Townsville Coast and Rivers


Cape Cleveland Lighthouse

Palleranda Boat Ramp

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Loading a Sea Kayak for an Expedition

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Despite their relatively small size, a sea kayak can carry an amazing amount of gear. One of the big draws of sea kayaking is that you can go and explore some of the most beautiful, wild and remote parts of the coast, for days or even weeks at a time and still live in relative comfort. The good thing about packing a sea kayak is that there are three hatches to stuff full of gear and there will usually be enough free space to pack a few luxuries (a little extra weight will still float just fine). The bad thing is the hatches are awkward shapes and nothing fits in them easily. Keeping Your Gear Dry The sealed hatches of a modern sea kayak are generally water-tight. However, leaks do happen. Your first line of defense against water ingress is to check that your kayak hatches are in good order and correctly fitted before setting off.  As a secondary precaution, dry bags or waterproof containers can be utilised to keep your gear dry. I use the general rule that if you woul
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Cockle Bay Wreck

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Located  on the south west side of Magnetic Island rests the wreck of the "SS City of Adelaide".  The remains of this once proud ship now forms an artificial island approximately 300 m off  the shoreline of Cockle Bay, with GPS co-ordinates S 19 10 29.5   E 146 49 30.9    Google Maps Link Launching from Palleranda Boat Ramp, the wreck is approximately 6 km away at a bearing of 65 degrees (magnetic) and lies within the tidal zone of Magnetic Island.  Access to it, is best achieve during mid to high tide, as the area will be completely dry at low tide levels below 0.6 m.  Mangrove Trees Growing Inside the Hull of the Wreck. Looking Towards the Mid Section of the Wreck.   Looking Towards the Stern of the Wreck  When viewed from the seaward side this wreck blends in seamlessly with the surrounding mangrove fringed coastline, making it difficult to locate without  a bearing. It's not until you get in really close that yo
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Garmin Etrex 20x GPS

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The Garmin Etrex 20x is a lightweight and compact GPS unit designed and constructed to be waterproof to IPX7 standards and holds up to a bit of rough handling.  The unit is powered by two AA batteries, which provide sufficient power for 2 full days of kayaking.  Furthermore this unit has mapping capabilities, is highly customisable and has all the functionality a kayaker could want in a GPS unit. The unit has a 3.5 x 4.4 cm colour display which is clean and crisp and can be backlit to improve visibility.  There are five buttons placed along the vertical edges and a joystick style thumb button mounted on the front face for scrolling, inputting and selecting.  When I was choosing a GPS device for kayaking, I ruled out the touchscreen devices right away as touchscreens don’t work very well when wet and they also have a lower battery life. There are rubberized covers on all of the buttons along with sealable covers for the battery compartment and USB port.  The waterpro
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