A lovely Day at Tin Can Bay

Friday 29^th September 2017

After a shocking day in the Great Sandy Straights, we had a very peaceful and still night in Tin Can Inlet.

 Hard to believe after what we went through yesterday. Nevertheless, today the is little wind, and it is hot. After breakfast we took the dinghy into the shore to explore what was there. It was not long after low tide and we allowed a lot of scope for the incoming tide when we hauled our dinghy up the sand.

There are a lot of boats anchored here

Not everyone anchoring here have done their tidal calculations correctly. We counted at least 3 boats on their side at low tide.

The settlement at Tin Can Bay is pretty basic. There is a yacht club, who were having a day for disabled sailors.

The Tin Can bay Yacht Club

Sailors with Disabilities out on the water

Moving the boats around was pretty slick

The Coastguard, of course, has a prominent position, and they are very busy , as they have responsibility for traffic across the Wide Bay Bar, one of the most treacherous on the East Coast. We went in and had a talk to them about the current way points and bar conditions at present, and they were incredibly helpful. People often forget that they are all volunteers.

Coastguard Tin Can Bay

There is a house boat hire company, a seafood co-op, we are a bit surprised to see a substantial fishing fleet in such an inaccessible harbour.

Also, there is a marina, which is pretty well supported, despite the tidal limitations for deep draft vessels getting in and out. There are also a few coffee shops, cafes and a caravan park.

After a couple of hours walking around we had pretty much seen it all, and opted to go to the yacht club for lunch. It is a pretty basic establishment, but the food was good and the Sailability Day they we holding had attracted a lot of supporters.

After lunch we went back to Mica to get ready to head down closer to Wide Bay Harbour in preparation for an early exit in the morning.

It was a bit of a surprise when we reached Pelican Bay, and winds were well above forecast and it was a bit bumpy, but we anchored with a number of other boats also planning to leave tomorrow. After a while, a number of them pulled up anchor to move to somewhere more comfortable, wherever that is !

We will sit out, it is not that uncomfortable and forecast to improve buy late evening. Brian and Amanda braved the elements to come over and join us for sundowners, certainly above and beyond the call of duty, but we had a nice time.

I guess we now just sit and wait to see what the rest of the night is like and be ready to cross the bar tomorrow, if the basic forecast conditions hold. Ironically, the strong NW winds have had little effect on wave activity at the bar.

As we go to bed the BOM forecast says it should be 5-10 knots Northerly at this time, and it is actually 20 knots NW. Doesn't really fill you with confidence !!!