Braving the Wide Bay Bar and Exploring Fraser Island

Ok. So. The Wide Bay Bar. Sounds harmless enough, right? Just another bar crossing. But every time we spoke to someone about it, descriptions like terrifying, treacherous, gnarly, whitewater, big breakers, five metre waves, surfing massive swell, and ‘getting smashed’ were used. Hmmm. It’s also known as ‘The Mad Mile.’ Hmmm. Googling images of Wide Bay Bar brings up pictures like this:

Double hmmm!

Tin Can Bay Coastguard says “Coastal bars are dynamic in nature, and the Wide Bay Bar has a reputation for being one of the most dangerous on the Queensland coast because of the length of the crossing (over 3 nautical miles), its distance offshore, the length of time it takes for our rescue crews to reach the bar (up to 1 hour depending on conditions) and the effects weather conditions have on the seas thereabouts.”

So you can understand that I was feeling just a tad bit nervous and apprehensive at the prospect of this particular bar crossing. But, I reminded myself, lots and lots of yachts successfully cross every year with no problems. It’s just a matter of picking the right conditions and the right timing.

These include a day with light winds and low swell. Entering on a rising tide, around two hours before high tide, and crossing around the middle of the day, not in the late afternoon when the sun will be in your eyes.

So we crossed our fingers that all these factors would fall into place for us, and lo and behold, on the Wednesday, the forecast predicted a day with very light winds, lowish swell and a high tide time of 3.26 pm. Perfect! Most likely we would have to motor for the nine to ten hour passage instead of sailing, however we didn’t mind if that meant adhering to our ‘better safe than sorry’ motto.

And so it was that we were up early again, motoring safely out of Mooloolaba before 4.30 am. Thankfully there was some moon and it was very still so we had no problems departing in the darkness, following our previous track marked on the chartplotter. There was very little wind as predicted, only 6 to 7 knots, and seas were calm, although a little swelly, but I felt ok. Reaching Wide Bay Bar right on time, we could see at least ten other boats crossing in front of us, and several behind. It was quite the procession, so clearly lots of people had the same thought processes as us!

I steered us towards the waypoints that Matt had received from Marine Rescue Tin Can Bay and entered into our chartplotter. These waypoints are crucial and ensure that you are passing through the deepest water. The many sandbanks in the area continually shift, so it is vital to have the most up to date information.

Even in such calm conditions, it was still unnerving passing through this channel, ‘the mad mile,’ with breaking waves on either side. I can only imagine how terrifying it would be in wilder weather and big seas. Thanking our lucky stars, we breathed a big sigh of relief when we were finally through and into the sanctuary of the calm waters of the Great Sandy Strait.

The Great Sandy Strait is a 70 kilometre long stretch of water, separating Fraser Island from mainland Queensland and opening into Hervey Bay in the north. It is a complex network of wetlands, sand flats, and salt pans, with channels of varying depths and widths. Some of these channels would be completely impassable at low tide, and we’d heard of many yachts touching the bottom here, so accurately working the tides north was going to be very important.

We motored south to the intruiging sounding town of Tin Can Bay where we dropped anchor in Tin Can Inlet. The winds dropped and it was a still night, as we both caught up on much needed sleep. The following morning, we awoke to low tide and a stretch of land poking out of the water not too far from our boat. A timely warning on the perils of low tide! Just before midday, in time with the high tide, we motored north, back past the Wide Bay Bar and up into Garry’s Anchorage.

I spent the first part of the passage on a Zoom call helping my nephew Lucas with some home schooling, while Matt steered the boat. The technology that we have today is really so incredible. As well as keeping us safe by allowing us ready access to accurate weather, tide and navigational information, it also allows us to connect with family and friends back home. There I am, on a boat in Queensland, helping my nephew in Victoria with school work or tutoring my students in Korea. Amazing!

Anyway, we successfully negotiated the shallow patches and anchored at Garry’s, enjoying a lovely sunset. The following morning we took the tender over to Fraser Island and stretched our legs along a disused 4WD track. We met some other yachties on the beach and enjoyed a chat with some like minded folk.

The following morning we were up early and leaving by 6.30 am to use the high tide to work our way north. A couple of patches had us holding our breath, but we had timed it well and glided through easily. The wind picked up after lunch and we had a rolly afternoon on the boat at our anchorage in Kingfisher Bay.

The next day was nicer and we ventured off the boat, exploring Kingfisher Bay Resort on Fraser Island. I’d been hoping that the showers that are available for visiting yachties would be open, but they were still closed due to coronavirus. Craziness! Another ridiculous overreaction. So we made the most of the sunny day and enjoyed some time apart; Matt going for a walk along some tracks to several lookouts, while I soaked up the sunshine, lying on the beach with my book.

We’d both been looking forward to exploring some of the sights on Fraser Island. Fraser Island is the world’s largest sand island, with the second, third and fourth largest being Stradbroke, Moreton and Bribie Islands, that we’d passed on the way up. In 1992, Fraser Island was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage destination due to its rare and unique flora and fauna.

The Island is made of up to 240 metre tall sand dunes that are still changing and evolving after 700,000 years. These sand dunes house an incredible array of diverse habitats including over 100 freshwater lakes, 40 of which are perched dune lakes, (which is 50% of the world’s total). It is the only place on the planet where tall rainforests grow in sand. There are also eucalyptus woodlands, wallum and peat swamps and mangrove forests.

A significant number of Australian fauna also call Fraser Island home, including the dingo. These dingoes are the last pure examples of their species. There are also around 35 species of other mammals, 350 or so species of birds, more than 70 species of reptiles and amphibians including acid frogs, various snakes, goannas, geckos and turtles and much more. The surrounding waters are also full of life, with humpback whales, dolphins, dugongs and tiger sharks regularly being spotted.

With the island stretching over 120 kilometres, and mostly being sand, we decided it probably wasn’t the right place to tour on our bikes. Having no one to split the costs of a hire car with, we decided to join a tour group to see the main sights of the island instead. So on Monday we found ourselves boarding a 4WD bus, jacked up on massive tyres, the kind Mad Max would drive the kids to school in, for a tour of Fraser Island’s ‘Beauty Spots.’

Over the course of the day, our guide drove us and 24 other passengers to the highlights of the island; the Maheno shipwreck, Eli Creek, 75 Mile Beach, the Pinnacles Coloured Sands, Central Station, Wanggoobla Creek and Lake McKenzie. He was very knowledgeable about the history of the island and especially the many different flora growing there. It was especially fascinating to learn about the ancient forests, with some of the hardwood satinay trees more than 1000 years old and growing up to four metres in diameter around their trunk.

The island was incredibly busy, in fact the resort was fully booked out, and we learnt that this was because there was a public holiday in Brisbane. People in 4WDs were everywhere, hooning up and down the beaches and campsites were dotted all along the coast. There was so much to see, and we only saw a snippet of it. We both agreed we’d love to come back in a 4WD with camping gear and spend some proper time exploring it at our own pace. My favourite stops were the forests of incredibly old and tall trees and, of course, Lake McKenzie. We both went into the crystal clear water of the beautiful lake for a swim and gave ourselves a homemade spa treatment, rubbing the white sand all over our bodies, exfoliating our skin. I can’t remember my skin ever feeling so soft, it was just divine!

We sat at the Sunset Bar for a drink to toast the day, before heading down to the beach to take photos of Cool Change against the setting sun. Running out of petrol on the way back to the yacht, Matt started rowing, but the strong current had other ideas and soon we weren’t making much progress. Luckily, a yachtie on a nearby boat spotted us and kindly offered us a tow. We gratefully accepted and drifted back to his boat, grabbing onto the side. Upon hearing that we’d just run out of petrol, he instead offered to top up our fuel, and away we went, safely back to our own boat. Thanks Foxy Lady III, hopefully we run into them again somewhere and can buy them a beer!

I’d thoroughly enjoyed Fraser Island and the Great Sandy Strait, and was especially pleased that it was starting to warm up, enough for us to ditch our second doona and not be wrapped in blankets each night. I was, however, covered in little sandfly/midgie bites. And Matt? Not a single bite. No complaints from me though, it was worth it.

Time to head up into Hervey Bay, try and spot some whales and then head to Bundaberg to pick up our new tinny.

In a forest of a hundred thousand trees, no two leaves are alike. And no two journeys along the same path are alike.

Paulo Coelho