Day 73 to 79 - Bowen Harbour

We had heard good things about Bowen so decided to drop in for a day or two and have a quick look around. Well - that was the plan......a week later we were on the move again. We dropped in to Middle Island on the way across from Gloucester Passage as the diving/snorkelling is said to be good. Not so that day - the visability was terrible so we did not stop.

Bowen Harbour channel

Our introduction to Bowen Harbour was none too flash - the channel in is rather narrow and shallow (recommended max width of 6m - we are 5.9m and depth 1.4m). We then had the challenge of fitting into the string of pile berths with a bit of cross wind. I did not cover myself in glory on this one! Fortunately another yacht came to the rescue with his ducky to push us into place. No harm done - just a much dented ego.

DF between the piles.

The harbour has two fisherman's co-ops that are very much up and running with a regular shuffle of trawlers coming and going. After paying our mooring fees ($12.30 per day!) I bought a big feed of fresh local prawns figuring that would be a good way to make amends to Cath. It worked! I then consolidated by taking her out to dinner at the North Queensland Cruising Yacht Club (right opposite our berth). The meal and service were excellent and the view none to shabby either.

A warm welcoming sign!

Catalina Memorial

Catalina Pavilion on waterfront

Next day saw us walking to explore the town and shopping centre. I was surprised to find an outstanding commemorative pavilion for Catalina Flying Boats. It appears that Bowen was a major base during WWII and they take it pretty seriously. I hate to say this but Rathmines should come and have a look. They also have an excellent historical museum that is well worth a visit.  The other thing we discovered was that Bowen was the town used when they filmed 'Australia' - they basically made a massive film set to recreate Darwin.

Bowen transformed into Darwin

That night we had garlic prawns for entree and Red Emperor for main. Life is tough in the tropics!

We had planned to leave the next morning but the weather forecast was not promising and we had met the crew of 'Namche' (Gary & Linda) who are real aficionados of Bowen and suggested that there was much more to see. We took their advice and dragged out the bikes (for the first time this trip) and rode out to Horseshoe Bay. They were right - it is a truly beautiful spot with lovely clear water, clean beaches and outstanding views from the Rotary Lookout and the old WWII radar site. Needless to say the weather was sunny with very gentle breezes despite the protestations of the local BoM.

Some RAAF doctors do make good!

For reasons that are not clear to me, Round 3 of the Australian Superboat Championships were being held that weekend at Bowen. A Lake Mac identity (Darren Nicholson - brother of Chris) was driving one of the 600HP superheats (Club Marine) so we felt under some pressure to stay and barrack for him.

The Winner - Maritimo - 600HP Superboat

We had ringside seats for looking at the boats as they were stored at NQCYC and dropped into the water at their jetty. Needless to say we did watch the trials and the races which proved to be rather exciting when one boat flipped upside down during a race. I was monitoring the committee working channel which made for fascinating eavesdropping. I have to say that the race controller did an outstanding job. Unfortunately Darren was never really in the hunt - Maritimo had it all over him from the outset but it was still worth watching.

Bungee - Adams 45' centerboarder

While in the harbour we saw a boat that we had not seen since the late 1980's in Thailand - Steve and Pauline Theodore's 'Bungee'. We regularly sailed on Bungee around Penang and Butterworth and spent a few weeks cruising with them through Thailand when they were based at Phuket. We knew that they had sold it (for a McGregor 65 - Rum Doodle II!!) so wondered if the new owner knew the story behind the boat. We did not get to speak to him but when we mentioned it to Gary & Linda off 'Namche' they mentioned that they were good friends of the Theodore's and had visited them not that long ago! It is a bloody small world in the cruising scene!

The promised bad weather had arrived so we were in no real hurry to leave so it was a mixture of explore, maintenance and socialise until things looked a bit more promising for the trip north. The last day was a great walk around Muller's Lagoon and then drinks aboard 'Namche' where Gary and I found that we had had an amazing amount in common.