Wednesday 7 July. We are now in Gladstone, having left Bundaberg on Monday morning at 0445 – how early is that. It is a long trip to Pancake Creek and we wanted to arrive there in daylight. It is easier to leave Bundaberg in the dark as it is well lit. The trip to Pancake was good we had a nice following breeze and we cracked 12 knots once. Andrew was chasing boat speed rather than a course so we did sail an extra few miles – but we had a good sail and didn’t have to use the engines much at all – how good. We sneaked past the rocks on the way into Pancake Creek (too close really) and dropped anchor just before 4 pm. Pancake Creek is a lovely spot, and it was a shame we only overnighted there. Tuesday morning we left at the very civilised time of 0845 to cruise to Gladstone. We managed to fly the new spinnaker but naturally the wind dropped to 2-3 knots – no good. We motored into Gladstone and tied up at the Marina about 1400. Off to do some shopping to restock and to get some food for our dinner that night. We caught up with Rob and Jo, it was great to have them on board for dinner with their friend Cheryl. Rob is an old school mate of Andrew’s. Today we plan to head up the narrows for a couple of days, do some crabbing and look to get to Great Keppel on the weekend some time. Hopefully to catch up with Tom and Nancy in their new boat.