Boydong Island - A lovely little island protected by a huge reef

 We departed our Escape River Turtle Head Island anchorage at around 07:00 and headed offshore for Boydong Island.  Unfortunately the wind direction would not allow us to sail directly to the island and the maze of reefs offshore prevented us from tacking under sail easily.  We motored south to a point where we were able to turn east and head for our destination sailing close hauled into the southeast wind.  The motoring was slow and bouncy going directly into the waves but the sail out to the island was very pleasant nd we arrived at mid afternoon.

Anchoring at Boydong Island turned out to be tricky.  The water was very deep at around 70 feet almost right to shore where the reef was suddenly only a few feet deep.  We finally anchored in about 50 feet of water and after letting our about 200 feet of anchor chain we ended up in over 70 feet depth.  The extensive reef to the south gave us great protection from the waves and the sand bottom provided good holding for the anchor.

Boydong Island from our anchorage location 

Once safely anchored we decided we should immediately take the dinghy to,the beach to explore the island and huge coral reef.

True North at anchor from the Boydong Island beach


The island was small enough that we decided we had time to walk completely around it.  As we set out we noticed the tremendous number of birds and their continual songs.  There were many species present on the island and birds were continually flying up out of the trees as we approached.

An interesting but unknown to us type of birds enjoying the afternoon sun
As we continued around the island the coral reef started to extend out into the ocean.  It was dead low tide so we could walk out onto the reef top to explore the reef flats.  We saw starfish, crabs, clams and even crocodile tracks during our exploration.

KS exploring the reef flats.  His hands are full of treasures he discovered and wants to show me.

The rising water level and sinking sun made us realise we had spent many hours exploring the island but it was now time to head back to True North for a delicious spaghetti bolognaise dinner with a glass of good red wine and comfortable sleep. It was a very satisfying day.

 
Time to get off the reef flats and head back to True North before the rising tide makes us have to swim back to the beach!




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