Cruising Log—16...Percy Is to Scawfell Is

From the Percy Islands we had a great sail to Digby Island, a pleasant 22 miles. The approach to the anchorage is dramatic, through a pass surrounded by cliffy islands. The “lagoon” is ringed by three islands and is very pretty but the anchorage is highly active – currents, waves from several directions, and a bit of swell too. Despite this we had a comfortable night.

We departed Digby Island at 0600 for the long 49-mile haul to Scawfell Island, a towering, heavily forested wilderness island 25 miles off the coast from Mackay. As we approached the island at the end of the day, caught in the grip of a tidal race around the island’s west side, three huge humpback whales surfaced and blew close in front of us. One immediately headed straight for the boat in an aggressive manner, not the usual behaviour at all.

“Oh no,” I thought, as I threw the helm hard over to port. “Two males and a female. Don’t want to get caught in that scenario.” Fortunately the big bruiser didn’t follow us, but it took some time for our heart rates to return to normal.

Scawfell Island is sometimes referred to as “awful Scawfell” due to the nature of the anchorage when the wind comes from the wrong direction. But again we had a wonderful time there. The island is high enough to make its own weather, and often has misty cloud draped over the summit while the rest of the region has blue sky. The high ranges surrounding the anchorage act like a sound bell, amplifying and projecting the songs of the rainforest birds day and night. Just lovely.

We took the two hour walk to the historic homestead in the ranges atop the island. On the way we passed the owners. “Where are you off to?” the two guys asked.

“Just going for a walk, taking in the views, watching the whales from the cliffs. Then going up past the homestead,” we said.

“Well, there’s no-one there at the moment. We’re on our way to do some work on our boat. But feel free to go inside and have a look. There’s a lot of historical stuff to see. Also, help yourself to a drink of water. See you.” And they roared off on their quad bikes.

We did make it to the homestead but couldn’t bring ourselves to enter someone else’s home when they weren’t there. Next time.

The anchorage at Middle Percy Island has a bad reputation for unpleasant rolling. We thought we were in for a rough time when a nasty-looking storm approached, heralded by an angry morning sky. Some yachts had left earlier so we moved in closer to the beach. The wind got up to 20kts for most of the day, but we remained surprisingly comfortable.