Crayfish Beach to Maureens Cove
I was wondering how these greenhorn campers and paddlers were going to cope in the Eco doubles given the conditions we had come through and that the wind was starting to pick up even more. However the problem had already been solved - they had arranged the Scamper to collect them.
So long as it is less than 30Kn you can call Scamper to the rescue when parked up on the eastern side. You can be collected / dropped off on the inside of conditions of up to Gale. By the time we had pushed off, Scamper was running late and it was probably just as well as their gear was scattered everywhere. As we made for the northern point the 10m skiff
roared around the corner like he meant business.
Hardly warmed up we were straight into it - a nasty confused patch off the entrance to Crayfish Beach. Noted in 100 Magic Miles as having refractory swell this would not be a nice place midtide or a good blow. Scamper's skipper called it the washing machine and had times when water came right over the side of larger boats swamping the decks below. Hell, it was just before the top of the tide, what was the top of Hook going to be like ? As it turned out, not much at all. We sailed
between the Hook and the first rock off Pinnacle Point and passed the Woodpile. It was marked by a benign swirl in the water just north of the promontory. The boat didn't even twitch as we paddled through the eddy, mind you it was still pregnant with most of the initial payload which included over 40 litres of
water. Further out standing waves were suggestive of tidal conflicts.
We pulled up alongside a catamaran in Pinnacle Bay to enquire about the weather forecast. It was a bit like "weather, what weather", you are having it. We left the crew on the bare boat in Manta Ray Bay to themselves as they were having difficulty hitching the mooring buoy and in the throes of a domestic. We soon rounded into a deserted Maureens Cove arriving a couple of hours after the high. It was easiest to unload the boats in the water next to the steep coral rubble bank. We selected the tent sites which had been courteously
cleared by previous visitors. Tucked under the large lime green leafy canopy of a remarkable tree that a bark and habit reminiscent of a beach callophyllum both tents had a beautiful view over the still turquoise waters.
The crows may as well have greeted us on arrival. The cheeky pair did not waste any time in looking for any possibilities and walked the length of each boat testing the hatches. The other residents were a small marsupial. Ray woke in the middle of the might to find one hanging off the mesh on the side of his tent. These tiny critters eat the nuts of the tree we had camped under. One individual spent several hours the next night noisily nibbling a nut that it's little paws could hardly hold. The next day we went for a walk up the dry creek bed in search of the
butterfly colony. We found a hole in the rock and continued on but never found a significant collection, just a few blue and black ones closer to the camp site.
The snorkelling at Maureen's Cove was better at the eastern end, a couple of hours after the low tide and in full sun. The visibility would have been around 15 feet and limited by
cloudiness that looked like silt. Wearing fishing or gardening gloves, flipper socks and keppers is highly recommended. Mark and I saw an enormous clam about 3 feet across with a very colourful frill and two huge siphons. When snorkelling the eastern end of Maureens Cove, unbeknownst to me I picked up a trail of tourists. Mark said it looked hilarious as I had a faithful chain of pool noodles in tow. A couple of locals came ashore after diving,
cracked a beer and mused about the Shitsundays saying that this day had been their first opportunity to get out on the weekend in a while as it was always windy, something we were to soon find out.
The next day Mark stayed to fend off the persistent crows, while Ray and I
paddled back to Luncheon Bay. When we rounded the point were taken aback by the sheer number of people. All the mooring buoys were taken. Most were larger boats with 20 or more people. The place was positively crowded with one day wonders. Maureen's Cove seemed quiet with the one or two boats tied up to the buoys. It soon became clear why the crowds were here - there was a greater variety of coral, the staghorn branches were as thick as your arm and there were more fish including the magnificent giant mauri wrasse. Again the coral along the western end of the bay was broken up, it may have been caused by waves associated with the recent cyclone.
That evening mare's tails streaked across the skies and occasional bullets rocketed down the valley.
|
| Next Page
|
|
Leaving Crayfish Beach
|
|
Waiting (as usual)
|
|
Towards the tip of Hook Island
|
|
Approaching under sail
|
|
Ray and the Woodpile
|
|
Turbulence out off the Woodpile
|
|
Domestic bliss
|
|
Typical northern coastline of Hook Island
|
|
Aqua water
|
|
Approaching Maureens Cove
|
|
Landing close to high tide
|
|
Off to choose a camp site
|
|
No other campers around aside the crows
|
|
Camp kitchen inspector
|
|
Hatch inspector
|
|
View from the tent
|
|
Flower of the campsite tree
|
|
Nuts favoured by little critters
|
|
Little critter and an all night sucker
|
|
Pandanus plait
|
|
Walking the creek bed
|
|
No butterflies to be found
|
|
Coral rubble of Maureens Cove
|
|
Where else would you be ?
|
|
Creek at high tide
|
|
Low tide - slimy rocks at the waters edge
|
|
Parking up for sundowners
|
|
Streaky skies heralding the wind
|
Next Page
|
