Gloucester Island

Monday 3^rd August 2015

We are back on the water and heading North. It is a fantastic day, but next to no breeze, so we motor to Gloucester Island, weaving between the Northern Whitsunday Islands, choosing to go on the mainland side of Gumbrell Island. The water is very clear and almost glassy at times.

Saddleback Island with the settlement of Dingo Beach in the background

We are still finding the currents a bit confusing, not necessarily as predictable on tide flows alone, but it is a great day to be on the water. A large turtle came close to the boat as we were abeam of  Saddleback Island.

We chose to go around the top of Gloucester Island, rather than through the Gloucester Channel, hoping to catch some fish without success. We did see a whale north of us as we rounded Gloucester Headland, and some large black "fish"' feeding close to the shore of the island as we motored down the coast. No idea what they were ! We were later told they were pilot whales.

We arrived at Bona Bay at around 3pm. It is very warm, so as soon as we were settled Carole and I both had a swim off the back of the boat and swam around the waterline with a scrubbing brush to get rid of some early growth of weed and a bit of coral.

Koonya and Ruby at Bona Bay

There were a few other boats at anchor including our friends on Ruby who are also working their way North. We had sundowners on the beach with Geoff and Jenny from Ruby, and Mark and Janet. Bona Bay is a very pretty place particularly in these light conditions.

Mark and Janet had a swim, and discovered a bit of local reef life.

Janet's latest catch, the biggest starfish we have ever seen

The Sundowners team onshore

It is a great beach, without having to scrape across coral at low tide

The Island is a National Park and there is a modest picnic area 

Despite being a National Park, looks like some one has had a good fish BBQ

We made the best of the undercover table and chairs to enjoy our sundowners

Not a bad view as we get ready to head back to our boats

We watched the sun go down, and headed back to our individual boats for dinner, anticipating a bit more breeze tomorrow for the next leg of our trip to Cape Upstart.

Back on board the fishing lines go out and the only catch is an undersized stripey.