Maureen Cove - Steens Beach - Shute Harbour
Still without a forecast we headed onto Steens Beach. We paddled into and walked up the creeks in Butterfly Bay but those critters remained illusive, unlike the small dark grey stingrays that came into a couple of inches of water at the head of the bay. We paddled by Alphistone Point close to the high and could not see the coral which came highly recommended. It would be likely that Alphistone would have suffered some coral damage and the prospect of
returning to snorkel held limited appeal as it was getting choppy and there was no where convenient to beach a kayak. By now it was easy sailing and we doddled our way by spectacular rock formations, fissures, a small sea cave and tenacious hoop pines growing in rock faces all the way down to the waterline.
Steens Beach is suitable for landing at all tides as a sandy strip comes down to the water next to the western rocks that bound this beach overlooking Hayman Island. It is fringed with casuarinas and has a magnificent open air toilet. Doors and roofs are overrated. At this stage I though showers were too and only too happy to have my daily swim. Ray and Mark lamented the lack of a fresh shower and concluded I must be a grub. Queen grub and smiling. Washing the plates at the water's edge made a surreal contrast with what was promised by the lights of Hayman Island. A genuinely private beach at $5.15 per head per night, I still think the guests at Steens had the pick of the localities. Just as well as I don't think wild salty hair is quite the image Hayman would welcome. A pesky pair of crows and a solitary sea gull turned up for an opportunity. We suspected these crows were the same dam pair doing the rounds since Crayfish Beach.
Ray had come across the forecast on the VHF. S - SE 15 - 20, gusting to 25 then rising to 25Kn plus. Those gusts were something else. First you would hear the hoop pines start to
moan. It would get louder and louder, the casuarinas would start to wail, the tent shudder and the fly flap like crazy. Lasting around 15 minutes these gusts would howl in about once every hour or so and it felt like we were off to see the wizzard. The next
day was overcast, the wind building so we decided to stay put. We walked as far as we could in either direction, saw the cockatoos of the aptly named Cockatoo Point, Ray retrieved a stainless steel fastener from a Danish trawler buoy, I collected a clam shell for the bathroom, Mark and I went snorkelling, green ants were studied and fed the occasional March fly and I missed having a good book.
Rockstar radioed in that he was having problems with his macerator and the holding tank was full. No he couldn't continue the conversation on the mobile, it was not working. Stay tuned to find out just where the treasure was going to be dumped. Sea Mist sounded more like Sea Smoke as the skipper radioed in that the portside engine was belching large plumes of smoke, enough to make it very unpleasant travelling downwind. Only about 1 in 15 of these bareboats had sails up. When they were radioing in their intentions and one said he was going to Whitehaven, the pause in the reply was palpable, then "well
I guess you will get there". Everyone else was holing up in Cid Harbour, Nara Inlet or Butterfly Bay.
The wind continued to come from the S - SE at 20 Kn with bullets coming through about every hour. It was getting up to 30Kn around Mackay and the forecast winds were staying at around 25Kn with rain. We were not sure where Scamper would collect from and what happened if it blew 30Kn. What we did know that we would be
heading down the western side of Hook on an incoming tide right into the face of it. The thought of wind against tide off the southern end of the island at midtide gave me the heebies. Curlew Beach was completely open to the SE and we were not confident about where else we could hole up. In the end we decided to pull
the pin and get Scamper while we could. The boats were unpacked, the gear piled up and we waited in the light rain under the tarp. Each cockpit was given a 10kilo water bladder after a bullet flipped the Marlin.
Right on 11:30 Scamper roared in and we hustled all of the gear on as quickly as possible, tidying up the pile once underway. The skipper let rip and we rocketed around the top. It was a rough ride, just as well ours were the only three boats - at
least they weren't being squashed by any others. Next stop Crayfish Beach to maroon five backpackers who had just got together for four days of snorkelling and camping on an island.
It looked like a real life survivor episode with one manicured Australian girl with a hairstyle like a right princess. They had no tarps, pretty basic gear and a guarantee of crap weather - would love to have been a fly on the wall at that campsite.
Next stop the resort at Hook Island to change staff and drop off supplies. The place was deserted, not one person on the beach or in the water. The remaining passengers were a mother and daughter carrying a suitcase for two days camping at Dugong Beach. We passed by Dugoing and went direct to Nari's Beach where some backpackers were frantically packing the tent. Scamper came ashore, took the plastic kayak and paddles and left. They looked mortified. Back to Dugong Beach to drop of the mother and daughter together with the kayak for what looked like an awfully wet weekend with the March flies. By now the wind had really picked up but here you would hardly know it - it was like a
millpond, a beautiful jade millpond.
Back to Naris where the backpackers were ready and waiting then onto Joes to collect a posie of English tourists who had had a miserable war with the flies and seemed all too happy to get the hell out of there. Cid Harbour was dotted with boats of all kinds. Out through the passage on the high tide there was no sign
of the tidal race. It would have been a good 2 metre cresting swell in the Whitsunday Channel but the ride was smoother as he ran the skiff up the valleys on the beam.
We did not know that Scamper really is a water taxi. If we were to return to the Whitsundays it would be a service we would make more use of should the conditions deteriorate. We could have been dropped off at Dugong Beach to sit out the blow, walked
Whitsunday Peak and to Nari's Beach. However the forecast was more of 25Kn and rain for at least the next four days. Maybe we could have called upon Scamper again to ferry us back to Sandy Bay at South Molle. While the area is small the tides are huge and having watched the forecasts since it seems that the area gets more than its fair share of strong winds - little wonder they called it the Shitsundays. The other thing that struck me was how busy it is no matter what the weather. It seems to me that people have booked their time there, have often travelled vast distances and they will go out to find themselves drenched, battered by high winds and bitten by March flies - all in the name of a good time.
Over 20 years after first visiting the place on one of those dreadful yacht charters the only thing I recognised was the giant mauri wrasse which was a little fella compared to the two I had seen. Maybe the area is better suited to bigger boats, but then again the kayak will get you to places they can only look at through the binoculars. While there are places I would still like to see I think that it would take some convincing to choose The Whitsundays in preference to a return trip to the The Keppels. Offering a variety of islands, better beaches, the coral may not be as diverse at the Keppels but the water is clearer, the place
less crowded and it is only one days drive.
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