The cicadas knew, and by his desertion of the usual morning possie in the sun, so did the cat. Thanks to the BOM we were in the loop. Today was not a day to dig holes, trundle out to the landscape supplies and pay for the privilege for an alternative
fill. With the forecast high of 34C, today was destined for the water. Even more so with a near king tide and a NE predicted to reach 15 - 20Kn by 4pm.
Road works associated with the building of the new bridge at the
Boat Passage made for a circumloquacious route. By the time we
wended our way back to the car park the sun was high and hot, the tide full with two more hours to the top. No point hurrying for a sweat so we dawdled at an appropriate pace along the fringe of mangroves gracing the southern side of the passage. The fish
jumped, turtles bobbed and manta rays swept by. With a gentle easterly filling our sails we made for the southern end of Green.
The northern spit was marked by a colourful flotilla studded with beach umbrella accents. A V8 dragging a biscuit around in short circuits confirmed our destination. Poking through the quiet of the mangroves we came through to a deserted eastern side. The NE had started to kick up a wide scatter of
white caps. The queen had taken most of the beach so morning tea was shared in dappled shade as the sea tickled our touche and washed sand in our shoes.
We headed out for St Helena in a freshening NE boding a zinging
return under sail. The three kayaks in the distance were not taking up the offer. We came inshore to find the southern coastline of St Helena looking like it had had significant
erosion with geotextile fabric exposed and some of the
casuarinas clinging to short cliffs. After a quick dip (less dunking the head) we enjoyed lunch in view of the pavilion and in reach of the cooling NE. By the time we left the NE was just enough to make the casuarinas sigh. Out of the lee of the island it was an easy sail on a rear quarter giving us enough speed to take a gamble on cutting a direct line to the Boat Passage. This time we did not see any shovel handles and at worst were sweeping in a foot of water. We made it - much better than a visit to the Darcy Light and a slug
back up into the NE which was starting to stiffen as predicted.
As we pulled inshore we were surprised to find an army of soldier
crabs - little fellas who would rather run than dig in. Maybe there is something in the sand that they know about. As we unpacked a bloke pulled up in a ute to ask about the kayaks. He said he was interested in paddling to Moreton Island, but being a "purist" he would not consider a sail. When we said it takes around 5 hours from the passage via Mud, he recanted saying that maybe not, he just wanted to do day paddles and that he would rather stick with his jet ski for Moreton.
Thank you cicadas, thank puss and thank you BOM. You were all right - this had been a day for the water with the bonus of a queen tide and a NE to skip back in on.
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