A Short Trip to Middle Percy Island

Monday 12^th September 2017

It was a pretty rolly anchorage at Curlew last night. The wind just seemed to hold us side on to the swell for most of the evening. Probably not a great place to stay in future in an Easterly.

Departures started at around 6am, and we left at around 7.15 am.  Of the 2 boats that we know here, it appears that Moon shadow is heading for Middle Percy, and Freestyle 1, looks like they are heading for the Duke Islands, a better sailing angle in a pretty light and fluky breeze.

We put the main up soon after leaving Curlew with the hope of a sail to the Percy’s, but the northern part of the easterly breeze did not last long. We persisted for around 2 hours before dropping the main and motoring to get back on course to Middle Percy.

The incoming tide current started pushing us South and correcting our course put us running slightly against the current. Nevertheless, we arrived at Middle Percy close to midday. It is normally a rolly anchorage but we seemed to have arrived in better than normal conditions.

The anchorage is quite scenic and this yacht has developed his own stabiliser system

As well as the now mandatory whale sightings everywhere we go, we were surprised to see a couple of whales cruising up the shore very close to the anchorage as we were arriving.

Once safely anchored, we put the dinghy in the water.  

Before we left to go ashore we had a visit from the team from Moon shadow, who had come across from Curlew ahead of us. It turned out they are CCCA members, so we invited them over for Sundowners to learn more, whilst we each did our own thing here.

We had lunch and it was time to go ashore to see the famous A Frame Hut where visiting yachties from all around the World visit the home of the Percy Island Yacht Club, and leave some memorabilia to signify their visit. We had a “Shaggers” burgee that was past its use by date which we dutifully inscribed with our details and left it hanging in the halls of fame.

The A Frame Hut and home of the Percy Island Yacht Club

Our Contribution to the memorabilia

There is also a walk up to the Middle Percy Homestead, which we decided to do. There are two paths, described as a long and winding path, but an easier walk ( a road for 4WD  vehicles to access the homestead),  a soft sandy trail that is hard to walk on, but the grade is less than the other alternative, and there is a nice lookout.  It took about an hour to get to the homestead with not much rest along the way.

The long and winding trail

There is a promise of mobile phone coverage, but not enough to get excited about

There is a nice lookout along the trail

Some wild goats (who get converted to curry as an Island specialty apparently)

Finally we reach the Homestead , but are now running short of time, so continue on to go back on the short track.

The short trail is exactly as described, it takes about half the time. It is ideally suited for goats, of which there are many on the island, and you get the opportunity to walk across some dry salt pans and through some quite wet mangroves, but it only takes half the amount of time.

The Kangaroos are curious

More Goats

The short track is not quite as well defined as the long track

We crossed a salt pan with telephone poles across it

Through some pretty muddy mangroves 

Finally back as West Bay, we pass another of the iconic structures, The Tree House

We took the long path up and the short path back, not stopping at the homestead to see all of the historical info available there, as we were more interested in getting back at a reasonable hour.

Finally back at our dinghy, we wanted to have a quick look in the “Boat Harbour”,

A small natural harbour that is accessible at high tide for shallow draft vessels.

The Narrow Entrance to Boat Harbour

Inside the boat harbour, there is a jetty and a basic slipway

After that distraction, it was back to Mica. It is now just after 4pm, we have invited the Moon shadow team over at 4.30pm, and  I want to get the Code Zero up before tomorrow as the last forecast we saw would suggest we can use it. There is no internet here, so we hope the forecast is unchanged. Anyway, Carole and we hoisted the code Zero, before our guests arrived.

One of the great benefits of being a member of CCCA, is that as soon as someone sees the burgee flying, they often make contact. We look forward to seeing Moon shadow, (a Cavalier 37) over the next few days and possibly longer as we are both heading South.

We have also been in touch with Dalwhinnie who are a little behind us at the moment heading south, but there is a good chance we will reunite at Rosslyn Bay.