Departed Percy Island Group
Where Next?
Bob Williams
Sun 11 Aug 2024 04:26
Course: NW Speed: 5.5 knots
Wind: SE, F4 - moderate breeze
Sea: slight Swell: SE 1 m
Weather overcast, mild
Day's run: 13 nm
I went ashore after lunch yesterday, dragging the dinghy a short way up the bay's steeply inclined beach, planting the dinghy's small grapnel anchor in its white sands, then made my first stop at the A-frame, headquarters of the Percy Island Yacht Club, to search for the sign I had made back in 2013 as a record of Sylph's several visits here, marker pen in my pocket to update it. I was disappointed not to find it. I was also disappointed to find that the shower facility, basic as it was, not functioning as the water tank was dry. Overall I was left with an impression of decay and neglect, with few fresh signs of recent visiting yachts.
As I was wondering about I overheard a rather heated discussion between two men, one I gathered was the new caretaker and the other I think might have been the resident artist/author who has lived part time on the island for many years now. The caretaker was adamant that the honesty box for the sale of honey, vegetables and fruit was being abused, that much of the honey was missing with little recompense in the honesty box. The longer-term and older resident appeared to be very resistant to the idea that visiting yachties would not be honest. "God forbid!", I thought, and left them to their debate to wander up over the hill and down to the lagoon.
Here there were two boats moored among the mangroves, a small trailer sailer and a relatively large catamaran. Unfortunately it was high tide so I could not wander out onto the tidal flats for a closer inspection. As I was surveying the scene including the caretaker's workshop and the careening poles (which of course cannot be used these days due to environmental regulations), a much used and somewhat rusty four wheel drive pulled up, out of which a tall young bearded man emerged. We said hello, shook hands, and introduced ourselves to each other. He was the new caretaker (Paul, I think) and we ended up in conversation about his experiences thus far. He had only been on the island for eight weeks and was clearly very frustrated with the way things were going.
The caretaker of the island is an unpaid position, I presume filled through some sort of contract with the Queensland Parks department. As such, the caretaker and his family (don't know whether Paul has a family, certainly life on the island would be almost impossible without one) have to live a self-sufficient and largely subsistence lifestyle. Apart from the woes of missing honey that he has to collect from the hives around the island, Paul was clearly overworked with repairing machinery, including replacing the seat in his rusty old four wheel drive which had been giving him a bad back. He related to me that he had killed and dressed a goat, then made a curry from it that he had provided to visiting yachties around the A-Frame campfire one evening, asking for a donation from those present, but had only collected twenty dollars for what was nearly two day's work. It certainly seems that the yachties who visit this unique site (I would describe it as compromise nature reserve and cruising sailor's heritage area) have grown more stingy, especially given that so many of them have very flash yachts these days compared to when I first visited the island some thirty years ago now. Paul told me he is actually considering taking the drastic step of putting a padlock on the honesty box. "My goodness!," I thought, "what have things come to?"
Another problem he has which I am very sympathetic to at the moment, is related to insurance. The nice catamaran in the mangroves was his, but he is going to have to sell it because he can't get insurance for it due its mooring location in the lagoon. My sense of our respective insurance problems is that the modern capitalist world sees businesses grow into ever larger conglomerates (the logical end state without State intervention being a monopoly) that become less and less flexible, unable and unwilling to meet the needs of small niche markets as they require more input costs then their return justifies. However, I would argue that insurance has become a social necessity and as such if I have an obligation to have at least liability insurance (which in principle I agree with) then, in turn, our society in some way or another needs to make it a right for anyone to be able to obtain insurance for any reasonable circumstance. I agree with Paul that he has one of the safest moorings on the Queensland coast but the insurance companies want him to berth his boat in a marina, which are actually less safe in a cyclone than where his boat is, firmly ensconced amongst the mangroves.
I very much sympathise with Paul's overall situation. Eight weeks is not very long and I hope that he has just been a little unlucky in his experiences thus far. I suggested to him that as an unpaid position, if he wasn't enjoying it then why do it, and got the impression that he was clearly thinking about giving the position up. For the island's sake, for visiting yachties', and especially Paul's, I hope he finds some joy in what he is doing. Perhaps one of Paul's problems is that so many people now live a near cashless life and maybe a partial solution is to put a notice up with his bank details so people can make a donation or payment directly into his account. Certainly, on reflection, I would make a donation right now if I was able to, and as a life member of the Percy Island Yacht Club (you pay a one time joining fee to become a member), I would be happy to make a small annual donation to ensure that the caretaker continued to take care of the island.
Anyway, if any of my fellow cruising sailors read this and are up this way, please give Paul plenty of encouragement (and my apologies if I have misremembered his name), and remember to take some cash ashore to buy some of the island's rich hand-harvested honey. Also, Paul suggested that Sylph's sign might have gone missing when the A-frame's roof was replaced about five years ago. I shall just have to make up a replacement that I can install if I get back this way again. I should also note that Paul was apologetic for 'sounding off' to me and that there were many good visitors who helped out with maintenance including removing bags of plastic that he had collected. I was glad to be able lend a sympathetic, if not particularly helpful, ear, and I certainly don't want to represent him as being totally negative.
Moving on .
Still feeling a little lethargic this morning with what I suspect is a case of bronchitis, I did not get up until 0800. I raised the red ensign, had breakfast, hoisted the dinghy on board and weighed anchor, once again enjoying the satisfaction of being able to sail away without using the engine, bearing away to the NW with the SE trade wind filling Sylph's goose-winged sails, and worldly cares for the moment blown away with the warm breeze over the shining sea.
All is well.