well, that was unexpected

When the wind blows and the rain comes where do we go? Hinchinbrook Island. We’ve sat out bad weather here several times. But for five days? On our own. Arghhh … how will we fill in our time??

I really felt I wanted to sneak this post in. We had a unexpected and a very much rewarding time in our snug Hinchinbrook anchorage …

Seventh Creek is a protected mangrove creek that offers beach access via a pontoon and boardwalk to Ramsay Bay where the popular Thorsborne trail begins. It’s a short walk across the boardwalk and sand dunes from the creek’s pontoon to the 9 km long sandy beach of Ramsay Bay where you realise just how strong that wind is and take in the wild ocean it’s creating. We’ve visited Ramsay Bay via Seventh Creek a few times.

I only had one opportunity to get the drone up in Seventh Creek at sunset on our first day, which was followed by a beautiful full moon.

Of course, with a forecast of strong wind and rain, who knows if we could even venture up the creek to the pontoon.

Well … surprise, surprise, we had a wonderful time in Seventh Creek. The wind did blow, but the steady rain did not eventuate, only a few showers and we easily filled in our time as we met Ocean Crusaders who recruited us for their Ramsay Bay beach clean-up and two more cats joined us, our friends on Ridgee Didge unexpectedly and new friends on Antidote. Both were also recruited for the cleanup.

Looking east towards Ramsay Bay.

Annika and Thommo from Ocean Crusaders passed by on our first day in the creek and asked us if we were interested in volunteering to help with their beach clean up the following day. Of course! They collected us in their aluminum barge the next morning, motored us down the creek at breakneck speed to the pontoon and boardwalk where we crossed the dunes to Ramsay Bay and jumped in to their ATV (Pelarus All Terrain Vehicle) which rocketed us down to the northern end of Ramsay Bay, some 7 km away (phew… we did not have to walk it!). The end of the Ramsay Bay beach that maybe no human has ever set foot on … until Ocean Crusaders came along!

The OC barge and how they launched their ATV on to the beach is a mystery. They were nicknaming it ‘swimmer’!. Anyone who has visited Ramsay Bay will understand the craziness of this.

Annika and Thommo are amazing. So much passion for what they do. They clean up waterways in Queensland, collecting rubbish in remote locations, especially creeks and beaches. The logistics! They somehow launched their buggy (ATV) from their barge on to the Ramsay beach in breaking waves. We were told it was rather scary with Annika in the driver’s seat diving in to the unknown depth below. A rogue wave broke the aluminum loading ramp completely off the front of their barge on their return trip to the mothership (a 52 ft racing monohull anchored way out in the middle of Missionary Bay because it can’t possibly get in to Seventh Creek as it’s keel is too deep). Fortunately the loading ramp floated. Then there’s the rubbish truck back in Cardwell where all this rubbish has to be taken and dealt with. The logistics! Have I mentioned they are amazing?

You can check out their website www.oceancrusaders.org for future events and their Instagram link is @oceancrusaders

Along with Ridgee Didge and Antidote who both joined us in Seventh Creek, we all helped on different days. It was certainly an eyeopener seeing just how much rubbish, particularly plastic, ends up in the ocean from boats. We started at the northern end of the Ramsay beach working south … plastic and glass bottles, plastic bottle tops (so many), thongs, toothbrushes, fishing gear, ropes, buckets, oil bottles, plastic crates, fish trackers, polystyrene, a bean bag, shoes, lego, a golf ball, fuel tanks, a fridge, a boat, seats, timber crates … even a kitchen sink! OMG!! It was so satisfying to help these people and do our ever so tiny bit for our ocean environment. 

Secure your bean bags if you enjoy that comfort on your bow and who brushes their teeth over the side of the boat? 

So, the days in Seventh Creek flew by. We helped Ocean Crusaders on two days, which was very rewarding, enjoyed catching up with Ridgee Didge who’d we’d only just met this season in Airlie Beach and we met Antidote. It was a very social and rewarding time.

A big thankyou to Annika and Thommo from Ocean Crusaders for all the work they do cleaning up our oceans. We all need to do our bit, particularly with plastics.

Check out their website at www.oceancrusaders.org and their Instagram @oceancrusaders and if you’re interested, you can check out the latest on how Ocean Crusader’s 10 days at Ramsay Bay concluded. When I last looked they only had 850 m to go on day 8! Wow!!

Now to the reef … calm weather is coming.