After working to build SeeBeeZee since 2012, and the launching at the government wharf at Wooli in December of 2015, we were pretty keen to a trip into the tropics during the southern winter of 2016. These are stories from some of the days of this trip.
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Reef Time
Along the coast of far north Queensland, the barrier reef comes much closer to the coastline. After leaving the Johnstone River and the town of Innisfail, we headed out to Gibson Reef in calm flat conditions. From there, we then spent the next few weeks moving north along the cays and reef anchorages such as…
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Dunk Island
After our anchorage in an un-named creek along the Hinchinbrook Channel, we took the tide north in calm conditions. We managed to sail all day in light winds, and sailed right up into the anchorage. We anchored off the old resort, which was destroyed in a cyclone and left abandoned. Dunk Island is a beautiful…
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Hinchinbrook Channel
After the time in Zoe Bay, we came around to Dungeness to buy some mosquito coils, before heading north up the Hinchinbrook Channel. We had a nice meal in the pub at Dungeness, and tied up to the wharf to fill our water tanks, before motoring up the channel to Haycock Island. Here we saw…
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Zoe Bay
We anchored in Zoe Bay and surveyed the north creek at low tide, before entering on the following high tide.
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Orpheus Island
Hinchinbrook Island looms large to the north, but we stopped here for a couple of nights, having a nice walk on the island across to the eastern side, and an extraordinary sundowners gathering on another boat.
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Magnetic Island
We travelled overnight from the Whitsundays through to Magnetic Island off Townsville,
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Great Keppel Island
Under light conditions, we sailed from Pacific Creek to Great Keppel Island.
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Goldsmith Island
After staying overnight at Brampton Island, we set off for Goldsmith Island, where friends had pointed us to a nice spot where we could dry out and check on our bent rudder.
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Brampton Island
We were up early and away with the slight breeze and full moon well before sunrise. The wind was light all day, and we struggled to make headway against the tide offshore along the coast off Mackay. Without the confidence to use the spinnaker, it was slow progress, arriving at Brampton Island only shortly before…
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Island Head Creek
With a strong blow on the forecast for the coming days, we moved around from Port Clinton to Island Head Creek, and anchored amongst the group of other yachts sheltering there. This is the first time that we have experienced “sundowners” on the beach in an anchorage. Looking back, this was also a pattern at…
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SeeBeeZee Maiden Voyage
After the launch we spent some time living on SeeBeeZee in the Wooli River, getting to know the boat, and travelling back to our house to prepare it for our departure. Without a mast, we set off from Wooli under power, heading for Yamba on the Clarence River, where our mast was waiting for us.