Brampton Island

Tuesday 15^th September 2015

Today’s plan is to sail to Scawfell Island. It was a pretty rolly anchorage at Thomas over night and everyone is ready to go. Anchors were up at 8 am and we headed East into the usual 15 to 20 Knot SE breeze. The tide was coming in, and the sea was very lumpy, so progress on this tack was slow. We were only making a bit over 4 knots against the current.

As soon as we had a clear path down to the Sir James Smith Group of Islands, we tacked and we immediately doing 7-8 knots with the swell on our beam. We had a great sail down the west side of Goldsmith Island, when disaster struck on Koonya. They had lost the pin holding the starboard lower shroud to the chain plate and were noticing some unwelcome movement in the mast. They managed to get a temporary repair in place.

Plans to go to Scawfell were quickly changed to our new destination, Brampton Island. Koonya were unable to sail on a port tack, so we “turned left” at Brampton, and Koonya took down their main and motored in to the anchorage. A more permanent, temporary repair was made to Koonya but we will have to divert to Mackay to get a permanent fix.

Approaching Carlisle / Brampton Islands

Later in the afternoon, we put our dinghies in the water, and weaved our way through the reef to go ashore and have a look at the now derelict resort. We are not sure how long it has been closed. Apparently, it has been purchased by the Chinese, with plans to reopen sometime in the future. It looks as though one day they just closed the doors and walked off the site. The rooms are still furnished, but everything is pretty run down. It is a real shame, as it is a very pretty spot.

Koonya were first to get their dinghy in the water

At first we thought we may be able to get ashore from the jetty, but was in poor shape

The other option was this little sandy patch where there was a break in the reef

The local wildlife have moved into the derelict resort

The swimming pool has seen better days

The passage between Brampton and Carlisle Islands "Brampton Roads" is non navigable reef

The resort is in a stunning location, carved out of the surrounding National Park. Hopefully the redevelopment will do the site justice

By the time we got back to the dinghies, the tide had gone out a fair way, but there was still enough clear water for us to get back to our boats.

Time to head back to our boats before the tide goes out any further

It is time to rethink our plans, so we meet for sundowners on Wilparina.

Tomorrow the wind is forecast to be 0-5 knots, so wherever we go we will most likely be motoring. We finally settle on going to Keswick/ St Bees Islands, about 20 nm from here, and then on to Mackay on Thursday. Some strong winds are forecast for Friday / Saturday, so it will be more comfortable at Mackay than out on the water.

Getting back into our dinghies to go home, both Koonya and ourselves have a garfish each, jumping around in our dinghies. They must have jumped in to escape a predator. I put mine on a hook when we got back to Mica, had one huge strike, and lost the hook. Whatever it was had bitten clean through the 40 lb leader.