we were only just past slack low water, I decided to give the crossing a go. The new charlet and the sectored directional lights proved excellent. In particular, the lights were very bright and easy to see even in broad daylight. We were thus soon over the shallows of the bar and in deeper water behind it, making our way towards the entrance to Tin Can Bay. We have come to anchor just inside Inskip Point, the southern headland to the entrance in Pelican Bay. A friend from RANSA on his boat, So Farr So Good, will be arriving this afternoon so the plan is to catch up with him and his family this evening then tomorrow we will continue further into Tin Can Bay to meet up with Mary Lee and her owner. And now I might have a short nap before Mike arrives. All is well. |