This was the first time we were lead up the garden path by the Beacon to Beacon. A dot in the wrong spot can make a big difference, probably more than what the creator of the map might
have anticipated.
The 20-25Kn SE blew the planned trip from Scarborough to Bongaree away. While it might have been great for those with sails on the way over, it promised a slug of a return paddle. Plan B was to head across and up the Caboolture River against an outgoing tide and return.
It was a hing dinger of a trip. The swell and steady SE had us zinging along, reaching nearly 15Kph and just in time to scoot across the sand bar at the river's entrance for morning tea on the leeward bank. A wayward sign declaring that dump fees at the Caboolture Tip would apply as of November was accompanied rubbish, broken glass and the remains of fires.
As we continued to head up the river, the wind continued to blow like mad and after a couple of conference calls Plan B morphed into Plan C - a one way sticky beak up the river then catch a cab to collect the cars. The river was reasonably wide with a tendency to shoal. Despite this it is home to a great variety of yachts and cruisers from the tiny to the immense. Our destination had become Monty's Marina. Sounded like a place for a look and a coffee. We passed a boat yard on the right and headed upstream to where Monty's was marked on the map. On arrival all we found were a series of private riverfront houses fronted by some
yachts that looked like they were trapped until a king tide. A large catamaran sat in a back yard a long way above the high tide doing a Noah's Ark impersonation.
Turns out that the boatyard was the marina. While it was a mere 300m as the crow flies, the river winds back on itself and it was 6Km return. During this time the tide turned, the wind continued to blow and I desperately searched the bank for a place without the thick soft boot thieving mud. A rare patch of firm sand was seen upstream from a small creek on the right hand bank. In my urgency to get out I neglected to pull up the rudder and on leaving, it must have hit a rock. The design of the Raider rudder leaves it vulnerable to parting company with the boat which is what it did (again).
Finally around the bend, passed the dutch galleon yacht back to Monty's. It is a boat yard with some enormous sea faring catamarans and cruisers. The hull of one cat was a carport for the falcon parked under it in the shade. It looked like a yard of expensive dreams, a place to sink your money and possibly not float your boat. It was not the kind of marina where you find a coffee or a toilet.
With the tide now coming in strongly and the wind not abating. It would have been a long 6Km pull to the Uhlmann Rd boat ramp so we had lunch and decided to call a cab. The cabbie was a friendly local woman who knew where to find us and said that the marina had been spruced up considerably compared to how it was 10 years ago. I sunned myself keeping an eye on the tiniest but most used boats in the yard.
A paddle on the incoming tide up the Caboolture River is worth doing. At the top of the tide you would see more of the surrounding landscape rather than facing off those squishy mud banks. As far as Monty's Marina goes, check your Beacon to Beacon as both of our editions had the marina at the end of Riversleigh Rd instead of futher downstream on the next bend off Beachmere Rd.
|
