Sailing North

 
After Reean left at the Marina strong winds kept me there for a couple of days, I amused myself walking around the Marina looking at all the boats. The opportunity to sail north along the sheltered lee of Fraser Island presented itself and left the harbor at 0400hrs with the hint of first light, soon I had sail hoisted and settled in for a days sail.
 
With the ever-changing landscape of Fraser Island close by there was much to interest me, towering cliffs of sand and small creeks disappearing into Wallum scrub. At sea birds dived into schools of bait fish whilst the larger pelagic fish attacked their helpless quarry from below. For hours the sea was thick with jelly fish a foot in diameter, so thick it felt as though I could step out and walk on them.
 
On the full of the tide I entered into Bowal Crk, just a tiny creek running along the dunes and quite shallow. As the tide fell Pelican rested on the bottom but a stream of fresh water remained in which to cool myself in the days heat. High in the trees on the cliff a pair of Sea Eagles watched me as I walked through the creek and along the shore tracks of a dingo that had passed by during the night had been left in the sand. The park ranger was to enquire about the dingo later that day as it had a radio tracking collar on that had gone flat and they wanted to replace it.
 
After a couple of days I set sail for Lady Elliot Island, a small coral cay that I hope to land on, an overnight sail with moderate winds and a moderate easterly swell. At dawn I saw the outline of Elliot with its Lighthouse silhouetted on its low shoreline. Nowhere presented itself as an ideal place to land, so I set sail for Lady Musgrave Island and Fairfax Island stopping only briefly. I reached Pancake creek at Bustard Hd on the mainland by 1600hrs, a pretty spot to stay for a couple of days.