Sail to North West Island

Tuesday 29^th September 2015

Finally we have found a weather window that favours an adventure out into the reef, rather than bashing down the coast. Our destination today is North West Island, the largest coral cay in the Mackay/Capricorn Section of the Great Barrier Reef.

The tides we are experiencing here at the moment are the lowest I have ever seen. Last nights low was -0.03 m, below the lowest astronomical tide.

The day starts well, leaving the marina at 7 am, and we had a great sail out to the Keppel Islands, before the wind dropped and it turned into a good motor sail for the rest of the voyage. 

Wilparina sailng past the Keppel Islands

We arrived at Northwest Island just before 3 pm, and there was one other yacht anchored in the anchorage we planned to stop at. The yacht was called “Maloo” and Steve had sailed across the Altlantic in the 2012 ARC Rally in a boat of the same name. As he got closer, he realized it was the same boat. The previous owners (Steve’s friends) had sold the boat after the rally to return to work ( they were based in Europe).

North West Island in distance

We put the dinghy in the water and went for a bit of a motor along the edge of the exposed reef. The expanse of reef here is enormous, and access to the Island is only possible at high tide when you can cross over the reef. Apparently there are very good camping facilities on the island and a number of local fisherman often use it as a base for a bit of an extended reef fishing holiday.

The reef surrounds the island making it inaccessible at low tide

We went over and had a chat to the new owner of Maloo, who was taking a few mates for a sail around the area. He is based in Gladstone. They were very hospitable and shouted us a beer whilst the story of the ARC Rally was retold. We thanked them for the hospitality and headed back to our boats to think about dinner. Not long after, one of the guys came over in their dinghy with a bag of freshly caught fish fillets for us. Really nice guys.

Dinner was a BBQ on Wilparina, if only the BBQ would work. In the end the frypan had to do the job, but it was all good.