Two Island Bay

 

Our current position is: 11 04.411S and 136 43.836E in Two Island Bay, a beautiful spot by Cape Wessels.

It took us 52 hours to traverse the Gulf of Carpentaria, a distance of 340 nautical miles and one of the best couple of days sailing I can remember in a long time. We arrived just as the sun was setting, perfect timing. We also timed it just right with regards to the wind which is howling out there now. Reportedly, it's not very pleasant in the Gulf if the winds get up to more than 20 knots due to the bay being so shallow. We had constant winds of around 15 to 18 - perfect.

There are seven yachts anchored here, all of them on the rally which will take us to Indonesia. There was a birthday celebration last night aboard one which gave us the opportunity to meet some of the other cruisers we'd missed previously - a great night with some fabulous food. The variety of food cruisers manage to conjure up always amazes me on these occasions.

The high winds are predicted to blow for another couple of days and, as it's Canada Day on Monday, this is another excuse for a get together then.

Happy Canada Day to all my Canadian friends and family.

Crossing the Gulf

Our passage through the Endeavour Straits

Our current position is 10 53.647S and 138 27.881E

This puts us at about three quarters of the way across the Gulf of Carpentaria.

So far, it's been absolutely perfect sailing conditions; a fairly flat and calm sea with winds hovering around 15 to 18 knots. Ideal except, of course, that they are right up the backside (where else?). It's two in the morning and I'm enjoying the calm conditions under a beautiful waning Gibbous moon.

We left the small town of Seisia yesterday afternoon after Paul had spent the morning with Pete in the hopes that he could install the new fan belts before we left. Sadly, they didn't arrive as promised so regretfully we had to leave him behind. The weather window to cross the Gulf was just too good to miss and we simply couldn't hang on not knowing when they'd arrive. In a typical Aussie outback manner, the guys were told, "if you can't go today, go tomorrow" but what the chap wasn't saying was "or the next day or the day after that". Now it appears that the belts won't arrive until Friday. Hopefully Pete can fit one himself and be on his way by that afternoon. We now have no means of communicating with him so will only see him again once he arrives in Darwin.

Our current destination is a small bay on the west side of Cape Wessels, a projection of islands poking northwards from the west side of the Gulf. This will probably be one of only two stops we'll make along the route - the other being just before turning southwards to Darwin where we'll probably have to wait for time and tides to help us down. Taking heed of tides and currents are crucial here, as it would be impossible to sail against them when running in the wrong direction. If you get it right, it makes the trip a pleasure. Let's hope we do.

Running repairs

 Sunset at Cape Wessel

Two down, one to go

Technically, we are no longer in the Pacific Ocean. At what stage the imaginary line is drawn between the Pacific and Indian Oceans is somewhat of a question mark to us however, once we crossed to the west side of Cape York, we left the Coral Sea which, we're told, is the western edge of the Pacific up here.

The Torres Straits are probably a bit of a noman's land but once we leave Darwin for Indonesia, I suppose that could officially be determined to be the Indian Ocean. This then means that Calypso has crossed two oceans with only one more to return to SA. There was a sundial-type structure at Cape York that indicated it was a mere 14 800 kilometres (as the crow flies) back to Johannesburg - not so far is it?!

We left Cape York the next morning to sail just a short distance down to the Aboriginal town of Seisia only 20nm away. It was a fast trip due to wind and strong currents - we even managed a few minutes of travelling at 10,5 knots!

Just at the point that we were dropping the anchor, we received an urgent call from Pete to say the makeshift fan belt broke and he was drifting off into the distance. We dropped the dinghy and went out several miles in an attempt to tow him back in but the winds and currents were far too brisk - we didn't stand a chance. After some time of getting hammered to death out there and just getting dragged further and further away, we had to give up. The trip back in the dinghy took us forever and was exceedingly rough - not a pleasant outing to say the least.

He eventually raised his main, something he hasn't used in ages, and proceeded to tack back. At first, the currents were too strong and he wasn't making any headway but, eventually as the tides turned, he was able to creep forward. About four hours later, he got near enough to drop the anchor but was still a fair way out.

The following morning arrived and there were six dinghies out there to tow him into the main anchorage. Despite the fact that it was a particularly low tide over a couple of sandbars, Troutbridge rode over them with no difficulties. Pete has now ordered two fan belts which have been promised to arrive in about two days time from Cairns. Not a bad service when one realises that we're way out in the outback miles away from a sizeable town.

So, our little bit of drama over, we made a trip into the village and the local supermarket which was, surprisingly, fairly well stocked. We grabbed a few fresh fruit and veggies (at a cost) and even a roasted chicken for tonight's supper.

And now to prepare for the trip across the Gulf of Carpentaria and on to Darwin, some 750 nautical miles away.

Cape York

Our current VERY NOTABLE position is: 10° 41.327S and 142° 31.395E.

We have made it to the very top of the Australian continent!

However, before I go on, I just have to share a bit more about Escape River. When we were told that there are crocs around and about, they weren't kidding. Crocodiles are REAL, in fact, they're real big! During low tide yesterday afternoon, there were a total of five 'snapping handbags' lying out on the drying mud banks and the one closest to us was a rather large fellow; we reckon about a 4 or more metre specimen.

He chose the one bank that stays dry the longest and parked himself there in the act of, so we're told, 'thermoregulating' or adjusting his blood temperature. I personally think he was there to keep a beady eye out for an unwary cruiser to dip a toe in the water. I swear he had a grin on his face. 

The region is filled with buoys marking large areas for pearl farming but we weren't tempted to dive down to gather some for ourselves. We would have liked to do a bit of exploring along the river banks but the sight of those huge reptiles was enough to put us off. Besides, Paul spent the day helping to get Pete's engine back up and running adjusting home made fan belts, etc. During the night we had a rude 'bump' awakening as Pete's boat had dragged which had us all up and about fending off. No damage but I think Pete stood anchor watch for much of the remaining night.

We left early this morning about an hour after low tide and well before sunrise in order to get sufficient depth of water to pass over the sand bar at the mouth of the river but also to get us up to the entrance to the Albany Passage in time for the flooding tide to help carry us through. And help it sure did. We flew through the passage at 9,5 knots with a poled out genny and a triple-reefed main.

What a treat. It's a particularly pretty pass but all too short as it spat us out at the other end right by Cape York which we rounded to drop anchor on the protected western side. The winds are still howling but the swell is not too bad and, believe it or not, a little sun has made its way through the clouds.

Time for a late brunch and then off to hike to the point for the obligatory photos. The only trouble was, we took our dinghy ashore just after high tide and, several hours later upon our return, it was so high and dry; a good quarter mile struggle to get it back over the sand to find any level of water. We are definitely getting sufficient exercise.

PHOTO GALLERY:

A rapid trip through the Albany Channel with such a small sail

Paul & Pete with anthill

View from the point

Almost at the Top!

It's been a few days and many more miles since I was last able to sit down to write. It's been a case of up every morning before the crack of dawn, hoist the anchor and then move on to the next anchorage in time for the setting sun. If the winds are good, we get there in plenty of time, if not, well... actually, the winds have been ideal for the last week since leaving Lizard Island.

Can't say the same for the general weather though. We're beginning to forget what the sun looks like. Apart from one afternoon, the skies have been heavily overcast and grey - not necessarily raining but not far from it either. When we got back within sight of the mainland, there was a constant grey haze across sea and land making us think that we'd suddenly gone quite colour-blind.

The next stop after Night Island was a bay called Portland Roads on the mainland which was a fairly good and placid spot. We were told that there was an excellent restaurant serving seafood but as it DID actually rain the entire afternoon we were there, we had neither the desire to go ashore nor does a seafood dinner fit into our budget.

Before sparrows the next morning, it was up and away to another mainland anchorage, Margaret Bay. Very peaceful, no great swell, enough wind to keep the generator going, plenty of fishing boats as well as several boats heading towards Darwin for the rally and, NO SUN. But Paul did catch another nice Spanish mackerel.

Bushy Isles was next. Described in the cruising guide as a 'thoroughly miserable and uncomfortable anchorage'; we sure aren't going to argue - it was awful! And, of course, no sun.

We've been making the hops between islands fairly shortly as Troutbridge is following us and he's a bit slower. On this leg, his engine overheated when his fan belt broke so he had to sail in to drop anchor next to us. Not an easy task when the wind is howling at almost 30 knots.

We had dropped our dinghy and installed the outboard in case he needed help (he didn't) so we went over to assist where we could with the problem at hand. He had no spare fan belt so, as I write this, Paul is busy sewing up an old spare one of ours to try to make it fit. However, in the meantime, he made a bit of a Heath Robinson effort with some parachute cord which was sufficient for Pete to run the engine for a few minutes in the morning to help get the anchor up. Now, it looks as though the impeller could also be an issue and Pete can't find his spare. I doubt Paul's talents stretch to manufacturing one of those!

Our run back to Calypso in the dinghy has to be one of the most hair-raising attempts to date. We normally remove the outboard when sailing but it simply wasn't possible. Just trying to lift the dinghy on the davits was a week's worth of exercise.

We are now in Escape River at 10° 57.863S and 142° 42.585E. Not sure what we're escaping from 'cause it sure as hell isn't the wind or the sun (where IS that infernal thing?) but I will admit that the swell is a vast improvement over last night's anchorage. Again, Pete had to sail into the anchorage which proved fairly simple as the engine overheated again which is when he suggested that it might now be the impeller causing the problem.

This was a really short hop as our next is through the short-cut passage that leads up to the top of Australia: Cape York. In order to make it through the passage, we need the tides to be running with us so this is the ideal launching pad and we think we'll take a break for a day, watch the tides then leave on the flood tide on Saturday morning.

In the meantime, Paul caught yet another huge Spanish mackerel and, with the freezer being full, we'll eat what we can fresh and the rest I've made into our favourite Cape pickled fish which, I think, we'll be eating for lunches for the next decade.

Today is also our anniversary - 43 years! Would I ever have thought 43 years ago that, one day, I'd be sitting in a sail boat waiting to round the top of Australia?!

Night Island

Our current position is 13 10 414S and 143 34 462E and anchored on the northwest corner of Night Island.

Our move from the previous night's anchorage (Hannah Island) was a mere 44 nautical miles but we're slowly progressing northwards and haven't wanted to make the day trips too long; never knowing quite what will happen with the winds. As it turned out, we had brilliant winds today and dropped anchor before two in the afternoon. Even Peter aboard Troutbridge managed over 7 knots some of the day so we watched him come around the northern end of the island only about an hour after us.

Unfortunately, we didn't see the sun all day - very overcast with heavy grey skies but the sea conditions were great.

We had one encounter with a large fishing vessel which we saw off our bow and, as it was hurtling towards us at an ungodly speed, had to radio them to watch out for us. A rather embarrassed skipper did a quick jerk to starboard and apologised. I guess he hadn't seen us at all while he was pounding into the seas with the wind right on his nose.

Night Island seems to be a very peaceful spot but we shan't go ashore - too much to lower the dinghy, drop the outboard and hook everything up. Better that we just enjoy the ambiance and the second Spanish mackerel that Paul caught today.

Stanley Island

Our current anchored position is: 14 09 181 south and 144 13 572 east.

We dropped anchor in Stokes Bay on Stanley Island, part of the Flinders Group of islands in the Great Barrier Reef. An absolutely perfectly calm and protected anchorage behind a rather sizeable island. Our day's sail was another perfect day except for the very end when we lost the wind entirely and had to motor for the last couple of miles. No worries, mate, as the Assies would say.

Troutbridge made it just a couple of hours later and there was one other yacht there, a couple also making their way northwards to join the rally.

A very peaceful night and, as we only had a short distance (36 nautical miles)to go to our next port of call, we won't have to rush to leave by the crack of dawn.

Hannah Island

Our current anchored position is: 13 51 565S and 143 42 736E

After a fairly moderate day of sailing, despite the predicted 25 knots of wind (we were lucky to get more than 10 knots). Flat calm seas followed by no wind at the end, a bit like yesterday. However, we were almost at our destination when we had to fire up the iron genny and motor in the last bit.

No sooner had we dropped anchor behind Hannah Island when the wind came up and conditions changed radically. In the end, we upped anchor and moved further around the island to find more protection from the incoming swells.

Troutbridge, again, arrived after a couple of hours with Peter complaining that he'd had to motor sail most of the way. By comparison, we'd had perfect sailing conditions right til the end and managed almost 6 knots of speed with only moderate winds.

Our proposed route tomorrow will mean a slightly earlier start so, right now, its off to bed.

Ninian Bay

Our current position is: 14 20 425S and 144 38 624 N

We are anchored off a little island back at the mainland in Ninian Bay after having left Lizard Island in what has got to be the first and only day of really great sailing we've had for as long as we can remember.

The winds were 15 to 18 knots from the southeast and the seas were even more considerate by remaining very flat. It was a fabulous day out there.

And, to top it all off, Paul caught our very first fish since being in Australia; a nice sized Spanish mackeral big enough for about 10 meals.

We dropped anchor about 3:30 in the afternoon; we kept the run short as Peter on Troutbridge is now following us and he's quite a bit slower. He arrived a couple of hours later so we all enjoyed a fresh fish dinner. The anchorage itself was a tad rolly but nothing that we couldn't handle.

Our next leg is also fairly short but it looks like another nice day to do it in.

Wind, wind & more wind

The gorgeous Blue Lagoon

We've now been at Lizard Island for six days and the 25 to 30 knots of wind has not let up for a moment. As a whole, the days have been fairly sunny and warm so we've been able to get into the water to do some snorkelling but I have to confess, Great Barrier Reef or not, there's not much to see down there.

I'm sure had we managed a trip out to the reef's edge (at a few thousand dollars) we would have seen some of the good stuff but we'll just have to be content with this as that is so far beyond our budget and once we leave here it won't be possible to do any more swimming due to the 'salties'.

On one of the nicer days, we did attempt to go right around to the south side of the island into the Blue Lagoon where there's some more colourful hard corals but, unfortunately, the current was far too strong to swim against and we were exhausted after only a couple of minutes. It looked promising but we just couldn't fight the currents.

Instead, we decided to climb the mountain to Cook's Lookout, the peak where, in 1770, in desperation to find a way out of the reefs, Captain Cook climbed to the top and saw "a reef of rocks ...extending farther than I could see...upon which the sea broke in a dreadful surf" but, from there, did manage to see a narrow break off in the distance, now called Cook's Passage.

The initial path was quite a hectic climb, scrambling over steep sheets of granite to work our way upwards. It made me realise I'm not quite as fit as I should be - too much time sitting on a boat. However, it was worth the climb and the scenery from the top was spectacular.

I must say, our admiration for Cook has multiplied tenfold every time we use all our gadgetry, reference books and guides to work our way through these reefs and islands. He was in a square-rigger with no such luxuries or even any idea of what to expect around the next bend and he lived to tell the tale (well at least this part of it).

Time to press on, I think we'll leave in the wee hours of the morning to make further progress towards Cape York.

PHOTO GALLERY:

Cook history abounds around these parts

Medicinal uses? - I don't think so thanks

A Yungah nest

In case you can't read the sign, it says "Yungah Green ants: Yungah nests are broken up and crushed in salty water. The milky fluid can be drunk as a cure for colds and flu. Formic acid in the ants promotes coughing and clears the lungs."

   



   

The scene from the top where Cook found the passage out

Signing the guest book at the top

The lizards after which Cook named the island

One of the giant clams near the anchorage

Nemo & friend

Paul busy scraping the hull - no crocs he hoped

Lizard Island

The anchorage from above

Our current position is: 14° 39' 672S and 145° 27' 109E

Today's run was a comparatively long one (66nm) so we left at the hint of first light. Our original plan had been to stop at Cape Bedford thinking that to go all the way wouldn't be possible in the short daylight hours, however, with the winds at a fairly constant 25 to 30 knots, we felt comfortable that we could make it in the one day. And we did.

We arrived at the north western corner of the island around four in the afternoon after another very boisterous trip with huge waves and blustery conditions. The anchorage at Lizard is spotted with large coral reefs so space was quite limited. When we rounded the corner, we saw what looked like a used boat lot; there must have been more than a dozen and a half other boats at anchor leaving us to squeeze in between what little space we could find.

Despite being in the lee of the island, the winds were howling through the anchorage. Again, the swell was greatly reduced but not the winds - great for producing electricity but the sound can drive one nuts after a while so Windy (our wind generator) was given a rest from time to time for the sake of sanity.

Lizard looks as though it will offer some good hikes and snorkelling so we live in hopes of some decent weather in order to make the most of it. At this stage, it's our intention to stay a few days and hope that Peter on Troutbridge can catch up. We have no internet or cell service here which makes it more difficult to make contact but we hear that he's heading for Port Douglas and may well get here by the end of the weekend.

 PHOTO GALLERY:

This gives some idea of where we are within the complexities of the Great Barrier Reef

 

Note the little red triangle - that's us!

 

 







 

Hope Island

Our current position is: 15° 43' 734S and 145° 27' 378E

Hope Island was a run of just over 42 nautical miles almost due north of Low Isles. The wind hadn't moderated at all so we did some rather low flying and our trip was over and done with by mid afternoon. And the bonus of a mooring buoy once more.

Another gorgeous little spot but, again, it was far too windy to contemplate any shore activities. Fortunately, despite the wind, the swell was greatly reduced behind the reef so sleeping wasn't a problem.

Cairns to Low Islets

Our current position is: 16º 22' 773S  145º 33' 646E

We lifted anchor at about 8:20 this morning to head down the long straight runway out of Cairns on our way to Low Islets just a day hop away.  With all the forecasts proclaiming strong wind advisories, we were expecting a brisk quick run but... well, we started off with zero wind, nada, nothing, not an inkling of a zepher.  At least the weather forecasts are consistent - they're ALWAYS wrong.

However, a decent downwind breeze arrived by midday so we were able to pole out and cruise along at around 5 knots, not getting us to our destination quite as early as we'd hoped, but it was a fairly pleasant day's outing.  On the positive side, we were able to make sufficient water while motoring to fill our tanks again.

The Low Islets is a very pretty spot and thanks to the Parks authorities, we have mooring balls again! The first things we saw after hooking up was some rather large, in fact make that very large, spade fish who came around to investigate.  At long last, it looks as though we've arrived in the tropics.

 

Despite this being a place where we could happily park off for a few days, we've decided we'll carry on northwards for another few days with the promise of good diving once we get to Lizard Island.  So, we simply enjoyed the ambiance while watching the sun set with our drinks in our hands.  Can't complain about that!

 

This shot of our navigation systems gives some idea of the reefs and islands inside the Great Barrier Reef where we're working our way northwards.

 

PS:  During our brief stay in Cairns, our neighbour was Octopus, a 414-foot megayacht owned by Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft.  It sports two helicopters, one on the bow, the other at the stern, a 63-foot tender (that's 20-foot longer than our entire boat!) as well as another 5 or 6 tenders of varying sizes, jet skis, a pool, and not one but two, submarines; one which is unmanned for sea explorations.  I can't even contemplate what their fuel bill would be like let alone the staff to run all of this.

 

Cairns

The Esplanade in Cairns

We had planned to stay another day at Hayman Island in the hopes of doing some snorkelling or even to try a dive but the weather was disgusting and the water temperature was still far too chilly to be enjoyable.  By lunch time, we hadn't steeled ourselves sufficiently to get into the water - much too chicken - so we upped and left for Magnetic Island just outside Townsville, an overnight trip which proved to be rather boisterous but got us there in time for breakfast the next day. 

As we neared the island in the early light of day, we felt as though we were playing dodgem cars with some huge tankers, all obviously waiting to navigate the channel into Townsville. However, for a tiny yacht, it's a bit scary to see one of these monstrosities seemingly heading straight towards you until you finally realise that they're actually at anchor.

My but it was cold. We're starting to think that there's something wrong with our navigation 'cause it apears to be getting colder rather than warmer; where's the nice tropical heat we've been hoping for? The winds, which are euphemistically referred to as the trades*, are actually from every which way and don't seem to know any other speeds than 0 and 30 knots! *Trades are meant to be consistently from the south-east at around 15 to 20 knots, maybe up to 25.  Yeah right!

The following morning, we took it fairly leisurely as we'd decided that we'd simply go as far as the Palm Isles to a spot on Orpheus Island, a distance of only 30-odd nm, where it was purportedly fairly protected from the south-east winds. It proved to be a very pleasant but fairly fast trip and we found mooring balls in our chosen anchorage which is always such a pleasure. This group of islands is inhabited by Aboriginals and visitors are, purportedly, not particularly welcome there - hence we didn't go ashore.  The winds remained fairly intense but we had a peaceful night's sleep and decided that the next run would be an overnight trip right through to Cairns, a distance of approximately 110 nautical miles.

We rested until after lunch then headed out with moderate winds which picked up to 25 to 30 knots by evening. The passage during the night was anything but restful as we were hit by constant squalls which brought driving rain and high winds from the stern as well as some tight corridors where we had to share the limited space with some rather large container ships, but we arrived at the entrance to Cairns fairly early in the morning and motored down the long dredged channel, dropping anchor in time for a late breakfast and straight to bed for some catch-up shuteye.

Cairns is a lot smaller than we'd thought. It appears to be a town geared very much to backpackers and Great Barrier Reef dive tourism so we came across a host of souvenir shops surrounded by tour operators and diving operations. Fortunately, a good supermarket was nearby and the marina had excellent showers and laundry facilities.

Gorgeous Banyan Tree

The tree-lined streets are a wonder in the evenings. As the sun sets, the noise of the rainbow lorikeets is incredible. It's impossible to carry on a conversation at this time.  Just as they're all vying for a branch to settle into, look up and one can see groups of ibis heading wherever ibis head for the night and then the sky darkens with thousands upon thousands of bats setting off to who knows where but all going in the same direction. Quite amazing.

 

A few more provisions and a couple of loads of laundry done, we are off to, HOPEFULLY, warmer water where we can actually go for a swim without worrying about stingy things and crocodiles.

 PHOTO GALLERY:
 

A swimming pool on the esplanade

Coral jewellery at the Cairns Market

Fresh Produce Market

Street scenes around Cairns: