Tiare Taporo III at Scawfell Is. Lat. 20 degrees 52' S Long. 149 degrees 36' E

Very thankfully we left the anchorage at Digby Is. at 0600 today. I have never experienced an anchorage as bad for swell which caused us to pitch and roll abominably. The cruising guide said it was subject to some roll but that's the understatement of the year. It improved a little when the tide went out because a protecting reef became exposed but I would not recommend it to anyone. All I can say is thank goodness for the Rocna. It held through thick and thin.
Generally speaking my opinion of the coast north of Bundaberg so far is way less than enthusiastic. The mainland anchorages (such as there are) are shallow tidal estuaries with bar or semi bar entrances which require some precise navigation. Coupled with a singular lack of scenic beauty makes them places to avoid. There is absolutely no comparison with the Northland east coast in NZ. Or even New Caledonia which was much more attractive.
The island anchorages are somewhat attractive from a scenery point of view but again fall far short of the Northland coast. And they all suffer to some degree or another from this infernal rolling. And this constant pesky SE wind which blows with considerable velocity day in day out.
However, we arrived at Scawfell around 1300 and sailed into quite a pretty bay on the north side where lo and behold the rolling was almost non existent. The wind is offshore (SE as usual) and currently blowing at 22 knots in the anchorage. But we are securely anchored in 6 metres of water with 40 metres of chain out and it's good holding. Our friends on the catamaran "Seadragon" who we had seen further south were also here along with another Australian boat.
We motorsailed the whole way to ensure that we got here in good time because it's 46 miles from Digby. We had our staysail and double reefed main as the winds were around 25 knots, occasionally gusting 30. There was a big quartering sea which now and again sloshed several gallons of water into the cockpit. It makes sailing unpleasant and difficult as the motion is quite severe running downwind. We are hoping that when we leave for Brampton-Carlisle (25 miles) we will have a good sail as the course should give us a beam reach. Only 140 miles now to the Whitsundays.
We've had sausages and sweetcorn for lunch and now going to have a kip as we didn't get much sleep last night due to all the rolling.
Watch this space
www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com

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