Tongue Bay - July 21, 1999

Tongue Bay - July 21, 1999

We awoke to a fresh breeze and raised sails soon after raising anchor; OK we really just cast off the mooring.
Anyway, the sailing was boisterous so we dropped to the first reef and kept the genny reefed.  Soon we put in the second reef.  Even so we were heeled about 15 degrees.

Seagulls hitchhiking on our dinghy (above),

Our anchorage in Tongue Bay

Our course took us east past Pinnacle Point with a destination of Tongue Bay, Whitsunday Islands.  We sailed past our waypoint to try to get a layline for the waypoint between Border and Dumbell Islands.  Unfortunately, our tack brought us perpendicular to our intended course.  When we tacked again and later checked the GPS we discovered we had sailed an irregular circle offshore of Pinnacle Point and Double Rock.  This spent two hours of our morning so we dropped sail and motored the distance to our anchorage at Tongue Bay.  After confirming our overnight anchorage at the 1pm "skeds," we dinghied over to the beach on the northern shore of Tongue Bay.

Just before leaving, Dad sighted a sea turtle just 30 yards off the anchored bow of "Temptress."
All went ashore to the beach and hiked & explored the rocks.  My younger son cut his hand on a rock, so my older son and I took the dinghy back to "Temptress" to get the first aid kit for my wife.  While there, my older son and I got the snorkeling gear to check out the reef just off shore from the beach.  On the return ride, my older son and I saw the sea turtle again.
my younger son was tended to by the nurse, my wife, while my older son and I snorkeled long enough to decide the reef was too muddy and did not deserve further snorkeling.

Our neighbor in Tongue Bay

My younger son and I found two "caves" formed from large boulders that leaned against each other on the beach.  There were nifty gaps that enabled Dad to look into "Our Cave" through the gaps and see my younger son as he crawled around.  For a time we thought the two caves were connected, but a little exploring proved they were not.  The first cave we found was dry, but as the tide came in, we found it becoming filled with water.
It was a breezy night, but less rolly than Whitehaven Beach.