Kate Yoemans Journey

Mackay to Cairns June-July 1999
Lindsay and I decided on a sea kayaking trip from Mackay to Cairns. This is a total distance of about 850kms and takes in the Whitsunday Islands, Hinchinbrook Island, numerous other small island groups but also some contrasting remote sections of coastline, particularly between Bowen and Townsville. The timing of the trip was obvious. The winter weather pattern for the tropical east coast is uncomplicated - 'High' pressure cells, generally located over central Australia, create a steady strong south easterly trade wind flow that is dry, relatively warm and virtually cloud free. The wind strength is directly proportional to the pressure gradient of the 'high'. Many fisherman say if it's a 1028 hPa 'high' then you can expect 28 knots of wind. June and July are known to be the windiest months, so that's when we did it! This time of year is also free of the worries of marine stingers and fewer mosies and sandflies. Crocodiles are not so hungry in winter either.

The Boats
So having chosen where and when it was a matter of just getting organised. Lindsay and I both have sea kayaks manufactured by Kerry Richards at Natureline. Lindsay has the Mermaid and mine is the smaller Osprey. Kerry happily made a few minor modifications to the Osprey to make it more suitable for a long expedition.

An extra bulkhead gave me more storage area and a glove box was useful for easy access to smaller items while paddling. Both boats were fitted with quick release towing points, mast steps (essential for long trips!) and tubing through the rear compartment to fit the wheels if long hauls were needed. We took one set of wheels - bent aluminium tubing with 10inch pneumatic tyres attached and webbing to secure the wheels into place. These were stored in a bag and strapped to the aft deck of the Mermaid. We made two sails each which were modified from designs found on the Internet. Rip stop nylon is commonly used but mine were only ordinary nylon and have been just as good. Masts and booms were 20 and 10ml aluminium tubing, the masts sealed for floatation.

In the week before we left I decided to put in a foot pump, something which sounds simple enough but was somewhat frustrating. I had asked Kerry about doing this and was warned that it was not a simple task. I spent the last few nights with my upper torso wedged into the cockpit trying to fit a hand manual bilge pump to the front bulkhead to be easily used by my feet!! I got it fitted but there was no time to give it a try. I felt better just knowing it was there. Lindsay bought a hand pump and enjoyed a relaxing week before we left.

The Gear
Our safety gear included lifejackets, flares, whistles, mirrors, flourescent marine dye markers, tow rope, spare paddle and divers knives attached to decks. I also carried a personal EPIRB and a waterproof handheld VHF radio and lindsay had a CDMA mobile phone.

We were definetly not going to get lost as we had 5 compasses between us!! We both had boat compasses fitted to the glove box rubber top hatch, both carried a handheld compass in our top pockets for taking bearings at sea and lindsay also had a sighting compass for more accurate bearings from land. Items like EPIRBS, radios and binoculars stored in the glove box can have amazing effects on your compass if directly underneath it! We photocopied the tide tables for June and July for all ports between Mackay and Cairns on to waterproof paper along with a list of VHF frequencies for marine rescue groups and seaphone channels (these transmit weather reports twice daily). We had colour photocopies of topographical maps cut into convenient strips of coastline which fitted into our waterproof map bags. We also carried the nautical charts.

We had spares for a variety of repairs although we did not take a fibreglass repair kit (lots of tape though!). The first aid kit included $150 worth of drugs for various ailments and an assortment of bandages etc. Clothes and bedding were in drybags. We took two Ortlieb (waterproof) bike panniers for food storage and a trangia stove. We dehydrated a variety of fruit and vegies - lots and lots of bananas - and also dried marinated steak, the best 'jerky' I have ever tasted! A friendly local butcher vacuum sealed all the dried food bags as we didn't want a dose of botulism! Fishing gear and a machete (for coconuts) helped in supplementing our diet.

Lindsay sewed canvas bags for our collapsible 10 litre water containers as they didn't feel like they would stand up to any wear and tear on their own. After working out a rough itinerary we booked and paid for our proposed nights in National Parks so we would not have to worry about being 'moved on', especially since we wanted to have an extended stay on Hinchinbrook Island.

The Trip
We loaded up the landrover and got to Mackay a few days later. Slade Piont was to be our launching spot so we drove straight there to check out conditions across the Hillsborough Channel to Brampton Island, about 30kms away. The sea was not looking friendly- strong winds against tide had produced a very rough sea, one we weren't too happy about getting into on Day 1. We decided to spend a few days at Cape Hillsborough National Park till the weather improved then started from Seaforth, about 50 kms north of Mackay. We managed to fit all the gear in the boats, 20 litres of water each and even a cask of red wine! We had also bought fold up chairs in Mackay (after previously deciding to leave chairs at home!) and they fitted in as well. Had we forgotten anything? The landrover was trucked to Cairns so that was an incentive to get there.

We had to time our paddling with the tides as there is a big tidal range around Mackay which decreases as you go north. The tide floods from the north so obviously an ebbing tide with the south east wind is best for paddling. It was also right on new moon in June! The tide difference was over 6 metres on the first day. We were surprised how well the boats travelled fully laden.. The 20kts south easter and the 1.5m sea was on our beam. We sailed and paddled the 31kms to Goldsmith Island in 4 hours. The first 2 weeks were to be our most 'challenging' paddling conditions for the trip. Every day was 20 to 30kts winds with a couple of gale warning days which we spent in the tent! The fishermen were right, the high was 1032hPa.

Our third day paddling was the most difficult but very exhilarating! High tide was not till 2pm but we were a little impatient to reach the Whitsunday Group so headed off at 12.30pm. With sails up, 25 knots and a following sea we were making good time but too fast for the tide change. Consequently the seas got bigger and because of the incoming opposing tide, 2 metre standing waves were forming. We were flying down waves with the sails keeping the noses forward but the waves then started breaking onto us. When conditions deteriorated we took the sails down to slow us up a bit - no mean feat! We then kept paddling with it, and eventually reached the shelter of Dent Passage. When we got to Airlie Beach a few days later we read in the local paper that one of the large island ferries had been hit by a big wave between the Lindeman and Whitsunday Groups and 7 people were injured. It was the same day we were out there!

Crossing Edgecumbe Bay to Bowen was another memorable day with 25-30kts and a big sea. By now we were getting right into the surfing and sailing, only using paddles for bracing. After Bowen the winds dropped to 15kts and when we had our long bay crossings, Upstart Bay and Cape Bowling Green Bay, they had dropped even further! We had to rely on our compass bearings till the other side of the big bays came into sight and we ended up having to paddle for 6 or 7 hours/day for a few days, praying for the 25kts to come back. So we were a bit tired on reaching Townsville. We had the weekend there to relax and Lindsay got his dose of socialising in the camping ground. We couldn't go from Magnetic Island to the Palm Group as the RAAF were doing 'live firing' around Rattlesnake Island so we went coastal for a few days then cut across to Orpheus Island then onto Hinchinbrook Island. A week of relaxing by waterfalls and a bit of bushwalking was hard to take! Our trip pace slowed dramatically at this point as there are many beautiful islands between Hinchinbrook and Cairns, its just a matter of deciding which ones to sleep on. We had perfect, lazy, island-hopping weather for the last 2 weeks. At the end of each day we would sit back in our chairs on the beach and have a red wine and a piece of jerky, watching the sun set.

We took six and a half weeks to reach Cairns. A broken tent pole was our only gear failure. The boats lost a bit of gel coat underneath from when we were too lazy to lift or wheel them but otherwise they handled the trip very well. Lindsay lost a lot of weight and I put on a bit. A couple of bandaids were the only items used from the first aid kit and the drug supply was depleted by only a couple of headache tablets. We saw 2 crocs but convinced ourselves they were not hungry. The islands were beautiful, as expected, but my favourite place was Cape Upstart. On the map it looks like a tapeworm head. It's a high rugged rocky cape jutting out from very low lying swampy surrounds. It's the remoteness of the place I like - access only by boat. We plan to do more long sea kayaking trips in the future as its really not too difficult to organise. The only difficult bit will be deciding where to go next time.

KATE YOEMANS JOURNEY FROM MACKAY TO CAIRNS	The start at Seaforth Mackay North Queensland	Drying our Paddling Gear and Ourselves	Jesse Island, North Barnards
	The Good Life	Osprey on Wheels	Fishing at North Zoe Creek, Hinchinbrook Island.
	Blacksand Beach Hinchinbrook Island	Shaw Island, "simply stunning"!	Wheels CLICK ON images FOR LARGER VIEW