Port Musgrave to Weipa

Beach at entrance to Port Musgrave

Tuesday 28^th June: like kids who have not had lollies for a while, we spent the morning indulging in the internet. In the afternoon we attempted to beach Nysa. She has been in the water since last August and Tony wants to check the hull and propeller leg after the work that was done on these prior to this. Also, other catamaran owners have told us that if we ever need to do repairs while travelling to just ‘beach’ the boat – ie. take the boat into very shallow water that will dry out at high tide, thus allowing access to the hulls normally submerged. As we would rather work out how to do this in calm conditions and not wait for an emergency situation, Tony has been searching for a suitable site (eg. flat, non-rocky) to attempt this. Though our current location looked promising, it did not work out due to a combination of factors. Tony worked incredibly hard over a few hours placing forward and stern anchors from the dinghy, trying to overcome the environmental factors working against him. As usual his tenacity refused to abort the attempt until we were running out of daylight and he was exhausted. After re-anchoring in deeper water, we debriefed about what we had learnt and how it could be done more easily and effectively in a more suitable location.

Bush scene at Port Musgrave

Wednesday 29^th June: At 4am we were inundated with mosquitoes. Until now we have had few problems with insects, and no mosquitoes, but the buzzing which woke us revealed a swarm in the bedroom and cockpit. Zowie vacated the bed and hid in the cupboard until manual removal methods were sufficient to provide a safe sleeping environment again. We will be more diligent with screens at nighttime now, especially when the weather is dead calm.

During the decent hours of the morning, Tony finally agreed he needed a haircut and succumbed to the clippers held by my hand – he was shocked how grey his hair had become in the past 2 months (this trip is definitely aging both of us) but was satisfied with the outcome. After my last disastrous clipping attempt on Zowie (we have had to tell so many people that she did not have the mange, just a bad hair cut) Tony then managed to give her a more presentable appearance, so it is his job from now on.

As he wasn’t inspecting the hull as planned, Tony spent the day modifying the rigging on the mainsail to be more adaptable to wind strength changes.

Late afternoon we walked a short distance along the beach to the entrance of Namaleta Creek where the mosquitoes were definitely swarming. On the beach were areas where the sand had been dug out into good-sized holes – we have seen no people on the beach so ? wild pigs digging for crabs. The sand banks were covered with a variety of bird life and the dolphins return each evening, including a mother with calf.

On our return to Nysa Coast Watch flew over for the very first time this entire trip – we are surprised it has taken so long for them to hail us.

Thursday 30^th June: over breakfast we saw a wild black pig on the beach 100 metres from us digging holes (theory correct) and dolphins a similar distance off the back deck. Tony finished the ‘Seisia to Port Musgrave’ part of the blog this morning, which will now be on par with my journal notes.

Left mid morning and it took 4 hours against the tide to motor across the bay and then past Mapoon to anchor within the mouth of the Wenlock River. The Wenlock almost dissects the Cape, commencing in the ranges south of Portland Roads on the east coast and flowing northwest to Port Musgrave. In years past we have camped a number of times on the upper fresh water section that the Peninsular Development road crosses  – beautiful bush bordering sandy riverbanks. From the mouth we travelled in the dinghy for an hour to cover 20kms to the first road access to the river. Thick mangroves initially bordered the river and we sighted a majestic Jabiru standing stately like a butler on a mud bank. The bush slowly became apparent behind the mangroves. At times the smoke from burning off stung our eyes and ash floated into the river. 50 metres from the landing I spied what appeared to be a large crocodile before it submerged. A fishing trawler and houseboat were anchored – unfortunately for Zowie the landing was the only possible place for a short walk.

Some days were cold

Friday 1^st July: We planned to leave today for Pennefather River, 35kms south. The dead calm of the river became choppier as we motor sailed crossed the Bay, at a much faster pace with the outgoing tide. By the time we reached Cullen Point it was blowing 30-35 knots so we decided to return to the western side of the entrance and wait it out. At least the wind kept the insects away.

Saturday 2^nd July: rose at sunrise to cross the sandbar just after high tide and spent a very slow day sailing to Pennefather in mild winds 10 – 20 knots. We had decided to go slow and arrive on the incoming tide late afternoon, which is needed to cross the sandbar into the river. However after a day of keeping watch while Tony did odd jobs I would now prefer to arrive early and anchor and wait for the tide – at least then I could do some other activities also. The day was dreary – not sure if overcast or if the sky was saturated with smoke. I felt rather down today, so maintaining watch and trying to persist with a knitting pattern that eventually had to be totally unravelled did not help my state of mind – I feel like I have been kidnapped.

Pennefather River

We anchored at 4.30pm in the Pennefather, which is a very attractive river, accessible by road from Weipa about 75kms away. There are many campers on the southern entrance under the casuarinas, and there was a small crocodile on the northern. Though between Mapoon and Weipa, we have no telephone or internet access here.

Flowering tree on the banks of the Pennefather River

This river is the site of the first recorded European landing in Australia by Willem Jaunts in the Duyfken in 1606, after a voyage from the Dutch East Indies. Matthew Flinders visited it on the 7 November 1802 but wrongly thought it was the Coen River – understandably there was confusion with old records and latitudes/longitudes. In 1880 Captain Charles Edward de Fomblanque Pennefather sailed from Thursday Island along the eastern side of the Gulf to examine the coast and rivers named by previous explorers. He identified that there were actually 2 Coen Rivers and the one named by Flinders was renamed the Pennefather. However, if you believe the literature, no one actually told the British Admiralty and the chart for the Gulf was not changed till 1967.

Camping by the Pennefather River

Sunday 3^rd July: Murray, one of the fisherman camped across from us arrived for a morning cuppa. He has camped here for years – the stretch of sand that is used for camping is a few kms long, well shaded, backed by bush and has access to drinkable bore water. There is a ranger who collects a fee of $30 per vehicle plus $5 per person per week. The road from Weipa is dirt/sand but as there are camper and dinghy trailers present, it must be quite manageable. I would highly recommend this place for camping – it is lovely except you can’t swim…

In the first 40 minutes we were out exploring in the dinghy we saw 10 crocodiles – 16 by the time we arrived back at Nysa 2 hours later. A variety of sizes from 1-2 metres, but the campers have seen a 3-4 metre recently. At the first beach we planned to stop at, a crocodile appeared and swam between us and the shore about 3 metres away while we debated whether to land or not. Tony could not understand why I insisted we go elsewhere as he stated that there are obviously crocodiles everywhere in the river – I still think there is a difference when you know one is definitely watching you!

Sandbanks and smokey sky at Pennefather River

This open water way is also active with wildlife other than crocodiles: leaping eagle rays, dolphins and a great variety of bird life including sea eagles, kites, pelicans, jabirus, beach bustards, kingfishers, bush turkeys, magpie geese and many different water birds.

Luckily we had anchored yesterday without any problem, as disappointedly the map in the coastal cruising book is not accurate in that it fails to mention the submerged rocks on the other side of the river, but Murray’s local information today was very helpful.

It is from this river that cruisers also choose to cross the gulf if they haven’t taken the shorter option north from the Tip.  At this lower latitude the sea is usually less rough than further north, and should have fewer submerged Indonesian fishing nets to run into. Tony only plans to cross the gulf if the weather on the other side is forecasted as calm for a few days – as yet this has not happened. If this does not eventuate, we will go sightseeing around the gulf.

Pennefather River

We have had one strange occurrence still arriving yesterday – a crackling we can hear when in Nysa’s hulls. We have checked it is not wiring or anything potentially within the boat. We have no idea what is causing this sound, which can be heard on both sides and continues day and night. Another reason to now check the hulls externally.

Turtle hospital at Pennefather River Ranger station.

Monday 4^th July: Nysa is anchored about 25 metres from the northern side of the river, where a long beach continues from the mouth’s sand dunes. In the 200 metres of that beach nearest to us we had 4 crocodiles this morning. You would know when a dinghy was approaching as the closest crocodile would return to the water and then you would hear the dinghy engine. Once the dinghy passes, the crocodile returns to sunbaking.

In the afternoon we joined Murray and his friends for a cuppa. John lives at Bluewater in Cairns; Peter and Yvonne are travelling/working after selling up in Airlie Beach; Murray and his partner Sue are from Canberra (they drove from Canberra to Pennefather in 4 days and have a camper trailer, 2 dinghies and quad bike!). All have camped here for the same 2-4 months each year since 2002/2003 and have very comfortable well set-up campsites. A bonus for Tony is the fish (Mangrove Jack) they have given him today and yesterday.

Beach near Pennefather River

Though the area is lovely I am unsure if I could remain in one campsite doing the same thing for so long a time. On the boat there are days that are really pleasant and I am quite happy to be in relaxed ‘holiday mode’. Other days the very slow travelling with the same daily routine can become frustrating and boring. I need a variety of activities to maintain a feeling of worthwhileness: a dive, dance, game of 500 in the company of friends would be nice diversions.  Other times I also feel great disappointment at not being in the Kimberley and need to focus on accepting what we are doing now. At 52 years of age I have realised I do not have the psychological adaptability to work in Antarctica, on a space station or a fishing trawler – only 2 of these were childhood aspirations! Tony is very patient, loving and reassuring – he is a much better person than me and putting up with my moods and inadequacies must be very difficult at times.

During the afternoon the smoke from burning off on the land had built up and moved out over the ocean forming a low lying, dark, forbidding cloud from which you expected lighting and thunder to appear from – we had read how the smoke can be so dense in the Gulf that boats need to use radar, which seemed unlikely till you look out at that cloud.

Most campers also had dinghys.

Tuesday 5^th July: Tony has searched each day for a possible ‘beaching’ site on the numerous beaches and sandbars here. This morning he decided on an area at the northern river mouth. There is a sand island here separated from the mainland by a channel that varies in depth and width with the tide. To the eastern side of this is a flat firm area sheltered from the current and wind by the surrounding sand dunes. It is also a fair distance from the water’s edge at low tide, giving plenty of space to sight crocodiles. We will attempt a landing tomorrow morning on the high tide.

Behind the sand dunes of the northern beach are beautiful stands of paperbarks and pandanus – the gullies would be water filled in the wet. We found an intact brown glass bottle stamped 1956 – if only it could talk!

Sandunes behind the ocean beach

On the beach were 3 turtle nests with fresh tracks – unfortunately the nests had been destroyed by goannas and littered with the remains of shells – not much reward for the turtle’s hard work.

I have found some excellent shells on the gulf beaches, including baler and triton shells up to 30 cms. Though the large ones have all been broken, there must be some marvellously large living molluscs somewhere out there.

The crackling continues!

Behind the sandunes vegetation was very dense.

Wednesday 6^th July: successfully ‘beached’ Nysa as the sun rose at 7am. Tony was pleased with the tactics he devised. Also pleasing was the inspection of the hull and propeller leg – apart from a small dint obtained during Cyclone Yasi, and another from a banging mooring at Fitzroy Island, there was no damage and no deterioration where the repair work had been done. There is no visible cause either for the crackling and thankfully our only visitors were Peter, Yvonne (who brought Tony barramundi) and Murray during the day – no crocodiles – I kept a very close watch on the clear aqua water a few metres away.

The high tide at night was not sufficient to float off, so we will hopefully attempt this successfully in the morning. There has been no crackling in this new anchorage.

Nysa beached for hull inspection

Thursday 7^th July: it required Tony’s assistance by pulling on the stern anchor rope, but at the peak of high tide, just after a colourful sunrise, we did refloat and returned to where we had anchored previously. Tony is very pleased with the exercise and feels more confident if we ever need to ‘beach’ again. The crackling re-started as soon as we anchored so there must be “something” in the water here?

Today has been a rest today after the exertion of yesterday. Eventually though he even succumbed to a nap. Peter and Yvonne visiting for afternoon drinks, bringing Tony a mud crab that the men quickly demolished. They don’t use crab pots, just walk the shore and scoop them up with a net! Peter and Yvonne have travelled extensively within Australia and knew some good camping areas we haven’t been to – the Kingfisher Camp near Lawn Hill is recommended.

Friday 8^th July: during the morning we explored further down the river. This river is really stunning – a large estuary surrounded by a labyrinth of creeks, quite shallow in sections so the depth sounder is handy. I can understand why people return here regularly.

Mangrove forest on Pennefather River

We then walked along the camping area on the river’s southern side and was dismayed by the rubbish left by some campers too lazy to take it back to a rubbish bin in Weipa – I cannot comprehend this apathy. I was also disturbed to see young children standing in the water unsupervised fishing and throwing nets. There are a number of rocky ledges where people without dinghies can fish but the kids were on a sandy beach section. I spoke to one of the mother’s who stated she was unaware that crocodiles are prolific here, though she probably thought I was a busybody – when Zowie snapped at her little girl (who was taunting Zowie) she may have also felt my dog was more a risk than the crocodiles. Kerry and her family recently sold their farm in western NSW after years of drought. They are 8 weeks into taking a year off to travel and rejuvenate before deciding their next step.

Pennefather River

In the afternoon we had a closer look at John’s Track off-road caravan and Murray’s Gulf Lander camper trailer, brands we had not seen before – part of my dreaming of returning to road travel. Very impressive long-term camps with solar panels, access to their own bores providing running water, washing machines and varied cooking options.

Just before sunset a small trailer-sailer arrived from Weipa – this is the first yacht we have seen since Seisia.

Crackle, crackle.

Saturday 9^th July: the wind is up today but the uncomfortable conditions. The wind is blowing the ash from the fires onto the boat and inside.

John visited in the morning for his reciprocal ‘look-see’ of Nysa and provided some ideas of improving our power production.

Tony brought Dennis and David Brown from the trailer sailer over for afternoon tea. Dennis (from Kingaroy) and David (from Merbula near Eden) are brothers in their late sixties. Dennis built the wooden 22ft Dutch designed yacht named ‘Sandpiper’. They drove to Karumba to sail from there to Cairns, having left 44 days ago. Their wives are waiting at home for their return in approximately 5 months. The yacht is very shallow draft (the keel lifts up) so they beach the boat each night. They have no dinghy or kayaks  to explore away from the yacht – just walk the beach and bushes nearby. David has collected some incredible shells, and they have enjoyed the people they have met – the trip is just something they wanted to do.  Dennis has owned a previous larger monohull and sailed parts of the east coast, besides working on the pearling ships based in the past at the Flinders Group Islands in Princess Charlotte Bay. He has given us further interesting sites to visit on our return. They are travelling very basically – salt water showers, no refrigeration and cook in a camp oven on the beach. Put me to shame!

Crackle.

Sunday 10^th July:

we decided to leave on the morning tide at 9am to commence the route to Weipa. Dennis and David are already left prior to our waking – they need to slow down otherwise will face a long stay in Seisia waiting for the northerly winds to tackle the east coast. I am sad to leave the nice company of the past week, but we need to restock, organise Tony’s venesection and decide our future travel plans.

Winds 20-25 knots, gusting to 30 gave us a good moving sail, travelling the 40kms to Duyfkin Point in 4.5 hours. Unfortunately we then had to turn into the wind to cross Albatross Bay and the next 5 hours was a hard slog motor sailing until we arrived across the channel from Weipa, thankfully anchoring in Roberts Creek just prior to dark.

We now have telephone and internet again. No crackles though!