18th August Garry’s Gutter between Fraser Island and Stewart Island
Saturday- Lovely peaceful anchorage, lots of turtles surfacing around, hawkes soaring above and diving for fish.

Motored through narrow channels for about 3hours from the Gutter to South White Cliffs.
The guy on the next boat had his whole fishing tackle taken and it was 60lb strain so we decided not to take a dip.
Fishing Notes:At anchorage got one on the line up to the side of the boat and it took one look and flipped off. Dinner gone… open a tin of tuna!

“He told me he had the sea in his blood, and believe me you could see where it gets in” Spike Milligan.


Friday 17th August Inskip Point to Garry’s Anchorage (Fraser Island West (scurvy crew))

Great night, smooth as silk after the washing machine the night before, until the Fraser Car Ferry motored past at 4am, which sounded like a jet flying through your bedroom and then the wash hit and Oh!!... my sleep in was destroyed. Just settling again and 4.15 the next ferry charged past, then it was one every fifteen minutes until all four were happily ensconced at their pick up sites to take the early morning 4 wheel drivers to the other side to join the mass beach drive north on Fraser Island.

Since we were here last all the leads have been changed to lateral markers so it was a little disconcerting to try and sort out all the new navigational systems. But my trusty Capt Bligh was at his best, and navigating by Rays GPS took us safely up through all the channels and with me using the wonderful new binoculars we were a team again and I felt happy…….. We decided to go into an anchorage which looked quite interesting, not a lot of water but Nick said that it would be okay so we steamed in and it was lovely. Anchored in about 2.9 meters and with what Nick had read up about the tides we should be okay. Went ashore to explore and then back to the boat for a zzzzzzzzzzz. Woke up around 5pm, at this point I turned Ray on to check the depth and to my astonishment was in 1.2 meters……slight panic, but I was assured we were nearly at the bottom of the tide and we would float off soon. When it got to 0.9 even Capt. Bligh was looking a little concerned and when a tinny went past and the wheel jaggled about I thought this is not good. The captain suggested very calmly that we might move, if in fact we still could.
He’s now cabin boy and I am promoted to Captain. Slight miscalculation in tide range……..it happens……mistakes……..but who’s counting!!! Scurvy Crew promoted…..YES!!!!!!!!!!.........


Thursday 16th August
Spent a particularly unpleasant night at Double Island Point. Thought the breeze would drop and go back to the S.E. Instead it strengthened and blew all night from the North. Bad misjudgement but no damage done apart from a little sleep deprivation. Have accepted criticism from the crew.
Then across the Wide Bay Bar and into the Sandy Strait on the inside of Fraser Island.
On the subject of Schadenfreude the water pump made a grinding noise and ceased functioning which occupied the morning. Whole thing had started to vibrate itself back into its component parts. However the fuse had done its job and after reassembly it seems fine.


Scurvy Crew…….Unpleasant NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!! Was like being in a washing machine and riding a bucking bronco at the same time and not sleeping as you were imagining you were dragging your anchor so you felt like a Meerkat all night bobbing up through the hatch in the washing machine seeing if you were about to hit the shore and die!!..

There are now four car ferries operating the channel to Fraser Island, 26yrs ago there was one dilapidated car ferry. Coming along the mainland to Double Island Point was like seeing the main highway with so many four wheel drives roaring along the beach and it was only Thursday and not a public holiday, weekends must be a nightmare, will need traffic lights on the beach soon. Looked like the wreck of the Cherry Venture was gone as we couldn’t see it as we passed, a lot appears and disappears in 26yrs………(and sags)

On the matter to do with the pump. I used the water and it made the most horrendous noise, Nick was on deck and I thought mmmm that doesn’t sound right. It was not until I used the water again and it didn’t work. We spent probably half an hour going through all the consequences of what may have happened and what a joy when Nick found another fuse within the pump as we had already checked the fuse behind the board and it was OK. One crisis averted…bring on the rum and coke

Pam’s Fishing Notes: no line out, no fish, dolphins welcomed us on arrival to Inskip Point.