Sunday 16 June 2013

Hope Islands onwards

Hope Islands (3rd June)
 
A lovely sail up with full main and poled out headsail - about 30 miles. Both Tintin and us were lucky  enough to get a national park mooring (ok - so I take back some of the negative comments about government departments). Just as we arrived, the wind increased to 30+kts but we were nice and comfortable on our mooring behind the reef with little or no movement. A bonus for a good nights sleep. The sun was shining so we just had to go ashore for a walk around the island.
Interesting, there are crocodile warnings on the National Park sign, even though we are some 20miles off the coast.
                                    
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                                         Kevin and Jacqui, Pete and myself on Hope Island
 
It didn't take long to walk around the island - about 20 minutes duration. Schools of bait fish were nearly a meter deep completely surrounding the island, and every few minutes hundreds would jump out of the water being chased by something ....... big!


                                        
 
                                               
We also found quite a bit of flotsam and jetsam and lots of left thongs on our walk. Pete tells me that the Southern Hemisphere collects the left ones and the northern hemisphere collects all the rights ones, not sure if I believe him. Whilst walking round the island we came across an abandoned TV.........hopefully we may get some reception so we can watch State of Origin and watch Qld beat NSW!! (At the time of writing the blog..Qld are one game down...still 2 games to go to make it 8 in a row.....watch out John!!
 
                                  
                                           We found the TV but the reception was poor !
 
 
We found Cuttlefish on the beach the size of which I have never seen before. Hmm .......... should try some squidding. Unfortunately it is national marine park so the squid are safe.
 
                                  
  If only we had a budgie at home ...........
 
It's off in  morning heading where the wind takes us - maybe Cape Bedford, Cape Flattery or even Lizard Island.
 
 
Lizard Island (4th -8th June)
 
A very fast sail saw us get all the way up to Lizard Island arriving mid afternoon.  The winds reached 40+kts at times and with a double reef and half a headsail out, we averaged 7.7kts for  the 60 mile trip - not bad for an old girl. We surfed down some rather big waves at 12kts and Tintin was right there with us - up and down, up and down. It was an exhausting day and we were tired by the time we had anchored at Lizard Island. Most cruisers heading north would make this one of their stops and we counted at least 20 of us in the bay.
We were so tired, we even had to give 'sundowners" a miss but we have a few nights here to catch up with that. Just as we were tidying everything away from the sail, a tender from the next door boat came over to say hello. Pete recognised one of the passengers as someone he had crewed with years before delivering a boat from Melbourne to Hamilton Island - it is a small world some times. They are also on the rally with us so will be fun catching up later. Half of the boats headed off the next morning but we were happy to stay a couple of days to enjoy the island, the warm water and the snorkelling.
Next day we took the tender across to the small resort to see if by chance they had a bar that welcomed yachties, as it is game one of State of Origin. But alas, their staff bar which  did allow visitors  was not open due to the minimal number of staff employed at present. So we had to make do with text messages from our dear friend John in Sydney every time someone scored...........too many by NSW! Not sure if this year will make it 8 in a row.
The afternoon saw us hiking up the path to the top of the mountain that overlooks the bay. What a breathtaking view, and with being low tide it showed the reefs very clearly. The most beautiful turquoise water that you expect to see in this part of the coast, and so clear. It was a good hike up and back and ready for a swim afterwards. The rain started mid afternoon so sundowners was cancelled. Oh well, there is always tomorrow.
 
 
                                                                         
 
                                               What spectacular views from the top.

Next day saw us walk across to the lagoon on the other side of the island, via the airstrip. Again, pristine white sandy beach with aqua and turquoise water.


                                        

 

                                               Us at the lagoon on the far side of Lizard Island

 

                                       
 
                                                   Pete at some amazing rock formations
 
                                           
    
                                               We found Wilson on the sand & had to take his photo
 
Back to the bay and an afternoon of snorkelling. Fantastic fish life, loads of giant clams, brilliant blue starfish and no sharks or jellies. We made it to sundowners that evening and met quite a few other rally participants. Nice to watch the sun set on a perfect day with a glass of bubbles and lots of chatting.
Snorkelling was on the agenda again today and we were heading off in tenders with Tintin, Tropical Soul and Calypso to a nearby bay. Some parts were good, others not so good but still very enjoyable. Our last sundowners tonight as we are off in the morning.
 


Lizard to Flinders Island
 
Off early with the intent of making Ninian Bay. Strong winds had us making very good time so opted to push on to Bathurst Bay around Cape Melville. The landscaps at the Cape is spectacular with piles and piles of massive granite boulders (the size of a house) randomly strewn along the waters edge. Some of the piles made hills on their own.
 
 
 
It had been a great sail ........ until we reached the cape itself. The wind which had been constantly 20 - 25kts suddenly increased 35 - 40kts. Thankfully we had just furled the headsail prior and only had the doubled reefed main to contend with. Bathurst Bay is very shallow and shoals to about 1 mile off shore. With the wind so strong, we had to get as close to the beach as possible to get out of the very short steep waves. In fact, we were only doing 3kts into the wind closing the shore and had lashes of spray converting the entire boat. Coupled with the wind howling in the rigging, the main sail flapping, drenched at the helm, you could forgive us for thinking we had been transported to e North Sea. This wasn't in the brochure ! Eventually, safely anchored in 3 meters of water, we lay out 60 meters of chain. We were determined we were NOT going to drag.  The wind howled incessantly throughout the night and little sleep was had. 
 
 
Next morning, we contacted another boat that had just left Flinders Island who informed us that their anchorage there last night was quite good. So it is only a short hop of 18miles today to Stokes Bay (all down wind) and hopefully a better nights sleep. 
Recommendation to other travellers up the coast - don't stop at Bathurst Bay !

Saturday 1 June 2013

Winter has arrived - 1st June and the butter still has not melted

As we are getting further north, we are seeing other boats that are on the rally out of Darwin with us. Leaving Cairns 1st June was a small flotilla of boats heading for the day sail to the Low Isles - just off Port Douglas.
The  trip here was one of the best sails to date with a steady 20kts pushing us all the way. Low Isles are probably the last chance to snorkel before Lizard Island then Indonesia so we have opted to stay for 2 nights. They are classified as a Commonwealth Island - the size of a gnats ass and they have 2 caretakers living there ....! Not sure what they do apart from remind us of all the new rules and regulations eg. cannot step foot on the island from dusk to dawn - what a crock! And yes they did have a 2 metre one living here for 3 months over Summer. Once sighted, they do erect a sign to be aware of crocodiles. That coupled with the Lemon sharks circling the boat when we arrived will make for a very quick swim and snorkel. Day visitors are still arriving, though coming from Port Douglas, the boats are up market - 60' sailing catamarans worth millions.


                                                  Low Isle where a full time caretaker lives


                                                   The new luxurious way to get to see the reef


Next stop will be The Hope Islands, about 40nm, then shelter behind one of the Capes and then onto Lizard island. Not sure what internet will be available, so may be the last for a while.

North until the butter melts

Thurs 23 May - Up to Dunk Island.
 It was quite depressing to see the resort still mostly in ruins from cyclone Yasi Nov 2011, however the new jetty is almost complete - the first important step to reconstruction. Tide was way out and the beach and reef was not very inviting. Looking like that, you would wonder why anyone would come here for a holiday.

                                                   
                                                    Looking from Dunk back to  the mainland


                                                     Resort rooms missing their roofing


                                                      Hardly a room escaped the damage

The following afternoon saw us arrive at Fitzroy Island. Nice looking little resort, nice beach and very deep water outside the fringing reef. We arrived just as the wind was getting up to 30+kts and there wasn't much room left to drop anchor - obviously a popular anchorage. With the strong tidal current against the wind bullets, even monohulls were moving in opposite directions. With all the boats swinging every which way and as we were the last one to drop anchor, we upped and moved, this time on the other side of Tintin. Darkness, more tide, more wind, more swinging, Tintin now too close for comfort, we upped yet again! Third time lucky they say, however one of the worst nights for rolling and tugging at anchor so far on the trip. Next morning 0600 we had enough. Up anchor and a short 12 miles into Cairns. That short trip had winds of 40+kts, with a headsail out the size of a handkerchief we managed 8+ knots of boat speed.

Cairns - A week in Cairns and we anchored at the side of the main channel just opposite Marlin Marina. Tintin opted to go further up the channel and anchored - where we affectionately termed Swampville. You could almost hear the duelling banjos! or was that Jacki on her Ukulele. A week was spent here relaxing, doing odd jobs on board, provisioning for the trip to Darwin which necessitated some long walks through town to reach Whitworths. A big thanks to Deb and Brad Parker (ex Redland Bay) for the use of their car for our big Woolies shop and lovely to catch up with friends. We made use of the public pool on the waterfront for swims, along with teeming numbers of backpackers from every nation. We have both travelled reasonably far and wide however couldn't pick a lot of the languages.
Now to the point of the blog heading - North until the butter melts.
We have had rain, clouds, more rain, more cloud, more rainy days, strong winds since arriving in the tropics, however the temperatures have been relatively cool and the butter has not melted - yet! We are looking forward to when this event occurs and we can get rid of the blanket on the bed.