Ocelot’s Queensland Tracks

Supplied with the very kind permission of
Jon & Sue Hacking on the s/v Ocelot

http://HackingFamily.com http://svOcelot.com

   

Disclaimer: While we always try to provide useful information, we can take no responsibility for its accuracy or usefulness. Prudent mariners will always navigate using all means at their disposal, and will not rely on electronic navigation.

See Ocelot’s Australia Tracks in a larger map

We remember sailing along the Australia coast fondly – it was some of the best sailing we’ve ever done. We sort of flew up the Queensland coast as we were feeling late to get to Darwin in time for the 2006 Darwin-Indonesia Rally.

So we sailed 1,370 nautical miles from Brisbane to Seisia (on the west side of the York Peninsula) in only 28 sailing days, for an average of just under 50nm/day. Luckily, once we got to the Percy Isles, the SE trades started blowing with a vengeance, so it wasn’t hard to clock up some impressive daily runs, as we only did 2 overnight sails in all that distance.

The table below lists all 32 anchorages we visited on our way from Brisbane to Darwin.
Depths are in feet, distances are in nautical miles, latitudes are all south, and longitudes are all east. As always, if you have questions or comments, please contact us – we’d love to hear from you!
To see details and in-depth comments of the anchorage links go to:
http://svocelot.com/Cruise_Info/Pacific/Cruising_Australia.htm

Date
2006
Anchorage Depth Dist
nm
South
Latitude
East
Longitude
Comments Photo
15 May Tangalooma Wrecks 20′ sand 28 27º09.7 153º22.1 Interesting but a bit of surge Photo
16 May Mooloolaba 10′ mud 35 26º40.6 153º08.4 Protected but can be crowded Photo
24 May Double Island Pt. 15′ poor 57 25º56.5 153º10.1 Rock in entrance from south Photo
25 May Gary’s Anchorage 13′ mud 26 25º37.8 152º58.4 Inside Fraser Island Photo
27 May South White Cliffs 30′ 10 25º31.5 152º58.2 Creep up shallow channel Photo
28 May Moon Point 15′ sand 23 25º10.6 153º01.6 Beautiful long beach Photo
30 May Great Keppel Island 10′ sand 150 23º09.7 150º57.3 Very pretty Photo
1 June Port Clinton 25′ sand 44 22º32.9 150º45.5 Under Mt. Flinders Photo
2 June Island Head Creek 15′ mud 20 22º21.6 150º38.6 Several anchorages shoal quickly Photo
3 June NE Percy Island 35′ 51 21º39.2 150º20.1 Delightful anchorage Photo
4 June Scawfell Island 30′ 66 20º51.8 149º35.6 Very pretty Photo
5 June Thomas Island 27′ 35 20º32.5 149º06.5 Great sailing winds Photo
6 June Airlie Beach mooring 30 20º15.5 148.42.4 Pick up friend’s mooring Photo
10 June Townsville 15′ mud 130 19º14.6 146º49.6 Marinas also available Photo
12 June Hinchinbrook Island 20′ 72 18º14.0 146º15.0 Shepherd Bay on north side Photo
13 June Mourilyan Harbor 25′ mud 41 17º36.4 146º07.5 Up Moresby River Photo
14 June Cairns 27′ mud 58 16º55.2 145º47.1 Tidal, crowded, not too secure Photo
15 June Low Isles mooring 37 16º22.9 145º33.8 3 public moorings available Photo
16 June Hope Islands mooring 40 15º43.7 145º27.4 2 public moorings available Photo
17 June Lizard Island 8′ sand 67 14º39.8 145º27.1 Very nice Photo
22 June Flinders Island 25′ 83 14º10.6 144º13.8 Fast sail, caught 2 fish, fed fleet Photo
23 June Morris Island 20′ sand 57 13º29.5 143º43.3 Watch for reefs, ships Photo
24 June Cape Weymouth 18′ 61 12º35.6 143º25.4 “I have no memory of this place” Photo
25 June Margaret Bay 10′ sand 42 11º57.6 143º12.4 Lobster fishermen! Photo
27 June Escape River 15′ mud 71 10º58.0 142º40.9 Lots of pearl farms, 13′ min @ LW Photo
28 June Seisia 25′ sand 36 10º50.9 142º21.9 Delightful outpost, shops Photo
3 July Marchinbar, Wessels 20′ sand 339 11º04.5 136º43.8 Beautiful, deserted Photo
7 July Malay Bay 15′ sand 233 11º21.8 132º52.9 Protected Photo
8 July Port Essington 30′ 57 11º08.8 132º08.8 Rolly, Nice ranger station Photo
9 July Berkeley Bay 20′ 7 11º14.0 132º11.4 Better protected Photo
10 July Alcaro Bay, Cape Don 20′ 36 11º17.5 131º47.9 Great river to explore Photo
11 July Fannie Bay, Darwin 22′ 97 12º25.7 130º49.4 Huge tides, marinas, fuel, supplies Photo