South White Cliffs and Big Woody Island 1

Little Puss and Nauti Kitty at south white cliffs

Monday 11th July 2022

Happy Birthday Mum.

After a good rest day yesterday Rick woke up feeling fine so we checked our timing for the tides and got Nauti Kitty ready. I find these challenging trips very nerve racking even though I try to be meticulous with the planning and navigation tracks it still makes me nervous about getting it right. At least this morning we are heading out with plenty of tide and should we not have enough and get stuck somewhere there is an even higher tide this afternoon that would see us floating again but I would definitely rather avoid that especially since there will more than likely be other boats also wanting to get through this passage. It would be very awkward to hold them all up. Well here we go.

Arrived here at south White Cliffs by 10.30am having easily traversed the notorious Sheridan flats without so much as a hiccup! The shallowest we saw was 2.1 m when I accidentally went a bit off track while looking directly into the sun fortunately Rick remedied this by standing on the roof of the salon I front of me and blocking the sun so I could see both the iPad for navigation and the port markers on the channel( great thinking thanks darling!)! The shallowest along the track was 4.1m so all that nervous energy for nothing!

We had no longer set the anchor and Rick had a line in when we had dolphins go by. These were tiny light grey dolphins with a very small dorsal fin. So cute.

Gave Mum a call for her birthday and she looked great. Adam is going to drop in and surprise her later today so I can’t wait to see how happy that will make her.

We will put Little Puss in and go for an explore a bit later. For now the kettle is on.

This afternoon at low tide we went in Little Puss in search of the entrance to Yankee Jack creek. We found a small outflow and realized we just assumed we could take Little Puss up the creek. We will try again at full tide and see?

It was very interesting that the sand was in deep parallel channels here which extended to the floor of the bay right up over the very large sand bank creating little parallel pools of water. It was very pretty and challenging to navigate. Rick let me off on the sand bank where I enjoyed paddling in these lovely water pools warmed by the sun. The only life on the sand were hundreds of blue soldier crabs moving in unison like flocks of birds dividing in opposite directions making way for me as I walked along.

We headed back to the boat for a fish and A magical sunset completed an awesome day of adventuring.

After sunset Rick almost fell off the back of Nauti Kitty when a whale spouted very close to him while he was peeing off the back. It was so funny and having the whales so close to us was awesome.

Wednesday 13th July 2022

Yankee Jack creek, hard to believe this virtually disappeared at low tide

Went out in Little Puss this morning at high tide to see if there was an actual creek we could traverse. The tides are pretty high at the moment around 3.2m so we were hopeful. It is amazing how the landscapes are transformed between low and high tide. We actually had difficulty identifying the mouth of the creek. We eventually found it and it was quite a substantial creek. We were able to motor up about a kilometer before a fallen tree branch barred our way. It was so peaceful and quiet with only birdsong and the quite idling of the outboard as we meandered through the mangrove lined waterway. It would probably be a great crabbing area but as our fishing efforts have been notoriously disastrous we had no bait to put into crab nets!

Very distinct dingo tracks

After leaving the creek we wanted to explore the small Sandy beach along the foreshore. Our first attempt of getting in through the mangroves was successful however the ground felt a bit like quicksand as we sank well op to our shins making walking almost impossible. We retreated to try a different spot. The second attempt was much more successful finding a lovely white Sandy beach to walk along with very clear dingo tracks leading both ways along the beach. I was surprised to see actual ferns in the underbrush close to the Sandy edge. An indicator that there must be significant rainfall in this area. I guess after the days of rain we have had over the last 2 weeks that shouldn’t surprise me!

We were back on Nauti Kitty and heading north for Kingfisher bay by 11.30am. It was only an hour away but as we were nearing the pier at the resort I realized that this area of the bay was very open and if we were in for some westerly winds we would have a huge fetch and waves would make this a hazardous anchorage and I hadn’t checked the wind predictions!

I got Rick to quickly check and yes westerlies we’re to freshen and increase in intensity over next 2 days. We quickly checked for where we could find refuge and protection from these winds and repotted our course to Big Woody Island a further 10 nautical miles away. It was still early so we had plenty of time to get there before sunset. As we had missed the high tide so we had to go the long way around the reef that boarders the island. We eventually dropped anchor just to the north of Jeffries beach. We have swell from the East and quite a significant tidal flow which makes it a bit rocky. We may be in for another rough night!

Thursday 14th July

Finally this morning the swell is settling. It was a rough night with anchor alarms going off a couple of times but Rick ended up putting out more chain and it secured us nicely so at about 3am we were finally able to get some sleep. So it’s been a slow start to the day. We plan on heading to the beach at high tide today and walking to the lighthouse. First it’s a cuppa and throw a line in to see if fishing here yields anything edible!

So no luck with fishing but we did get to the beach and had a lovely meander along the sand and rocks. We couldn’t find the light house track but enjoyed fossicking in the shells and coral on the beach. We got back to little Puss finding her stranded high and dry as the tide had quickly receded. We loved the beach wheels and had to lift and push her back into the water. Hard work but successful. We thought we’d give the light house another try by getting to the small hut at the base of the hill on which the light house sat but there was no where to even attempt to beach Little Puss so we just headed back to Nauti Kitty to grab some fishing gear and try our hand down near the beach we’re we had seen a fishing tour earlier in the day.

Moon rise from Big Woody Island

Unfortunately all our fishing endeavors were in vain and again no fish for dinner. Poor Rick is getting very frustrated on the fishing front and doubting his awesome fishing skills but I think it is the unseasonable weather and floods affecting all areas.

The swell had dropped out to nothing and we are well protected from the westerly wind so all is calm and restful onboard so should be a good night. Beautiful full moon tonight.

Wind is meant to shift tomorrow to southerly the south East which will suit a return to Kingfisher Bay. We will head over tomorrow.