[Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia] [Volume 2 of 2] by Phillip Parker King]@TWC D-Link bookNarrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia] [Volume 2 of 2] CHAPTER 5 27/583
Flinders Introduction cxcvi.) WIDE BAY, the entrance of which is in latitude 25 degrees 49 minutes, was examined by Mr.Edwardson, the master of one of the government colonial vessels; he found it to be a good port, having in its entrance a channel of not less than three fathoms deep; and to communicate with Hervey's Bay, thus making an island of the Great Sandy Peninsula. INDIAN HEAD is in latitude 25 degrees 1 minute, and longitude 153 degrees 23 minutes. ... APPENDIX A.SECTION 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE WINDS AND WEATHER, AND OF THE PORTS, ISLANDS, AND COAST BETWEEN BREAKSEA SPIT AND CAPE YORK. NORTH-EAST COAST. The south-east trade is occasionally suspended near the shore by north-easterly winds during the months of June, July, and August, the only season that I have any experience of the winds and weather upon the north-east coast; the weather is generally thick and cloudy, and often accompanied with showers of rain, particularly during the two first months. In the neighbourhood of Breaksea Spit in May, 1819, we experienced a fresh gale from the westward, after which it veered to south-east with thick rainy weather: and in the neighbourhood of Cape Capricorn, in June, 1821, we had a fresh gale from the north-east.
Among the Northumberland Islands, we have experienced westerly winds, but they blew in light breezes with fine weather. Even as far as Cape Grafton the wind cannot be said to be steady. To the north of this point, however, the winds are always constant from the southward, and seldom or ever veer to the westward of south, or to the eastward of South-East by East; they generally are from South-South-East: fresh winds cause the weather to be hazy, and sometimes bring rain, which renders the navigation among the reefs in some degree dangerous.
In my last voyage up the coast, on approaching Cape York, the weather was so thick that we could not see more than a quarter of a mile ahead; we, however, ran from reef to reef, and always saw them in sufficient time to alter the course if we were in error.
In such a navigation cloudy dull weather is, however, rather an advantage than otherwise, because the reefs, from the absence of the glare of the sun, are more distinctly seen, particularly in the afternoon, when the sun is to the westward.
Later in the season (August 1820) we had more settled weather, for the wind seldom veered to the southward of South-South-East, or eastward of East-South-East; and this weather accompanied us from Breaksea Spit, through Torres Strait. The best time for passing up this coast is in April and the beginning of May, or between the middle of August and latter end of October; in the months of June and July, the passage is not apparently so safe, on account of the changeable weather that may be encountered, which to a stranger would create much anxiety, although no real danger.
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