Monday 4th September 2017
Whist we have enjoyed Plantation Bay, it is
time to move on, and when we awake the water was glassy with virtually no wind.
We do not plan to travel far today, only
around 10 nm to the Southern end of Thomas Island to anchor in the southern
anchorage there, which is reputed to be very nice. In previous years we have
not had the opportunity as it is only safe in Northerly winds, and at this time
of the year it has always been howling South Easterlies. This run of light
northerlies for the next few days has opened up some opportunities to try some
other southern anchorages.
The first challenge is to get the anchor
up, and fortunately the solenoid co-operated, but I can now only run the winch
up, and freefall down. I will pick up a new solenoid in Mackay later this week.
Rounding the bottom of Thomas Island we
caught our first glimpse of Sea Eagle Beach, and are surprised at the number of
boats here, because it is supposed to be an isolated anchorage. Not deterred,
we had to anchor a fair way out ti find a spot with sufficient swing room that
was clear of the reef that fringes the bay.
There is a gentle swell, but it looks like
being a very comfortable anchorage, and it is very scenic. There is a break in
the reef allowing good dinghy access to the beach, and it wasn’t long before we
were in the dinghy and heading ashore. The breeze is a light Northerly and it
is pretty warm. So after a good look around the beach, a swim was in order. The
water is crystal clear and there is a huge bait ball of fish hovering around
the shore. You could walk into it and the fish would part and reform around
you.
Looking from the beach out to the anchored boats at high tide
The dark shadow in the foreground is the bait ball
Lovely beach and such clear water
Carole having a swim with Mica and Goldsmith Island in the background
The scenery here is quite special, to the
South we look out over Goldsmith Island, and a couple of the other islands in
that group. We can see a whale flapping its tail between us and the islands.
Back on board for lunch, a large Jeanneau
yacht, "Tomboy", arrives and ended up anchoring a bit close for comfort. To his credit the
skipper came over in his dinghy to enquire how much chain we had out, and said
he would move if we were uncomfortable. It was too close for comfort, so he
moved further away.
After a bit of a rest we went ashore at low
tide. The place looks very different with the reef exposed and the wind has
come up at around 15 knots from the North, which does not create any issues
here but boats do need a bit of room to move.
How different it looks at low tide
We ended up having a good talk to
the couple and their young family from the Jeanneau on shore. A very nice couple who reside in Melbourne when they are not on the boat which spends winter up here, an summer located at a convenient spot a long way north of Melbourne on a mooring or elsewhere.
Whilst on shore we did a brief walk to the
other side of the island through a very narrow pass in a valley. All of the
small trees have been flattened by the cyclone, and once we wind our way
through the debris and get to the other side, we see a very rugged bay, and the
wind is blowing at 15knots +. We are glad we are on this side of the island.
A bit of reef walking was in order whilst
it was exposed. It was pretty rocky, with mainly soft corals and large
populations of sea cucumbers.
The change in scenery between high and low
tide looking back at Goldsmith is stark.
It is comforting to see the actual reef is some distance from our boat.
Some of the charts are quite misleading.
It was 5.30pm when we got back on board.
The wind is still strong but expected to settle overnight. The wind died out at around 9 pm.
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