Through the Sheridan Flats

Monday 5th October 2015

We had a great nights sleep in a very peaceful anchorage.

Today we need to get through the shallowest part of the Great Sandy Straights to ready ourselves to cross Wide bay Bar on Tuesday. Both require a high tide, and todays high at Sheridan Flats is at 3.49 pm, so we have the morning to fill in, as we are only 12 nm away from the crossing.

We put the dinghy in the water, picked up Steve and Kim and went ashore at 10am, to have a walk around Kingfisher Resort. Low tide was at around 8.30 am, so there is plenty of beach on display.

Low tide at Kingfisher Bay looking out to our boat

The resort is very busy compared to the last time we were here. It is school holidays and today is a public holiday, so maybe that explains all of the activity. There is also a line up of 4wd's waiting for the barge to take them back to the mainland.

We had a good look around the resort, Steve and Kim had not been here before, and we also managed to get a history lesson on the ship "Maheno" after which one of the restaurants in the hotel is named.

By 12 noon we are back on board, with a plan to weigh anchor at 1 pm and motor South. Many of the boats anchored in Kingfisher Bay left earlier, but very few heading South. Our plan is to be at the shallowest spot at about an hour before the full tide. We passed trough with little drama, with a minimum of 1.4 m under our keel in a 1.9m high tide.

A bird colony on the sand spit at the entrance to Garry's Anchorage

There are a few boats in Garry's Anchorage

Next challenge was to find a comfortable overnight anchorage. We are not that keen to go back into Garry's Anchorage and would like to get a  bit further South.

Wilparina had anchored off the entrance to Fig Tree Creek on the way up, and had a comfortable night, so we opted to stay there. It is a great anchorage.

Fig Tree Creek anchorage

We had sundowners on Wilparina and dinner on board our own boats. We will talk to the VMR Tin Can Bay in the morning to get the tide and way point information for crossing Wide Bay Bar. We expect to be crossing between 2 and 3 pm, so we will have a bit of time in the morning to fill in.