Hinchinbrook Island cruise - Hinchinbrook Channel (Day 4)

Sunday 27th September 2020.

Motored across to Gould Island early, while the bay was still flat calm and anchored off the lee sand spit for breakfast.

Gould Island

At 10 am a NNW breeze of 5 knots came in so set sail for Cardwell. Light conditions for the drifter for a couple of hours. A hot sun beat down, the Bimini's shade made it bearable.

The wind backed to a NE seabreeze and freshened to 15-20 knots. Dropped the drifter and broad reached at full speed with full jib and main into the Hinchinbrook Channel. The plan was to visit Cardwell but concluded the wind was very favorable for a long south bound leg, and Cardwell had become a lee shore as well, so made the best of it.

Hinchinbrook Channel chart

Hecate point passed by quickly, as Teria heeled with a bone in her teeth,  at 5-6 knots. The channel was miles wide at the northern end, so stayed closer to the Islands shores than mainlands mangroves andsand bars to leeward. There also happened to be a favorable south setting tidal current as well so kept sailing at pace.

Further along encountered a patch of light winds behind a large mountain, so motored a mile or so. Then the NE wind returned, funneled between a gap in two mountain ranges. Teria reached past Gayundah creek, heeling nicely. It is a well known yacht anchorage and several were anchored there. 

Gayundah creek - reaching toward anchored yacht

The scenery in this area is spectacular. White clouds streamed to leeward of the mountain peaks, capping them like snow. 

Cloud capped mountains and mangrove forest

3 other creeks, similar to Gayundah, on this stretch are good anchorages too. I had the wrong scale chart, which had no channel navigation beacons on it. Just picked them up by eye and kept to the correct side of them. But did miss one  and sailed right across a river mouth sand bar! fortunately the tide was ok and Teria shallow, just a confused bunch of small standing waves and yellowish water marked its location in the tidal current.

Creek entrance 

Rainforested hills meet channel

Looking NE 

Wilkin Hill (145m) and Leefe peak (256m) passed to port,  admired the rain-forest clad cliffs descending to the waters edge, full of bird calls as the boat silently glided on by. The wind eased off  further in the lees of these hills, so motored the narrower southern miles of the channel. Mangrove forests with myriad smaller channels, fishermen's paradise, passed to starboard.

Passed Haycock Island around 5 pm,  thought there could be time to make the 10 nm or so to Dungeness , so motored on. However, a stiff 25 knot SE  headwind hit on rounding Reis Point. Furled the jib and motored into it and a sharp chop, reduced to 2-3 knots speed. The jib unfurled at the top, so dropped and stowed it below to stop windage/further problems, and pressed on a little more, spray flying from bow to cockpit.

Haycock Island - first pass

Near Reis  Point

Watched some bigger yachts gliding effortlessly downwind in the other direction (motoring, sails furled) so decided to do a U-turn and follow them. This turned out to be a wise decision as they went to  Haycock Island to anchor for the night. 

Sundown over Cardwell ranges - Haycock Island anchorage

Anchored near about 3 yachts and 100 m from a houseboat near the north end of the steep, mid channel, rain-forested islet. The sun went down, the mozzie net soon covered the pop-top, coils were burning away repelling sand-flies, and dinner was good. Was tired from the long day-sail so turned in about 8 pm. 

Then the houseboat party ramped up. A big 240v generator powered a huge stereo which thumped away at 80-100 bpm to raucous abandonment.  The boisterous 2 storey rectangular box was lit-up like a floating Christmas tree/tavern with sound amplification (Sound travels much further on calm waters, than in a built-up area with council reg's ashore) 

It was impossible to sleep, so up-anchored and quietly idled away, past the yachts and to the other side of Haycock Island to re-set the pick. Amazingly it was nearly perfectly silent there, only about 400 m away but the small but high well vegetated Islet blocked all the stero's thumps etc really well.

Live and learn. That's the good thing about boats, they can be moved to more favorable locations easily be it weather or wildlife related.

Haycock Island - chart