|
ISLAND HEAD CREEK to CAPE TOWNSHEND...continued |
|
BACK to Masala Home Page |
|
BACK to Masala Cruise Log |
|
They disappeared into the distance. Then another patch appeared coming from a different direction. The whole surface of the water was quivering and shaking yet unmoving, like a giant bowl of jelly being prodded with a stick. We were perfectly safe and comfortable, but the experience was unnerving, especially given the remoteness of the place and the absence of any other human life forms. |
|
THE DUKE ISLANDS – HUNTER AND MARBLE |
|
14-17 JUNE. We left the eerie and spooky Cape Townshend before sunrise to make use of the tide. Masala was spun around like a top in the giant whirlpools flanking the entrance to the anchorage. A surreal experience in the dim pre-dawn light.
We were headed for the Duke Island Group, another new area for us. The Group consists of numerous islands of different sizes, lumped together and separated by narrow channels. It has a reputation for swirling currents, extensive shoals and a plethora of rocky islets and outcrops to navigate around. Sure hope it is worth the trouble.
Motoring in sloppy seas to Cape Townshend the previous day was more than compensated for by the fantastic 25-mile sail at mostly 7 knots, topping out at 8.2 knots. The intention was to anchor at Hunter Island, a place we have wanted to visit for a long time, but the wind said otherwise. Normally the prevailing wind is a south-easterly, making Hunter ideal, but not this year. We have had weeks of south to south-west winds, which can make finding an anchorage a challenge. So instead we decided to anchor off the north-west side of Marble Island, separated from Hunter Island only by the narrow and exotically-named Lola Mantes Passage, through which the tide roars at up to 5 knots. The anchorage proved to be superb in this wind direction. |
|
Above: Marble Island in the Duke Group. |
|
Marble Island is so called because, surprise surprise, it contains outcrops of…marble. Marble cliffs, marble headlands, whole islands of pure marble jutting from the sea. A most striking and unusual landscape, one which we may well not have experienced but for the vagaries of the wind. |
|
Below: a massive solid marble outcrop after which Marble Island is named. |