Joanne Jones

Good sail over to Yeppoon with a solid easterly wind. Anchored outside the marina wall in Rosslyn Bay for a night and dinghied in to the marina where our friend Carol picked me up to take us to Woolworths ( 10 minute drive from the marina). Normally there are buses that run into town from the marina but services are very limited on the weekend, particularly Sundays (only three buses a day). It was a little rolly in the bay ( residual swell) 1-1.5m swell off the coast. The bay is extremely shallow so anchored just past the entrance channel to the marina - good holding on a sandy/muddy bottom in 4.5m water. Had a walk around late in the day and live music and drinks at the Yacht Club Sunday afternoon. There are heaps of public floating jetties in here and a petrol station just behind the boat ramp which was an easy walk to fill up our jerries.

Moved around to Leekes when the wind changed to south easterly. Anchored in sand in the mouth of the creek in about 2m of water at low tide. Good protection from the wind and swell at low tide. Got a little rolly at high tide. Was advised the best anchorage is close to the top of the next beach ( Svendsons where the shade hut is) even though it’s shallow and you have to anchor further out, you are more protected from SE or E swells as they arc outside you are they come around the top of the island.

Sailed with friends we met at Pancake Creek, Jon and Carol ( Wizard of the Wind) to Keppel. Had a great tail wind and made good time with the headsails. Anchored in about 3m of water off Long Beach on the bottom of Keppel. Spent a few days here before moving to the north side of the island when the SE’s blew in. Walked across the dunes a couple of times to have lunch at the cafe/restaurant at the resort. The food is pretty average all fried and served in paper boxes but the walk was nice…about two hour round trip!

Consistent SE tail wind of 12-16knots with 1.2-1.4m swell. Anchored on 7m of water just around the top of Curtis Island. Seems to be good holding.Good protection from wind but was very rolly overnight with swell wrapping around the top of the island.

Up to 20knots going up and down the river. Saw many wrecks and lots of damage from the March 2026 floods when the river rose over 9m. Apparently there were over 54 boats swept down the river and so far only 35 have been salvaged. Arrived up in Bundaberg to find all the public jetties and the private jetty at the rowing club have been washed away. We went into town for supplies but it was tricky as there was nowhere to leave the tender and only one of us could go ashore at a time. Apparently there is still heaps of debris in the river and am not sure we would come up here again next year.

Good 15-20knot SE wind for the trip across Hervey Bay. Caught a nice Spanish Mackeral enroute. Arrived at the mouth of the Burnett River just on slack tide(low) and continued up the river to Rocky Reach where we anchored for the night. Anchored in 7m of mud at the mouth of a small creek. Good holding.

Lots of rain showers. Anchored just south of the estuary entrance in about 5m of water, good holing on sand. Let out plenty of chain to allow for a 3.5m rise of tide. Good holding in sand. Good protection from 20knot E - ESE wind but it was still choppy when the front came through

Windy and wet. Rain squalls all the way up but good consistently strong SE wind behind us all the way. Anchored just above Moon Point between the point and the sand spit. Nice calm anchorage in strong SE ( up to 24knot gusts) good holding on sand. Anchored in 2.5m close to low tide. The tide is expected to rise 3.5m so let out plently of chain (40m).

Timed our run to the Wide Bay Bar for an hour ahead of high tide and just before sunrise. It was blowing hard when we left but the wind had dropped to under 10knots by the time we reached the bar. Had a smooth passage in and flew up to Gary’s in the remainder of the incoming tide. Anchored in 3.5m of water ( good holding) and spent a couple of nights here waiting out 30knot winds out on the bay. The anchorage is very protected and a nice place to rest up. Great sunsets!

Good strong SE winds made for a fast trip. Anchored close to the cliffs a little further down the beach than we have done in the past to shelter from 25-30knot winds. It was quite comfortable overnight and good holding on sand.