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Spent three nights on the Fitzroy River, first night just out of town then going down 25 km to a place known locally as the 'cut-through' [1991 flood cut a new channel across a curve in the river]. Motored down with my eyes glued to the GPS with depth sounder following a route I had crafted which I hoped kept me away from the numerous mud and sand banks.





The days were not that grand, strong winds blew up and caused a few problems, also hot and humid. Early mornings, late evenings and the nights were awesome. The wind then was either a light breeze or non-existent, temperature was cooler. Just totally awesome being out on the water.

After anchoring on 2nd day, wind blew up strongly from SE, however, N winds had been forecast and I was unprotected. Moved Windchaser to middle of river, depth under 3 m of water (and shallower areas around about) but better position to wind. Went and searched for water deep enough to anchor out of wind.



Found hole with 6 m of water at low tide near sandbar beside bank and when the tide had risen enough that I could bring Windchaser across without my concern about depth, I moved and re-anchored.








Windchaser performed flawlessly. Certainly an easy boat to live on, at least for short periods.

Hi Troppo ,

Lovely , and inspiring pictures mate ,

Please enlighten me , where is the Fitzroy River ? .

In the near future I plan to travel the length of Sydneys Hawkesbury River with my young children , in my Mk1 . If it weren't for a Bathroom Renovation on our rental property in Broken Hill , it would be this xmas holidays .

Brad
DESIREMK1

The Fitzroy River is the one that runs through Rockhampton Central Qld. I was recently reading some maritime history and even though Rockhampton was a port for a while, sending out beef, gold, etc, the shallowness of the river plus its ever changing channels and banks caused many shipwrecks and groundings. For such a large bit of water, it is amazingly shallow. At low tide in places it is only between 2 and 3 metres deep but there are many stretches with 8 to 15 metres in the main channel.

Thanks for the story WITH photos Troppo.
I very much enjoyed it.

Thanks Troppo, the article and photos add more pressure for me to venture up North in my Toppie - who knows, one of these days!!!!
Cheers,
Kevin
Wayward Lady, a Mk 111,
Williamstown, Vic