Lady Musgrave questions

[fly_1]

We are heading back up there again in a few months and am just wondering if anyone has ever had any issues leaving a boat on the pick in the lagoon whilst camping on the island?? Also are there still white bouys marking the limit to which you can anchor close to the island?? From memory, you could go inside of these to drop off etc, but had to anchor outside, or to the east of them every night.
Does the charter boat that goes out daily still offer a daily scuba tank exchange service?? That is we can give them our empty bottles and they will give us loan ones etc until they come back out the next day.
Can anyone tell me the name of the current company doing the diving out there and I will give them a call.
I have been to the island many times, but we have always stayed on the boat or done daytrips etc from 1770, so just trying to find out some current info before we camp out there.
Thanks
Trent

[FisHard]

Camping on Lady Musgrave eh? You lucky buggers! Only spent 1 night on the island, but it is a fantastic place and very beautiful.
If you google Site Management Arrangements Lady Musgrave Island, you should find a map that outlines where you can and can't anchor in the Lagoon.
We made a million bad decisions when we went there and still loved it. I will share a bit of info to save you our dramas!
The beach is not sand, but broken coral and not boat friendly. Keep that in mind as you approach shore. There are usually trolleys at the beach for you to move your gear to the campsite, which is in the middle of the island via a goat track. You could go around via the beach, but its hard yakka either way! Don't try and get unloaded and set up in the dark (we did!) There are toilets on the island, but no freshwater. There are also millions of birds that call LM home, so bear that in mind for food storage. Your tent fly will get covered in poo! You have to book your site and pay about $4.50 per person per day. You have to print your permit and have it attached to your tent. Are you going to bring a tender to come and go from the beach? I would, something like an 8' blowup with oars. I don't know about diving gear, but you can get fresh supplies via the Spirit of 1770 that comes to the island each day. Have a look at their website for details. It would be well worth giving them a call for extra pointers too.
Hope you get some benefit from this. Have a great trip!

[fly_1]

Thanks for the updated info. We have been to the island many times, but never camped on it hence the questions. We have already made all the bookings etc.Yes we have a little 3m zodiac which we use to get to and from the boat etc, and I have been warned about the bird poo etc on the tents...Thanks for the name of the charter operator, I will give them a call re diving etc, and I wasnt aware of the trolleys, thanks.
Trent

[FisHard]

Good one mate. I thought you'd have it mostly under control. I just like waffling on :) all you need now is some reasonable weather.

[fly_1]

Yeah, 2 weeks of sunshine and calm seas would be perfect!!
Thanks again..

[ovakil]

Have you thought about a petrol driven dive compressor for tanks?

[dec0guy]

We went camping there for 5 days about 3 years ago and had a fantastic time..

Yes, the boat will fill/replace scuba tanks, but you do need to organise if all before. There is a designated area for compressors near the toilets, and I think there are curfews too on using them

Wheelbarrows are provided to help move campng gear from the lagoon beach to the camping site, about a 15 min walk

At high tide you might be able to get a small boat to the camping ground. Some guys did that with a 5 or 6m boat

You need to take your own water. We had inflatable water containers you can pick up at most camping store. Do NOT fill them up on the boat! We filled the last few up on boat and it tasted horrible! We allowed about 5L/person/day fresh water plus a few spare containers.

Allow extra food/water in case the weather blows up and the boat cannot pick you up. Our stay was cut short a day due to forecast bad weather and if we had stayed, would not have been picked for another 3 days!

We went in May and it was a bit windy, but the camp ground was on the lee side so did not bother us.

In the end we decided not take diving gear as the car was full (only 2 of us dived) which turned out not to be an issue. Fantastic snorkelling is right in front of the camp grounds.

Bird poo was not too much of an issue, we were out of breeding season i think, but do take a tarp for the tent!

Overall it was one of the best camping trips we did so enjoy!

[Floating Rib]

Hi Trent, have been once and struck 30-40 knots southerly for 2 days which pushes a big chop across the lagoon, my mistake for not being better prepared but in the end i didnt feel i could trust my anchor in those winds so i brought the boat in and tied off to a concrete block closer in, not allowed which im aware of but better than losing the boat, wasnt in anyones way thankfully as no boat movement over those days. Take a good anchor and heaps of chain in case, you arent supposed to moor inside the white markers which are a couple of hundred meters out. You can beach your boat but as described above goodbye to your gelcoat. Camp site can be approached by boat if you approach dirctly from the reef fringe on the northern side, found around 3-4ft of water at high tide which helped in dropping off and picking up gear. We didnt have a tender so used an inflatable stand up board which i paddled out to collect the boat each day, we also snorkelled off this,and it is an incredible way to view the reef paddling quietly across it standing with some good polaroids.
Next time ill be taking a sarca anchor and more chain, we live and learn.
Cheers
Rib

[GBC]

Not good holding in the shell grit at the island end of the lagoon. There's better holding up the other end. Since you've got dive gear I'd suggest putting it to good use and wrap a bommie - you won't be the first.

[Zimkideo]

Yep - been stuck in the lagoon with 30-40 knts of southerly. At high tide the swell can get in there too. And with the wind chop, for 3 days/2 nights couldn't stand up without falling over. Sides of the bow sprit eventually wore through anchor rope with the side to side tracking of the boat in the wind. This was very early one morning so we tied up on one of the Spirit of 1770 buoys until the sun came up some more, retrieved the anchor and took the chance to get out of there.

Other times, it has been dead calm, no swell, couple of beers watching the beautiful sunsets ... makes up for the one bad experience!

[fly_1]

Thanks guys for the updates. Not really an option getting my boat in close to the beach ( its a 2800 kcat) but we just use our little zodiac like last time and it seamed to do the job. If it blows up, we will just run back to 1770. Thanks for the info re dive gear, I have spoken to the charter operator and have the tank exchange all sorted.
Trent