With the last good tide for a week we headed off for St George Basin– believe it or not under sail! A combination of the realization that we don’t have enough fuel to get back and now we’ve turned around we have some favourable breeze motivated us. We had a fantastic sail in no small part thanks to the current as we passed headlands with names like Whirlpool Pass and Strong Tide Passage 7 knots in the light winds was easy done.
St George Basin is an awesome sight by boat, you sail snug against dramatic red cliffs in water over 70mtres deep. Once you round the last headland, Strong Tide Passage the bay opens up with the imposing Mt Waterloo and Mt Trafalgar to the north, steep knobby red cliff islands and mangrove and sand fringed bays and coves. Even with the visibility so low on the day we came in it was an awe inspiring sight made all the more magical heeled over under full sail in Thyme.
The whole area is unsurveyed and very deep and the first day it got to the stage where 20mtrs was looking good for the night as the sun was rapidly falling. Sloop always up for a challenge looked over the guides trying to find a spot. Finally I remember a spot Barra Ken had mentioned, so we headed to the South Eastern side of St Andrews Island and finally dropped anchor between two imposing cliffs in a small quickly shoaling bay to watch the setting sun light up the country red and orange.
My photos do not do St George Basin justice. The scenery is so huge and overpowering, surrounding the boat, it was really hard to capture the enormity of it. Hopefully on the way back out visibility has cleared and I can get some better shots.
St George Basin is an awesome sight by boat, you sail snug against dramatic red cliffs in water over 70mtres deep. Once you round the last headland, Strong Tide Passage the bay opens up with the imposing Mt Waterloo and Mt Trafalgar to the north, steep knobby red cliff islands and mangrove and sand fringed bays and coves. Even with the visibility so low on the day we came in it was an awe inspiring sight made all the more magical heeled over under full sail in Thyme.
The whole area is unsurveyed and very deep and the first day it got to the stage where 20mtrs was looking good for the night as the sun was rapidly falling. Sloop always up for a challenge looked over the guides trying to find a spot. Finally I remember a spot Barra Ken had mentioned, so we headed to the South Eastern side of St Andrews Island and finally dropped anchor between two imposing cliffs in a small quickly shoaling bay to watch the setting sun light up the country red and orange.
2 comments:
You were lucky to find St George Basin with Sloop doing the navigating
Good to see Sloop is pulling his weight. Sounds like a gorgeous part of the world, and I can't believe there are parts of Australia still uncharted!
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