Pearl Bay – Again!

[Kyle]Darren had done an amazing job (progressing with the estate management) in exhausting and frustrating conditions, and finished all he could in Arizona . He was finally returning home to California, so we figured it was safe for us to be away from the internet ourselves for a few days. We had one day of light northerlies before reinforced trade winds were supposed to park over the area for a week. It was a good time to leave Marble Island and head as far south as we could in daylight, which in this case, turned out to be Pearl Bay on the mainland .

Light wind sailing to Pearl Bay

We had anchored here before last year on the way north (back in May of 2020). Pearl Bay is very pretty, with the eastern end of the bay protected by the pine-topped Hervey Islands. However, it also has crocs and murky water, so swimming is out. All of the adjacent land is a military training area, so going ashore is not permitted, and sometimes even anchoring there is not allowed as they practice blowing things up. There is also no cellular service, so there really is nothing to do but enjoy the view and wait for the weather. There are lots of big turtles in the bay, though. They would regularly surface right next to the boat to have a look at us. As soon as we would move, they would always startle and dive away.

We beat the approaching weather there. When we arrived, there was one monohull already anchored. They were just lifting their dinghy in preparation for the coming winds. Two hours later, the wind started gusting and the increasing swell was coming around the point. We started to roll around a lot, but that poor monohull was all over the place. At first light the next morning, they put out a second anchor to hold them bow to the swell, which made them more stable than we were.

Once they finished re-anchoring, a solo sailor on a beat-up looking trimaran appeared. It took us a while to figure out what he was doing as he seemed to be sailing by, tacking with just his jib into big winds and seas. Why on earth would anyone want to be going that direction in this weather? For a while, he seemed to be having trouble avoiding the rocks at the entrance. Then he tacked and headed straight at the monohull, occasionally stalling when blanketed by the cliffs. We guessed he had no engine.

He rounded up next to the monohull. We thought he was going to drop his anchor there, but a gust caught him and he sped for us, just keeping a boat width from the beach. Before he got that far, another lull stopped him, so he decided to roll up the jib and throw out the anchor. We were relieved. We didn’t trust him not to drag and he didn’t look like he had insurance.

During low tide at Pearl Bay, the swell subdues to a gentle roll. We all came out on deck for a bit to enjoy it and gave each other a wave. When the water came back up, we were all getting thrown around quite a bit, even the monohull with their bridle.

When the morning high tide rolled us out of bed, so to speak, I went outside and saw the tri heading north, back the way he came when he arrived. Perhaps he was trying to make his way down the coast, thought this bay would be more protected, realized it wasn’t and then retreated a bit. Perhaps we’ll see him out there again when the weather improves and all of the boats start going south again.

On our last full day in Pearl Bay, we lowered the dinghy and had an extended tour of the Hervey Islands. There was still a fairly big swell outside of the islands. When combined with the fast currents, it made for some alarmingly rough seas on both their windward sides and in the channels in between. There would be no circumnavigations today. We stuck to poking around the inlets on the protected side.

A dinghy tour around the Hervey Islands

When we were done, we landed the dinghy on the beach and walked as far as we could below the high tide line. Going ashore according to our cruising guide is not allowed, but everyone told us it is tolerated as long as you stick to the beach. Closer inspection of the ‘No Entry’ signs for the military area verified our interpretation that we would be allowed ashore as long as we stayed on the beach and didn’t go inland. It was good to get off of the boat and stretch our legs a bit.

A walk at low tide

Back at Begonia, preparing for the next morning’s departure, we were out turtle spotting. Maryanne noticed that one of our turtles was especially big and gray and smooth. She'd spotted a dugong! Then we saw the calf swimming next to her. Our first Australian dugongs!