Crayfish Bay - Hook Island (Whitsundays)

[Sea Unit]

G'day all.

Dragging a 6m plate half cabin up to the Whitsundays from Brisbane early April for a week. I've booked a spot at Crayfish Bay on Hook Island for the stay.
School holidays mean having to book early and hoping for favourable conditions. So, removing weather from the equation for now my question lies in the anchoring options off the beach.

Can anyone with experience at Crayfish Bay please let me know if there is sufficient space away from reef or rubble bottom to anchor the boat whilst keeping water beneath it (trying not to have the tides dictate our movements).
I have no issues beaching the boat if that's the only option however it'd be nice to know in advance if that doesn't have to be the case.

Thanks!

[NAGG]

It's a lovely spot ...... I drove around & had a look at Christmas .
Anchoring would be difficult ..... we didn't go all the way in as there were a group of Kayakers there - but it got shallow & rocky pretty quickly for quite a long way out .

Here is the distance you would be dealing with Crayfish.jpg

That's about 180 meters

your best bet is to make up a pulley system ....... drop the anchor as your permanent anchorage ...... & pull the boat in & out as required . You'll need to get into as deep water as possible - depending on the tides. I reckon you'll need 150m of rope & 6m of chain. ..... that will get you out 50m ish at low tide . Your boat will probably be on or between rubble on a low tide .
hopefully you dont get winds that have any north in them ........ the boat will bounce & if the tides are low you'll probably need to drop the boat on the sand like what I did in the photo -- you'll only be able to judge this when you are there High n Dry.jpg You certainly dont want your boat sitting on the rubble.
It's one of the reasons I dont camp & anchor with the boat exposed to the north or south - I had a horrible experience in the late 90s camping at Butterfly bay

Chris

[Sea Unit]

Awesome mate, thanks for the great input.
It seems like I'll have to change spots. While I have a nice heavy 20lb plough anchor on front I don't think I'd sleep too well knowing the boat is 150m out to sea (not to mention paddling to it each day).

Could you reccommend any other beaches on Hook worth a look? Curlew Beach looks nice and sandy and has spots available. Only issue I could possibly see would be a strong current ripping through between Hook & Whitsunday Is.

Again, any insight is greatly appreciated.

[NAGG]

Awesome mate, thanks for the great input.
It seems like I'll have to change spots. While I have a nice heavy 20lb plough anchor on front I don't think I'd sleep too well knowing the boat is 150m out to sea (not to mention paddling to it each day).

Could you reccommend any other beaches on Hook worth a look? Curlew Beach looks nice and sandy and has spots available. Only issue I could possibly see would be a strong current ripping through between Hook & Whitsunday Is.

Again, any insight is greatly appreciated.

Unfortunately pretty well every camping location involves a fringing reef .
Curlew was an option for us last Christmas ..... We had a look & it is problematic at low tide . There are no locations on Hook that wont have the same problem. The only location I know of is Whitehaven beach on Whitsunday Island ...... it's sand .
I camp at Naris beach on the inside of Whitsunday Island ..... but I know on those lowest tides I have to drop the boat on the sand .

The only other option is look for locations with Public moorings & paddle out on an inflatable - Butterfly Bay may then be an option for you.

Chris

[Sea Unit]

Unfortunately pretty well every camping location involves a fringing reef .
Curlew was an option for us last Christmas ..... We had a look & it is problematic at low tide . There are no locations on Hook that wont have the same problem. The only location I know of is Whitehaven beach on Whitsunday Island ...... it's sand .
I camp at Naris beach on the inside of Whitsunday Island ..... but I know on those lowest tides I have to drop the boat on the sand .

The only other option is look for locations with Public moorings & paddle out on an inflatable - Butterfly Bay may then be an option for you.

Chris

Absolute legend. Cheers mate.

[NAGG]

Absolute legend. Cheers mate.

Not a problem ...... it's hard to get good info on access ...... I learnt the hard way

But honestly - dont let it discourage you - it's a great area

Chris

[Sea Unit]

Not a problem ...... it's hard to get good info on access ...... I learnt the hard way

But honestly - dont let it discourage you - it's a great area

Chris

Haha, it takes a bit more than sand and coral to discourage us from checking out a new spot! We've settled on Curlew Beach as the tides for our trip are about as favourable as one could hope for (highs at dawn and dusk).
Now just gotta pray the wind doesn't spoil the party....