This Channel Leaves No Room for Mistakes | The Narrows Gladstone | Sailing with the Jameses (Ep.173)

This week we take on one of Australia’s most thrilling tidal passages — The Narrows at Gladstone. After positioning ourselves the day before, we depart early to catch the narrow high-tide window needed to transit this incredible channel. At low tide, up to 1.6 metres of land emerges, making the passage impossible without planning (you need 1.6m + your draft in tide to get through!). Once even used as a cattle crossing, it begs the question — are we sailing a channel… or sailing over land? With mangroves just feet away and strong tidal flow pushing us along, there’s no room for mistakes. Come along as we navigate tight bends, shallow waters, and continue our full-time sailing life as a family on the Great Barrier Reef. ~ Sam, Cait & Charlie xx Chapters 00:00 – Setting the Scene 00:56 – Bug Invasion on Deck 🦟 02:22 – High Tide Window… It’s Go Time 08:50 – Boat Ramps in the Middle of Nowhere 11:12 – Are We Sailing Over a Cattle Crossing?! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Support Our Channel on Patreon Want to help keep these videos coming? Patreon directly supports this channel and allows us to keep producing high-quality sailing content while upgrading gear and sharing our journey in real time. 🎉 Try a 7-day FREE trial — tiers start from just $2/month 👉 https://www.patreon.com/c/Sailingwiththejameses Want to do a one time donations? Buy us a coffee and do a one time donation through Ko-Fi! ko-fi.com/sailingwiththejamess Your support genuinely makes this channel possible — thank you for being part of the adventure. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ⚓ Watch Our Major Refit Series ⚓ Extending Our Sugar Scoops https://youtu.be/70acqzq3yIc ⚓ Recessing Our Anodes https://youtu.be/9oi9n1sMJNs ⚓ Synthetic Rigging on Our Aluminium Catamaran https://youtu.be/LU8zSyDujfo ⚓ How We Improved the Performance of Our Alloy Catamaran https://youtu.be/Qub8_UeCwdg 🚤 New Here? ▶️ Full Boat Tour https://youtu.be/RhyaasimV9M ▶️ Our Previous Monohull https://youtu.be/E5OCEgbGqK4 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Business & Collaboration Inquiries email: sailingwiththejameses@gmail.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow Our Adventures Instagram: @sailingwiththejameses Facebook: facebook.com/sailingwiththejameses Don’t forget to LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and leave a comment — it really helps support the channel. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 🚤 Our Tender We explore remote anchorages and shallow landings in a True Kit Discovery 400 — lightweight, stable, and purpose-built for cruising life. 👉 https://truekit.net/en-au ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 🌍 Track Our Journey Follow Sailing with the Jameses on NoForeignLand 👉 https://www.noforeignland.com/boat/5500640950222848 Get the free app here: 👉 https://www.noforeignland.com/app #sailing #TheNarrows #Gladstone #sailingfamily #sailingvlog #sailingwiththejameses