23.9.2006 (Low Isles - S16° 23’.4 E145° 34’.8)
We left Port Douglas after much preparation at 10am. An easy slow sail to Low Isles with a 8kt (knots) south easterly taking 3 hours. We helped out with the pigeon count in the late afternoon. Fat Albert and a few other Port Douglas boats were here.
24 to 25.9.2006
We spent the day relaxing at Low Isles before our big journey commenced.
26.9.2006 (Hope Isles East – S15° 44’.1 E145° 28’.4) 
Set off for Hope Isles at 5.45am, not enough wind to set sail so we motored to the northern side of Cape Tribulation (4 hours). About 11am we found some breeze which rapidly increased to 20kt accompanied by rainy squalls. By 1pm it was blowing a gale and visibility was down to 1 – 2 miles (all reference to mile hereon are nautical miles, 1 nautical mile = 1.83 kilometres). I suffered a bout of seasickness for the last 3 hours. We anchored in lee of Hope Isles East in 5 metres of water at 1.45pm. We spent the rest of the day and night catching up on much needed sleep.
27.9.2006
Wind still blowing 25-30kt all day and night. We found a sheltered anchorage in the lagoon but still very bouncy. We spent a lot of the day on the island. Jorge spear fished two Sweet Lips and one Parrotfish. We met Glen and Gwen off ‘Canada Goose’ and had sundowners on Kapiti with them and Russell off the little catamaran. We sighted rich bird life on the island some being imperial implied pigeons, common crested terns, pied oyster catchers, varied honey eaters, bustard, ibis, various waders, seagulls and sandpipers.
28.9.2006
Winds 20-25kt day and night. Spent a large part of the day on the island again. Jorge speared two more fish a 2kg Coral Trout and a Golden Lined Spinefoot. Big Moma charter yacht was here for the afternoon from Bloomfield Eco Lodge. We local residents were disappointed with their arrival but were elated to see them departing. Sundowners and dinner on Canada Goose with Glen, Gwen and Russell.
29.9.2006 (Cooktown – S15° 28’.8 E145° 15’.6)
Left Hope Isles at 8.30am with 15kt S/SE winds. By 9.30am the wind was back up to 20kt with 40% cloud cover and some shipping traffic. We hugged the coast from Archer Point until we rounded Grassy Hill 3 hours and 50 minutes after lifting anchor. We dropped the anchor in the Endeavour River overlooking all of Cooktown. We experienced several 40kt wind bullets, one of which airborned the cabin hatch dumping it in the river, it’s gone to the crocodiles! We arranged the temporary repairs when we went ashore. Enjoyed sundowners with a vino on the back of the boat.
30.9.2006 We took a break from sailing! Flying by a 10 seater plane from Cooktown to Cairns. An enjoyable 35 minute scenic flight over the coastline. Spending the next few days at the Oasis Resort with Isabela (Jorge’s daughter).
2.10.2006 We said our goodbyes to Isabela, Gladys and Rinaldo before stocking up on supplies and driving Jorge’s car back to Cooktown taking 4 hours.
3.10.2006 Started getting ready for the next leg of our trip, doing some washing, stocking up on fuel and water. The high tides dragged us very close to a neighbouring yacht so we decided to move in close to shore and happy to stay away from the wind bullets.
4.10.2006 Woke up at 12.04pm to a sudden jolt to the boat. We had touched the bottom due to the changing tide. We were on 25 degree lean and I was scared! Only thing we could do was sit it out for 2 hours until the tides changed again. Don’t want to experience that again. At first light we relocated the boat to a deeper anchorage. Caught up on sleep during the day. Had Russell (from Hope Isles) over for dinner. Had to move the boat again due to the changing tide as we nearly touched a houseboat.
5.10.2006 Yippee a full night sleep with no dramas! In the morning we went for a walk to the botanic gardens and another walk to Finch Bay in the afternoon.
6.10.2006 Several boats heading south left today, sick of waiting for the weather to change but still 20-25kt SE winds. We got our exercise today with a walk between Finch Bay and Cherry Tree Bay. Although only a 1.6km walk it was tough going climbing the rocky and steep terrain. We had lunch and did some beachcombing at Cherry Tree Bay before heading back.
7.10.2006 (Cape Bedford – S 15° 12’.6 E 145° 20’.2) Sailed out of Cooktown at 7am, 20-25kt E/SE winds for the four hour sail to Cape Bedford. When we anchored we wished we had kept going as it there was a lot of rocking and rolling the whole time and wind bullets blowing off the mountains. We enjoyed the sunset and rise of the full moon then went to bed early.
8.10.2006 (Cape Flattery – S14° 57’.2 E 145° 19’.8) Sailed out of Cape Bedford at 6am, winds E/SE at 20kt. We put out the troll line and we were surprised to hook a fish, a 7kg barracuda, at first we thought it was a Spanish mackerel! It wore Jorge out pulling it in. We anchored at Cape Flattery at 9.45am, a much better anchorage than last night. We had some of the fish for lunch and it was good (inexperienced fisherman at this stage!). Cape Flattery exports white silica and has a loading jetty on the southern side. Enroute to Cape Flattery we by-passed Conical Rock, Low Wooded Isle, Three Isles and Two Isles. We rested on board for the remainder of the day. 9.10.2006 We took a dinghy ride to the next bay, where the old silica loading jetty is. Surprised to see houses that must be for the mine workers, we didn’t go ashore. We came back around to our bay and pulled up at two very beautiful spots. One had melaleuca trees overhanging the water’s edge, the other had crystal clear water on the end of the bay. We couldn’t resist going in for a dip. After lunch on board we went ashore again for a long walk and beach combing. We met Sonja and Helmut off Tucana II, we later went over to their boat for sundowners.
10.10.2006 We walked up one of the mountains this morning. Beautiful views
from up the top. We followed a few different tracks over the various terrains from heath land, sand dunes and rocky escarpments to low wooded forest. We saw snake, dingo, goanna and goat tracks. On the way down we stopped at a cliff edge to admire the bay where our little home was anchored then we noticed a dozen dolphins making their way along the reef edge out to sea. Helmut and Sonja came over for sundowners then we went to bed at 7.30pm!
from up the top. We followed a few different tracks over the various terrains from heath land, sand dunes and rocky escarpments to low wooded forest. We saw snake, dingo, goanna and goat tracks. On the way down we stopped at a cliff edge to admire the bay where our little home was anchored then we noticed a dozen dolphins making their way along the reef edge out to sea. Helmut and Sonja came over for sundowners then we went to bed at 7.30pm! 11.10.2006 A sleepless night with constant 30kt wind bullets. At first light we relocated the boat in the second bay near the old jetty. After putting both the bow and stern anchors down we only had a slight rock. The barge from Cairns was in this morning unloading supplies to the mining community. Tucana also moved into the second bay for some relief from the wind. We decided to go ashore but waited to see if Helmut and Sonya embarked without any hassles. All looked good so we headed ashore, they greeted us saying within two minutes of being ashore they were met by a mine worker, security guard and the general manager advising them that we are not allowed to come ashore! Okay so a change of plans, we went back around to the other bay in the dinghy and relaxed under the melaleuca trees. Our stern anchor line snapped at the base, the anchor is still somewhere on the bottom. Jorge was going to try and look for it but the water was too murky. Getting a bit impatient waiting for the strong wind warning to drop so we can sail to Lizard Island.
12.10.2006 Another day at Cape Flattery sitting out the strong wind warning. We spent most of the day with Helmut and Sonja. The guys went fishing with no luck and the girls stayed on board Tucana chatting away. We had dinner on Tucana with some of the fish we caught on the way to Cape Flattery.
13.10.2006 (Lizard Island – S14° 39’.69 E 145° 27’.18) We spent the morning getting the boat ready to sail as the strong wind warning had been lifted. We sailed out of Cape Flattery at noon waving goodbye to our new friends on Tucana. The weather report stated 20-25kt but it blew 30kt SE the whole way to Lizard Island. The swells were 2 metres with the occasional 3 metres until we were in the lee of Rocky Islets, South Direction Island and North Direction Island which are well reefed and stopped most of the large swells for the final third of the trip. A couple of squalls dumped a bit of rain on us and brought visibility down to 2 miles. We anchored at Watson’s Bay, Lizard Island 3 hours after leaving Cape Flattery, making good time for a 20 mile trip. Upon arrival we found 22 yachts and 26 motor boats, mainly game boats for the current black marlin competition. We went ashore at sunset for a drink at the marlin bar, meeting some yachties and finding out the tricks of the island.
14.10.2006 Our big excitement today was getting a load of washing done! We took a load of
washing ashore and walked 250 metres to an old ground water hand pump. It was a very prehistoric way of doing the washing, pumping the water into our bucket. We then had to wring everything out tightly to get out most of the water before hanging it to dry in the trees and the long grass, really makes you appreciate a washing machine! We saw our first Gould Goanna today, it frightened me as I had never seen anything like it, it was about 1.2 metres long. We did a few other little chores and rested. We went to sundowners on the beach and met all the other yachties. It was fascinating to hear of everyone’s travels, some had even sailed up from Sydney. Most are waiting for the winds to change to northerlies to head south and have been here for 6 weeks.
washing ashore and walked 250 metres to an old ground water hand pump. It was a very prehistoric way of doing the washing, pumping the water into our bucket. We then had to wring everything out tightly to get out most of the water before hanging it to dry in the trees and the long grass, really makes you appreciate a washing machine! We saw our first Gould Goanna today, it frightened me as I had never seen anything like it, it was about 1.2 metres long. We did a few other little chores and rested. We went to sundowners on the beach and met all the other yachties. It was fascinating to hear of everyone’s travels, some had even sailed up from Sydney. Most are waiting for the winds to change to northerlies to head south and have been here for 6 weeks. 15.10.06 Made an early start on the washing finished off our final two loads, so nice to be surrounded by clean clothes! Our friends off Tucana arrived today, they came over for a cuppa. We went for a swim, such beautiful crystal clear water. For sundowners we went to the Marlin Bar (staff and yachties bar at the end of the resort) with Sonja and Helmut. We were surprised they had a few meals on offer due to the Marlin competition so we stayed for dinner which was a real treat.
16.10.06 We had an early start and walked to the Blue Lagoon via Chinaman’s Ridge and the airport which you actually walk along the side of the tarmac. We had a plane take off and another one land while we were walking past, very strange. The Blue Lagoon was just so beautiful, the turquoise blue of the lagoon and darker shades of blue being the reef. We walked along several bays climbing over the rocks like a couple of kids. We had a swim at One Tree Coconut Beach, walked some more then had lunch before heading back. In all we walked about 6km today, we must be getting fitter! We decided to have dinner at the bar with Sonya and Helmut again, saves our supplies and the hassle of cooking. 17.10.06 Jorge and Helmut took the dinghy around to the Blue Lagoon in the morning for some beachcombing. Meanwhile Sonya and I went a quarter of the way up Cooks Lookout with her laptop. We had heard that there is a 
spot up there that you could get internet access (Telstra CDMA only) but no luck. Still well worth the walk for the amazing views of Watson Bay. In the afternoon Jorge, Helmut, Sonya and I went for a snorkel along the fringing reef just 50 metres from out boat. It was very beautiful with many varieties of fish and coral. Then it was time for sundowners at the bar, we also stayed for dinner again. It sounds like we are living the resort life but the only things available to us are the bar (food this week only), bore water from the pump and a pay phone, for everything else you have to be completely self sufficient. Marine Parks pulled into the bay today and everyone is watching them closely!
spot up there that you could get internet access (Telstra CDMA only) but no luck. Still well worth the walk for the amazing views of Watson Bay. In the afternoon Jorge, Helmut, Sonya and I went for a snorkel along the fringing reef just 50 metres from out boat. It was very beautiful with many varieties of fish and coral. Then it was time for sundowners at the bar, we also stayed for dinner again. It sounds like we are living the resort life but the only things available to us are the bar (food this week only), bore water from the pump and a pay phone, for everything else you have to be completely self sufficient. Marine Parks pulled into the bay today and everyone is watching them closely! 18.10.06 We went for morning tea on Sea Lark with Keith, Jim and Esme. They also have a Roberts but 4 feet longer then ours, very spacious inside. Afterwards we arranged a delivery of groceries from Iceworks in Cooktown to re-stock especially vegetables. We are hoping to have the groceries delivered either this Friday or Sunday on the seaplane which will cost about $1.30 per kilo. Jorge also purchased some fuel for the dinghy from the resort beachclub for $1.80 per litre. Jorge did some maintenance re-packing the stern gland, Kapiti is no longer leaking. Sundowners at the bar, it was a big turn out with the yachties as it was pizza night.
19.10.06 We decided to have a lazy day on the boat today, both of us a bit unwell and we wanted some time to ourselves as Lizard Island is proving to be very socialable! We watched a few dvd’s and caught up on sleep as very little sleep last night from the gale force winds blowing all night. In the late afternoon we went ashore to check out the camping area (there is a gas bbq there which we plan to use) and then a walk along the beach. No sundowners for us tonight, we decided on an alcohol free night and cooked dinner on board the boat.
20.10.06 A fairly quiet day today, we had a few visitors in the morning and then we watched a couple more of Helmut’s bad dvd’s. We went for a beach walk in the afternoon then dinner at home.
21.10.06 We set off early for a walk to Coconut Beach via the Blue Lagoon. We climbed over many rocks but did not make it to Coconut Beach. We found a private little beach where we had lunch and a swim. We came back over the top of the mountain on a track we discovered. Jorge followed another track to the top of another hill, he could see Coconut Beach but couldn’t find a way down as it is very steep. We went to sundowners on the beach. Today was the last day of the Marlin fishing competition. Tenacious won with 8 catches. All the yachties are happy the competition is over and can’t wait for the stink boats to leave, they are rude and obnoxious people. 22.10.06 Our supplies arrived on the seaplane today, so we are now re-stocked on fresh fruit and vegetables. Mind you what would cost us $40 max in Cairns cost us $85 + another $15 for delivery! A big day for the local airport, planes arriving all day to take the game boat passengers home and two visits by the Royal Flying Doctors due to incidents on the charter ship the Coral Princess.
23.10.06 We had an early start to climb to Cook’s Lookout. We took our time to climb the steep
and rocky mountain, stopping for many breathers and early lunch at the top, which is 359 metres high. Amazing views of Lizard Island and surrounding reefs. The whole trip took us about 4 hours, hard work but so worth it. We had an afternoon siesta then went to sundowners at the bar. It was Rudy’s (off Tiata) 50th birthday and Lynette was helping him celebrate, there was also Mike and Helen off ‘Piping Shrike’ and Sonja and Helmut. A bit too much alcohol was consumed by all! We have now been sailing for a month.
and rocky mountain, stopping for many breathers and early lunch at the top, which is 359 metres high. Amazing views of Lizard Island and surrounding reefs. The whole trip took us about 4 hours, hard work but so worth it. We had an afternoon siesta then went to sundowners at the bar. It was Rudy’s (off Tiata) 50th birthday and Lynette was helping him celebrate, there was also Mike and Helen off ‘Piping Shrike’ and Sonja and Helmut. A bit too much alcohol was consumed by all! We have now been sailing for a month. 24.10.06 Nothing exciting today, a bit slow to wake up after last night. We did the washing that took forever because the hand pump was faulty. Then it was a case of dodging the showers to get the clothes dry. We had sundowners on the boat.
25.10.06 Sonja, Helmut, Jorge and I went to the Internet Café this morning. Sonja and I tried to find it last week but we were successful today, we took her laptop with us and walked a bit higher up the Cook’s Lookout than we had done earlier so the aerial was pointing to Cape Flattery. We were able to check our emails but mine was so slow so only a quick chance to read any incoming messages, it was a real treat considering the hard work to get to the location. Afterwards the guys walked to Coconut Beach, Jorge made it down to the beach via a sheer cliff assisted by a rope. He found a Polynesian canoe wreck and now wants to take it home, that is if we can retrieve it. Pizza night at the bar was so popular that they ran out of dough. There are many yachties talking of leaving in the next few days as the strong winds are due to drop. We are now re-assessing what to do, continue heading north or start to head back south. We will sleep on that thought. 26.10.06 We spent today preparing to leave Lizard Island, we have made the decision to
continue heading north tomorrow as the weather is still not favourable for going south. We went to sundowners on the beach and said good-bye to the many yachties we had met. Afterwards we had dinner on ‘Piping Shrike’ with Mike, Helen, Helmut and Sonja. We had the Spanish Mackerel that Micka from the resort had given Helmut. Mike and Helen are heading for Port Douglas on the weekend, while Sonja and Helmut plan to stay at Lizard Island for 6 weeks due to Sonja’s nursing contract with the resort.27.10.06 (Howick Island S14°31’ E 144°59’) We sailed out of Lizard Island just before 10am, waving good-bye to all who had come out to farewell us. The conditions were good mostly 20kt SE winds, easing to 15kt for the later part of the trip. We put out the troll line just after Nymph
Island and before Jorge had let out the full line we had hooked a 4kg Spanish Mackerel , this will do us for 4 meals. While travelling today we saw two dolphins riding alongside the boat, a sea snake, a dugong and several turtles. We anchored on the northern side of Howick Island (which is mostly mangroves) just after 3.30pm. We are the only boat here! We had some excitement today as we had to cross the shipping channel a few times. We had a huge 300 metre bulk carrier pass by our starboard side about 500 metres away. They did advise that they drew a lot of water, hence we copped their wake sometime after they had past and it was huge. 28.10.06 (Barrow Point – Ninian Bay S14°21’.31 E144° 36’.87)
We pulled up anchor just before 8am, while in the process I got injured. I was attempting to get
to the tiller to keep the boat in line with the anchor when the boom swung to the port side of the boat. I got caught up in the mainsheet and thrown against the side of the cockpit hurting my back and left arm. It hurt a lot and I was in shock for awhile and took some painkillers to ease the pain. So yes it is now implanted in my brain to always watch out for the boom when the main sail is up and not secured! Otherwise it was an easy 5 hour sail to Ninian Bay at Barrow Point. Wind was 10kt SE changing to easterly in the afternoon. Once at anchorage we took the dinghy ashore and had a good look around always being mindful of the possibility of crocodiles. We found two campsites and also a lot of pearl shells (empty though) washed up in one section of the bay.
29.10.06 (Flinders Island – Flinders Group S14°10’ E144°10’)
We set off from Ninian Bay with a dead calm sea. We motor sailed whenever there was a
whisper of wind which generally was N/NE. We went to Pipon Island but could not find a suitable anchorage, Cape Melville has no protection from the northerlies so we decided to by-pass. Still we were close enough to check out the amazing rock pile mountains. We anchored at Flinders Island in the Flinders Group 8 hours later. There are 6 islands in the group with spectacular scenery we can’t wait to explore. Flinders Group offers 360° protection from the wind, we have anchored in front of Flinders Island in the Owen Channel. There is one other yacht and a fishing boat here. It was Jorge’s birthday today, what a beautiful way to spend a birthday. As it was so calm we spent most of the trip on the bow admiring the passing marine life. I cooked us chicken fettuccine for dinner, a real treat as it was our only chicken fillets for the trip.
30.10.06
We went ashore to Flinders Island for an exploration. We walked around part of the island
between the rocks and the mangroves. On the walk we discovered a rock with the inscription ‘HMS Dart 1893’. It was a survey benchmark for the HMS Dart, which spent 20 years surveying the waters from the Great Barrier Reef to Tasmania. A much bigger discovery for us was the tropical black lipped oysters. I have never liked oysters as I find them mushy and slimy but these oysters were firm and tasty and bloody beautiful. We had about a dozen natural on the shore then took about 1 dozen back to the boat and lightly fried them in batter, yummy! Ronnie from ‘Siri on the Sea’ called by this afternoon and told us of a couple of good walks, we will do these tomorrow.
31.10.06
We went via dinghy on the Owen Channel to Stanley Island and walked from the mangroves to the northern side of the island. There are so many caves that the local aboriginal people used as
shelter. Along the beach we found thousands of bech de mer (sea cucumbers) and baby moray eels washed up on the beach, presumably from the northerly winds yesterday. We walked to the end of the beach and along the rocks which had amazing formations and colour. Next was a walk to the aboriginal rock art site, truly awesome. While waiting for the tide to come in (so we could get the dinghy out) we did some more rock climbing and got ourselves a few more oysters. On the way back we discovered the camping area (not being used) on Flinders Island, there were two rainwater tanks so a total treat to have a shower and wash our hair of course being mindful of the limited water supply. There are so many dugongs here, they are regularly popping their heads out of the water for us to enjoy.
1.11.06 (S14° 1’ E143° 53’.8 our turn around point)
The forecast was for 15-20kt SE so we headed off north hoping to anchor behind Magpie Reef overnight. At about midday the breeze turned to the east at about 15kt and we couldn’t lay the coast any more. The anchorages on the reef would not have been safe on an easterly breeze so we turned back to the safe anchorage of Flinders Group. That meant we sailed 8 hours to end up at the same anchorage.
2.11.06 (S14° 11’.33 E 144° 28’.92 Cape Melville)
Having come to terms that the season has changed we decided to head south. Last night’s
forecast was for 15-20kt SE so we sailed to Cape Melville which was 17 miles to windward. We anchored in 3 metres of water at Bathurst Bay in the shadow of the highest mountain. In the late afternoon we went ashore to explore and to find the monument erected over the communal graves of the victims of Cyclone Mahina that occurred on 5th March 1899. Intered there are the 9 crew of Sagitta, Silvery Waters and The Lighthouse plus 300 native pearl divers who crewed in 15 open luggers. We were in awe by the piled up boulders which made up the mountains, they created a very eerie atmosphere. The highlight of the day was the two mating turtles whose privacy we inadvertently interrupted!
3.11.06 (Flinders Island – Flinders Group Group S14°10’ E144°10’)
We pulled up anchor just before 8am, while in the process I got injured. I was attempting to get
to the tiller to keep the boat in line with the anchor when the boom swung to the port side of the boat. I got caught up in the mainsheet and thrown against the side of the cockpit hurting my back and left arm. It hurt a lot and I was in shock for awhile and took some painkillers to ease the pain. So yes it is now implanted in my brain to always watch out for the boom when the main sail is up and not secured! Otherwise it was an easy 5 hour sail to Ninian Bay at Barrow Point. Wind was 10kt SE changing to easterly in the afternoon. Once at anchorage we took the dinghy ashore and had a good look around always being mindful of the possibility of crocodiles. We found two campsites and also a lot of pearl shells (empty though) washed up in one section of the bay.29.10.06 (Flinders Island – Flinders Group S14°10’ E144°10’)
We set off from Ninian Bay with a dead calm sea. We motor sailed whenever there was a
whisper of wind which generally was N/NE. We went to Pipon Island but could not find a suitable anchorage, Cape Melville has no protection from the northerlies so we decided to by-pass. Still we were close enough to check out the amazing rock pile mountains. We anchored at Flinders Island in the Flinders Group 8 hours later. There are 6 islands in the group with spectacular scenery we can’t wait to explore. Flinders Group offers 360° protection from the wind, we have anchored in front of Flinders Island in the Owen Channel. There is one other yacht and a fishing boat here. It was Jorge’s birthday today, what a beautiful way to spend a birthday. As it was so calm we spent most of the trip on the bow admiring the passing marine life. I cooked us chicken fettuccine for dinner, a real treat as it was our only chicken fillets for the trip.30.10.06
We went ashore to Flinders Island for an exploration. We walked around part of the island
between the rocks and the mangroves. On the walk we discovered a rock with the inscription ‘HMS Dart 1893’. It was a survey benchmark for the HMS Dart, which spent 20 years surveying the waters from the Great Barrier Reef to Tasmania. A much bigger discovery for us was the tropical black lipped oysters. I have never liked oysters as I find them mushy and slimy but these oysters were firm and tasty and bloody beautiful. We had about a dozen natural on the shore then took about 1 dozen back to the boat and lightly fried them in batter, yummy! Ronnie from ‘Siri on the Sea’ called by this afternoon and told us of a couple of good walks, we will do these tomorrow.31.10.06
We went via dinghy on the Owen Channel to Stanley Island and walked from the mangroves to the northern side of the island. There are so many caves that the local aboriginal people used as
shelter. Along the beach we found thousands of bech de mer (sea cucumbers) and baby moray eels washed up on the beach, presumably from the northerly winds yesterday. We walked to the end of the beach and along the rocks which had amazing formations and colour. Next was a walk to the aboriginal rock art site, truly awesome. While waiting for the tide to come in (so we could get the dinghy out) we did some more rock climbing and got ourselves a few more oysters. On the way back we discovered the camping area (not being used) on Flinders Island, there were two rainwater tanks so a total treat to have a shower and wash our hair of course being mindful of the limited water supply. There are so many dugongs here, they are regularly popping their heads out of the water for us to enjoy.1.11.06 (S14° 1’ E143° 53’.8 our turn around point)
The forecast was for 15-20kt SE so we headed off north hoping to anchor behind Magpie Reef overnight. At about midday the breeze turned to the east at about 15kt and we couldn’t lay the coast any more. The anchorages on the reef would not have been safe on an easterly breeze so we turned back to the safe anchorage of Flinders Group. That meant we sailed 8 hours to end up at the same anchorage.
2.11.06 (S14° 11’.33 E 144° 28’.92 Cape Melville)
Having come to terms that the season has changed we decided to head south. Last night’s
forecast was for 15-20kt SE so we sailed to Cape Melville which was 17 miles to windward. We anchored in 3 metres of water at Bathurst Bay in the shadow of the highest mountain. In the late afternoon we went ashore to explore and to find the monument erected over the communal graves of the victims of Cyclone Mahina that occurred on 5th March 1899. Intered there are the 9 crew of Sagitta, Silvery Waters and The Lighthouse plus 300 native pearl divers who crewed in 15 open luggers. We were in awe by the piled up boulders which made up the mountains, they created a very eerie atmosphere. The highlight of the day was the two mating turtles whose privacy we inadvertently interrupted!3.11.06 (Flinders Island – Flinders Group Group S14°10’ E144°10’)
We rounded Cape Melville to head south but it was already blowing 15kt from SE, the maximum
that had been predicted for today. We made the decision to turn back to the Flinders Group as we only had 30 litres of fuel left, not enough to motor into the wind to the next safe anchorage. Unfortunately we had just missed the fuel barge so we will now have to wait to re-fuel next Friday unless by pot luck the northerlies kick in. We met Neil of ‘Wild Wind’ which is a 1968 Tasmanian shark boat that he built himself, an interesting character. Duality from Lizard Island arrived at sunset. Oh yeah nearly forgot, I caught a fish today, it was a Wolf Herring apparently only good for bait.
4.11.06
Today we went looking for the aboriginal burial caves on Flinders Island. But after walking up slippery embankments in the hot/dry heat we gave up but we were surely close to the site. As the tide had gone out considerably we were able to walk back through the mangroves. A quicker trip without the rock climbing but still had to contend with the green ants and midges. The round trip took us about 5 hours, I couldn’t wait to tip a bucket of water over myself once back on board (no swimming in croc country!). We had Barbara and Paul off ‘Duality’ and Neil off ‘Wild Wind’ over for sundowners.
5.11.06
We did the pre-historic chore of washing today at the camping area. It really is hard work and I miss my washing machine (hmm think I have said that before!). Jorge tried to go spear fishing in the afternoon but the water was too murky. We decided to go collecting oysters instead. We got a couple dozen and then went for a walk along the beach. We had some of the oysters natural for sundowners on the boat.
6.11.06
We decided not to leave the boat at all today, getting a rest after being so active. We re-positioned the boat in the bay in the morning as our present anchorage was getting swells from around the point, this was occurring last night while trying to cook dinner too, not good! Both of us read all day stopping for lunch of pasta with asparagus and fried garlic oysters prepared by me, it was so yummy.
7.11.06 I was sick today, I felt awful. We had used up all of our medical supplies with no change so Jorge called for assistance from the other boats at our anchorage. We had offers of pills and natural remedies from all over the place. I was very weak and remained this way all day, we do not know what caused it (ok possibly from some bush tucker I ate).
8.11.06
I am feeling a lot better today, still very weak and tired but able to eat in small amounts. We were able to call our families today on ‘Adrias’ satellite phone, they were relieved to hear from us after nearly two weeks with no contact. The fuel barge ‘Emu Bay’ pulled into the anchorage in the late afternoon, we purchased diesel for $1.28 per litre. We were also able to re-stock on some soft drinks and they gave us some of their excess vegetables and bread which was very kind. Jorge cooked a hearty meal that was the perfect remedy for me.
9.11.06 (Lizard Island – S14° 39’.69 E 145° 27’.18)
The sea was dead calm so we set sail before 6am, heading as far south as we could. About 10am the wind increased to 8kt E then onto 10-15kt NE after 1pm. We followed the coast past Cape Melville and Ninian Bay and then turned east to follow alongside Switzer Reef. We passed through the Howick Group at 4.30pm and decided to continue on for Lizard Island. From Howick we had swells until after sunset. It was quite an experience sailing in the dark. Once at Lizard Island it took us a while to get our bearing as we lost our night vision from a fishing trawler’s bright light. We anchored 16 hours after leaving the Flinders Group, a very long day!
10.11.06
We slept like babies last night, even though we were bouncing from the northerlies. Sonja and
Helmut came over to welcome us back, it was nice to see them again. They came on board for a cuppa and a catch up chat. We decided to all go on board ‘Kapiti’ and go to North West Bay for a few hours snorkelling while the conditions were so good. The water was so flat that the reef was fully visible from the boat. We had a long snorkel seeing many fish and corals. We went back to our anchorage in Watson’s Bay and had lunch together being the Spanish Mackerel we caught yesterday. Time for a siesta and then to the Marlin Bar for sundowners. We met Marilyn and Murray off ‘Kakadu’ they had sailed from Fremantle, WA.
11.11.06 (S14° 37’.42 E145° 37’.56 Yonge Reef)
We left Lizard Island at about 9.30am sailing out for Yonge Reef with Johnno off ‘Johnnos’ (from
Port Douglas). Tucana also came out to Yonge Reef but motored out for the day with some of the resort staff. A nice easy sail with relatively calm seas with the highest wind at 10kt E. We were fortunate enough to see more mating turtles, Johnno also saw several whales. We arrived at the reef in the mid afternoon, dodging all the little reefs to anchor in a sheltered position. We were completely surrounded by reef, such an awesome sight. Once settled in Johnno came over and stayed for dinner, we enjoyed sundowners watching the sunset behind Lizard Island.
12.11.06 (S15° 28’.8 E145° 15’.6 Cooktown)
We had to wait until 7.30am to leave our anchorage on the reef due to needing the sunlight to guide us through the reef and back into open water. Johnno decided to follow us keeping a
distance of about 4 miles for the entire trip. We tried to motor sail the first 20 miles to save time but the motor was playing up. We followed the reef as long as we could to get some shelter from the 15-20kt E/SE winds. Due to the motor problems we decided to head to Cooktown. We did well with the trolling today catching a Giant Trevally, Bonito Tuna and a Spanish Mackerel, this filled the freezer. We arrived at the lead off Cooktown just under 15 hours after leaving Yonge Reef, this was a welcoming site. But once in the Endeavour River when we tried to motor due to no wind the boat was going very slowly and then backwards with the strong outgoing tide. Jorge’s quick thinking was to put the dinghy and outboard in the water and use it to guide us to a safe anchorage while I assisted with the steering. Pretty stressful but we made it at about 10.30pm and slept like babies after another long day.
13.11.06
We started off the day by doing two loads of washing at the laundromat, so nice to have really clean clothes again. As we are on a private mooring Jorge arranged payment for a few nights at $5 per night. We spent some time in town doing some errands and over indulging at the bakery. We bumped into Rob and Gaye off ‘Dancing Dolphin’ and joined them for a drink at the RSL club. Once back on the boat Jorge pulled the motor apart and found all four engine mounts and the shaft cup link were broken. As there is no chandlery in Cooktown and the fact that we had left Jorge’s car here we decided to drive to Cairns tomorrow to arrange the parts. We have a temporary obstacle of the engine being in the cabin entrance.
14 to 17.11.06
In Cairns to organise the replacement parts for the boat, two full days on running around and then we drove back to Cooktown on the morning of the 17th.
18.11.06 to 29.11.06
Jorge repaired the motor and then we had to stay at Cooktown sitting out the strong wind warnings and the persistent strong south easterlies. We kept ourselves busy with many walks, socialising with the other yachties collecting mangos and frangipani flowers, visits to the
botanical gardens, local pool and the air conditioned comfort of the local library! We tried to sail south on 27th November as the weather prediction was 10-15kt SE, but we found out pretty quickly that this was wrong and went through several squalls with winds in the 25-30kt range. It was a very scary 3 hours before Jorge decided it was better to turn back to Cooktown as we had only covered 7 miles and the boat and us were getting a hammering. I did not complain and was extremely relieved to turn back with the wind, ‘Coromandel’ the 51 foot catamaran that was following us was happy with our decision too and promptly turned back to Cooktown as well. We had to buy a new VHF radio once back at Cooktown as our old one got damaged with the salt water today. Sitting it out once again waiting for the weather to improve.
30.11.06 to 1.12.06 (S16° 55’.04 E145°46’.9 Cairns)
We finally got a break in the weather with a 10kt SE we left Cooktown. Coromandel sailed with us often travelling only 50 metres apart. We did three big tacks to make it to Hope Isles by midday for a quick lunch stop. We then continued on with our journey deciding to motor sail straight through to Cairns because of the favourable weather conditions. After much motoring over a glassed out sea we made it into Cairns marina 23 hours after casting off from the mooring in Cooktown.
that had been predicted for today. We made the decision to turn back to the Flinders Group as we only had 30 litres of fuel left, not enough to motor into the wind to the next safe anchorage. Unfortunately we had just missed the fuel barge so we will now have to wait to re-fuel next Friday unless by pot luck the northerlies kick in. We met Neil of ‘Wild Wind’ which is a 1968 Tasmanian shark boat that he built himself, an interesting character. Duality from Lizard Island arrived at sunset. Oh yeah nearly forgot, I caught a fish today, it was a Wolf Herring apparently only good for bait.
4.11.06Today we went looking for the aboriginal burial caves on Flinders Island. But after walking up slippery embankments in the hot/dry heat we gave up but we were surely close to the site. As the tide had gone out considerably we were able to walk back through the mangroves. A quicker trip without the rock climbing but still had to contend with the green ants and midges. The round trip took us about 5 hours, I couldn’t wait to tip a bucket of water over myself once back on board (no swimming in croc country!). We had Barbara and Paul off ‘Duality’ and Neil off ‘Wild Wind’ over for sundowners.
5.11.06
We did the pre-historic chore of washing today at the camping area. It really is hard work and I miss my washing machine (hmm think I have said that before!). Jorge tried to go spear fishing in the afternoon but the water was too murky. We decided to go collecting oysters instead. We got a couple dozen and then went for a walk along the beach. We had some of the oysters natural for sundowners on the boat.
6.11.06
We decided not to leave the boat at all today, getting a rest after being so active. We re-positioned the boat in the bay in the morning as our present anchorage was getting swells from around the point, this was occurring last night while trying to cook dinner too, not good! Both of us read all day stopping for lunch of pasta with asparagus and fried garlic oysters prepared by me, it was so yummy.
7.11.06 I was sick today, I felt awful. We had used up all of our medical supplies with no change so Jorge called for assistance from the other boats at our anchorage. We had offers of pills and natural remedies from all over the place. I was very weak and remained this way all day, we do not know what caused it (ok possibly from some bush tucker I ate).
8.11.06
I am feeling a lot better today, still very weak and tired but able to eat in small amounts. We were able to call our families today on ‘Adrias’ satellite phone, they were relieved to hear from us after nearly two weeks with no contact. The fuel barge ‘Emu Bay’ pulled into the anchorage in the late afternoon, we purchased diesel for $1.28 per litre. We were also able to re-stock on some soft drinks and they gave us some of their excess vegetables and bread which was very kind. Jorge cooked a hearty meal that was the perfect remedy for me.9.11.06 (Lizard Island – S14° 39’.69 E 145° 27’.18)
The sea was dead calm so we set sail before 6am, heading as far south as we could. About 10am the wind increased to 8kt E then onto 10-15kt NE after 1pm. We followed the coast past Cape Melville and Ninian Bay and then turned east to follow alongside Switzer Reef. We passed through the Howick Group at 4.30pm and decided to continue on for Lizard Island. From Howick we had swells until after sunset. It was quite an experience sailing in the dark. Once at Lizard Island it took us a while to get our bearing as we lost our night vision from a fishing trawler’s bright light. We anchored 16 hours after leaving the Flinders Group, a very long day!
10.11.06
We slept like babies last night, even though we were bouncing from the northerlies. Sonja and
Helmut came over to welcome us back, it was nice to see them again. They came on board for a cuppa and a catch up chat. We decided to all go on board ‘Kapiti’ and go to North West Bay for a few hours snorkelling while the conditions were so good. The water was so flat that the reef was fully visible from the boat. We had a long snorkel seeing many fish and corals. We went back to our anchorage in Watson’s Bay and had lunch together being the Spanish Mackerel we caught yesterday. Time for a siesta and then to the Marlin Bar for sundowners. We met Marilyn and Murray off ‘Kakadu’ they had sailed from Fremantle, WA.11.11.06 (S14° 37’.42 E145° 37’.56 Yonge Reef)
We left Lizard Island at about 9.30am sailing out for Yonge Reef with Johnno off ‘Johnnos’ (from
Port Douglas). Tucana also came out to Yonge Reef but motored out for the day with some of the resort staff. A nice easy sail with relatively calm seas with the highest wind at 10kt E. We were fortunate enough to see more mating turtles, Johnno also saw several whales. We arrived at the reef in the mid afternoon, dodging all the little reefs to anchor in a sheltered position. We were completely surrounded by reef, such an awesome sight. Once settled in Johnno came over and stayed for dinner, we enjoyed sundowners watching the sunset behind Lizard Island.12.11.06 (S15° 28’.8 E145° 15’.6 Cooktown)
We had to wait until 7.30am to leave our anchorage on the reef due to needing the sunlight to guide us through the reef and back into open water. Johnno decided to follow us keeping a
distance of about 4 miles for the entire trip. We tried to motor sail the first 20 miles to save time but the motor was playing up. We followed the reef as long as we could to get some shelter from the 15-20kt E/SE winds. Due to the motor problems we decided to head to Cooktown. We did well with the trolling today catching a Giant Trevally, Bonito Tuna and a Spanish Mackerel, this filled the freezer. We arrived at the lead off Cooktown just under 15 hours after leaving Yonge Reef, this was a welcoming site. But once in the Endeavour River when we tried to motor due to no wind the boat was going very slowly and then backwards with the strong outgoing tide. Jorge’s quick thinking was to put the dinghy and outboard in the water and use it to guide us to a safe anchorage while I assisted with the steering. Pretty stressful but we made it at about 10.30pm and slept like babies after another long day.13.11.06
We started off the day by doing two loads of washing at the laundromat, so nice to have really clean clothes again. As we are on a private mooring Jorge arranged payment for a few nights at $5 per night. We spent some time in town doing some errands and over indulging at the bakery. We bumped into Rob and Gaye off ‘Dancing Dolphin’ and joined them for a drink at the RSL club. Once back on the boat Jorge pulled the motor apart and found all four engine mounts and the shaft cup link were broken. As there is no chandlery in Cooktown and the fact that we had left Jorge’s car here we decided to drive to Cairns tomorrow to arrange the parts. We have a temporary obstacle of the engine being in the cabin entrance.
14 to 17.11.06
In Cairns to organise the replacement parts for the boat, two full days on running around and then we drove back to Cooktown on the morning of the 17th.
18.11.06 to 29.11.06
Jorge repaired the motor and then we had to stay at Cooktown sitting out the strong wind warnings and the persistent strong south easterlies. We kept ourselves busy with many walks, socialising with the other yachties collecting mangos and frangipani flowers, visits to the
botanical gardens, local pool and the air conditioned comfort of the local library! We tried to sail south on 27th November as the weather prediction was 10-15kt SE, but we found out pretty quickly that this was wrong and went through several squalls with winds in the 25-30kt range. It was a very scary 3 hours before Jorge decided it was better to turn back to Cooktown as we had only covered 7 miles and the boat and us were getting a hammering. I did not complain and was extremely relieved to turn back with the wind, ‘Coromandel’ the 51 foot catamaran that was following us was happy with our decision too and promptly turned back to Cooktown as well. We had to buy a new VHF radio once back at Cooktown as our old one got damaged with the salt water today. Sitting it out once again waiting for the weather to improve.30.11.06 to 1.12.06 (S16° 55’.04 E145°46’.9 Cairns)
We finally got a break in the weather with a 10kt SE we left Cooktown. Coromandel sailed with us often travelling only 50 metres apart. We did three big tacks to make it to Hope Isles by midday for a quick lunch stop. We then continued on with our journey deciding to motor sail straight through to Cairns because of the favourable weather conditions. After much motoring over a glassed out sea we made it into Cairns marina 23 hours after casting off from the mooring in Cooktown.So our trip is over 10 weeks after leaving Port Douglas. We have been to so many amazing places, had the time to admire many beautiful plants and animals and met many interesting people. We have been very fortunate to have this experience and are planning for another trip in the new year if we play our cards right!
THE END!
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