Crewmembers from earlier voyages rejoined Nova Vida for a short whale watching expedition during the school holidays of September 2005.  Jamie van Stiphout, Sam Heidenreich, and Carla Bunning were the lucky ones involved.  We departed Maryborough just after midday on Sunday September 18th, planning to be swept downriver on a falling tide.

The trip downriver was uneventful until we approached the Beaver Rock beacon with the tide much lower than when we had passed this spot on previous occasions.  This time we discovered that it is another place too shallow for Nova Vida, resulting in us sitting stuck on a sand bank for an hour or more, waiting for the tide to rise again.  It was interesting to watch the tide rising whilst the current flow was still downriver, out to sea for half an hour longer.  Eventually we floated off the sand bank and got going again, passing the shallow Horseshoe Bend before anchoring for the night.  It was there that we had our first battle with mosquitoes, which swarmed from the nearby mangroves to assault us.

During the night we were alarmed and intrigued by crackling noises that we could hear throughout the boat.  Jamie at first thought it was fire because he smelled smoke, but the smoke was tracked down to that of a small bushfire some distance upwind, and nothing to do with the boat.  Outside, the crackling could not be heard except faintly, down near the waterline.  That noise continued throughout the whole night and we could find nothing on the boat that could cause it, so we concluded that it must be coming from the water.  We had never heard of such a phenomenon before but have since been advised by Andrew Phippen and others that the sound probably comes from snapping shrimps or similar crustaceans.  You can read about them and hear their sound here.

We motored through Hervey Bay along the shipping channel to Fairway beacon next morning, then turned to starboard into Platypus Bay whereupon we started seeing whales almost immediately.  These whales seemed rather small and unspectacular though, so we continued on a course toward Anchorage Lagoon in the northern half of Fraser Island where we planned to spend the night.

The lagoon is too shallow for boats like Nova Vida, but we anchored off the beach just to its north and spent a comfortable night, well sheltered from the north east wind.  Next morning, Jamie and I launched the dinghy and went ashore to explore. We came back with souvenirs that included a piece of coral, a sea shell, and lumps of what looked like rocks but were actually soft masses of densely compacted seaweed, turned brown... probably an early form of coffee rock that is common around Fraser island.

It was nearly 10 o'clock by the time we set off looking for some spectacular displays of whale behaviour.  Our strategy was to find some of the big commercial whale watching boats which know where the best displays are occurring, and to join them for a while.  We spotted the Spirit of Hervey Bay within an hour, but by the time we reached her position that boat had moved on to something better.  A couple of humpbacks blowing regularly as they swam away was about all that was left for us to see.

The Spirit appeared to be heading back to Hervey Bay to collect its afternoon passengers so we transferred our attention to another unidentified commercial boat well to the west.  Before we were anywhere near her though, I noticed a prolonged series of enormous splashes behind us, so we turned around and headed in that direction.  As we approached we could see in the distance numerous breaches being performed by a pod of about four humpbacks.  We arrived on the scene at the same time as another big commercial boat, which seemed to signal the end of the whales' performance.  The pod split up, and the commercial boat sped away.  We lingered, not knowing of anywhere better to try, and were treated to some good views of whale tails.

As we watched the display of tails and fin waving we were joined by another sailing yacht, and about that time a fight seemed to develop between two whales. It commenced with some high tail waving and slaps against the water that could be heard at least a kilometer away. Peduncle slaps followed as the whales tried to hit each other amidst a swirl of white water. There were occasional periods of calm during which we lost sight of the whales, giving us time to tack, avoid the other yacht, and circle looking again for the whales. Jamie was at the helm during one such period, when the two whales re-appeared close by and directly in front of us. We swerved hastily to avoid them, whilst enjoying our closest yet view of the whales.

By this time two commercial boats could be seen speeding towards us, so we departed heading west.  Wind and waves had risen, and our seasick prone crew seemed to want to do no more than lie down except when the whale activity was at its best.  Although we had originally intended to stay another day the idea formed in my mind that we should use the favourable wind to sail homewards, as a rough night was forecast along the Fraser Island coast, and a change forecast for the next day would bring strong winds against us if we waited until then to go home.  So it was that we continued west, scooting along at up to six knots under genoa and mizzen sails only, in the direction of Fairway beacon.

We sailed all the way to the Mary River Heads with the wind behind us, something we had never accomplished on previous trips.  From there we motored upriver a short way before anchoring for the night at mosquito corner, and enjoying an enormous supper cooked by Jamie.  An uneventful and leisurely trip upriver on a rising tide brought us home on Wednesday morning, wherupon we proceeded to make fools of ourselves again by taking six attempts to hook our mooring aboard!

The accompanying photos illustrate the whales we saw, but were not actually taken by us on this trip.  All were reproduced from this famous website: Whales!

Ray Stockdale and a Chinese cook answering to the name of Wong joined the boat for a return to whale watching on Wednesday September 28th.  We departed Maryborough early enough to have the full benefit of an ebbing tide, ensuring that we would be stuck in the shallow sections of the river by lunch time.  Pushing on as soon as we were able, we arrived at an anchorage in the shelter of the South Point of Big Woody Island shortly after dark.  It was here that Wong prepared a tasty meal consisting of rice and sausages whilst Ray played with his amateur radio.

Only a few mosquitoes ventured out from the island to attack us that night, but they gave us a good opportunity to test our countermeasures.  With insect screens on cabin and saloon hatches and a mosquito coil smouldering at the main hatch, the aft cabin and saloon remained mosquito free all night.  Apparently a few found their way to the front cabin where Wong was sleeping, where they proceeded to feast on Chinese takeaway.

Ray and Wong launched the dinghy early next morning, planning to go ashore to explore.  Their exploration was delayed though when Ray somehow capsized the dinghy and went for a cold morning swim until we were able to haul him back aboard!  When they finally got ashore they went walking along the rocky beach whilst I started reading a book brought along for occasions such as this.

It was 9 o'clock by the time we raised anchor and got Nova Vida moving.  Ray plotted a shortcut through shoals to avoid needing to sail as far as the Fairway beacon, so we were soon in Platypus Bay headed for Lagoon Anchorage.  Whales did not seem so numerous as on our previous visit, but we did see a few and noted that they seemed to be following the Fraser Island shore heading north, out of the bay.  We anchored early so that those brave enough could go ashore, but nobody could be bothered launching the dinghy.  I had an afternoon snooze until it was time for me to take my turn at cooking dinner.  My macaroni cheese recipe was well received, and was followed by an early night for all of us.  Wong proved himself a hardy soul by sleeping on deck under the stars, without a mattress.

We got under way early next morning in serious pursuit of some whales.  First we motored northward following the 6 metre depth contour along the shore and soon saw several pods, mainly mothers with calves, travelling our way.  By the time we reached Rooney Point the wind had risen enough for sailing, so we turned around and sailed slowly back to the region of Arch Cliffs.  Whales playing spectacularly seemed few and far between, but occasionally we were treated to some great displays of breaching.  Even more spectacular was a series of big head lunges performed by a mother whale and her calf when they thought we were getting too close.  Wong appreciated the calm conditions as he learned to sail the boat on the way back to Lagoon Anchorage for the night.

We headed for home next day (Saturday), commencing with a competition between the three of us to see who could get the boat sailing fastest.  The sailing became more exhilarating as the wind strengthened and produced some surprise gybes as we entered the shortcut between the shoals.  With all sails up our speed touched 7.4knots at times as we raced another yacht around the buoys to River Heads.  A favourable tide swept us upriver, pausing only for 10 minutes when we got stuck again at Horseshoe Bend.  It was nearly 8 o'clock and dark by the time we reached Maryborough, where Ray demonstrated his expertise with the boathook by hooking our mooring aboard at the very first approach.

Previous voyage reports

More voyage reports